Graduate Diploma in Economics

This subject examines estimation and testing of microeconometric models based on cross-sectional and panel data and quantitative and limited dependent variables. Illustrative application topics normally will include labour economics, consumer demand and finance. The computer software used is Stata.

Normally topics will include current techniques used in forecasting in finance, accounting and economics such as regression models, Box-Jenkins, ARIMA models, vector autoregression, causality analysis, cointegration and forecast evaluation, and ARCH models. The computer software used is Eviews.

This subject will cover the determinants, patterns and effects of international trade within a general equilibrium framework, where the interrelationships amongst product and factor markets in an economy are explicitly taken into consideration. It deals with how trade is affected by government policies and international trading agreements. It introduces basic analytical tools for evaluating the welfare and income distributional consequences of trade policies from both an industry and national perspective. The theories are related to current issues in international economics, such as globalisation, regional trading blocs and trade policies generally in Australia and the rest of the world.

This subject will address economy-wide issues in economic development. The main objectives of the subject are to examine the key determinants of economic growth and the actual development experience of selected countries. Special emphasis will be placed on drawing policy lessons from the latest research and country experience of growth and development. The subject will cover topics such as social welfare, education, institutions, corruption, microfinance, foreign aid, the geography of economic development, and theories of economic growth and development.

This subject is an introduction to the field of industrial organisation. Industrial organisation deals with the structure, management, and performance of firms and markets. It is concerned with firm behaviour and strategy, the implications of firm behaviour for economic efficiency, and the role public policy plays in promoting efficiency. Most of the time, models of perfect competition and monopoly fail to explain the composition and behaviour of most industries in modern capitalist economies. Our goal in this class is to depart from those two idealised models and to explain why industries are composed of a few large firms instead of many small ones. We will be looking at the strategic interactions between firms in a market, and analysing such market phenomena as price discrimination, product differentiation, price wars, mergers, vertical relationships between firms, advertising, entry and exit, and research and development. Whenever possible, we will try to study real-world applications of the theories that we learn in class.

This course provides an overview of the economic principles that underlie the operation of banks and other financial institutions. The impact of monetary policy in Australia will also be examined with particular emphasis on the roles played by the Reserve Bank and other banking and financial institutions. Topics may include how economic theory applies to financial markets; the process of financial intermediation; available financial statistics; the money supply process and the implementation of monetary policy; money in the macroeconomy; the recent behaviour of major financial aggregates; the 1997/98 Asian economic crisis; financial regulation and deregulation; the monetary transmission mechanism; and a discussion of the recent approach to monetary policy in Australia. The course emphasises institutional and public policy issues, providing an Australian perspective on this topical subject.

Topics include the reasons for, and the economic analysis of, government intervention in food production, food distribution and food consumption; agri-food policies in selected countries; food standards and international trade, world food security; and agriculture in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Prescribed Texts: There is no prescribed text.  Readings based on journal articles will be provided through the LMS.

Environmental issues will be addressed with the aid of economic theory. Topics include sustainability of economies; pollution as an externality; approaches to dealing with pollution in different countries; methods of valuing the environment and environmental damage; effect on future generations; environmental amenity as a public good; and the environment and economic development.

This subject addresses the economic principles underlying various areas of the law and which are relevant to legal practice. Three main issues will be studied. The first is competition law and consumer protection. The second is property rights, including intellectual property. The third main area concerns issues of damages and compensation. The course will develop economic tools to analyse these legal issues. These include incomplete contracting, oligopoly analysis and incomplete information.

This subject introduces students to empirical research demonstrating economically important patterns of behaviour that violate standard rationality assumptions, and to theorectical research aimed at capturing these behavioural patterns in tractable models. Most of the semester will be devoted to behavioural aspects of individual decision making, such as temptation and present-biased preferences, prospect theory, reference-dependent preferences, and over-confidence. We will also cover happiness research and behavioural public economics. This subject can be profitably taken alongside ECON30022, which in addition to the design of experiments also covers behavioural aspects of strategic interaction.

Set theory, univariate calculus and optimisation are reviewed and applied to the theory of the firm and the theory of consumer demand. Linear algebra concepts including matrix operations, vector spaces and quadratic forms are introduced and applied to problems in economics and econometrics. Applications of multivariate calculus including constrained optimisation, the envelope theorem and Kuhn-Tucker conditions are covered.

Experimental Economics is a branch of economics that uses controlled experiments to evaluate theories and behavioural assumptions, as well as to test policies and their implementation. The subject will introduce students to experimental methods as applied in economics and present key findings from laboratory and field experiments. The first lecture in most weeks will be devoted to running experiments where students will experience different economic situations. The second lecture will present the theories underlying the experimental games and will use the experimental data from the first lecture (as well as other experimental data) as a vehicle for discussion. By comparing actual individual behaviour to the theoretical predictions, the course aims to provide a deep understanding of individual behaviour and how economic science progresses. Topics that will be covered may include risk, time, and social preferences, trading in a variety of markets such as auction and markets with price controls and for trading long-lived assets, voluntary provision of public goods and cooperation enforcement, social norms and behavioural game theory.

This subject focuses on the application of economics to the analysis of policy issues facing governments in Australia and overseas. The subject begins with a general introduction on the application of principles of microeconomics for guiding the formulation of policy options and their interpretation. It then explores in detail specific topics drawn from health economics, microeconomic reform, income distribution, poverty or other relevant policy areas. For each specific topic the subject presents and evaluates results in the literature and analyses future policy options and their effects.

The specification, estimation and testing of a range of models used to analyse microeconometric data is examined. The models to be considered may include discrete choice models, models for censored and truncated data, models of duration data, models with self-selectivity, models of count data, and panel data.

Features of financial data require specific methods of analysis. Basic econometric tools are presented for the analysis of data such as stock exchange returns, exchange rates, bonds prices, etc. Applications of econometric models in finance include option pricing, extreme values and value at risk as well as financial assets portfolio selection. A special focus is put on modelling and forecasting of returns and volatility of financial assets. An up to date selection time series econometric models and methods is presented. The computer software used is R.

This course teaches students how to build econometric models from economic theory to investigate how markets operate, and evaluate policy-relevant questions. Applications of econometric tools developed in this course will be highlighted in various fields of economics including industrial organisation, public economics, health, and others. Examples of topics covered include: firms' use of price discrimination as a profit-maximising strategy; measuring the welfare effects of mergers for antitrust analysis; identifying strategic interaction amongst governments and its impact on policy decisions; and quantifying moral hazard and adverse selection in health insurance markets. Basic topics in numerical analysis will also be covered, including optimisation, numerical integration, and numerical differentiation. The computer software used is MATLAB.

Topics include determinants of the patterns of trade and the gains from trade; the analytics of the instruments of trade policy under different market structures; the political economy of trade policy; the economics of preferential trade agreements; and the role of the World Trade Organisation.

This subject provides an overview of selected topics in industrial organization with applications in antitrust and innovation policy. Industrial organization deals with the structure, management, and performance of firms and markets. It is concerned with firm behaviour and strategy, the implications of firm behaviour for economic efficiency, and the role public policy plays in promoting efficiency. The main emphasis will be on theoretical principles although there will be some discussion of empirical approaches. The selection of topics will be organized around key questions in antitrust and innovation policy. The discussion will be guided by practical examples and case studies.

This is an advanced subject in labour economics. Topics to be covered will include: overview of labour market outcomes in Australia; labour supply (including labour force participation, hours of work, and the effects of public policy); labour demand; human capital; labour market discrimination; unemployment; wage determination; earnings distributions; impact of unions. Other topics may include labour market flows (including the analysis of quits and layoffs), immigration, and employment structures within firms. In each topic relevant theory and empirical research (especially relevant Australian studies) will be examined.

This subject provides an overview of the field of political economics. Political economics extends the scope of standard economic analysis by assuming that individuals follow their own agenda and maximize their own utility not only in the economic, but also in the political sphere. The following broad areas will be covered: Determinants of institutional quality and its effects on economic performance; models of political competition and (re-)elections; various (so-called) political and institutional failures, including corruption and rent seeking, and delays in welfare-increasing reforms.

The subject provides a rigorous introduction to non-cooperative game theory and the economics of asymmetric information. The solution concepts covered include dominant strategies, as well as Nash, subgame perfect, Bayesian Nash and weak sequential equilibria.

This subject examines estimation and testing of microeconometric models based on cross-sectional and panel data and quantitative and limited dependent variables. Illustrative application topics normally will include labour economics, consumer demand and finance. The computer software used is Stata.

Normally topics will include current techniques used in forecasting in finance, accounting and economics such as regression models, Box-Jenkins, ARIMA models, vector autoregression, causality analysis, cointegration and forecast evaluation, ARCH models. The computer software used is EVIEWS.

This course is designed to introduce you to the mathematical underpinnings of the main tools used in empirical economics. Special emphasis will be given to three topics: models of probability, methods of estimation, and methods of inference. Simple mathematical analysis, in particular both differential and integral calculus as well as linear algebra, will be used extensively throughout the course. In an effort to bridge the gap between analytic, closed-form methods and numerical methods, you will also be introduced to a high-level matrix and programming language, Matlab, to provide you with a basis to solve problems which have no closed-form solutions.

The specification, estimation and testing of a range of models used to analyse microeconometric data is examined. The models to be considered may include discrete choice models, models for censored and truncated data, models of duration data, models with self-selectivity, models of count data and panel data.

Features of financial data require specific methods of analysis. Basic econometric tools are presented for the analysis of data such as stock exchange returns, exchange rates, bonds prices, etc. Applications of econometric models in finance include option pricing, extreme values and value at risk as well as financial assets portfolio selection. A special focus is put on modelling and forecasting of returns and volatility of financial assets. An up to date selection of time series econometric models and methods is presented. The computer software used is R.

The aim of this subject is to take the skills developed in ECOM90005 Advanced Econometric Techniques and use them to explore the main techniques for analysing a variety of econometric problems.

Special topics may be offered from time to time which reflect the interests of permanent and/or visiting members of staff. The purpose of this subject is to develop the research ability of students through intensive discussion of set readings. Details of specific topics to be covered each year will be provided to students a month before the beginning of the semester in which the subject is taught.

This subject covers the application of computer based techniques to solve the problems encountered in economics and business. The techniques covered include the construction and use of hierarchical data sets, the use of multivariate graphics and statistics in the context of data mining applications, the elements of computer simulations, and the application of linear programming for the analysis of productivity in the context of data envelopment analysis. One aspect of this subject is the introduction of students to different software options. Possible software to be considered will be SAS, Stata, GAUSS, SPSS, TSP, EMS, Scientific Word, and Eviews.

This subject aims to familiarize students with the tools commonly used for identifying and estimating tretment effects and evaluating programs and policies. Topics to be covered include the use and interpretation of Difference in Difference, Instrumental Variables, and Regression Discontinuity Design Estimators. The main theoretical ideas are illustrated with examples drawn from recent applications in the literature. Computer software such as Stata will be used.

This course teaches students how to build econometric models from economic theory to investigate how markets operate, and evaluate policy-relevant questions. Applicants of econometric tools developed in this course will be highlighted in various fields of economics including industrial organization, public economics, health and others. Examples of topics covered include: firms’ use of price discrimination as a profit-maximizing strategy; measuring the welfare effects of mergers for antitrust analysis; identifying strategic interaction amongst governments and its impact on policy decisions; and quantifying moral hazard and adverse selection in health insurance markets. Basic topics in numerical analysis will also be covered, including optimization, numerical integration, and numerical differentiation. The computer software used is MATLAB.

The subject is an advanced treatment of selected topics in Microeconomics. Topics will be drawn from the following: an introduction to dynamic games of complete and incomplete information, bargaining, general equilibrium theory, welfare analysis, aggregation and the analysis of incomplete markets.

This is an advanced subject in labour economics. Topics to be covered will include: Overview of labour market outcomes in Australia; Labour supply (including labour force participation, hours of work, and the effects of public policy); Labour demand; Human capital; Labour market discrimination; Unemployment; Wage determination; Earnings distributions; Impact of unions. Other topics may include labour market flows (including the analysis of quits and layoffs), immigration, and employment structures within firms. In each topic relevant theory and empirical research (especially relevant Australian studies) will be examined.

This subject aims to provide students with a standard  tool kit to analyse dynamic macroeconomic models and to give a detailed coverage of some important applications in macroeconomics. The subject is composed of four parts. Part I provides a brief review of the formal theory of dynamic optimization. Part II devotes to some general numerical techniques to solve and simulate a dynamic model. Part III introduces some econometric techniques that are used to estimate a structural model with data. Part IV focuses on applications of these techniques in some important research areas of macroeconomics, including real business cycle models and its various extensions, incomplete market models, firm dynamics models, monetary models. 

Topics include explanations of the patterns of trade and the gains from trade; the analytics of the instruments of trade policy under different market structures; the generalised theory of distortions in open economies; the political economy of trade policy; the economics of preferential trade agreements; and the role of the World Trade Organisation.

The subject provides a rigorous introduction to non-cooperative game theory and the economics of asymmetric information. The solution concepts covered include dominant strategies, as well as Nash, subgame perfect, Bayesian Nash and weak sequential equilibria.

The subject will cover development economics. The topics covered may include: economic growth theory, including models in which growth is endogenous; measurement of poverty and inequality; tests of the efficiency of labour and credit markets; consumption smoothing; micro-credit schemes; and demographic issues.

This subject studies microeconomic conditions in developing countries. It aims to go beyond a mere description of economic conditions in these parts of the world. The emphasis is on rigorous theoretical economic modelling of phenomena observed in developing countries. Substantial attention will also be paid to the testing of the theories using real world data. Students are thus expected to have some econometric knowledge.

The general problems associated with the role of the state in the economy. Topics will be chosen from the theory of the state; the role of government in promoting economic growth; collective choice mechanisms; the economic analysis of bureaucracy; public goods; social insurance; national debt; and taxation issues.

This subject provides an overview of the field of political economics. Political economics extends the scope of standard economic analysis by assuming that individuals follow their own agenda and maximize their own utility not only in the economic, but also in the political sphere. The following broad areas will be covered: Determinants of institutional quality and its effect on economic performance; models of political competition and (re-)elections; various (so-called) political and institutional failures, including corruption and rent seeking, and delays in welfare-increasing reforms.

A subject of advanced study of topics in economics drawing on recently published articles or books and on-going research of staff and visitors. Details of specific topics to be covered each year will be provided to students a month before the beginning of the semester in which the subject is taught. Details of specific topics to be covered each year will be provided to students a month before the beginning of the semester in which the subject is taught.

This subject introduces students to the use of advanced mathematics in economics. After reviewing basic concepts we will study in detail some of the classic existence proofs in game theory and general equilibrium theory. Students will be expected to solve problems and generate proofs, and will be assessed on this.

Special topics may be offered from time to time which reflect the interests of permanent and/or visiting members of staff. The purpose of this subject is to develop the research ability of students through intensive discussion of set readings. Details of specific topics to be covered each year will be provided to students a month before the beginning of the semester in which the subject is taught.

This subject focuses on the application of economics to the analysis of policy issues facing governments in Australia and overseas. The subject begins with a general introduction on the application of principles of microeconomics for guiding the formulation of policy options and their interpretation. It then explores in detail specific topics drawn from health economics, microeconomic reform, income distribution, poverty or other relevant policy areas. For each specific topic the subject presents and evaluates results in the literature and analyses future policy options and their effects.