5150. Microeconomic Foundations

Theory and tools of the foundations of microeconomic theory as applied to problems and policy issues in agriculture, natural resources, development, and the environment. Topics include supply, demand, market equilibrium, consumer and producer behavior, perfect competition, and welfare economics.

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5201. Microeconomics

Beginning graduate microeconomics covering consumer and producer theory, price determination, economic efficiency, and welfare analysis.

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5203. Economics Methodology: Praxis and Practice

Philosophical foundations of economics as a science and economic research. Developing skills for planning, performing, reporting, and evaluating economic research. Critical thinking about the research process, reading about and discussing research methodology, analyzing the logic and reasoning of other economists’ research articles, and developing a research project.

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5205. Market Planning and Survey Research in the Food Industry

Overview of market planning in the food industry, with emphasis on survey design and implementation. Graduate students will lead teams of undergraduates as they work with clients to develop tailored market plans.

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5211. Quantitative Analysis for Sustainable Development

Quantitative methods used in the analysis of problems related to sustainable economic development with a focus on agriculture, natural resources, and the environment. Regression analysis, economic impact analysis, feasibility studies, enterprise budgets, and survey methods.

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5215. Sustainable Business Management

Principles of management strategy with a focus in agribusiness. Marketing, financial and human resource management as well as budgeting techniques and the legal and organizational structure of businesses from the perspective of sustainability.

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5252. Planning for Economic Development

Insight into domestic and international economic policy dynamics relevant to economic development as well as application of critical organizational skills to the development of a grant proposal and project development and management. Students are required to use theoretical, methodological and practical applications to sustainable economic development covered in previous courses.

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5305. Sustainable Economic Development

The role of sustainable economic development of less developed economies. Microeconomic dimensions of agricultural development, food security, agricultural production and supply, foreign assistance, and government programming.

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5311. Applied Econometrics I

This course deals with the estimation and inference of statistical parameters that describe the data generating process of a society, the process that cannot be reproduced like in a pure science experimentation. In other words, the data are generated from economic systems of equations that are stochastic, dynamic, and simultaneous. An attempt is made to obtain the best, unbiased, and consistent estimates of the statistical parameters that describe the inherent economic phenomena.

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5353. Data Ethics and Equity in the Era of Misinformation

This course will introduce students to issues of ethics and equity in the contemporary practice of data science. The ability to collect, store, process, and analyze ever greater amounts of data offers great opportunities, as well as potential perils. This course will provide examine the ethical implications of data collection, usage, and distribution. Topics will include systematic approaches to assessing ethical issues; privacy and confidentiality; defining research and the responsibilities associated with conducting ethical research; implicit and structural biases in data collection and analysis.

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5438. Climate Economics

Analysis of the interactive relationship between the economy and climate change. Use of advanced principles and tools of economics to focus on the costs of changes in the severity and frequency of weather events, how these costs are influenced by markets and policies, and how costs and benefits are distributed across populations within the U.S and across the globe in the short and long terms. Examination of household, firm-level, national and international decision-making as influenced by climate change, taking into account uncertainty, diverging interests, external costs, and evaluation of models used to alternative scenarios.

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5462. Environmental and Resource Economics

Natural resource use and environmental quality analysis using economic theory. Reviews of empirical research and relevant policy issues.

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5464. Benefit-Cost Analysis and Resource Management

Theoretical foundations and applications of benefit-cost analysis in project appraisal and in evaluation of public policies regarding resource management and environmental protection.

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5474. Industrial Organization: Empirical Analysis

Analysis of the structure, conduct, and performance of industries with examples from the food sector and other industries. Explains the development of testable hypotheses from theory, empirical methods, evidence on the level and type of competition, economies of size, product differentiation, entry barriers, and the impact of alternative organizational forms including cooperatives on economic performance.

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5476. International Trade and Policy

Analysis of international trade and trade policy focusing on agricultural and food markets. Covers trade-related issues concerning economic development and growth. Focus on current challenges to the multilateral trading system and the theoretical foundation for understanding the economic importance of firms, international trade, and global capital flows. Introduction of methods and tools for counterfactual evaluation of trade policies. Statistical modeling techniques to analyze trade patterns and measure trade policy effects.

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5480. Effective Teaching Strategies and Course Design in Applied Economics

Introduction to course development and strategies for effective teaching. Students will be expected to attend teaching workshops, meet weekly with the instructor and their peers to discuss teaching-related topics, and work on developing their course materials including syllabi, course learning goals, lectures, and assessments.

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5495. Special Topics

Topics and credits to be published prior to the registration period preceding the semester offerings.

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5499. Independent Study in Agricultural and Resource Economics

This course provides the opportunity for graduate students to carry on independent reading or research in the field of the student's needs and interests.

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5991. Professional Internship

Professional or project based work in applied economics and policy related to agribusiness management, marketing and financial analysis, food systems, environmental and resource management, sustainability, or economic development. Requires a learning agreement and student's advisor approval.

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5992. Practicum in Economic Development

Project-based fieldwork with an approved partnering organization related to sustainable economic development, including agribusiness management, marketing and financial analysis, food systems, and economic development.

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5993. Teaching Practicum in Applied Economics

Teaching practicum in the field of applied economics and policy related to agribusiness management, marketing and financial analysis, food systems, environmental and resource management, sustainability, economic development, and data analysis. Requires a learning agreement and student's advisor approval.

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6203. Economics Methodology: Praxis and Practice

Philosophical foundations of economics as a science and economic research. Developing skills for planning, performing, reporting, and evaluating economic research. Critical thinking about the research process, reading about and discussing research methodology, analyzing the logic and reasoning of other economists’ research articles, and developing a research project.

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6305. Applied Development Economics

Overview of the current applied literature on the microeconomics of development in poor countries, as well as examples from the US. Topics include the role of land policies, agriculture, human capital, health, education, the internal structure of households (neoclassical and bargaining) and the functioning of markets.

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6311. Applied Econometrics I

Expose students to techniques in applied economics research. Students will learn models - derivations, assumptions, and issues. The models will be practiced utilizing empirical data and interpreting results in light of economic and econometric theory.

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6313. Applied Econometrics II

An introduction to econometric methods used in contemporary applied economic data analysis. Emphasis on learning how to operationalize different estimation techniques in standard statistical software.

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6464. Experimental Methods for Program Evaluation

Theory and practice of field-based program experiments, often referred to as randomized controlled trials (RCTs). All aspects of experimental program evaluation, including the design of evaluation strategy and working with survey and program staff. Examples from both developing country contexts and Western country program evaluation.

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6466. Environmental Economics

Economic analysis of environmental problems and corrective policy instruments. Theory of externalities and public goods, role of uncertainty and imperfect information in policy design, benefit-cost analysis, and non-market valuation. Applications to environmental problems (such as air and water pollution, hazardous waste, and occupational health and safety).

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6468. Economics of Natural Resources

Economic concepts and issues related to the allocation of stock resources through time, the use and protection of flow resources, and the role of natural resources in economic growth.

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6470. Applied Research in Environmental Economics

Develops a broad perspective on the peer-reviewed literature concerning the frontier areas of contemporary environmental economics, with an emphasis on incentive and market-based approaches to ecosystem services, valuation of environmental quality and assets, interface between experimental and environmental economics, including such topics as land use change, conservation, pollution control, water resource services, forest ecosystem management. Students will develop critical thinking skills evaluating published studies and identifying gaps in methodology and knowledge for future research.

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6472. Microeconomic Applications to Food Markets

Trains students in applied microeconomics, with particular emphasis on food markets and public policy. The course is divided into three broad areas: production economics, economics of consumer behavior, and market analysis. Particular emphasis is placed on quantitative tools using empirical models and welfare economics. Students design and undertake an individualized project in their area of interest.

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6474. Empirical Industrial Organization

Empirical Industrial Organization models that use simultaneous equations, discrete choice, and/or nonlinear econometric methods to analyze conduct and performance of brands and firms in noncompetitive industries. Includes static and dynamic modeling of pricing and advertising in differentiated product oligopolies. Antitrust policy applications in the U.S. and E.U.

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6476. Empirical Industrial Organization II

Builds on Empirical IO I and explores the use of advanced applied methods to gauge consumer demand, firm conduct and relevant policy implications. The empirical methods covered include both structural models, static or dynamic, and reduced forms. To this end, we will discuss papers in class demonstrating these methods. The emphasis will be data, sources of identification, and estimation techniques.

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6478. Empirical International Trade and Investment

Empirical aspects of international trade, foreign investment, and the environment. Issues related to testing various trade models. Selected topics include testing trade models, gravity models, linkages between openness and growth, trade orientation and firm performance, trade patterns, trade and the environment, and labor markets and trade. Emerging topics in international economics with a focus on empirical applications. Use of advanced statistical modeling and data visualization techniques.

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6495. Graduate Research Seminar

Participation in research seminars presented by invited scholars and departmental faculty as well as active presentation of students' own research to colleagues and faculty.

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6695. Special Topics

May be repeated to a maximum of 12 credits with a change of topic. Topics and credits to be published prior to the registration period preceding the semester offerings.

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