Courses
Business Economics and Public Policy
- BUS–G 100 Business in the Information Age (3 cr.) This course is designed to provide beginning students with an introductory but comprehensive survey of business practices, public policy, and economic information. The course focuses on sources of information, what that information means and how to interpret it, the accuracy and reliability of the data, and its use and abuse. This course will serve as an introduction to the use of library and other major domestic and foreign information sources such as The Wall Street Journal. Emphasis is on trends, current events, and issue analysis.
- BUS–G 101 Business in the Information Age: Honors (3 cr.) P: Students must be admitted to the Hutton Honors College or the Business Honors Program. This course is designed to provide beginning students with an introductory but comprehensive survey of business practices, public policy, and economic information. The course focuses on sources of information, what it means and how to interpret it, the accuracy and reliability of the data, and its use and abuse. This course will serve as an introduction to and other major domestic and foreign information sources such as The Wall Street Journal. Emphasis is on trends, current events, and issue analysis. G101 is the honors version of G 100 and it shares the same basic course content as G100.
- BUS–G 202 Business, Government and Society (2 cr.) P: ECON-E 201 or ECON-S 201 with a grade of C or better. G202 is an I-Core prerequisite that is required of all business majors. This course is intended to make you aware of the broad range of ways in which the non-market environment—especially government policy—affects business, and give you an understanding of the process through which businesses and other special interest groups create and change the rules of the game under which they function. In today’s economy, successful business strategy entails more than outmaneuvering rival companies; managers must also devise strategies to cope with the global, non-market forces that confront businesses and other forms of organization. Managers need to understand how public policy is made and how special interest groups, including their own businesses, can affect the policy process. This is true both for the CEO of a multinational corporation dealing with multiple governments and the administrator for a local partnership trying to deal with city officials.
- BUS–G 300 Introduction to Managerial Economics and Strategy (3 cr.) Only for non-business majors. Managerial Economics is a course which illustrates how economic principles can be applied to making effective and profitable management decisions for a company. Within the course, students also learn the potentially disastrous ramifications for a firm which does not take economic principles into account. The goal, then, of this course is to expose the student to effective managerial decision making. For a student interested in any management type position, this course will provide a fundamental basis for further study. Managerial economics is also a course that will serve the student throughout daily life. Not open to business majors. No credit toward a degree in business. Students may not receive credit for both G300 and G304.
- BUS–G 303 Game Theory for Business Strategy (3 cr.) P: (ECON-E 201 or ECON-S 201) with grade of C or better. Game theory, a traditional tool for academic economists, has become increasingly popular in the business world and is an essential tool of economic consultants. A major in Business Economics and Public Policy must have more than a rudimentary knowledge of Game Theory. Managerial decisions are not static and cannot be made in isolation. A manager must take into account and react to the “moves” of rival firms, government, and his or her subordinates and superiors within the company. Game theory is designed for the study of these types of interactions. The ultimate aim of the course is to strengthen your ability to think strategically in business situations, rather than to teach you facts or theories. To achieve this aim, we iterate between theory and practice. We use both formal case studies and real world examples to sharpen our strategic thinking skills.
- BUS–G 304 Managerial Economics (3 cr.) P: ECON-E 201 or ECON-S 201 with a grade of C or better. Only for business majors; non-majors should take G300. Managerial Economics is a course which illustrates how economic principles can be applied to making effective and profitable management decisions for a company. Within the course students also learn the potentially disastrous ramifications for a firm which does not take economic principles into account. The goal, then, of this course is to expose the student to effective managerial decision making. For a student interested in any management type position, this course will provide a fundamental basis for further study. Managerial economics is also a course that will serve the student throughout daily life.
- BUS–G 345 Money, Banking, and Capital Markets (3 cr.) P: (ECON-E 201 or ECON-S 201) and (ECON-E 202 or ECON-S 202) with grades of C or better. This course is designed to give students a broad introduction to the operation and structure of the U.S. financial system. It provides an analysis of the structure and functions of contemporary financial institutions and markets, together with an analysis of the prices that are determined in these markets. Contemporary macroeconomic and financial developments are emphasized and current phenomena and policy proposals and their implications are discussed.
- BUS–G 350 Business Econometrics (3 cr.) P: (ECON-E 370 or equivalent) with grade of C or better. Statistical analysis is a necessary and powerful tool for many business decisions. This course is designed to apply the tools and methodologies used in the business world. The focus is on demand analysis, group comparisons, discriminant analysis, and sales/earnings forecasts.
- BUS–G 400 Capstone in Economic Consulting (3 cr.) P: (BUS-G 304). This capstone course intends to develop or sharpen those skills that are associated with a successful consultant. A good economic consultant must be able to ask the right questions, possess a strong analytical background, and be able to communicate findings and recommendations effectively to his or her client. By analytical background, we mean: familiarity with sound economic thinking; ability to create or use financial, econometric, statistical, or other types of modeling; effective command of spreadsheets, statistical software, and databases. In addition to all of the foregoing, a successful consultant must demonstrate a professional attitude, good judgment, the ability to work well both individually and as part of a team, and the ability to work under pressure without compromising on work quality. The student who takes this course is expected to be highly motivated and have basic diagnostic, analytical, and communication skills. A capstone experience signals a highly interactive structure between faculty and students.
- BUS–G 406 Business Enterprise and Public Policy (3 cr.) This course is on government regulation. Areas of government regulation that affect business include Antitrust Laws, Consumer Protection Laws, Regulation of Natural Monopoly, Workplace Safety, and Pollution Regulation. A business's ability to deal with such regulations is often the single most important determination of its profitability. The course will look at the reasons regulations exist, including not only why they might help the efficiency of the economy but also why they might exist even if they are inefficient, and at how businesses respond to the incentives given them by government.
- BUS–G 456 Non-Market Risk Consulting (3 cr.) This course details the connection between business strategies and the non-market environment, including government regulation, societal regulation (activist group pressure), technological changes and broader changes in the firm’s macro-economic environment. In particular the course focuses on how changes in this non-market environment pose potential risk to long-term firm profitability and how managers can best avoid or mitigate those risks. The course also focuses on potential profit maximizing opportunities that may arise from changes in the firm’s non-market environment. With the rapid changes in mass communication that are embodied in social network development, social movements are now a much more powerful influence on corporations and governments. Along with technological change, these social movements can bring rapid changes in the firm’s non-market environment. Armed with a deeper understanding of linkages between the firm’s market and non-market environment, students engage in a directed consulting project aimed at exploring how firms can undertake changes that will best position them to either avoid or mitigate the potential non-market risks they face or directly profit from those changes.
- BUS–G 490 Independent Study in Business Economics and Public Policy (1-3 cr.) P: Consent of department chairperson and of instructor. Supervised individual study and research in the student's special field of interest. The student proposes the investigation desired and, in conjunction with the instructor, develops the scope of work to be completed. Written report required. In conjunction with the Economic Consulting major, a student may select to work with an economic consulting firm in the summer following the junior year. Upon returning to campus, the student then writes a detailed report on the internship activities. An alternative is for the student to work on an actual consulting job under the guidance of a faculty member.
- BUS–G 492 Data Analysis using Economics Modeling (3 cr.) P or C: BUS-G 350. In this course, students develop the analytical tools and hands-on experience with data and economic models to optimally utilize information in decision-making, often in the context of economic consulting. We cover data management and descriptive statistics, along with advanced analysis including policy evaluation and endogeneity control. We discuss these topics in the context of classic economic and business questions, and we also discuss several accessible, pertinent research papers to highlight key concepts. In addition, students develop presentation and communication skills, particularly with regard to quantitative outputs, and learn valuable, targeted computer programming skills. Finally, students learn the basics of identification in order to better understand which data is most useful to collect when answering a given empirical question.
- BUS–G 494 Public Policy and the International Economy (3 cr.) P: I-Core with grades of C or better. This course analyzes international flows of trade and capital, considers why the exchange in goods and capital is increasing so rapidly, and explores the consequences for different economies. Students study international trade theory and practice and identify potential winners and losers of globalization. The course tackles issues such as the structural composition of flows of goods and capital, the implications of balanced trade imbalances, and the motivations and implications of job outsourcing. In addition, the role of supranational organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization is examined.
