COURSE DESCRIPTION

ECON 3021. PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS MICROECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Introduction to microeconomics emphasizing supply and demand, costs of production, and price and output determination under different market structures.

ECON 3022. PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS MACROECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Introduction to macroeconomics, emphasizing social accounting, equilibrium, income and output determination, unemployment, inflation, the financial system, and economic policy.

ECON 3085. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF PUERTO RICO. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022.
The evolution of the economic system of Puerto Rico; an analysis of its history, structural development, and fundamental problems.

ECON 3086. CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS OF THE PUERTO RICAN ECONOMY. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: ECON 3085. Analysis of the contemporary Puerto Rican economy and its problems.

ECON 3091. MICRO-ECONOMIC THEORY. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: ECON 3021. A study of modern micro-economic theory; an analysis of price determination under different market structures.

ECON 3092. MACRO-ECONOMIC THEORY. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: ECON 3022. An analysis of the economic determinants of the level, change and growth of production and employment. Special emphasis is given to modern theories and their policy implications.

ECON 3095. SECURITIES MARKETS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Nature and function of operations, and regulation of the securities' markets.

ECON 4006. BUSINESS CYCLES. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Economic factors that affect fluctuations in income, production, employment, and prices; theories that explain this phenomenon; counter-cyclical policy.

ECON 4007. QUANTITATIVE METHODS IN ECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021, ECON 3022 and ESMA 3101or MATE 3101. Application of the concepts and techniques of quantitative analysis to the field of economics; quantitative aspects of demand-supply analysis, production functions, design of economic models, and other topics.

ECON 4008. UNCERTAININTY ECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week.  Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Game theory and its economic applications; decision-making under uncertainty with emphasis on its effects on the insurance market, the labor market, investment, the strategic behavior of firms in an oligopoly, and auctions.

ECON 4015. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. A study of the common characteristics of underdeveloped countries, with emphasis on the economic theories explaining the factors that determine economic development; an examination of economic policies designed to foster development.

ECON 4016. MANAGERIAL ECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: ECON 3091. Economic techniques necessary for directing and operating business enterprises including mathematical programming, marginal economic analysis, capital budgeting, and evaluation of potential investments under conditions of risk.

ECON 4017. ECONOMETRICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3091 and ECON 3092 and MATE 3049. Corequisite: ESMA 3102. Statistical analysis applied to economic questions: model building, hypothesis testing, estimation techniques, and data problems.

ECON 4025. MONEY AND BANKING. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. The origin and development of money and banking with emphasis on the functions of the monetary and banking systems, central banking, especially the Federal Reserve System, domestic and international monetary institutions, and the present banking laws in Puerto Rico.

ECON 4027. TRANSPORTATION ECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Analysis of the economic structure of the transportation system and its significance in competition, monopoly, and economic organization.

ECON 4028. ECONOMICS OF NATURAL RESOURCES. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Economic analysis of natural resources: their valuation, conservation, and sustainable development.

ECON 4037. URBAN ECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: ECON 3021. Urban issues in a microeconomic framework with emphasis on Puerto Rico. Topics include market forces and the development of cities, urban land-use patterns, transportation, and poverty.

ECON 4038. ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Study of the principles, problems, and applications of ecological economics. Includes topics such as the interrelationship between the economic and ecological systems, environmental services, economic growth, and sustainable development. Students will examine and formulate possible courses of action that help to reestablish the balance between the economic, social, and ecological systems.

ECON 4045. COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. A comparative study of the different economic systems such as capitalism, socialism, communism and fascism. Emphasis is placed on the different methods used by each system to solve the fundamental economic problems.

ECON 4046. INPUT-OUTPUT ANALYSIS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021, ECON 3022 and MATE 3000. Theoretical foundations, methods, techniques, and applications of economic analysis using the Input-Output model.

ECON 4055. HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. The course studies the beginning and growth of Economics  as  a  scientific study,  and  shows  the relationship between economic beliefs, historical circumstances and the life of the thinker. The different economic schools of thought, up to and including the more recent economic ideas are considered.

ECON 4056. ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: ECON 3021. Impact of economic development and population growth on environmental quality; the economic analysis of pollution; the role of government in environmental deterioration; and the international environmental issues.

ECON 4065. ECONOMICS OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR AND FISCAL POLICY. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Analysis of government income and expenditures and the impact of fiscal policy on output, employment, prices, and other economic variables.

ECON 4085. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. A study of the fundamental aspects of international economic theory; an examination of the current international economic framework and tendency towards economic integration; a brief analysis of the aspects and problems of the international monetary system.

ECON 4185. ECONOMIC PROBLEMS OF LATIN AMERICA. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Economic problems of Latin America; critical evaluation of the institutions and economic factors that retard or foster their solution; the role of the State in promoting economic development.

ECON 4196. ECONOMICS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Conduct, performance and use of price theory in the determination of industrial structure. Economic aspects of market structure, mergers and innovations, models of economic behavior, and the role of advertising.

ECON 4225. LABOR ECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3021 and ECON 3022. Theory of labor market behavior and its applications to public policy. Topics include labor supply and demand, human capital theory, migration, unemployment, unions, and discrimination.

ECON 4307. PROJECT EVALUATION. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3022 and ECON 3091. Evaluation of public investment projects emphasizing cost-benefit analysis and its application.

ECON 4391. RESEARCH METHODS IN ECONOMICS I. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 4017. Discussion of the research process in the study of economic problems with emphasis on the scientific approach, research design, measurement concepts and analytical approaches. A research proposal is required.

ECON 4392. RESEARCH METHODS IN ECONOMICS II. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisite: ECON 4391. Development and presentation of a research project in a field of economics.

ECON 4395. RESEARCH METHODS IN ECONOMICS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3091, ECON 3092 and MATE 3102 or ESMA 3102. Discussion of research process in the study of economic problems with emphasis and other analytical approaches.

ECON 4405. ANALYSIS OF CONTEMPORARY ECONOMIC PROBLEMS. Three credit hours. Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ECON 3091 and ECON 3092 and (MATE 3102 or ESMA 3102). A study of the fundamental economic problems of our time, such as production, employment, trade, consumption, inflation, and others.

ECON 4425. SPECIAL TOPICS. One to three credit hours. One to three hours of lecture or seminar per week. Prerequisite: Authorization of the Director of the Department. Authors, topics, and trends in the field of economics.

ECON 4995. SPECIAL PROBLEMS. One to three credit hours. Three to nine hours of research per week. Prerequisite: Authorization of the Director of the Department. Research under the supervision of a professor of the Department.