Courses in Economics

  • 44423: Development Economics

    Economic development is the process of gradual improvement in material well-being of individuals. This course aims to discuss key issues in the process of economic development, enhance students’ ability in applying economic models to study development problems, and discuss the relevant empirical literature with an eye toward forming policy recommendations. The course is divided into three parts: macro development, markets in developing countries, and the role of government. In the first part we first review basic development facts and discuss various models that try to explain cross country income gaps including Solow, endogenous growth models and poverty traps. We then discuss the relation between inequality and growth and discuss the role of institutions in shaping development outcomes. In the second part, we take a micro approach and look into the function of various markets in developing countries. These include education, health and nutrition, land and agriculture, and credit markets. In the final part of the course we discuss the role of government in the process of development by looking into the relation between infrastructure and development, environment and development, taxation and development, corruption, and international aid. The course relies extensively on recent empirical papers in each topic but for the explanation of theoretical concepts Ray (1998) textbook is also useful. A selection of the references for this course are as follows:
    • Ray, Debraj. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1998.
    • Caselli, F. and J Feyrer, “The Marginal Product of Capital”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 122(2) 2007, pp. 535-568.
    • Dinkelman, T., ’The Effects of Rural Electrification on Employment: New Evidence from South Africa", American Economic Review 101(7) 2011, pp.3078-108.

  • 44616: Financial Engineering

    This course covers forward contracts, futures, options and Greeks. By the end of this course the students will have a good knowledge of how the referred contracts work, how they are used, how they are priced by binomial and Black-Scholes-Merton model, and how they could be hedged. We start the course by an introduction to forward, futures and options and discussing their mechanics. We then discuss hedging strategies and pricing of futures and options. We discuss trading strategies with options, binomial trees, stock indices and currencies. The main reference for this course is the following textbook:
    • John Hull. Options, Futures and Other Derivatives. 9th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2015.


    Options, Futures and Other Derivatives

  • 44617: Risk Management and Evaluation

    This course focuses on financial risks, value at risk (VaR) and expected shortfall as the most popular risk measures, various kinds of risks, their special characteristics, and the methods for estimating and aggregating these risks. Topics covered include interest rate risk, value at risk and expected shortfall, volatility, correlations and copulas, market risk VaR (historical simulation, model building), credit risk and estimating default probabilities, credit VaR, scenario analysis and stress testing, operational risk, liquidity risk, model risk, and economic capital and RAROC. The main reference for this course is the following textbook:
    • John Hull, Risk Management and Financial Institutions, Prentice Hall. 3rd edition, 2012.

  • 44621: Research Method

    In this course students learn how to choose their research topic, find related papers, categorize them, make their research topic precise, review the literature, find their model, and verify the existence, availability and quality of data. They will also practice writing papers and presenting talks. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Thomson, W. (2011). A Guide for the young economist. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
    • Miller, J. E. (2005). The Chicago guide to writing about multivariate analysis. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
    • Schwabish, J. A. (2014). An economist's guide to visualizing data. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28(1), 209-234.

  • 44622: Macroeconomics II

    The course is the second master level course in macroeconomics. It is centered on seven main topics: representative agent models, real business cycles, fiscal policy, monetary policy, open macroeconomics, unemployment, and advanced economic growth. Having successfully finished this course, students would be able to analyze long-run and short-run macroeconomic problems, use simple models to analyze daily macroeconomic phenomenon, write and present your macroeconomic perspective, solve standard macroeconomic mathematical problems. The main topics covered include representative agent model, calibration and estimation and log-linearization of real business cycle models, role of government, taxes, public debt (Ricardian equivalence and optimal fiscal policy), social security, monetary policy and inflation, equilibrium with money and the Cagan equations, cash in advance model and the Friedman rule, MIU model, new Keynsian models, discretion vs. rule and central bank independence, new central banking (Taylor rule and Inflation targeting), international trade and open economy, unemployment, search and match, growth models (neoclassical and endogenous growth models), political economy of growth. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Romer, David. Advanced macroeconomics. 3rd edition, McGraw–Hill, 2006.
    • Walsh, Carl E. Monetary Theory and Policy. The MIT Press, 2010.
    • Acemoglu, Daron. Introduction to Modern Growth Theory. Princeton University Press, 2009.

  • 44625: Game Theory

    Game Theory is the name for a collection of analytic tools which economists use to understand strategic interactions. The aim of this course is to analyze strategic behavior of rational decision makers. We say that decision making is strategic if it involves taking into account what other agents want, know, believe and do. Strategic behavior is an important component in interactions such as market competition between firms, bilateral bargaining, auctions, voting, and information transmission. In this course we cover strategic-form games with complete information, strategic-form games with incomplete information, dynamic games, and equilibrium concepts for analyzing these games. The focus of the course is on three equally important fronts: First, the students should get a good understanding (and some experience) of how to model a strategic environment as a game. Second, the students learn how to solve a game-theoretic model. Third, the course contains an overview of some classic applications of game theory mostly in economics. The applications are put forward to explain economic phenomena, to illustrate theories, and in some cases to add fun to a theoretical course. In addition to the above topics we also provide an introductory coverage of coalitional games and the core, evolutionary games, and mechanism design. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Osborne, Martin and Ariel Rubinstein. A Course in Game Theory. MIT Press, 1994.
    • Osborne, Martin. An introduction to Game Theory. Oxford University Press, 2004.

  • 44626: Quantitative Economics

    This advanced course is designed to familiarize second year PhD students with quantitative, computational and numerical methods used in both micro and macroeconomics. The course aims to ultimately help students develop their own research idea along this course. The topics covered are an introduction to Python programming, introduction to structural estimation including behavioral models of binary choice, simulation and numerical maximization, simulation-assisted estimation, and economic models with heterogeneous agents (dynamic programming, calibration and estimation). The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Cameron, A. Colin, and Pravin K. Trivedi. Microeconometrics: methods and applications. Cambridge university press, 2005.
    • Train, Kenneth E. Discrete choice methods with simulation. Cambridge university press, 2009.
    • Sargent, Thomas J., and John Stachurski, Quantitative Economics with Python, Online lecture notes (https://python.quantecon.org/), 2020.

  • 44706: Microeconomics II

    Microeconomics intends to analyze the behavior of individual economic agents and their interactions under different institutional arrangements. In Microeconomics II we first introduce decision making under uncertainty. We then introduce game theory as a way of modeling strategic interactions between economic agents. This will pave the way for the departures from competitive market that we discuss in the rest of the course. These include externalities, public goods, models with non-price taker producers, and presence of asymmetric information (adverse selection, signaling, and screening and the principles-agent problem). The emphasis of this course is theoretical, but we discuss real life examples when necessary. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Varian, Hal R., Microeconomic Analysis, W. W. Norton and Company Inc. 1992.
    • Mas-Colell, A., Whinston, M. D., and J. R. Green, Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press, 1995.
    • Jehle, Geoffrey A. and Philip J. Reny. Advanced Microeconomic Theory. Prentice Hall. 2011.

  • 44710: Macroeconomics I

    The course is the first course in Intermediate Macroeconomics. It is centered on five main topics: general equilibrium, economic growth, monetary economics, short-term macroeconomic analysis and open economy. Topics covered include general equilibrium and the Edgeworth box, real economy, Robinson Crusoe economy, intertemporal decisions, consumption theory, Solow model, neoclassical growth model, monetary economics and short term macroeconomic analysis, quantity theory of money, Baumol-Tobin money demand model, review of IS/LM and AD/AS Models, adaptive expectations and the Fisher model, rational expectations and the Lucas islands, Lucas critique, Cagan equation and the equilibrium model, cash-in-advance model and the Friedman Rule, open economy and exchange rates, PPP and Interest-rate-parity, Mundell-Fleming, international finance trilemma, and the Ricardian trade model. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Barro, Robert. J. Intermediate Macro. Cengage Learning, 2009.
    • Romer, D. Advanced Macroeconomics, McGraw Hill, 2006.
    • Blanchard, Olivier and Stanley Fisher. Lectures on Macroeconomics, The MIT Press, 1989.

  • 44712: Mathematical Economics

    In this course students learn the mathematics needed in Micro and Macro Economics. They will learn about different kinds of static optimization problems, existence and uniqueness results for their solutions, and Kuhn-Tucker and Lagrange conditions. They will also work with systems of linear differential equations, their phase diagrams and their equilibria. The final section of this course is devoted to dynamic optimization. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Cass. Nonlinear Programming in Finite-Dimensional (Euclidean) Spaces, Lecture Notes (Math Camp 2005), University of Pennsylvania, Department of Economics.
    • Perko, L. Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems, Springer Verlag, 1996.

  • 44714: Principles of Economics

    This is a first course in economics covering both macro and microeconomics concepts. The course is divided into four parts. The first part covers an introduction by looking at what is Economics, how economists think, gains from trade. The second part covers basic concepts in microeconomics such as demand, supply, market equilibrium, market failures and the role of government. The third part covers foundation of macroeconomics by looking at growth models, macroeconomic models, money, inflation and unemployment, and open economy issues. The final part looks at the economic analysis of social systems. The main textbooks used in this course are as follows:
    • Mankiw, Greg. Principles of Economics. Cengage Learning, 2018.
    • Nili, Masood. Principles of Economics. Ney Publishing, 1386 (Farsi).

  • 44715: Microeconomics I

    Microeconomics analyzes the behavior of individual economic agents and their interactions under different institutional arrangements. Microeconomics I aims to develop an understanding of how rational individuals choose their consumption and how profit maximizing firms decide their production plans. Having studied the single agent decision problem, Microeconomics I moves to the anonymous interaction of economic agents in the competitive markets. The general equilibrium model and the special but important case of partial equilibrium model serve this purpose. Microeconomics I discusses the foundations of market equilibria and its welfare properties. The main references for this course are the following textbooks:
    • Varian, Hal R., Microeconomic Analysis, W. W. Norton and Company Inc. 1992.
    • Mas-Colell, A., Whinston, M. D., and J. R. Green, Microeconomic Theory, Oxford University Press, 1995.

  • 44709: Econometrics II

    This course is designed to provide students with the recently developed methods in time series econometrics, theoretical tools and practical experience necessary to do applied econometric research. Econometrics I is the prerequisite for the course. However, it is assumed that students are familiar with a basic knowledge of calculus and matrix algebra. A reasonable proficiency in econometric software is needed and students will be actively involved with computer exercises in the classes using an econometrics program. The topics covered are univariate stationary processes, Granger causality, vector autoregressive processes, nonstationary processes, cointegration, and autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Kirchgassner, G., Wolters J. and U. Hassler, Introduction to Modern Time Series Analysis, Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.
    • Hamilton, J. D. Time Series Analysis, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1994.

  • 44713: Economy of Iran

    This course reviews the capacities of the Iranian economy and assesses its performance based on common economic indicators. We examine the observed gap between capacity and performance and discuss potential explanations. These provide an explanation for the persistence of major failures, such as low and volatile economic growth, two-digit unemployment rate, and high inflation rate. We review the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic performance of Iran, based on the behavior of the main economic actors including households, enterprises, banks, government and central bank, and the foreign sector of the Iranian economy. After analyzing the behavior of economic actors, once again, the problems of the economy will be reconsidered, and this time, based on this analysis, we will understand the reasons for the existing gaps and persistence of major failures. At the final stage of the course, we will pursue the root causes of the problems in the political economy of Iran, and we will show that the existing imbalances are all a reflection of an equilibrium in the political economy of Iran. The following Farsi textbooks are used for this course along with an up-to-date analysis of Iran Economy.

  • 44716: Econometrics I

    Econometrics is the art of interpreting the data with the aim of testing economic theories and hypotheses. In this course we introduce the basics of statistical reasoning and provide an in-depth analysis of linear regression model. We discuss the difficulties of establishing causality and other problems with regression methods. The course will introduce students to the basics of empirical modeling and methods of estimation. The topics covered in this course are a review of probability and statistics, simple and multiple regression models (estimation and inference), specification problems and heteroskedasticity, instrumental variables approach, difference-in-differences estimation, and an introduction to times series and panel data models. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Wooldridge, J., Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2013.
    • Stock, J. H. and M. W. Watson, Introduction to Econometrics, Pearson Education, 2011.
    • Greene, William H. Econometric Analysis. Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.

  • 44726: Econometrics of Financial Time Series

    This course reviews time-series techniques and their application to the analysis and forecasting of financial time-series data. Emphasis is given to methods applied to financial data. Topics covered include ARIMA models, GARCH models, analysis of random walks, stochastic trends, and volatility models. We also cover the concept of stationarity, unit root tests, and cointegration and error correction models. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Mills T.C., The Econometric Modeling of Financial Time Series. 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press. 1999.
    • Hamilton, J.D., Time Series Analysis. Princeton University Press, 1994.
    • Keshavarz Haddad, G., Econometrics of Financial Time Series, Ney Publishing (2015). Farsi textbook.

  • 44721: Financial Economics I

    This course provides a rigorous treatment of the core concepts of investments. It broadly covers major asset theories, tools and results in portfolio choice and asset pricing. Specifically, we cover risk aversion and capital allocation to risky assets, optimal risky portfolios, index models, the capital asset pricing model, arbitrage pricing theory and multifactor models of risk and return, the efficient market hypothesis, behavioral finance and technical analysis, and the empirical evidence on security returns. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Bodie, Kane and Marcus, Investments, McGraw Hill, 2009.
    • Fama, Eugene F. and Kenneth R. French, 1993, Common risk factors in the returns on bonds and stocks, Journal of Financial Economics 33, 3–53.
    • Ross, Stephen A., 1976, the arbitrage theory of capital asset pricing, Journal of Economic Theory 13, 341–360.

  • 44722: Financial Economics II

    This course focuses on Corporate Finance. Upon completion of this course, students will understand what finance is, how financial system works, and become familiar with the various aspects of the financial structure of firms. Topics covered include introduction to finance, financial markets and institutions, allocating resources over time, the analysis of investment projects, principles of market valuation, valuation of common stocks, risk and risk management techniques, financial structure of a firm, and financing and valuation. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Bodie and Merton, Financial Economics. Prentice Hall, 2009.
    • Brealey, Richard A., Stewart C. Myers, Franklin Allen, and Pitabas Mohanty. Principles of Corporate Finance. 11th edition, McGraw-Hill Education, 2012.

  • 44731: Applied Econometrics

    This course provides a comprehensive treatment of topics in microeconometrics, the analysis of individual-level data on the economic behavior of individuals or firms using regression methods for cross sectional and panel data. The course has a practical flavor. A basic understanding of the linear regression model with matrix algebra is assumed. The course makes frequent use of numerical examples based on generated data to illustrate the key models and methods. The topics covered are descriptive statistics and linear regression, endogeneity, linear regression with panel data, quantile regression and bootstrapping, Bayesian analysis, nonlinear models, sample selection in nonlinear models, random parameter and hierarchical linear models, latent class models, censoring and truncation, duration models. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Keshavarz Haddad, G., Econometrics of Micro Data and Policy Evaluation, Ney Publishing (2014). Farsi textbook.
    • Lalonde, R.J. “Evaluating the Econometric Evaluations of Training Programs with Experimental Data.” American Economic Review, vol. 76, 1986, 604-620.
    • Dehejia, R. and S. Wahba, “Causal Effects in Non-Experimental Studies: Re-Evaluating the Evaluation of Training Programs,” Journal of the American Statistical Association, Vol. 94, December 1999, 1053-1062.

  • 44733: An Introduction to Economic Growth

    This course intends to discuss growth facts and introduce models of economic growth that try to explain those facts. The topics covered in this course are growth facts, physical capital, population, human capital, measuring productivity, technology, efficiency, open economy, government, culture, and growth in Iran. The main reference for this course is the following textbook:
    • Weil, David N. Economic Growth. 3rd ed., Pearson Higher Ed., 2013.

  • 44742: Market Design

    This course studies topics in market design (auctions and two-sided matching) focusing on the incentives created by market rules and the efficiency of outcomes. Graduate students in Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Computer Engineering and related areas are welcomed. Advanced undergraduate students may take the course with permission from the instructors. Topics covered are overview of market design, classic market failures in market design, Bayesian games, auctions (theory and practice), double auction, basic theory of two-sided matching, mechanism design aspects of matching, random assignment problems, and applications of market design. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Krishna, Vijay. Auction theory. Academic press, 2009.
    • Roth, Alvin E. and Marilda A. O. Sotomayor (1990), Two-Sided Matching: A Study in Game-Theoretic Modeling and Analysis, Cambridge University Press

  • 44746: Energy Economics

    Energy economics is a growing field in economics. The availability of new data sources and the interest of policy makers make this field an interesting topic for research. Moreover, many deep challenges in Iran are routed in energy policies. The country wastes about 20% of its GDP every year for energy subsidies, and at the same time lack enough resources to spend on infrastructure, health and education. Additionally, about half of government income is funded by oil revenues in which it seems that the government has no strategic plan for its development. Recently, the dominance of petrochemical industry has changed the manufacturing sector and political lobbies. This course has an empirical focus relying on advanced econometrics methods. The assignments are based on real data and replication of recent papers in top journals. The topics covered are the hotelling model, ordering of extraction, drilling economy, natural gas, electricity market and competition, gasoline market, pollution and health, environment, regulation, welfare, water, health and regulation, and agriculture and climate change. The course relies extensively on academic papers. A selection of these papers is as follows:
    • Brehm, Paul A., and Eric Lewis. "To Trade or Not to Trade: Oil Leases, Information Asymmetry, and Coase." (2016).
     
    • Springel, Katalin, "Network Externality and Subsidy Structure in Two-Sided Markets: Evidence from Electric Vehicle Incentives", (2016).

  • 44747: Public Economics

    Public economics studies the public sector in its broadest sense. The aims of this course are to: discuss key issues in public economics, provide an overview of the theoretical tools and empirical strategies used in the study of the public sector, and develop a coherent understanding of practical issues in the implementation of public sector policies. Students successfully completing this course should be able to critically discuss key issues in public economics, understand the basic economic modeling of the public sector, and engage critically with the empirical public economics literature. The topics covered are split in three parts. In the first part the theoretical and empirical works in the literature of optimal tax and redistribution are reviewed. In the second part we cover social insurance by looking at unemployment insurance, health insurance, and social security and pensions. In the final part of the course we discuss externalities and public goods. The course relies heavily on academic papers. A selection of the references used are as follows:
    • A. Atkinson and J. Stiglitz. Lectures on Public Economics, New York: McGraw Hill, 1980.
    • Auerbach, A. J. and M. Feldstein (eds.), Handbook of Public Economics, vol. 1 (1985), vol. 2 (1987), vol. 3 (2002), vol. 4 (2002) Elsevier, Amsterdam.
    • Auerbach, A. J., Chetty, R., Feldstein, M., & Saez, E. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of public economics (Vol. 5). Newnes.

  • 44772: Industrial Organization

    This course introduces students to essential topics in industrial organization. Students should acquire a thorough understanding of topics such as oligopoly, collusion, product differentiation, entry and exit, vertical relationships, price discrimination, bundling, innovation, networks, and regulation and competition policy. The list is rather long; however, some topics will be discussed in detail while others are treated more briefly. Students are expected to know some of the basic ideas, e.g. the core concepts from game theory and static models for oligopoly. The course covers both theoretical and empirical issues. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Pepall, Richards & Norman. Industrial Organization: Contemporary Theory and Practice. John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2012.
    • Shy, Oz; Industrial Organization: Theory and Applications; MIT Press, 1995.
    • Tirole, Jean. The Theory of Industrial Organization. MIT Press, 1988.

  • 44771: Selected Topics in Public Choice and Political Economics

    The purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the main topics in public choice and political economics. The course also covers topics in the political economy of oil exporting countries and sanctions. In the beginning, students learn fundamentals of public choice and political economics. The main theories in voting rules, politicians’ and voters’ decisions, and election outcomes are discussed next. After that, the course reviews the main characteristics of specific political regimes, interest groups, lobbying, campaigning, and bureaucracy. At the end, the political economy of the oil-exporting countries and political economy of sanctions are discussed. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Persson, T., and G. Tabellini. Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy. Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 2002.
    • Mueller, D. Public Choice III. Cambridge University Press, 2003.

  • 44736: Oil and gas finance

    This course commences with an industry overview and group work on qualitative and quantitative risk analysis. This is designed to ensure that all participants have a good working understanding of the basic structure of the international petroleum industry, qualitative risk “template” applied by lenders (what risks are “bankable”), different risk/reward objectives of sponsors and lenders, and ratios and other tools used to determine loan values and balance equity and debt. The course will then progress to a study of project financing challenges in different branches of the industry including upstream field development, refineries, oil and gas transportation pipelines and gas gathering systems, liquefied natural gas (lng) liquefaction and regasification petrochemical plants, gas-to-liquids, and gas storage. A collection Farsi and English references are used in this course. A selection of these references are as follows:
    • Simkins, Betty, and Russell Simkins. Energy finance and economics: Analysis and valuation, risk management, and the future of energy. Vol. 606. John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
    • Allen F, Seba R (1993): Economics of Worldwide Petroleum Production Tulsa: OGCI Publications Campbell Jr., J.M.; Campbell Sr., J.M.;
    • Campbell, R.A. (2007): Analyzing and Managing Risky Investments, Norman: John M. Campbell.

  • 44622: Special Topics in Macroeconomics

    The course is the third course in Macroeconomics at master level. It is centered on three main topics: monetary economic, international trade and unemployment. We discuss theories about money the relation between real and nominal economy, central banking, open economy issues, and models of the labor market. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Barro, Robert. J. Intermediate Macro. Cengage Learning, 2009.
    • Mishkin, Frederic S. The Economics of Money, Banking, and Financial Markets. Pearson, 2016.
    • Pissaridies, Christopher A., Equilibrium Unemployment Theory. The MIT Press, 2000.

  • 44622: Advanced Macroeconomics II

    The course is the Second PhD-Level course in Macroeconomics. It is centered on four main topics: dynamic macroeconomic analysis, monetary economics, optimal taxation, and financial macroeconomics. This course is more technical rather than conceptual. You learn classic papers and typical techniques used in macroeconomic modeling. We start with a review of real business cycle models. We discuss models of money, optimal taxation, and financial macro (investment, incomplete financial markets, and overlapping generations model). The main references for this course are as follows:

    • Galí, Jordi. Monetary policy, inflation, and the business cycle: an introduction to the new Keynesian framework, manuscript, 2008.

    • Walsh, Carl E. Monetary Theory and Policy. The MIT Press, 2010.

    • Lars Lundquist and Thomas Sargent, Recursive Macroeconomic Theory, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000.

  • 44725: International Trade

    By the end of this course students should be able to understand why international trade has welfare gains, what are its distributional effects, how it affects labor markets, what optimal trade policies are and finally what is the political economy behind international. trade. Specifically, we cover the gravity model, comparative advantage (Ricardian, DFS & EK models), endowments comparative advantage (Heckscher Ohlin), tastes (Armington model), increasing returns (Krugman model), firm heterogeneity (Melitz and Chaney Models), growth and trade, trade policy and political economy of trade, inequality and trade, and unemployment and trade. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Feenstra, Robert C. Advanced International Trade: Theory and Evidence. Princeton University Press, 2003.
    • Helpman, Elhanan, and Paul Krugman. Trade Policy and Market Structure. MIT Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780262580984
    • Krugman, Paul, Maurice Obstfeld, and Marc Melitz. International Economics: Theory and Policy. 9th ed. Addison-Wesley, 2011.

  • 44773: Advanced Microeconomics I

    The aim of this course is to familiarize students with some of the core concepts of microeconomics that are needed to pursue graduate research in economics. The topics covered include general equilibrium and welfare, equilibrium and time, equilibrium under uncertainty, and social choice theory. The main reference for this course is as follows:
    • Mas-Colell, A., Whinston, M. D., and J. R. Green. Microeconomic Theory. Oxford University Press, 1995.

  • 44774: Advanced Macroeconomics I

    This course provides a PhD level training in macroeconomics by covering key tools of analysis and models in macroeconomics. Topics covered include dynamic optimization, overlapping generations model. real business cycles, asset market, labor market, money search, recursive commitment problem, international macroeconomics. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Per Krusell, Lecture notes for Macroeconomics I, 2004.
    • Jerome Adda and Russell Cooper, Dynamic economics: quantitative methods and applications. MIT Press, 2003.
    • Lars Lundquist and Thomas Sargent, Recursive Macroeconomic Theory, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2000.

  • 44779: Advanced Microeconomics II

    Microeconomics intends to analyze the behavior of individual economic agents and their interactions under different institutional arrangements. In this course we discuss a few topics in game theory, contract theory, and market design. First, we give a quick overview of basic game theory definitions and equilibrium concepts. Games of complete information might be a start to modelling strategic interactions but in order to make our models more realistic we need to step into the world of incomplete information games (Bayesian games). Here we first consider auctions. Then we consider the more general problem of designing mechanisms that could convince agents to do what the designer wants. Our exploration in to mechanism design is not very deep and we only discuss the key concepts such as revelation principle and VCG mechanisms. An important category of incomplete information games is the signaling games. We review a few examples of signaling games and discuss solution concepts and refinements. For the last part of this course we cover a few topics in contract theory such as the basic principal-agent model and its extensions to multi-party contracting environments like menu auctions. The main references for this course are as follows:
    • Mas-Colell, A., Whinston, M. D., and J. R. Green. Microeconomic Theory. Oxford University Press, 1995.
    • Jehle, Geoffrey A. and Philip J. Reny. Advanced Microeconomic Theory. Prentice Hall. 2011.
    • Bernheim, Douglas B. and Michael D. Whinston, “Menu Auctions, Resource Allocation, and Economic Influence”, Quarterly Journal of Economics 101(1) 1986, pp. 1-32.