Texas A&M University Undergraduate Catalog

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Course Descriptions

Department of Economics

Professors J. W. Allen, R. K. Anderson, L. Auernheimer (Head), B. H. Baltagi, E. K. Browning, T. J. Gronberg, J. R. Hanson II, H. S. Hwang, D. W. Jansen, Q. Li, J. R. Moroney, W. S. Neilson, T. R. Saving, G. Tian, J. B. Van Huyck, S. N. Wiggins; Associate Professors D. R. Deere, A. J. Glass, R. Sarin, M. Ureta; Assistant Professors D. Goldberg, B. Grosskopf, P. Hernandez-Verme, A. Mayer, S. L. Puller, B. Seo, J. D. Straub, T. L. Turocy, G. Verdier; Lecturers J. Edwardson, M. Nelson Assistant Lecturer C. S. Nelson

Economics
(ECON)

202. (ECON 2302) Principles of Economics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Elementary principles of economics; the economic problem and the price system; theory of demand, theory of production and the firm, theory of supply; the interaction of demand and supply.

203. (ECON 2301) Principles of Economics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Measurement and determination of national income, employment and price; introduction to monetary and fiscal policy analysis; the effects of government deficits and debt, exchange rates and trade balances. Prerequisite: ECON 202 or approval of undergraduate advisor.

311. Money and Banking. (3-0). Credit 3.

Fundamental principles of money, credit and banking; arbitrage conditions in domestic and international capital markets; theoretical and institutional analysis of money markets. Prerequisite: ECON 203.

312. Poverty, Inequality and Social Policy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Determinants of inequality in market earnings; philosophical and economic reasons for redistributing income; issues in measurement of inequality and poverty; examination of major social insurance and welfare programs and how they affect income distribution and performance of the economy. Prerequisites: ECON 323 or concurrent enrollment.

319. Economic Development of the United States. (3-0). Credit 3.

Economic development of United States from colonial times to present. Prerequisites: ECON 202 and 203.

320. Economic Development of Europe. (3-0). Credit 3.

Development of wage system expansion of markets, Industrial Revolution, relation of industrial development to political policy. Prerequisites: ECON 202 and 203.

322. Applied Microeconomic Theory. (3-0). Credit 3.

Use of microeconomic theory in the analysis of problems that would face decision makers, not only in business but also in government, non-profit firms and other institutions. Prerequisite: ECON 202. May not be counted toward a major in economics.

323. Microeconomic Theory. (3-0). Credit 3.

Determination of prices and their role in directing consumption, production and distribution under both competitive and non-competitive market situations. Prerequisite: ECON 202; MATH 142.

324. Comparative Economic Systems. (3-0). Credit 3.

Foundations of the market economy, market socialism, and economic planning; comparative performance of these alternative institutional arrangements; economies in transition. Prerequisites: ECON 202 and 203.

330. Economic Development. (3-0). Credit 3.

A study of the less developed world; economic problems and solutions. Prerequisites: ECON 202 and 203.

410. Macroeconomic Theory. (3-0). Credit 3.

Theory of the determination of aggregate levels of national income, employment and prices; monetary and fiscal policy analysis, effects of government debt and deficits. Prerequisite: ECON 203.

412. Public Finance. (3-0). Credit 3.

Economic role of governments; the choice of public sector output in a democracy and the effects of various taxes on resource allocation and income distribution. Prerequisite: ECON 323.

415. History of Economic Thought. (3-0). Credit 3.

Survey of main strands of economic thinking from medieval times through the 20th century; classical, socialist, neoclassical and modern thinkers and the doctrine of the eras. Prerequisite: ECON 323.

418. Economics of Labor. (3-0). Credit 3.

Economics of the labor market: factors affecting the economy’s demand for labor and the supply of labor; labor market problems such as unemployment and poverty; the economics of trade unions and collective bargaining. Prerequisite: ECON 323.

420. Law and Economics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Mutual interaction of the prevailing legal system and economic phenomena; development of a series of testable hypotheses concerning the effects of laws and regulations on incentives and economic behavior, the allocation of resources and the distribution of income. Prerequisite: ECON 323.

425. The Organization of Industry. (3-0). Credit 3.

Relationships between structure, conduct and performance of industries in the American economy using both theoretical and empirical material; antitrust regulation, pricing, product characteristics, advertising, technical change and environmental effects; the American experience contrasted with that of other countries; growth of international industries. Prerequisite: ECON 323.

426. Economics of Antitrust and Regulation. (3-0). Credit 3.

Bureaucratic and judicial impact of antitrust laws and other regulatory means on the American economy; efficiency gains and losses associated with price discrimination, predation, cartelization, horizontal merger, vertical integration, resale price maintenance; Supreme Court opinions delivered in landmark antitrust cases. Prerequisite: ECON 323.

435. Economics of Resource Scarcity. (3-0). Credit 3.

Natural resource management and use; problems of renewable and non-renewable resources including scarcity and market responses, role of property rights, externalities, benefit-cost analysis and energy policy. Prerequisite: ECON 323.

440. Experimental Economics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Experimental techniques in economics and survey of literature in experimental economics; credibility of experimental data and criteria for determining reliability; application of statistical treatment to experimental data. Prerequisite: ECON 323.

442. Personnel Economics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Exploration of the economics of incentives and information through the employment relationship; motivation of workers through incentive pay, promotion tournaments and threats; ways to avoid adverse selection in the hiring process; attracting and retaining employees; downsizing. Prerequisite: ECON 323.

445. Financial Economics. (3-0). Credit 3.

Economic analysis of money and financial markets; market structures, efficiency, institutional features; international markets; arbitrage; derivative securities; asset pricing in complete and incomplete markets; relation to rest of economy. Prerequisites: ECON 323; STAT 211 or 303; junior or senior classification.

449. Economics of Decision-Making Strategy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to principles of decision-making and analysis of strategic interaction; formal modeling of decision problems involving one or more agents, integrating preferences, risk, and uncertainty into analysis, and using principles of game theory to advise choices; applications include search, signaling, design of contracts, agendas and repeated interaction. Prerequisites: ECON 323; junior or senior classification.

452. International Trade Theory and Policy. (3-0). Credit 3.

Basis for trade; theory of comparative advantage; determination of product and factor prices; gains from international trade; commercial policy and its implications for income distribution; concept of effective protection; market distortions, policy generated distortions and the arguments for tariffs. Prerequisite: ECON 322 or 323.

459. Games and Economic Behavior. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to game theory for advanced undergraduates; definition and existence of an equilibrium point for strategic, repeated and extensive form games; strategic and evolutionary equilibrium refinements; equilibrium selection; applications include auctions, bargaining, oligopoly, strategic market games, team production, voting and behavioral game theory. Prerequisites: ECON 323; MATH 142 or equivalent or approval of instructor.

465. Contemporary Economic Issues. (3-0). Credit 3.

Application of microeconomic and macroeconomic analyses to evaluate contemporary economic issues. Prerequisites: ECON 323 and 410.

485. Directed Studies. Credit 1 to 6.

Research and design of specific problem areas approved on an individual basis with the intention of promoting independent study and to supplement existing course offerings. Results of study presented in writing. Prerequisites: Major or minor in economics; approval of undergraduate advisor.

489. Special Topics in… Credit 1 to 4.

Selected topics in an identified area of economics. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: Approval of undergraduate advisor.