Description of Courses

Economics 20.1 Principles of Economics with Taxation, Agrarian Reform and Consumer Education (3 units)

Principles of Economics is an elementary economic analysis course which aims to present basic concepts leading to Microeconomics and Macroeconomics Theories. This course includes introductory analysis of the theory of consumer behavior; theory of production and cost; price determination in a pure competitive market; measurement of macroeconomics activity and the basic macro static models of the economic system involving the real market and the economic policies (fiscal, monetary, and trade). Throughout the study the graphical and the algebraic approaches with the verbal approach will be used to present relationships between economic variables. This course also covers the areas concerning agrarian reform, taxation and consumer education.

Economics 65 Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis (3 units)

Microeconomics is an intermediate economics analysis course which aims to present concepts of Microeconomics theory at a level comprehensible to students (Commerce and Economics major) who passed Principles of Economics. This course includes analysis of the theory of consumer behavior, theory of production and cost; pricing processes and allocation of resources and distribution of income under varying competitive conditions in a market economy. The study involves graphical and algebraic approaches to present the core of the analysis with the use of verbal approach to interpret graphs and numbers representing relationships between economic variables.

Economics 70 Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis (3 units)

This course is being offered at time of significant macroeconomic uncertainty. The Philippine economy is now in the fourth year of an economic recovery that has been unusually slow and lacking in job creation until recently. Macroeconomic performance was much better (in terms of faster growth, more job creation, and lower unemployment) in the late 1990s than it has been since 2000. The economy again faces old problems such as a large budget deficit and rising oil prices, as well as new problems such as the “outsourcing” of jobs. The growing trade deficit and increasing reliance on foreign lending have created concerns over the value of the dollar and the future of the country’s economy.

Meanwhile, other countries around the world face similar challenges about how to promote rapid and sustainable economic growth and provide jobs for their people while controlling inflation and other maladies.

Economics 75 Econometrics (3 units)

This course is an Introduction to the application of statistical methods to economic, business and social sciences problems. Econometrics is a set of statistical tools that are used to bring the theory into practice. In the words of the authors of the textbook used for this class.
“Econometrics is about how we can use theory and data from economics, business and the social science, along with tools from statistics, to answer “how much” type questions” (Hill, Griffiths, and Judge, Introduction to Econometrics, 2nd edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2001)

Economics 81 Economic Research 1(3 units)

This course provides a critical analysis of various methodologies used by economists. It introduces students to research in economics by focusing attention on contemporary methods and the tools of empirical verification of economic hypotheses. It integrates philosophies, concepts, and procedures in research methodology, adding practical tips such as how to write a research proposal, how to apply for funding, and how to write reports that effectively present research results.

The course intends to assist the student in designing and preparing a research work or undergraduate thesis. The primary activities are the preparation of a thesis proposal, oral presentations, and providing constructive feedback on classmates' research papers.

Economics 82 Economic Research 2 (3 units)

This course is a continuation course for Economics 81. In this course, the students conduct the implementation of their research proposal under the direction and advisement of an approved faculty advisor within their chosen discipline. Students must think independently and purposively to design and carry out the implementation of their thesis proposal which involves review of primary and secondary materials, collection of data using approved instruments, processing of data & existing information, analyses on the results of the study and formulation of generalizations and conclusions. The thesis should demonstrate the student's command of the research techniques, conceptual frameworks, and intellectual skills appropriate to the field within which the topic falls. The final requirement will be the oral defense and submission of the thesis manuscript.

Economics 85 Mathematical Economics (3 units)

This 3-unit course requires background in economics principles and concept, calculus and linear algebra. These mathematical tools aid to improve understanding on economic theories. Mathematical Economics as neatly defined by Chang (1984, p.5), “refers to the application of mathematics to the purely theoretical aspects of economic analysis…”

Economics 90 Development Economics (3 units)

The course examines concepts, tools, and models in contemporary economic theory that have been proven relevant to development problems, and their application in economic policy making. Topics include growth processes and structural change; investment and sources of saving; capital,labor, and technological progress; policies for public, private, and foreign enterprises; policymaking and negotiation in governments; and policies for reducing poverty and inequality.

Economics 95 International Economics (3 units)

International Economics is a course that studies the dynamics, the basis and the effects of the international trade. It is also involved in the analysis of the national policies affecting international trade, specifically those policies which have economic effects as shown in history.

Economics 100 Public Economics (3 units)

Public finance is the branch of economics that analyzes the public sector or the role, rationale, objectives, and consequences of government intervention in the economy. It discusses general principles of financing government, sources of public revenue, objects of public expenditures,problems of fiscal administration, and the application of fiscal policies in stabilizing the national economy.

Economics 103.1 Essentials of Economics (3 units)

This course emphasizes the role of modern economics. The how's and why's of its influence on prices and the environment, natural resources and government policy, and economic issues, including inflation and money. This course combines both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics in a one-semester format. The microeconomic portion of the course emphasizes economic decision making of the consumer, the study of markets, agriculture, environmental and natural resource issues, international trade, and the impact of governmental policy. The macroeconomic portion of the course deals with the workings of the economy as a whole and emphasizes the roles of the monetary authorities and fiscal.

Economics 104 History of Economic Thought (3 units)

This course traces the history of western economic thought from the ancient philosophers to the contemporary economists, with an emphasis on the contributions of leading economists and the relevance of their theories to later periods. It examines the progress of the principles of economics from their formative stages to modern times. It attempts to understand the influences of the natural philosophers in building the discipline called “economics”, integration of technological change and the social, business, and political environments on economics, and the influence of economists on society.

Economics 105.1 Comparative Economic Systems (3 units)

This course is a comparative analysis of the major world economic systems. It includes a critical appraisal of underlying philosophies, economic theories, structures, and performance. It examines the characteristics and functions of economic systems. It also focuses on encouraging a general understanding of alternative patterns of economic control, planning, and market structure.

Economics 106 Labor Economics (3 units)

This course provides a discussion of the economics of the labor market. The course begins with an overview of the trends and institutional features that characterize the labor market. Particular attention is placed on the causes and consequences of rising female labor force participation rates, the growth of the service sector, and other labor market issues.

After this introductory discussion, the focus of the course turns to a discussion of the theory of labor demand. In this section of the course, students examine the short-run and long-run determinants of labor demand. The determinants of the elasticity of labor demand, and the importance of demand. Students examine the tradeoff that occurs between the number of workers hired and the length of the work week.

The next section of the course provides a discussion of the determinants of labor supply. This discussion begins with an examination of labor supply in a simple model in which workers face a choice between labor and leisure. This is followed by a discussion of the household production model in which individuals must choose to allocate time among market and various types of non-market activities. The effects of alternative types of welfare, unemployment compensation, and social security systems on labor supply are then examined.

The concluding section of the course provides an examination of alternative sources of wage differentials. This portion of the course provides an examination of the economics of education, unions, discrimination, compensating wage differentials, and other determinants of wage differences.

Economics 107.1 Benefit-Cost Analysis (3 units)

This course is intended to provide a clear understanding and guidance in the use of benefit-cost analysis while evaluating development projects that bear major resource and policy implications. Wherever possible, examples are used to aid the exposition. Particular attention will be given to practical analysis with emphasis on the use of shadow prices, the use of consumers’ surplus and the problems of valuing goods that do not have market prices.

Economics 108 Economic Geography (3 units)

Economic geography is the geography of people making a living. It deals with the spatial patterns of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services at local, regional, national and international levels. In other words, it deals with the economies of places and the connections between those places. The economy of a place may be studied in many ways. One approach worth mentioning now is that the subdiscipline of economic geography has become more global in its view in recent years. As the world economy becomes more interdependent, a global perspective helps us better understand the economies of such places as Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental or the Philippines.

Economics 109 Corporate Finance (3 units)

The course in corporate finance describes the corporation and its operating environment, the manner in which corporate boards and management evaluate investment opportunities and arrangements for financing such investments, create (or, alternatively, destroy) value for shareholders by planning and managing the transformation of a set of inputs (human labor, raw materials, and technology) into a more highly valued set of outputs (embodying both the original investment value and any surplus value generated), and develop strategies for meeting the claims of financial market participants who are sought as financiers (and, therefore, residual claimants to the cash flows/surplus value of) such investments. It is understood that the shares of surplus value received by various claimants and retained by corporate boards of directors for investment and other uses is the subject of complex social interactions. Thus, the course provides students with a basic analytical framework for understanding how the various struggles over corporate surplus value (in the form of cash flows) may be understood and resolved. In this context, the course is designed to provide students with analytical tools that allow them to determine the "intrinsic value" of a corporation (or any economic institution, including a state-owned enterprise that is to be privatized) and to assess the effectiveness of corporate management in maximizing that value.

Economics 110 Government and Business (3 units)

This course studies the theoretical and practical principles, concepts and techniques applied in government organization and business, the interaction of the government and the market economy, their operation and impacts.

Economics 112.1 Ecological Economics (3 units)

This course outlines the concepts that underlie the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of ecological economics. It examines the historical development of economics as a discipline, as well as exploring the differences between ecological and environmental economics. It investigates the normative components of economic theories and policies in relation to the Earth’s ecosystems. This course is interdisciplinary in nature and will include concepts from other fields, especially physics, philosophy, ecology, and public policy.

Economics 113 Business Cycle (3 units)

This course focuses on the analysis of economy with attention to the business cycle, output of goods and services (GNP/GDP), inflation, unemployment, and government's fiscal and monetary policies. It also deals with how the economy affects individuals and firms and how to deal effectively with the economic environment.

Economics 117 Project Evaluation (3 units)

The purpose of this course is to present students with the elements of project planning and evaluation. The course will have a disability emphasis but will cover planning and evaluation for any area.

Economics 118.1 International Finance (3 units)

This course focuses on foreign exchange markets, forecasting exchange rate, currency risk hedging techniques, and currency derivative instruments. In addition, macroeconomic policies, international portfolio management, and investment practices of multinational firms are also reviewed to familiarize students with the type of practical issues in the international finance field. Investment tools, such as economic indicators and regression analysis are incorporated.

Economics 119 Political Economy (3 units)

This course is the study of the relationship between politics and economics in the international economy. The course draws on concepts and approaches from political science, economics, history, and sociology in order to offer the student a broad introduction to current issues in political economy. The first part of the course focuses on competing explanations for international political and economic forces. The second part is devoted to the processes, structures, and current issues of controversy in the world economy today.

Economics 120 Institutional Economics (3 units)

This course gives emphasis on institutions and economic development. The course tries to find answers to the following questions. (1) What are institutions? (2) Why are they important for understanding economic phenomena? (3) How do economists explain institutions? (4) How do institutions explain economic phenomena? The course also discusses the views of old and new institutional economists.

Economics 121.1 Market Opportunity Analysis (3 units)

“The key to success in business is planning. And the key to successful planning is using a proven format to analyze product’s marketability.”

This course presents a step-by-step through the complicated process of determining the feasibility of marketing a new product or service. As financial markets struggle with changing interest rates, government policies shift back and forth on tax increases, decreases, and deficit spending, and international competition in major product categories is at an all-time high, business decision-makers are forced to reevaluate the basis for success. Through market research, strategic management, consumer behavior, and new venture creation bring focus on what needs to be done and how to do it.

Economics 122.2 Economic Forecasting (3 units)

This course is an analysis of fluctuations in economic activity, including production, employment, prices and industry sales. Topics include forecasting methods, business cycle theories, historical record, industry and sales forecasting. Both time series and regression-based approaches will be covered. The accompanying computer software allows students to put these various forecasting techniques to use. After studying this course, students should understand both theoretical and practical aspects of forecasting.

Economics 201 Economic Journal Seminar (3 units)

This course applies basic concepts of economic decision-making to a discussion and analysis of contemporary economics issues. It discusses controversial and real world situations requiring the use of economics principles and concepts. It also focuses on today’s most pressing social and economic problems from both a domestic and global viewpoint.

Economics 203 Managerial Economics (3 units)

This course develops principles of microeconomics to enable managers to manage more effectively in relation to customers, suppliers, competitors, complementors, and the regulatory environment. The course introduces the basic microeconomic theories of marginal analysis and competitive markets. It then develops principles of cost, strategic, and organizational analysis. Managerial economics provides a set of fundamental building blocks for other disciplines, including accounting, corporate finance, human resource management (incentives and organization), marketing (brand extensions, promotion, and pricing), and general business strategy.

Economics 205 Management of Bank Funds (3 units)

This course is an economic analysis of the financial instruments, asset pricing and the effect of monetary policy; interest rates and intertemporal choice in the management of bank funds. It also includes application of economic behavior models in bank fund management.

Economics 211 Economics of Taxation (3 units)

This is a course on the theory and practice of public finance, in particular, the economic analysis of taxation. It covers both theoretical contributions, such as the theory of optimal income and commodity taxation, the effects of tax policy on private investment, saving and labor supply, equity and distribution effects of the taxation and other issues related to the effects of different fiscal policies.

Economics 212 Principles of Management (3 units)

This course is a comprehensive overview of the functions and principles of management. The central theme of the course is management theory, including the interpersonal, informational and decisional functions of modern managers. The course also places great emphasis on the application of management theory. Course work entails reading and discussion of management theory.

Economics 214 Advanced Economic Statistics (3 units)

This course is a continuation of Economics 11 but with more emphasis on statistical decision theory, analysis of variance, correlation theory, regression and time series analysis.

Economics 216 Industrial Economics (3 units)

Its aim is to familiarize students with a broad range of the methods and models applied by economists in the analysis of firms and industries. A broader goal is that students who take the course will, by working extensively with theoretical models, acquire analytical skills that are transferable to other kinds of intellectual problems. Students should have a grounding in microeconomics and mathematics.

Economics 217 Natural Resources and Environmental Economics (3 units)

This course introduces students to the fundamental framework used by economists to evaluate the inter-relationship between the economy and the natural environment, including natural resources. The course presents the fundamental concepts, methods of economic analysis, and public policy options used in this field. These topics include market structure and performance, market failures, non-market environmental and natural resource values, and environmental and natural resource regulatory policy. The course also encompasses contributions to the economic study of the natural environment from the fields of physics, engineering, biology, ethics, law, and ecology

Economics 218 Health Economics (3 units)

In this course, you will learn how to apply microeconomic tools to the study of health and medical care issues. We will examine the special features of medical care as a commodity, the demand for health and medical care services, the economic explanations for the behavior of medical care providers (i.e., physicians and hospitals), the functioning of insurance markets, and technology diffusion. Our discussions will touch on current policy topics such as the prospective payment system, relative value scales, insurance reform, rationing, and price regulation. We will also be examining the role of and economic justification for government involvement in the medical care system. Finally, we will use the tools we have learned to review and analyze various proposals for health care reform.

Economics 219 Agricultural Economics (3 units)

This course is focused on analysis of actual, efficient, and sustainable use of agricultural resources. We will cover agricultural resource use in greater depth and breadth than an introductory resource course. In light of current student interest, instructor research, and the government's policy concerns, one or more specific topics will be chosen that pertain to each of these agricultural resources: land, water, trees, fish, and energy resources. Possible topics are land-use change and regulation, water-use and marketing, harvesting trees or fish on farms, developing property rights to open-access resources, renewable vs. nonrenewable energy use, and sustainable development.

Economics 220 Urban and Regional Economics (3 units)

The field of urban and regional economics is a diverse one that encompasses a wide variety of questions and topics. Some involve the spatial dimension of markets and some others examine public policy towards cities and regions. Many of the topics are studied by other fields of economics and other disciplines such as sociology, political science, and, especially, geography. What distinguishes urban and regional economics from these other perspectives is the emphasis given to reasoning based upon modern neoclassical economics, especially microeconomics.

Urban and regional economists tend to divide the field into three main areas. The first examines questions and issues related to the development of cities or urban areas; for example, it asks why cities exist, where they tend to develop, and why some experience more economic growth than others. The second part focuses on patterns of development within particular metropolitan areas. A central question is why central cities tend to grow less rapidly and even decline relative to suburban portions of an urban area. The final part is a collection of topics related to problems and special characteristics of cities. These include transportation, crime, education, and housing, which receive particular attention in this class.

Economics 222 International Monetary Economics (3 units)

This course will provide an introduction to International Money and Finance. The economic tools that will acquire in this course are applied by managers in the business sector, policy makers in the government sector, and economic researchers in the academic arena. Students successfully completing
this course should leave with an understanding of these basic international economic principles and their applicability to real world situations. You should also be able to incorporate these tools of economic analysis into your own decision-making processes as you weigh costs and benefits to make choices.

Economics 223 Financial Economics (3 units)

This course is concerned with the methodologies used in the selection and appraisal of the factors that influence investment decisions. It involves feasibility analyses, including external considerations (market size, competition, technology, inflation and the economy, government regulations, political conditions, social change), internal factors (purpose, corporate objectives, resources), and financial considerations (revenue estimates, cost estimates, return on investment).

In this course, finance is examined within a general framework concentrating on the experience of advanced capitalist economies, including an introduction to the current concern with derivatives. As a contrast, applications to less developed economies are also, briefly, considered. The course is organized around four principal themes: the relationship between financial markets, financial institutions, and the economy’s real investment and savings; the trade-off between risk and expected returns and their links to information and monitoring; the efficiency of financial markets; and the dialectic between regulation and deregulation or liberalization of financial markets.

Economics 224 Money and Banking (3 units)

This course is intended to introduce to the students the historical perspective of money, its usage, characteristics and its value theories. It also includes the discussion of the Financial System of the Philippines and it's financial institutions especially on the different kinds of bank. Gathering latest updates regarding banking practices and updates on financial issues will also be included in the discussion.

Economics 235 Business Economics (3 units)

Economics is about the ordinary business of life and it is also the basis for many courses in Business. It focuses on the foundations of the economic analysis of business problems, with special emphasis on the function and determination of market prices in production and consumption. Supply and demand, price theory, production theory, trade theory with reference to the global economy, the effects of tax and other policies in the economy, and essential elements of the banking system and monetary policy are addressed.

It also contains much of the conceptual material necessary for an intelligent understanding of business life. The approach in this course to the teaching of economic principles is to try to ensure that students acquire the necessary conceptual apparatus in a way that is both challenging and interesting. This is done by attempting to ensure that the material is presented in a lively, interesting and relevant fashion. We will constantly use current real world examples to illustrate the application of concepts.

Research Methods in Social Science (Economics 114)

In this course students are introduced to the basic concepts and techniques that are used in social science research. The course is divided into three sections, which cover social scientific inquiry and research design, quantitative data gathering and analysis, and qualitative data gathering and analysis, respectively.

Development Economics (Economics 313)

This course will introduce you to the field of development economics. Development economics is a vast field, and the content of an undergraduate course is apt to vary from one instructor to another. We will begin by exploring the concept of development, and go through various components of development that economists typically study, including economic growth, income inequality, poverty, sustainable development and the growth environment nexus, education, health and nutrition. In the second part of the course, we will look at the characteristics of land, labor and credit markets in rural areas of developing countries. The majority of the world’s poor (and the poorest of the poor) live in rural areas of developing countries, and no course in development would be complete without studying the market institutions prevalent in these areas.

Agricultural Economics (Economics 324)

Contemporary Economic Issues (Economics 322)

Over the course, we will explore, through readings, lectures, and discussion, this thing that we call the “economy.” We will cover topics in both macroeconomics (the study of the economy as a whole) and microeconomics (the study of consumers, firms, and markets). Our goal is to develop an understanding of basic economic concepts and how they apply to the real world.

Environmental Economics (Economics 323)

This course applies theoretical and empirical economic tools to a number of environmental issues. The broad concepts discussed include externalities, public goods, property rights, market failure, and social cost-benefit analysis. These concepts are applied to a number of areas including nonrenewable resources, air pollution, water pollution, solid waste management, and hazardous substances. Special emphasis is devoted to analyzing the optimal role for public policy.

International Political Economics (Economics 328)

International Poilitcal Economy is a course examining the processes of globalization from within the study of Political Economy. Students will situate current global processes within the historical development of the world economy and learn to view these changes through a variety of theoretical lenses. The course materials will critically engage the structural changes occurring between world regions and among international financial institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank. Finally, students will be engaged with questions concerning the “developing world” and globalization and the “anti-globalization backlash” that appears to be growing in size and momentum.

Managerial Economics (Economics 330)

Sound economic analysis has never been more important - regardless whether the decision-making unit is an individual, household, firm, non-profit organization, or government. We use a modern treatment of economic theory to help students both understand and improve the managerial decision-making process whereby we concentrate on microeconomic topics of particular importance. The integrative approach used in this course demonstrates that important managerial decisions are interdisciplinary as effective management is seen to involve an integration of the accounting, finance, marketing, personnel and production functions as well as the influence of political, social, legal (regulatory), environmental and technological issues. Therefore, the business firm is treated as a unified whole, rather than a series of discrete, unrelated parts.