Economics (ECO)
Examines basic causes of fluctuation in business activity. Topics include an examination of exogenous and endogenous influences on Gross National Product and other measures of economic activity, and the relationship between cycles in Gross National Product and cycles in particular industries and companies. The course emphasizes methods and techniques currently in use by business forecasters.
Analysis of energy markets, with a focus on static and dynamic efficiency. Oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear, and renewables (including wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and biofuels). Regulation and deregulation in electricity and natural gas markets. Energy derivatives. Policy issues related to market externalities, including pollution and climate change.
See ENV 4323 for course information.
Designed to acquaint the student with rudimentary mathematical techniques and their application to economic analysis.
Presentation and discussion of current research in economics. Course will be graded pass/fail.
Presentation and discussion of current research in economics. Course will be graded pass/fail.
This course will enable the participant to see how economic analysis is applied to key global issues that affect management decisions at home and abroad. Questions related to globalization and interdependence among nations will be addressed.
Use of economic analysis by managers to help firms acquire and sustain competitive advantage.
Use of economic analysis to aid managers in obtaining favorable outcomes in situations involving strategic interaction between and within firms.
Use of macroeconomic analysis by managers in tactical and strategic planning with reference to long-term macroeconomic trends and short-term business cycle fluctuations; sources of disaggregated data; forecasting.
To fulfill requirements for non-thesis master's students who need to complete final degree requirements other than coursework during their last semester. This may include such things as a comprehensive examination, oral examination, or foreign language requirement. Students are required to be registered during the semester they graduate.
This course is required for MBA and MSIS students who do not have an undergraduate degree in business from an AACSB-accredited institution. It provides students with a foundation in economics which is expected of all business graduate students, and helps them to understand the market environment in which businesses operate.
This course analyzes national and global economic issues from a macroeconomic perspective. Topics include economic aggregates, interest rates, the balance of payments and exchange rates, aggregate production, economic growth, unemployment, consumption, investment, macroeconomic dynamics, monetary policy, and fiscal policy.
Application of the scientific method to economics using laboratory experimentation to test economic theories about individual and group behavior. Exploration of behavioral concepts to expand economic modeling beyond pure rational choice models.
A seminar designed to cover aspects of micro theory that are relevant for decision making within the firm. Emphasis is placed on the decision-making process. Numerous problems, cases, and examples are used to illustrate the theory.
An examination of the many ways in which government and business interact. Topics covered include the historical development of government regulations of business; the current state of antitrust enforcement; issues involving multinational corporations; the basis for regulated markets and forces favoring deregulation; the impact of consumer protection policies and affirmative action policies on business; and the outlook for government and business relations in the future.
This course provides a technical treatment of the theory of games and strategic behavior with an emphasis on applications in economics and business. This framework helps us to understand the nature of competition and cooperation. We also study contractual arrangements that affect incentives under different information constraints.
Economic rationale and effect of various taxes, user pricing, and the role of government in the allocation of resources, stabilization of the economy, and redistribution of wealth.
Origins of the energy crisis, the effect of oil prices on inflation and the international monetary system, the origins and nature of OPEC, the economic feasibility of alternative energy sources, U.S. energy policy alternatives, and other current issues in the field of Energy Economics. A portion of the course is devoted to examining the energy industry in Texas and the Southwest.
Adaptation of economic theory for use in regional economic analysis. Selected problems: urban renewal, transportation, plant location, individual location decisions, land use, regional economic growth, and structure.
This course applies tools of economic analysis to evaluate the evolving role of electronic commerce in the United States and world economies. The course addresses theories of firm conduct and performance in the electronic marketplace; the role of information and e-commerce intermediaries; the economics of Internet advertising; intellectual property rights of digital products; national and international public-policy issues of e-commerce; the financial and monetary implications of electronic trading; and the broader implications of e-commerce for U.S. and world economic activity.
World economy with particular emphasis upon emerging problems relating to the international monetary system, the trend toward economic regionalism, the growth of the less developed countries, and economic relations between private enterprise economies and state trading enterprises. Basic theories of international economics are developed as a framework for analysis of policy issues.
Foreign exchange markets, emphasizing theoretical and empirical issues and their relation to the business environments. Topics include exchange rate regimes, efficiency, forecast measurement and management of foreign exchange risk forward and futures markets, options, swaps, and multi-currency bonds.
Major issues involved in the process of development such as mass poverty, population growth, agricultural transformation, and trade.
Economic institutions in a number of capitalist and socialist nations, and their relative success or failure presented in the context of country studies. Topics include the problems involved in making international statistical comparisons, the importance of the rise in the U.S. service sector, the operation of private and nationalized industries in Western Europe, lifetime employment in Japan, central planning in the Soviet Union, socialist economic reforms, international trade among and between Western and Eastern nations, and the convergence hypothesis.
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to apply a wide range of ideas, concepts, and results from the economics discipline to be more effective managers. Topics may include incentives, market structures and pricing, price discrimination, game theory, macroeconomic theory, analysis and application, and exchange rates and international trade.
Historical and analytical study of economic thought, beginning with Mercantilism and including the following schools of thought: Physiocratic, Classical, Marxian, Austrian, Neoclassical, Institutional, Keynesian, and Post-Keynesian.
Empirical estimation of economic relationships; behavioral (consumers), technical (firms), and institutional. It teaches proper use of linear estimation techniques along with problem identification and solution.
Introduction to modern tools for determining the existence of causal relationships among variables. Emphasizes both the design of the research process and the use of advanced econometric techniques.
Application of economic principles to health care issues; examining economic efficiency in a variety of circumstances including the production and distribution of health services, health insurance, governmental programs, health care personnel and hospitals. Analysis of public in health and medical care from an economic perspective.
Best practices in data collection, cleaning, manipulation, and data and code management. Methods and principles of data exploration and visualization. Unsupervised statistical learning techniques, supervised statistical learning techniques, and false discovery principles.
Assessing model accuracy, resampling methods, model selection, regularization, and dimension reduction. Machine learning techniques and their applications in economic research.
See FIN 5360 for course information.
See FIN 5362 for course information.
See FIN 5368 for course information.
See FIN 5370 for course information.
This course helps students understand and apply a wide range of economics-related theories, concepts, and facts to managerial decision-making. Four areas of economics are considered: (i) managerial economics, with a focus on how to determine what prices a firm should charge for its products; (ii) game theory, with a focus on how issues of strategic interaction arise in business settings and what kinds of decisions in various circumstances are likely to lead to the most favorable outcomes; (iii) macroeconomics, with a focus on applying theories and information about the national economic environment in which firms operate to enhance managerial effectiveness; and (iv) international economics.
This course may be taken for one to six semester hours of credit.
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