Economics (ECO)

This course provides an overview of the fundamental economic principles and economic measures used to evaluate the economy, such as gross domestic product, the inflation rate, the unemployment rate, and federal deficits. The course examines how the economy functions, what causes economic difficulties, and the policies that are used to improve the functioning of the economy. This course may be taken independently of ECO 182.

This course provides an overview of how individuals and firms make decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources to maximize the value they obtain from these resources. The course also looks at how markets are structured and how resource scarcity has caused markets to evolve. Finally, it addresses the debate on whether regulating markets can improve their functioning. This course may be taken independently of ECO 181.

The one credit UB Seminar is focused on a big idea or challenging issue to engage students with questions of significance in a field of study and, ultimately, to connect their studies with issues of consequence in the wider world. Essential to the UB Curriculum, the Seminar helps transition to UB through an early connection to UB faculty and the undergraduate experience at a comprehensive, research university. This course is equivalent to any 198 offered in any subject. This course is a controlled enrollment (impacted) course. Students who have previously attempted the course and received a grade of F or R may not be able to repeat the course during the fall or spring semester.

The three credit UB Seminar is focused on a big idea or challenging issue to engage students with questions of significance in a field of study and, ultimately, to connect their studies with issues of consequence in the wider world. Essential to the UB Curriculum, the Seminar helps students with common learning outcomes focused on fundamental expectations for critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and oral communication, and learning at a university, all within topic focused subject matter. The Seminars provide students with an early connection to UB faculty and the undergraduate experience at a comprehensive, research university. This course is equivalent to any 199 offered in any subject. This course is a controlled enrollment (impacted) course. Students who have previously attempted the course and received a grade of F or R may not be able to repeat the course during the fall or spring semester.

This course explores important themes in U.S. economic history, focusing on the drivers of American economic growth. Topics include investment in human capital, technological innovation, improvements in health, and demographic change, as well as income inequality, social mobility, and racial disparities. The course will examine major episodes in history such as the Slavery Era, the Industrial Revolution, the American Westward Expansion, the Great Depression, and the Baby Boom. Historical examples will be used to illuminate modern economic issues.

This course studies the U.S. monetary system including roles of financial institutions, financial markets, commercial banking, the creation of money, the Federal Reserve Banks, and monetary policy. It also covers the macroeconomic relationships among money, interest rates, inflation, and gross domestic product.

This course examines the American labor movement, starting from its turbulent beginnings in the early nineteenth century with the emergence of unions, through to the present day, in which union power has retreated. It studies the economic and social determinants of this evolution.

The course introduces the history and evolution of economic philosophy. Using both secondary sources as well as the original writings of prominent historical thinkers -- such as Aristotle, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, Thorstein Veblen, and John M. Keynes -- the course deepens students' understanding of how economic theories that are taught in the present day have arrived.

This course introduces students to the application of microeconomic theory to current, real-world environmental issues. The course describes the circumstances under which markets fail to allocate resources efficiently and then introduces market-based policy measures that can correct these market failures as well as methods used to quantitatively assess the costs and benefits of these policies. Other topics covered include sustainability, the optimal management of natural resources, and climate change policy. ECO 208 and ECO 412 cannot both be taken for credit.

This course explores how cities form and contribute to economic growth. It examines the role of cities in developed and developing countries, how economic activities are organized within cities, the economics of housing, transportation, pollution, property taxes, zoning, racial and income segregation, and urban poverty. ECO 209 and ECO 421 cannot both be taken for credit.

This course introduces students to the comparative analysis of the economic and political systems of capitalism, socialism, and mixed economies. Topics covered include market efficiency, rent-seeking, regulation, and discussion of economic consequences of anarchy, democracy, and dictatorship.

This course introduces health economics and the U.S. health care system. Basic economic principles are used to understand health-related economic issues and the impacts of various health policies. Students are expected to be able engage in effective health policy evaluations and debates on these using economic reasoning. ECO 211 and ECO 411 cannot both be taken for credit.

This course uses basic economic analysis to examine current economic issues in order to provide insight into the issues and potential remedies. Students participate extensively in debates on these issues.

This course introduces students to the principles of cost-benefit analysis and applies these methods to examine and understand past and current U.S. economic policies. Course topics include economic efficiency, deadweight loss, present-valuations, and non-market valuation techniques for measuring economic costs and benefits that are difficult to quantify, such as those associated with policies that improve the health of the population.

This course introduces data analysis and econometrics. Econometrics is a collection of methods that use data and statistical techniques to extract information from data, to answer real-world applied questions, and to test predictions of economic theory. Econometrics is used by governments and businesses to study the effects of government policies and to use historical data to forecast future values of variables such as gross domestic product, interest rates, unemployment rates, stock market prices, and sales growth. This course is the first in a sequence on applied economic statistics, econometrics, and data analysis. The focus is on applications and interpreting the findings of applied econometric studies.

This course presents the core analytical tools that economists use to model the behavior of consumers, firms, and markets. Topics include the analysis of supply and demand, consumer and producer behavior, competitive markets, monopoly, and pricing with market power. The concepts covered in this course underlie the methodology used in nearly all subfields of economics and provide a framework that can be used to analyze many practical decision problems and policy issues. Following completion of this course, students will be prepared to take upper-division elective courses in economics.

This course introduces new theories and applied topics in microeconomics beyond the basic subjects studied in ECO 405. It covers a broad range of imperfect markets, including monopoly, oligopoly, and monopolistic competition. It also covers topics in game theory, uncertainty, investment and capital markets, general equilibrium analysis, externalities and public goods, and markets with asymmetric information.

This course is an intermediate-level examination of the sometimes-competing models of the macroeconomy. It uses economic theory to explain the causes of inflation, business fluctuations, unemployment, and economic growth.

Topics vary according to instructor.

Topics vary according to instructor.

This course investigates the economic behavior of the health-care industry, including hospital services, physicians, and health insurance and considers rationales for government intervention in planning and insurance. ECO 211 and ECO 411 cannot both be taken for credit.

This course introduces students to the application of microeconomic theory to current, real-world environmental issues. The course describes the circumstances under which markets fail to allocate resources efficiently and then introduces market-based policy measures that can correct these market failures as well as methods used to quantitatively assess the costs and benefits of these policies. Other topics covered include sustainability, the optimal management of natural resources, and climate change policy. The primary difference between this course and ECO 208 is the more advanced level of instruction, which assumes knowledge of microeconomic theory at the ECO 405-level. ECO 208 and ECO 412 cannot both be taken for credit.

A majority of people live in poverty, mostly in economically underdeveloped countries. Why does harsh poverty in some countries persist alongside abundant wealth in other countries? Why do rates of economic growth differ so much between countries? How do education, investment and technological change affect economic development? The course presents theoretical answers along with data and applications of the theories to develop insights into answering these very important questions.

The world's fastest-growing economies in the post-WWII period are clustered in East Asia. This course provides, through economic analysis, a deeper knowledge of East Asian economic growth and an understanding of the growth and development process through real-world applications. With the focus on East Asian economies, this course covers major issues in economic development, theories of growth and convergence, and some current macroeconomic issues of East Asian countries. This course is dual-listed with ECO 518.

This course explores theories of the formation, existence, and growth of urban economies, the relationship between where production is located and industrial organization and trade, and the internal organization of cities. It further covers land and housing markets, pricing and resource allocation in urban transportation, the economics of local government, local public goods, property taxes, and zoning, and the economics of income and race segregation in urban areas. ECO 421 and ECO 209 cannot both be taken for credit.

The course provides a deep understanding of how the Federal Reserve Banking system, commercial banking system, and financial products work in the economy. The course emphasizes on topics such as measurement and management of the financial risks that commercial banks face, with a particular focus on the global financial system. The course teaches students the concepts and tools necessary to understand the interconnections between the financial side and the real side of the U.S. economy, and how the Federal Reserve Bank influence the economy to promote a healthy economy through its monetary policy.

This course provides an overview of financial decision-making and the functions of financial markets. The course first focuses on financial decisions made by individuals and firms, then investigates the way these decisions are implemented through financial systems. The key concepts are resource allocation over time, evaluation of cash flow, risk management, project evaluation, and asset pricing models.

Following the introduction of financial innovations and trading strategies, technical analysis and conservative uses of option trading, as well as data sources and tools, this course will focus on "live" trading with Paper Money on defined portfolios, and modeling, testing, and implementing trading systems with advanced computer techniques (such as data preparation and analysis, simulation, performance monitoring and evaluation). The goal is to empower students to become investors with real confidence in conservative investment decisions. Guest lectures on Machine Learning based techniques will also be offered. This course is dual-listed with ECO 532.

This course introduces the international financial system, including the spot and forward foreign exchange markets, triangular arbitrage, currency futures, interest arbitrage, the balance of payments, fixed vs. flexible exchange rates, devaluation and the balance of trade, measuring and managing foreign exchange exposure, and import and export financing.

This course covers the classical law of comparative advantage, modern theories of trade (including the Heckscher-Ohlin and specific-factor models of trade), growth and trade, international factor movements, multinational corporations, trade-related international organizations, the effects of trade policies with tariffs, quotas, and other instruments, preferential trading arrangements, and topics in economic integration. It also covers briefly the balance of payments, foreign exchange markets, and the international monetary system.

This course is an in-depth investigation of the Marxist theory of capitalism, centering on value and surplus value, accumulation of capital, and class struggle. This course also considers the theory of pre-capitalist societies.

This course analyzes topics in education, including the returns to education, the economics of class size, school quality effects, cognitive test achievements, school performance assessment, student dropout behavior, and the post-schooling labor market experience. This course provides students with the basic concepts, tools, and economic intuition needed to address educational issues and policies from an economic point of view.

This course provides a thorough introduction to the economic analysis of labor markets. The objective of this course are to understand economic models of markets of labor, to learn how labor economists use empirical methods to study labor market issues, and apply these models and methods to understand policy debates. It also examines wage differentials, unemployment, discrimination, and government regulation of wage-setting institutions.

This course discusses the mathematical techniques used in economic analysis, including optimization theory, consumer and producer optimization problems, and general equilibrium models.

This course focuses on economic issues involving both information and Internet technology. On the information side, the course covers the value of information, issues that arise from information asymmetries, and costs of producing and distributing information. On the technology side, it discusses business implications of the Internet by introducing topics concerning market structure, barriers to entry, and the conduct and performance of firms. It also addresses issues concerning patents and copyrights in the context of electronic commerce. In addition to discussions and lectures, the course relies on case studies, guest speakers, and student projects.

This course considers alternative stochastic specifications of linear dynamic econometric models. It studies, among other topics, appropriate estimation techniques, the nature of the fluctuations of the major macroeconomic variables implied by the models, and the problem of forecasting. It emphasizes time-series models.

This course analyzes the costs and benefits of the government sector and taxation. Expenditure topics include public goods, public production of private goods, externalities, the Coase theorem, and cost-benefit analysis. Revenue topics include tax incidence, neutrality, revenue productivity, and equity of alternative taxes.

This course covers basic game theory, which is used to formalize and analyze interactive decision making where one party's outcome depends on not just its own choice, but also another party's choice. Game theory describes essential aspect of social behavior because game theory is used in economics, business, international relations, political sciences. The course also applies the concepts to real-world setting. The course covers decision theory, strategies, strategic dominance, Nash equilibrium in pure and mixed strategies, strategic form games, extensive form games, Bayesian games, and repeated games.

This course investigates the economics of the sports industry, including league rules and formation, the salaries of players, and TV and gate receipts as a general equilibrium model.

This course studies the behavior of firms, such as pricing, production, marketing, investment, research and development, and organization. Factors that can influence the behavior of firms include technology, consumer preferences and beliefs, and other firms¿ behavior, and other market conditions. This course helps students to be better informed managers, industry analysts, consumers, investors, and policymakers.

This course analyzes the economic criteria for regulatory policies and the effects of regulation in various sectors of the economy. This course provides a framework to understand the regulatory process, the mechanism, and consequences behind regulations. The topics include anti-trust regulations, health regulations, and safe regulations.

The objective of this class is to instruct students in the economic applications of multivariate linear regression models using actual data. Conceptual understanding is stressed, rather than the mechanics of procedures. Topics include panel data, nonlinear regression functions, omitted variable bias, causal inference, using various models to analyze data, and critical assessment of studies that use these models. Emphasis is given to estimating econometric models using economic data. This is done using Stata, a computer statistical package.

This course extends the knowledge of econometrics beyond the multiple linear regression models in Econometrics 1. This course is the second class on basic applied econometrics. The objective of this course is to estimate causal effect using econometric models. Students will learn how to implement and interpret the results using linear regression and non-linear regression models using actual data. These topics include randomized experiments, fixed-effects models, instrumental variables models, regression discontinuity models. The emphasis behind these models is causal inference and research design. Students should also be able to use these various models to analyze data, and critically assess studies using these models. Students should be able to articulate why a model may give misleading results, and what to do about such a problem. Understanding and being able to explain the key concepts is an important part of this course. This course is dual listed with ECO 581.

This course instructs students in how to use a statistical software package to analyze economic data using various econometric techniques. Topics covered include basic linear regression models, binary choice models, and time series and simultaneous equation models.

This econometrics course introduces the concept of big data and econometric techniques to analyze big data using the tools of machine learning, and provides main ideas and insights on how we can use big data to solve economic problems. The course discusses differences in objectives, techniques, and settings between the machine learning literature in computer science and economics, and introduces some specific methods from the machine learning literature that are emerging as important tools for economists. These methods include supervised learning for regression and classification, ridge regression estimator, the lasso regression estimator, random forest, dimensionality reduction, unsupervised learning methods of clustering, and natural language processing and data scraping as part of data collection. The course introduces students to these methods primarily using Stata and the integration of Stata with Python. The course does not require prior knowledge in computer programming, but it requires standard knowledge in econometrics.

This course teaches equity valuation. Students determine the fair and intrinsic value of publicly traded common stock by using discounted cashflow analysis and relative valuation techniques. Student outcomes produce a buy, sell, or hold opinion. In addition, class coverage includes discussions on other dynamics that influence equity valuation such as industry analysis and macro-economic factors. This class covers most the CFA Level 1 equity portion of the exam.

This course teaches fixed-income valuation. The class coverage includes: an overview of the global fixed-income markets, price/yield calculations, pricing of bonds with embedded options, bond price and yield volatility, credit analysis, default spreads, and yield curve analysis. This class covers most of the CFA Level 1 fixed-income portion of the exam.

This course presents an advanced theory of money and its effect upon interest rates, prices, employment, and output.

This course studies trade issues and policies. The topics to be covered include: the recent world economic crises; the issues of global trade imbalance and the U.S. current account deficit; international borrowing and lending; dumping, antidumping, countervailing, and safeguard measures; trade disputes in practice; the inner workings of the Chinese economy; the U.S.-China trade war; exchange rate determination and policy; financial crisis and policy measures; the economics of EU and the Eurozone, Brexit and its economic consequences; the economics of offshoring; and world trade and the environments--issues and policies.

Students who have at least junior status and satisfy the department's prerequisites may apply to serve as undergraduate teaching assistants. Under the supervision of the professor, undergraduate teaching assistants may lead discussion section reviewing core concepts and theories, answering questions from the students, and participating in the grading of student work.

Students arrange an internship in the private or public sector. As long as this position has a strong economics content, the student can apply to the director of undergraduate studies in economics for internship credit. Application must be made in advance and must be approved by the director of undergraduate studies.

Students with excellent records in Economics have the opportunity to participate in faculty research projects or to conduct their own original research under the supervision of a faculty mentor, thereby gaining first-hand experience in economic research. Interested students should consult the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the faculty person with whom they wish to conduct research.

This course involves development of an individual project of inquiry into an economics area of particular relevance to the student's interest, and in a topic or to a depth not currently offered through regular coursework.