Graduate Courses
Advanced Econometrics
The objective of the course is to provide students with a thorough coverage of modern econometrics, such that they can potentially develop substantive new empirical findings and theoretical results.
The program varies with faculty research interests but generally includes: Modelling and methodology; Distribution theory for stationary and non-stationary processes; Simulation based methods; Finite sample theory; Theory of reduction; Modelling dynamic systems; Testing, encompassing, and exogeneity; Panel data analysis; Limited dependent variables; Sample-selection problems; Non-parametric methods; and Structural estimation. Applications may include consumption, demand analysis, investment, money demand, housing, financial and labour markets.
Advanced Macroeconomics
The aim of this course of lectures is to take the teaching of macroeconomics beyond the setting out of macro principles which will now happen in the (revised) first year macroeconomics course. Our aim in this course is to provide a discussion of selected topics in macroeconomics at a more advanced, and more technically demanding, level than that provided in the first year. However, unlike the first year course, it is not our intention to provide an architecturally integrated course in which all of the pieces fit together, but instead, to allow selected topics to be presented in some detail.
Advanced Microeconomics
The objectives of the course are to provide a more advanced supplement to the core Micro courses, and to provide further training and background for MPhil and DPhil thesis work. Many theses formulate and solve mathematical models. All the courses show how models are developed and analyzed, and it is strongly recommended that people intending to use models in their research should attend some of these courses, even if they do not take the paper.
Class information
Information on classes for graduate students taking first year MPhil core courses.
Command and Transitional Economies
This course examines theoretical and empirical aspects of the economies of Eastern Europe, China and the USSR (and its successor states, notably Russia). About one-third of the course is devoted to the study of the Soviet-type command economy, which appeared to offer a viable alternative to capitalism in the period 1917-91. Topics covered include: theory and methods of central planning and rationing; principal-agent problems in state-owned industry; socialist growth models; national accounts and measurement of growth; the role of the second economy (black markets) in the command system; models of disequilibrium and shortage; and the costs and benefits of the state monopoly of foreign trade and inconvertible currencies. The second section of the course is devoted to the theory and practice of economic reform: the Lange-von Mises debate on the viability of socialism; debates on the compatibility of plan and market; the New Economic Mechanism in Hungary; the import-led growth strategy of Poland; perestroika in the USSR under Gorbachev; and the increasingly radical economic reform in China since 1978. Since 1990, 27 countries in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union have initiated processes of economic transition that involve, to varying degrees, democratization, price liberalization, macroeconomic stabilization, privatization, marketization and internationalization. The third section of the course studies key debates in the transition period (i.e. shock therapy versus gradualism), the evolution of macroeconomic policies, financial sector reform, corporate governance of privatized industry, foreign trade liberalization, and integration of these economies into the global system. The major country cases examined are Russia, China, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic.
Econometrics
The first-year econometrics course aims to provide students with a grounding in econometric theory, statistical and probability theory, and empirical applications in economics, such that applied econometrics reported in the main economics journals can be read with a good understanding and a critical perspective. The subject has advanced rapidly over the last couple of decades, and is an essential element in every economist’s toolkit.
The course covers the requisite material through a series of modules on econometrics, time series econometrics, and micro-econometrics.
Economic Growth in History
Economic growth is the central problem of economic historians and growth theorists. This paper aims to bridge these literatures. How can growth theories help us understand the histories of Europe and Asia? What challenges do those histories pose to theorists? These questions will be pursed by analyzing the rise of the western world, the first industrial revolution, the emergence of a world economy, and twentieth century crises and success.
The perspective will be broad and include mainstream neoclassical theories as well as cultural, political, and world systems explanations.
Economics of Industry
The objective of the course is to give the student a grounding in modern industrial organisation analysis, including an understanding of both empirical and theoretical methods.
Economics of OECD countries
The intention of the course is to give students a good understanding of current theoretical and empirical work on the macroeconomic policy and development of Western Europe, Japan and the USA (the "old OECD" countries).
Financial Economics
The aim of the course is to introduce the major themes in financial economics and to equip students with the tools to carry out research in this field. The course has three components: Corporate Finance, Advanced Asset Pricing, and Market Microstructure.
International Trade
The objectives of the course are to provide an understanding at the graduate level of:
- The determinants of international trade, including the implications of imperfect competition in international markets.
- The costs, and possible benefits, of a protectionist policy towards international trade.
- The links between theoretical models and empirical work on international trade.
Labour Economics
The aim of the course is to provide graduate students of economics with an understanding of the way labour markets operate and the implications for a range of policy objectives. The course seeks to provide the knowledge and skills necessary to work as a professional labour economist and to undertake research in labour economics.