300

Labor economics examines the organization, functioning and outcomes of labor markets; the decisions of prospective and present labor market participants; and the public policies relating to the employment and payment of labor resources.

This course will cover current topics in income inequality and poverty within both developed and developing countries. For both inequality and poverty, students will study the various methods of economic measurement and identify recent dynamic trends. Empirical evidence will be used to scrutinize and explore current theoretical arguments aimed at explaining the trends. The course will also analyze contemporary policies at both the country level and within global institutions (IMF, World Bank, bilateral aid programs) aimed at alleviating poverty and lessening inequality, and examine the linkages among inequality, poverty, growth, education, technology and globalization.

The course teaches students to use economic concepts to critically evaluate social, political and business decisions regarding environmental resource use, environmental regulation and environmental degradation. Students will gain insight into how to respond as business decision-makers to environmental regulations and to increased global competition for scarce resources.

This course is designed to provide students with an introduction and overview of development economics. The course will focus on the economies of countries other than the United States, explore the interaction between the developed and the less-developed economies of the world, and examine international trade and environmental issues in developing countries.

This course analyzes consumer choice theory; the theory of production; competitive, oligopolistic and monopolistic market structures; and behavioral economics.

This course is designed to analyze the domestic and international impacts of public policy on GDP, employment, inflation, the trade deficit and budget surplus, the international flow of capital, foreign exchange rate variations and international competitiveness.

This course studies how to reach optimal possible outcomes when several parties with conflicting interests interact in the market place.  It provides tools to formally and systematically study situations of conflict where outcomes depend not just on one's decisions, but the decisions and actions of others as well.  For instance, oligopolistic firms' simultaneous price decisions or optimal price strategy in more competitive markets can be addressed using strategic thinking and game theory.  This course also studies situations in which market participants have incomplete information and must make purchasing decisions under asymmetric information.  This upper-level elective course provides an introduction to game theory and its application in economics and business.