Vladimir Otrachshenko, Ph.D.

This introductory course presents various concepts in the field of environmental economics. It is designed to help students understand theories related to natural resources and make use of microeconomic and statistical analysis. This course will also focus on valuation techniques for environmental goods used in the real world by analysts and policy makers. There is a growing demand in economics and public sectors for individuals with quantitative skills who can understand and apply these techniques, analyze results, and produce reports. By the end of this course, students should be able to analyze economic problems related to environmental goods using rigorous valuation techniques.

Aizhamal Rakhmetova, PhD candidate

This course provides an applied introduction to labor economics with a focus on both theoretical models and contemporary policy challenges. Topics include labor supply and demand, wage setting, human capital, migration, discrimination on labor markets. Students will engage with economic models, empirical evidence, and policy debates.

Olga Popova, Ph.D.

This course covers the key concepts in public economics, a field of economics that studies the role of government in the economy. The course is designed to introduce seminal theoretical concepts and discuss the most recent empirical developments in public economics with the aim of understanding: (i) why and how governments intervene in an economy, (ii) how individuals and firms react to these interventions, and (iii) what the implications of those interventions are for the overall welfare and economic development.

Ella Sargsyan, Ph.D.

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.

Ardiana Gashi, Ph.D.

The focus of the course is gender differences on the labor market, and will cover both theoretical and empirical studies. Students will delve into these topics to understand the many ways that gender is relevant in the economy. Students will obtain an evidence-based understanding of two key aspects: 1) the potential mechanisms behind gender inequality, and 2) the policies and evidence of their effects on advancing the gender equality. Specifically, this course analyzes the economic aspects of issues related to gender, such as gender wage gaps, labor force discrimination, family-friendly policies in the workplace, the valuation of unpaid household work, and the differential impact of public policies. During the course, students will become familiar with the methodology of gender analysis in the economic sciences and research gender analysis indicators to support skills development for relevant research and analysis.

Laure de Batz, Ph.D.

This course aims at raising awareness and scrutiny of students to possible ethical challenges firms, managers and employees face when thinking about financial laws and enforcement, with an economic perspective and illustrated with real-life and up-to-date case studies. The scope of unethical financial behaviors covers mostly market abuses, with price manipulation, insider trading, and communication of false information (in particular accounting frauds). This course should contribute to a better understanding of how ethical issues play a role in finance and how they may conflict with firms’ strategies, and of how managers’ and employees’ decisions can impact financial markets and investors’ wealth.

The ultimate goal of this Ethics and Finance course is to prepare students to potential ethical dilemmas they might face along their careers. Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to challenge and put into perspective the financial behavior of firms (financial institutions and listed firms in particular) in terms of ethics, from an economic perspective.

Vahan Sargsyan, Ph.D.

This course provides an introduction to data science as a profession and focuses on the theoretical methodologies of widely applied classical 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).

Silvester Van Koten, Ph.D.

Energy is a basic necessity of daily life and a vital input for industry in every society worldwide. It also plays a central role in climate policy and geopolitics.

This course, approached primarily from the perspective of economic markets and regulation, aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of key issues related to the energy system. The main focus is on the supply side of the market, examining the fundamental characteristics of fossil and renewable energy sources. While the course emphasizes core economic principles, supply, demand, and pricing, special attention is also given to the security and strategic importance of different energy sources.

One part of the course provides a broad conceptual background on major energy topics. The other part employs economic tools and moderately simple mathematical models to clarify the economic logic underpinning the energy sector. These analytical tools offer a systematic approach to navigating the vast and complex body of information now available on energy. They also help students critically assess current energy policies.

Although the course has a general focus, it also addresses regional dynamics, with particular attention to the European Union, the Caucasus, Ukraine, and Central Asia.