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Course Descriptions
Prerequisite Courses
Students lacking one or more of the prerequisite courses required for admission (Principles of Microeceonomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, and an undergradute Calculus course, or equivalent) must make up any deficiencies before they may take a course in the program. Mathematical Methods for Economists (440.304) fulfills the calculus prerequisite but does not count toward the 10-course requirement for the MA in Applied Economics degree.
440.304 – Math Methods for Economists
This course covers topics in calculus, linear algebra, and other mathematical methods that are commonly used tools in economics. Throughout the course, the applications of mathematical methods to applied economic analysis are emphasized.
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Core Courses
The core courses can be taken in any order except that 440.605 Statistics must be completed before a student can enroll in 440.606 Econometrics.
440.601 – Microeconomic Theory and Policy
This course offers a systematic presentation of consumer theory, theory of the firm, and market equilibrium. Topics covered include constrained optimization, preferences and utility, exchange, production, pricing, market structures, and welfare economics. These concepts are then applied to various policy issues including price and quantity regulation, taxation of labor and capital, income distribution, and the minimum wage.
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440.602 – Macroeconomic Theory and Policy
This course provides a systematic overview of the theory of aggregate output and employment, the rate of interest, and price level determination. Coverage includes the theories of consumption and investment, the demand and supply of money, inflation, unemployment, and economic growth. These topics are discussed in the context of contemporary empirical work on aggregative relationships. Finally, the theory that is developed is applied to various policy issues such as a zero inflation rule, full employment legislation, and a balanced budget amendment.
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440.605 – Statistics
This course provides a general survey of statistical methodology. Topics include probability and sampling, distribution theory, hypothesis testing, estimation (Maximum Likelihood and Method of Moments), and Analysis of Variance. It is also designed to provide the requisite background for 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.606 – Econometrics
This course focuses on the application of statistical methods to the testing and estimation of economic relationships. After developing the theoretical constructs of classical least squares, common problems encountered when applying this approach, including serial correlation, heteroscedasticity, and multicollinearity, are discussed. Techniques for dealing with these problems are then examined. Models with lagged variables are considered, as is estimation with instrumental variables and two-stage least squares.
Prequisites: 440.605 Statistics.
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Elective Courses
Prerequisites for the elective courses are noted below each course. Prerequisites must be strictly fulfilled to ensure quality studies. Not all elective courses are offered every year, though most are. Electives are chosen in consultation with the student's adviser and are designed to enhance understanding of the theoretical and empirical issues in a topical area. Students should also consider the relevant offerings of other Johns Hopkins University programs, including the School of Advanced International Studies, the Carey Business School, the AAP Environmental Sciences & Policy Program, and the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
440.610 – Monetary Economics
Among the topics covered in this course are money demand and money supply, inflation and the optimal quantity of money, the monetary policy transmission mechanism, the term structure of interest rates, strategies of monetary policy and optimal monetary policy, the time inconsistency problem in monetary policy, and monetary policy targets and rules. For each topic covered, the theory, policy relevance, and empirical evidence are presented and discussed.
Prerequisites: 440.602 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.612 – Topics in Macroeconomics
This course covers nominal rigidities, dynamic-consistency theories of inflation, inflation inertia and the costs of disinflation, monetary policy, costs and benefits of price stability, benefits of output stabilization, alternative policy rules, measuring inflation, unemployment, efficiency-wage theories, the behavior of the NAIRU (Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment), macroeconomics in middle-income countries, high inflation and stabilization, and currency crises. The course also analyzes implications of the buffer-stock and habit formation theories of consumption for comovement of aggregate variables and asset pricing. The models are applied to study the phenomena of declining U.S. saving rate, the dynamic relationship between saving rates and growth, and the equity premium puzzle.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.602 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy; and 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.614 – Macroeconometrics
This course focuses on the practical uses of time-series econometrics in a macroeconomic context. The topics covered include autoregressive-moving average processes, non-stationary time series models, unit root tests, vector autoregression models, and cointegration analysis.
Prerequisites: 440.602 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.615 – Macroeconomic Forecasting
This course examines econometric approaches to forecasting macroeconomic activity. The approaches covered span single equation time series to large, complex, simultaneous equations systems. Different measures to assess the forecasting accuracy of these approaches are addressed. A discussion of these approaches and their relevance for policy recommendations is also covered.
Prerequisites: 440.602 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics. download syllabus
440.616 – Political Economy
This course examines how political and economic forces interact to influence the character of domestic economic policies. The course examines the role of various political institutions such as the structure of elections, the political party system, the legislative process, the powers of the executive, and lobbying. It then assesses how these institutions impact monetary, fiscal, and regulatory policy. An exploration of how the performance of these policies in turn influences the outcome of the political process concludes the course.
No Prerequisites.
440.619 – International Finance
This course provides an overview of open economy macroeconomics, and international financial markets and policies. The focus is on exchange rate determination, the importance of the balance of payments for both the domestic economy and the economies of other countries, international capital flows, the impact of internal debt on the balance of trade, and the interaction and potential conflicts between domestic and international economic policy objectives.
Prerequisites: 440.602 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.620 – Financial Intermediation & Financial Markets
Examines why financial intermediaries exist, how they co-exist with financial markets, and how they have been forced to switch from accepting deposits and making loans to using derivatives to manage risk. Shows how risk management differs between bank-based and market-based economies. Analyzes the economic consequences of financial market imperfections, especially for credit market equilibrium and rationing. theories of bank runs and systemic risk; and how different financial systems and governments can cope with financial crises, financial fragility, and credit market frictions.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; and 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.622 – Economic Development and Growth
This course reviews the historical experience of developed economies, presents models of development and planning techniques, and explores development policies. The course aims to identify major economic questions relevant to less developed countries. The course demonstrates how economic analysis can be used to further the understanding of obstacles to development and how to formulate appropriate policies. A comparison of growth between developing and developed countries is used to illustrate the underlying principles.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.602 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy; and 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.627 – Public Economics: Expenditure Programs & Social Regulation
This course analyzes the determinants and properties of government expenditures and social regulation. The first part of the course is generic: It adresses efficiency and equity in income redistribution; the provision of public goods; coping with externalities, addiction and risk; and voting and bureaucracy. The second part of the course is particular: It examines health policy, education policy, statutory pensions, and welfare policy in a comparative international context.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.602 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy; and 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.630 – Public Economics: Taxation
This course develops the conceptual framework for analyzing governmental taxation. The theoretical impact of taxes on income distribution and resource allocation will be studied. Then these tools will be used to evaluate the strengths and weakness of the current federal tax system as well as various proposals for fundamental tax reform.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.631 – Economics of Sports
This course will examine issues pertaining to professional and amateur sports, including market structures (monopoly and monopsony power) and labor markets (salary caps, collective bargaining, free agency, discrimination). The course builds microeconomic theory drawn from industrial organization, public finance, and labor economics, and will focus on empirically evaluating economic issues that arise in the sports industry.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; and 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.632 – Cost-Benefit Analysis
The objective of this course is to develop and apply an analytical framework for evaluating projects with an emphasis on publicly funded projects. Coverage includes the evaluation of benefits and costs over time, including in the presence of uncertainty, in the absence of market prices, and when income distribution objectives need to be incorporated into a project's evaluation.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.635 – International Trade
The first part of the course examines the causes of trade, the sources of the gains from trade, and the domestic and international distribution of those gains. In addition, it introduces the politico-economic causes of trade policy and addresses the theory and empirics of trade and growth. The second part examines in detail the instruments and consequences of trade policy, namely tariffs and quantitative restrictions, and their modern manifestation as anti-dumping and safeguard measures. The causes and consequences of trade policy, too, are linked to contemporary empirical evidence.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.602 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy; and 440.606 Econometrics.
440.638 – Economics of Industry & Public Policy
In this course, the focus is on the study of markets and the laws and regulations used to ameliorate some of their imperfections, especially the problems caused by market structure and market power. Many economic models used to explain how markets work and what is necessary for market power to exist are investigated. Subsequently, the course explores how regulators and private litigants try to eliminate or control market power, particularly through antitrust law, with respect to price fixing, mergers, and market dominance. Regulatory issues pertaining to such industries as telecommunication, transportation, electrical power, health, safety, and the environment are covered.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.639 – Law and Economics
Techniques of microeconomic theory and game theory are applied to analyze the effects of various laws on individual decisions and on the allocation of resources. Subject areas covered include the theory of public choice, the economics of property rights, contract law, and tort law. Topics include the efficient breach of contract, the determination of damages, the economics of patents and copyrights, optimal liability rules for environmental and other torts, economics of family law, bankruptcy law, zoning law, antitrust law, and the legal process.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.640 – Environmental & Resource Economics
Beginning with the concept of sustainability, the course develops a framework for an economic assessment of environmental problems including the notion of market failure, valuation of environmental resources, and policy design issues associated with using alternative economic incentives and instruments. The second part of the course examines principles of the economically efficient management of non-depletable and depletable (e.g., fossil fuels, natural ecosystems) resources. Various applied settings are used to demonstrate the principles developed in the course.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.641 – Economics of Health Care
This course explores the economics of the health care system in the United States by examining the demand for health care services, the behavior of health care providers, the influence of government policies, and the relationship between health care services and population health levels. Established health care systems and their potential for change in both the United States and other countries are considered in the context of current policy concerns.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.642 – Financial Economics
Finance treats the transfer of resources across time and the transfer of risk among economic entities. The aim of this course is to develop the microeconomic theory relevant to these types of transactions. A set of underlying economic principles is applied to the determination of the value of basic financial instruments such as stocks and bonds, as well as to more complicated derivative securities, such as futures and options. Valuation concepts, in turn, allow for the analysis of various issues of interest to policy makers as well as portfolio managers and investors, such as the term structure of interest rates, portfolio theory, the capital structure of the firm, and risk management.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.643 – Economics of the Labor Market
The determination of earnings and the allocation of labor are examined. This course develops the theory of labor markets, focusing on the institutional structure of both labor supply and labor demand. This theory is then applied to questions of income distribution, unions, wage discrimination, wage rigidity, and government policies such as the minimum wage, affirmative action, and training and retraining programs.
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.644 – Game Theory
Game theory is a mathematical tool developed for the purpose of understanding not only the interaction of economic market participants, but overall observed social phenomena as well. This course provides an introduction to game theory with applications to economics. Moreover, the course presents an approach to modeling a social situation as a game and develops techniques for solving the game in order to gain insight into individual behavior. Topics include repeated games, games with incomplete information, and the experimental testing of hypotheses.
Prerequisite: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy.
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440.647 – Financial Econometrics
This course introduces students to the methods most commonly used in empirical finance. Key models and methods are ARCH, GMM, Regime-Switching Models, test of CAPM (Capital Asset Pricing Model), term structure models, and volatility models (implied, stochastic volatility). Students will also learn aspects of time series econometrics for both stationary and non-stationary variables at different time frequencies, with emphasis on financial variables.
Prerquisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics; and any finance course, taken anywhere.
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440.648 – Microeconometrics
This course covers a number of advanced techniques frequently encountered in applied microeconometric analysis. Topics include generalized method of moments estimation, nonlinear regression, estimation with panel data, systems of regression equations and simultaneous equation models, maximum likelihood estimation and likelihood ratio tests, and limited dependent variable analysis (i.e. Logit, Probit, Tobit, etc.).
Prerequisites: 440.601 Microeconomic Theory and Policy; 440.606 Econometrics.
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440.655 – Independent Research
Students may undertake their own research project for course credit. Prior to proposing a project, interested students must have clearly identified a research topic, and a mentor who is familiar with their prospective inquiry, and who is willing to provide guidance and oversee the project. The mentor must be faculty teaching at the Johns Hopkins University. Students then submit a formal proposal for review and approval to the faculty advisor, to be received no later than one month prior to the beginning of the term in which the student plans to enroll in the course. Students must meet with the mentor and the faculty advisor periodically for discussion of the project's progress, and must complete a research paper, to be approved by the the mentor and the faculty advisor. The research papers will be made available on Hopkins' electronic research repository JScholarship, available to the public.
Instructions for applying to enroll and meeting the standards of the course are available
here; actual enrollment of the student can only be undertaken by the faculty advisor.
Prerequisites: All four Core courses and four Elective courses (including Microeconometrics or Macroeconometrics, and one or more Applied Economics courses in the substantive area of the proposed research), plus a strong academic record (at least B+ average), are minima; admission is by selection.
Students not finishing their paper during the term in which they enroll must register for Continuation in every ensuing semester (including Summer) until their papers are accepted, but Continuation does not count as a separate course. Such students must pay a continuation-of-enrollment fee of $500 for each subsequent term until a final grade has been submitted. In Applied Economics, taking Continuation
once may be considered the norm.
Prerequisite: Independent Research.