|
3. Microeconomics |
3 |
|
Microeconomics course introduces the fundamentals of microeconomics. This course provides a strong foundation for economic analysis and thinking that can be used throughout other subjects and for professional careers. This course begins with an introduction to a framework for the study of consumer behavior and consumer decision analysis. Then turn the attention towards production decisions. The final section of the course provides an introduction to several advanced topics that can be analyzed using microeconomic theory, including the effects of uncertainty on consumer behavior, general equilibrium, game theory and industry economics, asymmetric information, externalitsies, and public goods. By the end of the course, learners are able to understand the microeconomic theory at a basic level, solve basic microeconomics problems, analyze some advanced microeconomic problems, and use techniques to analyze policy related to the activity of the real economy. |
|
4. Macroeconomics |
3 |
|
Macroeconomics studies the economy in the manner of overall. Thus, the aggregated variables and average index play an important role in the analyses. This course clarifies the influencing factors and the relationship between aggregated variables and average index such as output, price index, unemployment rate, exchange rate, interest rate through indicators in the macroeconomic model. Moreover, this course emphasizes the role of financial markets including aspects of asset prices, securitization, financial leverage, causes and effects of financial crises through theoretical models. This helps learners better understand the economic situation and be able to analyze macroeconomic policy. |
|
5. Development economics |
3 |
|
Development Economics focuses on studying topics related to the economy - society - environment - education - health - administration - institutions. These topics will be approached from a development perspective with the aim of helping learners find relevant policy analysis frameworks. This lays the groundwork for the analysis to find out development policy implications for developing countries such as Vietnam that face diverse challenges in the process of industrialization. The course exposes learners to the main themes of development economics by exploring the policy implications of development theory from empirical research in developing countries in the globalization context. |
|
6. Applied econometrics |
3 |
|
In this course, students will study how economists use econometric models to analyze data, and in so doing, investigate the real world issues and suggest policy implications to policy makers. This course introduces the standard methods for estimating relationships between observed variables, and testing hypotheses about economic relationships based on theories. The focus will be on the estimation of econometric models, and interpretation of the estimation results. Econometric models that are widely used in journal articles are introduced in the course. For each model, students will be introduced the uses, the implementation of the model using econometric package (RStudio), and the interpretation of the estimation results. This course also introduces participants the basics of R programming language for implementing popular econometric models, including the linear regression model, panel data models, and models with limited dependent variables. The course also gets participants familiar with matrix operations and mathematical programming, which is necessary for advanced econometric models. Lectures of this course are organized by econometric models or topics. Each lecture consists of a brief review of the econometric issues, the R packages or programming (estimation and post-estimation) skills applicable for the econometric issues with real data. |
|
- Elective: Select 7 out of 13 |
14 |
|
|
|
7. Consumer behaviour analysis |
2 |
|
This course helps learners to apply the theory of producer behavior in practice. Specifically in this course, students will learn: • Estimation of the demand function for individual goods. • Estimation of a system of demand equations for related goods. • Calculation of the elasticity and consumer's response to a change in price. • Estimation of consumer response to change in the product attributes. • Measurement of the changes in consumer welfare in response to changes in the market. The content of each lecture consists of 3 parts: (1) Basic theory; (2) Applied econometrics and illustrative research; (3) Practical exercises on the machine. |
|
8. Production economics |
2 |
|
This course helps learners to apply the theory of producer behavior in practice. Specifically in this course, students will learn: • Production function and problems in estimating production function. • Analysis of Total Factor Productivity – TFP. • Cost function, profit function and estimation method. • Analysis of technical change (also known as technological change). • Analysis of production efficiency: Technical efficiency, distribution efficiency and economic efficiency. • Risk analysis in production. The content of each lecture consists of 3 parts: (1) Basic theory; (2) Applied econometrics and illustrative research; (3) Practical exercises on the machine. |
|
9. Environmental economics |
2 |
|
Environmental economics is designed to help learners understand the relationships between economic activities and the environment, and vice versa. The course discusses the theories and instruments used to analyze and measure economic and environmental relationships which is to determine appropriate decisions for the management of the environment and natural resources. |
|
10. Public finance |
2 |
|
The course develops an deep understanding of when and how the government may intervene in the economy, and analysis the effect of government spending programs: current spending and capital expenditures. The course include an analysis of the theoretical bases that guide government intervention in the economy by using the expenditures programs on education, health, social security and the public investment programs. Besides, the course discusses the fiscal decentrelization and the medium-term expenditure framework to determine the aggregate fiscal disciplines. To look forward to the future budget balance, the course debates over the budget deficits and gorvernment debts and the way to manage the fiscal riks. |
|
11. Development finance |
2 |
|
The main content of Development finance course is to study how to build an effective financial system to promote economic development in a transforming, open, and developing economy like Vietnam. The course begins by introducing an overview of the financial system, the role of finance in economic development, analyzing the transformation process of the financial system in developing countries, the potential risks of government failure to financial repression, and financial liberalization. This course also discusses financial crisis, its symptoms, causes and solutions based on the experience of financial crises in different countries. The next section studies the components of a financial system and analyzes how the government intervenes in financial markets in transition and developing countries. The role of the government in creating and supporting financial institutions and markets is emphasized, especially in the context of economies in transition. In addition, the basics of market regulation and supervision by international organizations are examined. |
|
12. International finance |
2 |
|
The course is expected to provide students with knowledge and understanding on the key factors and classical theories in international finance. After completing the course, students should be able to explain the organization, movement and development of foreign exchange and international money markets, as well as international capital flows; explain and apply orthodox theories of exchange rates and open economy macroeconomics; explain the effectiveness of monetary policy in different exchange rate mechanisms; explain and apply knowledge provided by behavioral economics into expectations formation and financial crises. In-depth understanding of international finance combined with analytical skills, problem solving skills and self-study skills will support students to gain professional qualifications in their future careers. |
|
13. Economics and international trade organizations |
2 |
|
The course content is divided into two sections: The first section studies foreign trade theory and the second one studies international trade institutions. The first section discusses the law of comparative advantage within the framework of the Ricardo model that explains why and how foreign trade occurs among countries. The income distribution effect of foreign trade is shown by extending the Ricardo model by changing some assumptions. For example, the assumption is that the production of various types of goods requires many different inputs and specialized inputs. This model is the initial basis for discussing the political economy aspects of foreign trade policy. Then, the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson model is presented to clarify the role of resource differences in foreign trade and to discuss the actual evidence and predictability. This model has made many important conclusions about the causes, trends, and impacts of foreign trade. Recent theoretical developments related to economies of scale and market structure will also be introduced in an individual model to clarify the relationship between foreign trade, industrial organization, and imperfect market structure. The second section develops a systematic framework for analyzing foreign trade policy issues, for instance, the discussion of economic integration and the economic impact of free trade areas; monetary unions; trade negotiations, and the WTO, common principles, trade agreements, and issues related to commercial dispute resolution. This section also indicates the economic impact of several foreign trade policy instruments, discusses the political aspects of foreign trade policy, and the results of foreign trade policy in developing countries. Industrial policy and direct investment are also discussed. |
|
14. Environmental Policy Analysis |
2 |
|
The course provides learners with the knowledge and skills to apply in environmental policy analysis. Learners are able to evaluate the strengths and limitations of environmental policies to guide towards better management of natural resources and the environment. |
|
15. Labor economics |
2 |
|
Labor economics course provides learners with advanced knowledge of mainstream labor economics. Specifically, the systematic development of the theories of labor supply, labor demand, and human capital are presented by theoretical models and empirical evidence. This is to encourage independent research ability for learners after completing this course. |
|
16. Health economics |
2 |
|
Health economics course covers a wide range of health and healthcare economics topics. This course provides the economic concepts related to health behavior, the economic models and essential economics instruments for analyses 1) efficient resource allocation for health and healthcare systems, 2) efficiency of the health care market. This course consists of 8 lectures. Learners need to read the learning materials before attending the lecture. In addition, learners will have a practical part in the manner of a case study. There are two case studies presented in the course. In each case study, learners will be introduced to the research problem and provided with data. Learners will practice how to apply theories to solve research problems. Finally, each learner have to submit a research report for two case studies which is to evaluate the course result. |
|
17. Natural Resource Economics |
2 |
|
Natural Resource Economics provides methods for analyzing and modeling the use and exploitation of resources. The course divides natural resources into two categories: renewable resources (forest, fishery…) and non-renewable resources (minerals, petroleum, coal...). This course introduces economic models to analyze the optimal and sustainable exploitation of these two groups of resources. Learners can understand how to determine the optimal level of resource exploitation, and the factors affecting the optimal exploitable level. These insights will serve as the basis for empirical research, and for appropriate decision-making in environmental and natural resource management. |
|
18. Project appraisal |
2 |
|
The scarcity principle - the infinite needs and wants of people compared to limited available resources - is one of the inherent properties of nature that affects the behavior of all people in society and is the central research problem of economic science. Because of limited resources, economic decision makers have to choose (consciously or unconsciously) between different choices to allocate resources (resources allocation), in other words, trade-offs or make an economic decision. Economists solve these trade-offs based on the cost-benefit principle. Specifically, comparing the costs and benefits between alternative options, choosing the option with net benefits, also known as economic surplus – the highest difference between benefits and costs. Economic decisions often imply intertemporal allocation, thus the concept of net benefit must be understood as the net present value of a resource allocation option. The “appraisal of investment projects” (more precisely, appraisal of investment projects from a social point of view) applies principles of economics to build a framework for analyzing the costs and benefits of different projects (also known as investment projects). This is to support decision makers properly and fully identify the costs and benefits of investment projects to support rational decision-making. The decision-makers in the economy can be individuals, households, businesses, or governments. Individuals, households, or businesses analyze the project from the point of view of different benefit groups, and the government analyzes the project from the point of view of the benefits of the whole economy. Based on different perspectives of decision-makers, the benefits and costs of the project will also be recognized differently. Therefore, the results of the project analysis may be similar or contradictory from different analytical points of view. Particularly, a project is considered good from the point of view of a group that is unlikely considered good from the point of view of both the economy and vice versa. The content of the course is not only limited to the project financial appraisal (or project appraisal from a private point of view), but also extends to the project economic appraisal (or project appraisal from a social point of view). Project financial appraisal is widely used as an effective tool to support decision-making in: (1) Business enterprises (deciding whether or not to invest in a project), and (2) Credit providers (deciding whether or not to loan), and economic appraisal should be used by competent state agencies to assist in the decision-making of whether or not to license an investment project (both public and private). For any project, information from the financial appraisal is the basic input for the economic appraisal. Therefore, the concepts, principles and tools used in financial appraisal are a prerequisite for learners to study economic appraisal. In addition, project appraisal relies solely on reasonable current estimates for benefits and opportunity costs araise in the future. But the future is uncertain. Therefore, risk analysis becomes an indispensable fator of project appraisal. Nowaday, project appraisal practitioners approve to use the concept of integrated project appraisal instead of the traditional concept of project appraisal (i.e. financial appraisal for private project and economic appraisal for public project). |
|
19. Urban economics and management |
2 |
|
Urban economics is not a course of the economic sector in the urban area. Urban economics is founded on the main fundamentals of microeconomic theory, combined with regional science and the major of land use and transportation. Urban economics as a branch of economics was born in the 1960s in the United States. The participation in research and application of economists in the following years, this major has developed strongly, including the theoretical foundation (monocentric city model) and the application based on the characteristics of spatial distribution of economic activity and housing in U.S. cities. Urban economics has had different development of theoretically and applications in each period, which was mainly developed in North America and Europe. In recent years, researchers in this field pay attention to the issues of economic activity agglomeration/clustering and economic efficiency due to the clustering of economic activity, and the spread of knowledge, urbanization, and the distribution of labor and employment. Researchers from East Asia and Southeast Asia such as Thailand and Vietnam have also been interested in this field since the 2000s. The knowledge gained from urban economics will help learners understand the economic laws that govern human activities and behavior in urban areas and in cities. These economic laws are the basis to help learners evaluate the effectiveness of land planning on an economic basis. At the same time, these laws support learners in understanding real estate and the real estate market. |
