Pavla Vozarova, Ph.D.
The course provides an introduction into traditional and modern models of international trade, and a discussion of the determinants of trade relations between countries and the impact of these relations on economic welfare. It also explains the principle of different trade policies in light of current international trade issues. Focus is given to the analysis of data and interpretation of empirical studies.
Vahan Sargsyan, Ph.D.
This course provides an introduction to data science as a profession and focuses on the theoretical methodologies of the most widely applied machine learning models. The main topics covered include: data preparation (data mining, cleaning and exploring strategies), statistical modeling with the application of appropriate machine learning methodologies (data segmentation, predictive analytics), and mathematical evaluation (test-train split and accuracy measures).
Eva Hromadkova, Ph.D.
This course provides an introduction to Health Economics. As such, it will cover the production and demand for healthcare, how the determinants of demand and supply affect the costs of various types of healthcare services and the individual, family, and market investments in health. The field uses the tools of microeconomics and econometrics to examine both theoretically and empirically a number of topics, including the role of health insurance, healthcare in developing countries, and risky behavior.
Gabriela Kuvíková, Ph.D.
This course aims to provide a basic understanding of today’s changing landscape of financial markets and institutions with a broad scope and emphasis on general principles. Students will study the key fundamentals of financial markets and learn how financial markets and financial institutions work. We will discuss interest rates and their role in valuation, learn about efficient market hypothesis and exchange rate determination, explore money and capital markets, identify various players in the financial institutions industry, and take a closer look at risk management in financial institutions.
Ella Sargsyan, Ph.D. candidate
The course will introduce regression analysis and cover some of the most recent econometric techniques central to modern econometric practice. Successful students will gain a deeper understanding of the material discussed in other Distance Learning Program courses. They will be up to speed with Western European students at the same education level, making them more competitive in their further studies and on the labor market. At the end of this course students will understand basic econometric concepts, basic estimation methods, and methods for testing statistical hypotheses. They will be able to apply standard methods of constructing econometric models, process statistical information, obtain statistically sound conclusions, and give meaningful interpretation to the results of the estimated econometric models. In addition, students will gain real data processing skills, using econometric packages for building and estimating econometric models in R.
Martina Miotto, Ph.D.
The goal of this course is to expose students to the newest developments in applied microeconomic research in development economics, particularly policy-oriented research. The topics covered will be especially close to the research agenda of the recent Nobel Prize Winners in Economics: Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer. A further focus of the course is on the study of infrastructure, firms and labor markets in developing countries. Overall, the course offers a thorough understanding of current-day research in development, with a special angle on poverty reduction and private market policies. The goal is to enable students to identify promising research questions in these fields (e.g. for future studies), and to help students prepare for a career as a practitioner in government and non- government development organizations.
Silvester van Koten, Ph.D.
Energy is a basic necessity of daily life and a vital input to industry in any society around the world. New technologies, especially renewable power generators such as wind and solar are changing the industry. Also, new climate policies have a growing influence on the economics and practical functioning of the energy systems. , especially the electricity industry. Firstly, the course aims to give a deeper theoretical insight regarding economic externalities (such as global warming). A number of the classical economic instruments are presented, such as Pigovean taxes, cap-and-trade programs, subsidies and mandates. The theory addressed has broad applications, also in the field of public finance and public policy. Secondly, the course gives an overview of the economics of new potential decarbonization technologies, such as hydrogen, heat pumps, electric cars and gas as a transition fuel. Thirdly the most recent decarbonization developments will be discussed.
Aizhamal Rakhmetova, PhD candidate
The course aims to provide students with basic knowledge in the main areas of behavioral economics by focusing on the behavioral implications of theoretical models and experimental evidence in economics. The list of topics includes bounded rationality, decision-making under risk and uncertainty, preferences, intertemporal decision-making, attention and information acquisition, and other behavioral heuristics and biases. Upon successfully completing this course, students should be able to understand the conceptual framework of behavioral economics and its tools, recognize behavioral biases, and apply insights from psychology when predicting or analyzing economic decision-making.