Courses

Courses by semester

Courses for

Complete Cornell University course descriptions are in the Courses of Study .

Course ID Title Offered
ECON1001 Principles of Micro-Economics Supplement
Reviews lecture material presented in ECON 1110 lectures; provides problem-solving techniques, study tips, and additional problems to prepare for exams and problem sets; provides additional time for questions and discussion of concepts. Provides additional instruction for students who need reinforcement.

Full details for ECON 1001 - Principles of Micro-Economics Supplement

Fall, Spring, Summer.
ECON1002 Principles of Macro-Economics Supplement
Reviews lecture material presented in ECON 1120 lectures; provides problem-solving techniques, study tips, and additional problems to prepare for exams and problem sets; provides additional time for questions and discussion of concepts. Provides additional instruction for students who need reinforcement.

Full details for ECON 1002 - Principles of Macro-Economics Supplement

Fall, Spring, Summer.
ECON1110 Introductory Microeconomics
Explanation and evaluation of how the price system operates in determining what goods are produced, how goods are produced, who receives income, and how the price system is modified and influenced by private organizations and government policy.

Full details for ECON 1110 - Introductory Microeconomics

Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer.
ECON1120 Introductory Macroeconomics
Analysis of aggregate economic activity in relation to the level, stability, and growth of national income. Topics may include the determination and effects of unemployment, inflation, balance of payments, deficits, and economic development, and how these may be influenced by monetary, fiscal, and other policies.

Full details for ECON 1120 - Introductory Macroeconomics

Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer.
ECON2040 Networks
This interdisciplinary course examines network structures and how they matter in everyday life. The course examines how each of the computing, economic, sociological and natural worlds are connected and how the structure of these connections affects each of these worlds. Tools of graph theory and game theory are taught and then used to analyze networks. Topics covered include the web, the small world phenomenon, markets, neural networks, contagion, search and the evolution of networks.

Full details for ECON 2040 - Networks

Fall.
ECON3030 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
The pricing processes in a private enterprise economy are analyzed under varying competitive conditions, and their role in the allocation of resources and the functional distribution of national income is considered.

Full details for ECON 3030 - Intermediate Microeconomic Theory

Fall, Spring, Summer.
ECON3040 Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory
Introduces the theory of national income and determination and economic growth in alternative models of the national economy. Examines the interaction and relation of these models to empirical aggregate economic data. Reviews national accounts, output and employment determination, price stability and economic growth, in the context of alternative government policy programs and the impact of globalization.

Full details for ECON 3040 - Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory

Fall, Spring, Summer.
ECON3110 Probability Models and Inference for the Social Sciences
This course provides an introduction to probability and parametric inference. Topics include: random variables, standard distributions, the law of large numbers, the central limit theorem, likelihood-based estimation, sampling distributions and hypothesis testing.

Full details for ECON 3110 - Probability Models and Inference for the Social Sciences

Fall, Spring.
ECON3120 Applied Econometrics
Introduction to the theory and application of econometric techniques. Emphasis is on both development of techniques and applications of econometrics to economic questions. Topics include estimation and inference in bivariate and multiple regression models, instrumental variables, regression with qualitative information, heteroskedasticity, and serial correlation. Students are expected to apply techniques through regular empirical exercises with economic data.

Full details for ECON 3120 - Applied Econometrics

Fall, Spring, Summer.
ECON3130 Statistics and Probability
Provides an introduction to statistical inference and to principles of probability. It includes descriptive statistics, principles of probability, discrete and continuous distributions, and hypothesis testing (of sample means, proportions, variance). Regression analysis and correlation are introduced.

Full details for ECON 3130 - Statistics and Probability

Fall.
ECON3171 Causal Reasoning and Policy Evaluation 1
This course covers methods used by social scientists to identify causal relationships in data, with a focus on evaluating the effects of real-world policies. Many social science analyses--including in the economics fields of public, labor, health, and development-aim to answer these types of policy-related causal questions: What is the effect of having health insurance on someone's health? Does the death penalty reduce crime? Will lowering class sizes increase students' academic achievement? The goal of this course is to train you to become both a high-quality consumer and producer of this type of research. You will learn about several research designs and data analysis methods for identifying causal relationships in data, read and assess empirical papers that apply these methods, and apply these methods to datasets yourself.

Full details for ECON 3171 - Causal Reasoning and Policy Evaluation 1

Fall.
ECON3255 Economics of Crime
This course surveys topics in crime and crime prevention, with a focus on thinking critically about empirical evidence. The first part of the course briefly introduces an economic model of crime and reviews relevant empirical methods. The remainder of the course is spent discussing a range of crime-related topics, including policing, incarceration, employment, drugs & alcohol, firearms, education, and health. Students will consider trade-offs to different crime prevention policies and gain experience framing and summarizing evidence for policymakers.

Full details for ECON 3255 - Economics of Crime

Fall.
ECON3440 Women in the Economy
Examines the changing economic roles of women and men in the labor market and in the family. Topics include a historical overview of changing gender roles, the determinants of the gender division of labor in the family, trends in female and male labor-force participation, gender differences in occupations and earnings, the consequences of women's employment for the family, and a consideration of women's status in other countries.

Full details for ECON 3440 - Women in the Economy

Fall or Spring.
ECON3460 The Economics of Collective Bargaining in Sports
Surveys economic and industrial issues in the sports industry. Topics include salary determination, including free agency, salary caps, salary arbitration; competitive balance and financial health of sports leagues; antitrust issues in sports; labor disputes, union history, and contract administration issues in sports leagues; discrimination in sports; and performance incentives.

Full details for ECON 3460 - The Economics of Collective Bargaining in Sports

Fall.
ECON3480 Race and the American Labor Market in Historical Perspective
This class investigates race and class in the American labor market from Colonial America to the present day. We investigate the circumstances and labor institutions that brought labor to the U.S. and how laborers of various classes were received. A primary goal of the class is to understand the degree to which social mobility was historically possible in different time periods in American history. Social mobility is intimately tied to labor market institutions and the ability for workers to get ahead within those institutions. Some of the institutions we study are Indentured Servitude, Slavery, tenant farming, the Great Migration and labor organization in the industrial north. Ultimately we hope to build an understanding of the historical roots of the role of race and class today.

Full details for ECON 3480 - Race and the American Labor Market in Historical Perspective

Spring.
ECON3485 New Technologies and the Labor Market
This course examines economic approaches to how new technologies impact the labour market. We will study how robots and digital technologies affect the nature of jobs and tasks, how technological developments affect the nature and flexibility of work contracts, as well as how firms and workers search and find each other. We will discuss the emergence of flexible work arrangements (gig economy, teleworking). The goal is to learn how economists approach and analyse these phenomena, both theoretically and empirically. 

Full details for ECON 3485 - New Technologies and the Labor Market

Spring.
ECON3545 International Finance and Macroeconomics
This course will cover analytical models and empirical evidence on the functioning of international financial markets (exchange rates, capital flows, monetary policy spillovers). Emerging market perspectives on these issues will be emphasized, with a particular focus on the economies of China and India. The course will also survey novel financial technologies (Fintech, cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currencies) and their implications for monetary policy, financial regulation, and other policies. Students will be required to write an independent research paper (knowledge of econometrics strongly recommended).   

Full details for ECON 3545 - International Finance and Macroeconomics

Fall.
ECON3610 The Economics of Consumer Policy
Familiarizes students with the economic analysis of consumer policy issues. Uses the tools of microeconomic analysis to investigate the interaction between government and the marketplace, with an emphasis on how that interaction affects consumers. Examines the rationale for and effects of regulation of industry. Considers alternative theories of regulation, including the capture, economic, and public interest theories. Applies those theories to specific types of regulation, including economic regulation of specific industries (e.g., telecommunications, electricity, trucking, railroads, postal services) as well as to broader social regulation (e.g., health, safety, environmental). The effects of regulatory reform in numerous industries are also examined. An attempt is made to examine current topics relating to consumer policy.

Full details for ECON 3610 - The Economics of Consumer Policy

Fall.
ECON3801 Introduction to Game Theory and Strategic Thinking
Some knowledge of game-theory is essential in today's age of complex decision-making, diplomacy, and corporate strategizing. This course is an introduction to the basic principles of game theory and rational choice. The course is designed for students with an interest in economics, political strategy, moral philosophy, and algorithmic reasoning. Important ideas and concepts, with real-life illustrations, will be discussed. Over the semester students will learn the essential ideas of Nash, Schelling and others, different conceptualizations of equilibrium, such as the Nash equilibrium and subgame perfection, and how they apply to different contexts, such as competition among firms, war, and diplomacy. The course will help us understand everyday phenomena, such as addiction, procrastination and moral dilemmas, and show how reasoning can be a critical input for personal happiness. Students will be introduced to some unresolved paradoxes of rational behavior and encouraged to try to solve them on their own.

Full details for ECON 3801 - Introduction to Game Theory and Strategic Thinking

Fall.
ECON3805 Competition Law and Policy
This course will examine issues that arise when a country attempts to implement and maintain a "competition policy" as a way of promoting economic growth and efficiency. The basic reading material will start with actual cases (most of them arising under U.S. antitrust law), and use those cases to probe the legal, economic and broad policy issues that the cases raise.

Full details for ECON 3805 - Competition Law and Policy

Fall.
ECON3830 Economics of Consumer Protection and the Law
The course will focus on how legal rules and regulations impact consumers in the marketplace. A significant portion of this course will focus on how developments in tort law, contract law, property law, and regulatory law influence social welfare and serve to protect consumers in their interactions with the marketplace. The course will also focus on how the federal regulatory agencies function and analyze the effectiveness of these agencies in protecting consumers. The course will focus specifically on the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission. In addition to students interested in public policy and economics, the course can be helpful to students who are interested in attending law school as students will get exposed to many of the concepts they will address in a first year law school curriculum.

Full details for ECON 3830 - Economics of Consumer Protection and the Law

Fall.
ECON3870 Business and Economics of Energy
This course will investigate energy issues from an economic and business perspective using a quantitative approach. In the first part of the course, students will learn how to think about energy through an economic and business lens. The second part of the course will focus on topical energy market issues such as imperfect competition, bidding in electricity markets, markets for oil and gas, and environmental regulation.

Full details for ECON 3870 - Business and Economics of Energy

Fall.
ECON4260 Public Finance: The Microeconomics of Government
Analyzes the role of government in a free market economy. Topics include public goods, market failures, allocation mechanisms, optimal taxation, effects of taxation, and benefit-cost analysis. Current topics of an applied nature vary from semester to semester.

Full details for ECON 4260 - Public Finance: The Microeconomics of Government

Fall.
ECON4510 International Trade Theory and Policy
Surveys the sources of comparative advantage. Studies commercial policy and analyzes the welfare economics of trade between countries. Some attention is paid to the institutional aspects of the world trading system.

Full details for ECON 4510 - International Trade Theory and Policy

Fall or Spring.
ECON4660 Behavioral Economics
This course introduces students to behavioral economics, a subfield of economics that incorporates insights from psychology and other social sciences into economics. The course reviews some of the standard assumptions made in economics, and examines evidence on how human behavior systematically departs from these assumptions. The course then investigates alternative models of human decision making, and assesses to what extent these alternative models help improve economic analyses.

Full details for ECON 4660 - Behavioral Economics

Fall or Spring.
ECON4902 Banks
Covers bank management and supervision, with special reference to international supervisory agreements (Basel II) and U.S. Federal guidance. Sources of risk are considered-market, credit, operational, and others. Quantitative methods for modeling and measuring risk are covered.

Full details for ECON 4902 - Banks

Fall, Spring.
ECON4906 Industrial Organization and Competitive Strategy
Industrial organization economists study firm behavior in imperfectly competitive markets, which are far more common than the perfectly competitive markets that were the focus of your introductory microeconomics course.  Econ 4906 analyzes the acquisition and use of market power by firms, strategic interactions among firms, and the role of government competition policy.  We will approach this subject from both theoretical and applied perspectives.

Full details for ECON 4906 - Industrial Organization and Competitive Strategy

Fall.
ECON4907 The Economics of Asymmetric Information and Contracts
This course provides an introduction to the economics of asymmetric information, contracts and mechanism design. Topics covered include: bilateral contracting problems with moral hazard and/or adverse selection, bargaining with asymmetric information, the design of optimal auctions and other multilateral mechanisms, signaling and incomplete contacts. Prerequisites include intermediate microeconomics and statistics. The student is expected to be comfortable with basic probability (random variables, expectation, independence, and conditional probability) and calculus.

Full details for ECON 4907 - The Economics of Asymmetric Information and Contracts

Fall.
ECON4990 Honors Program Preparation
The Undergraduate Honors Program in Economics is designed to offer students who have demonstrated academic excellence in the major an opportunity to pursue an independent research project and graduate with Latin honors. The program runs for the student's entire senior year, and the research is conducted under the close supervision of a faculty advisor. In ECON 4990 the candidate articulates their research question by developing a thesis proposal, surveys the relevant literature, and assesses the relevant data. Students typically develop empirical projects, but it is also possible to do experimental, theoretical, or historical work.

Full details for ECON 4990 - Honors Program Preparation

Fall.
ECON4997 Cross-Cultural Work Experiences
ECON4998 Cross-Cultural Work Experiences
ECON4999 Independent Study in Economics Fall, Spring.
ECON6090 Microeconomic Theory I
Topics in consumer and producer theory.

Full details for ECON 6090 - Microeconomic Theory I

Fall.
ECON6130 Macroeconomics I
Covers the following topics: static general equilibrium; intertemporal general equilibrium: infinitely lived agents models and overlapping generations models; welfare theorems; equivalence between sequential markets and Arrow-Debreu Markets; Ricardian proposition; Modigliani-Miller theorem; asset pricing; recursive competitive equilibrium; the Neoclassical Growth Model; calibration; and introduction to dynamic programming.

Full details for ECON 6130 - Macroeconomics I

Fall.
ECON6170 Intermediate Mathematical Economics I
Covers selected topics in matrix algebra (vector spaces, matrices, simultaneous linear equations, characteristic value problem), calculus of several variables (elementary real analysis, partial differentiation) convex analysis (convex sets, concave functions, quasi-concave functions), classical optimization theory (unconstrained maximization, constrained maximization), Kuhn-Tucker optimization theory (concave programming, quasi-concave programming).

Full details for ECON 6170 - Intermediate Mathematical Economics I

Fall.
ECON6190 Econometrics I
Gives the probabilistic and statistical background for meaningful application of econometric techniques. Topics include probability theory probability spaces, random variables, distributions, moments, transformations, conditional distributions, distribution theory and the multivariate normal distribution, convergence concepts, laws of large numbers, central limit theorems, Monte Carlo simulation; statistics: sample statistics, sufficiency, exponential families of distributions. Further topics in statistics are considered in ECON 6200.

Full details for ECON 6190 - Econometrics I

Fall.
ECON6590 Empirical Strategies for Policy Analysis
Focuses on empirical strategies to identify the causal effects of public policies and programs. The course uses problem sets based on real-world examples and data to examine techniques for analyzing nonexperimental data including control function approaches, matching methods, panel-data methods, selection models, instrumental variables, and regression-discontinuity methods. The emphasis throughout, however, is on the critical role of research design in facilitating credible causal inference. The course aids students in both learning to implement a variety of statistical tools using large data sets, and in learning to select which tools are best suited to a given research project.

Full details for ECON 6590 - Empirical Strategies for Policy Analysis

Fall.
ECON6990 Readings in Economics Fall, Spring.
ECON7360 Public Finance
This course provides an introduction to the field of public economics.  The field is large, with significant theoretical and empirical components.  The emphasis of this course is on the theory.  It covers core ideas in the area of static and dynamic optimal taxation, public goods and externalities, social insurance and welfare, and state and local public finance.

Full details for ECON 7360 - Public Finance

Fall.
ECON7465 Advances in Labor Economics
This course aims to provide an in-depth perspective on three important themes in modern labor economics: (1) Job search, (2) Technological change and new forms of work, (3) Sorting of workers and firms. Both micro and macro perspectives will be considered.

Full details for ECON 7465 - Advances in Labor Economics

Fall.
ECON7510 Industrial Organization and Regulation I
This course offers a graduate-level introduction to theoretical models in industrial organization. It is designed to prepare researchers to identify interesting questions and rigorously motivate empirical work. Topics include supermodular games, collusion, bargaining, auctions, industry dynamics, and productivity.

Full details for ECON 7510 - Industrial Organization and Regulation I

Fall.
ECON7650 Development Microeconomics Graduate Research Seminar
Graduate students and the instructor present draft research proposals, papers, and preliminary thesis results for group review and discussion. Students who actively participate by offering written and oral comments on others' work receive 1 credit. Students who also present their own proposal or paper receive 2 credits. Presentations last 75 minutes and thus represent a substantial investment of time. Students who present a second proposal or paper receive 3 credits.

Full details for ECON 7650 - Development Microeconomics Graduate Research Seminar

Fall, Spring.
ECON7670 Topics in International Finance
This course will provide a selective overview of topics at the cutting-edge of academic research and policy debates about the international monetary and financial system. Main areas will include the effects of financial globalization on growth, volatility, and the transmission of business cycles, as well as the determinants of capital flows and exchange rates. The course will cover topics at the intersection of international finance and macroeconomics, with particular emphasis on the implications for monetary policy and financial regulation. New research related to Fintech, cryptocurrencies, and central bank digital currencies will also be covered. This course is intended for advanced Ph.D. students, especially those in search of thesis topics, and will require extensive student involvement in preparing research proposals and critiques of existing literature. Students will develop their own research ideas during the course and are required to write a substantive research paper.

Full details for ECON 7670 - Topics in International Finance

Fall.
ECON7711 Microeconomics of Development: Applications to Health, Nutrition and Education
Advanced seminar explores recent empirical research and evaluation literature on issues of health, nutrition, education and intrahousehold decision-making in developing countries.

Full details for ECON 7711 - Microeconomics of Development: Applications to Health, Nutrition and Education

Fall.
ECON7720 Economics of Development
Analytical approaches to the economics of developing nations and development processes. Topics include: introduction to development economics; distribution analysis: theory and evidence; modeling employment, unemployment, wages, and labor markets; and policy analysis for economic development.

Full details for ECON 7720 - Economics of Development

Spring.
ECON7740 Law and Economics: A Game-Theoretic Approach
This course introduces graduate students to the main concepts and ideas of law and economics, founded on elementary game theory. These ideas are then applied to contemporary policy concerns, from promoting economic development and designing welfare interventions in developing countries, to controlling corruption and financial fraud. The defining feature of the course is the structuring of these topics within a common conceptual framework, and training students to develop these ideas further and apply them to new research questions.

Full details for ECON 7740 - Law and Economics: A Game-Theoretic Approach

Fall.
ECON7841 Econometrics Workshop
Research workshop featuring guest lecturers.

Full details for ECON 7841 - Econometrics Workshop

Fall, Spring.
ECON7842 Microeconomic Theory Workshop
Research workshop featuring guest lecturers.

Full details for ECON 7842 - Microeconomic Theory Workshop

Fall, Spring.
ECON7843 Industrial Organization Workshop
Research workshop featuring guest lecturers.

Full details for ECON 7843 - Industrial Organization Workshop

Fall, Spring.
ECON7845 Workshop in Labor Economics
Presentations of completed papers and work in progress by faculty members, advanced graduate students, and speakers from other universities. Focuses on the formulation, design, and execution of dissertations.

Full details for ECON 7845 - Workshop in Labor Economics

Fall, Spring.
ECON7846 S.C. Tsiang Macroeconomics Workshop
Research workshop featuring guest lecturers.

Full details for ECON 7846 - S.C. Tsiang Macroeconomics Workshop

Fall, Spring.
ECON7847 Development Workshop
Research workshop featuring guest lecturers.

Full details for ECON 7847 - Development Workshop

Fall, Spring.
ECON7848 Public Economics Workshop
Research workshop featuring guest lecturers.

Full details for ECON 7848 - Public Economics Workshop

Fall, Spring.
ECON7849 Behavioral Economics Workshop
Research workshop featuring guest lecturers.

Full details for ECON 7849 - Behavioral Economics Workshop

Fall, Spring.
ECON7850 Third Year Research Seminar
Ph.D. students in the Field of Economics are required to take this year-long research seminar, and receive a grade of Satisfactory, in order to remain in good standing in the Ph.D. program. Students present and discuss each second-year paper, which must be completed before the semester opens and Economics 7850 meets for the first time. Students also present at least two additional papers or paper plans. These are intended to be part of the core of the student's thesis proposal, which must be given as part of the student's A Exam prior to the start of the fourth year of graduate study in the economics Ph.D. program. Economics 7851 ends with a mini-conference, attended by faculty and other Ph.D. students, in which each student makes a formal presentation in standard economics conference format, and each student discusses one of these presentations. Professional writing and presentation coaching is also provided.

Full details for ECON 7850 - Third Year Research Seminar

Fall.
Top