BUS 200a Work Practicum

Open only to IBS BA/MA students who are entering their final year of graduate study.

Allows students to enroll on a full-time basis during the summer semester in conjunction with a required internship course. Students will be concurrently enrolled in an internship course. Usually offered every year.

BUS 211a Foundations of Data Analytics

May not be taken for credit by students who took BUS 211f previously. The distinguished speakers, who have navigated these issues firsthand, will drive the specific session's topic.

We are now in an era of voluminous real-time data, with fast, affordable computing and data-driven decision making. Firms across the spectrum are gathering detailed real-world data on their customers, competitors, and marketplace. This vast volume of information will provide significant competitive advantage to companies and managers who can leverage these data and derive meaningful managerial insights. This course has been designed for professionals who will be using analytics on large datasets, and so is intended for students wanting to go into marketing, finance, consulting, entrepreneurship, business strategy, or operations management. More specifically, the course provides experience with applications of data analytics specific to business decisions. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 212a Advanced Data Analytics

Prerequisite: BUS 211f or BUS 211a. May not be taken for credit by students who took BUS 212f in prior years.

Teaches theory and best practices of modern business analytics, with particular attention to business intelligence, predictive, and prescriptive modeling. We continue with data preparation and visualization introduced in BUS 211f, and provide hands-on experience with major methods of data mining and machine learning. In addition to working with RStudio and R packages, students will become experienced in methods of reproducible research, professional communication of analytic results and creation of data products. Significant use of case studies. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 215f Python and Applications to Business Analytics

Designed to be relevant to any business student that wishes to build a skillset that can harness the power of the computer, computer science, and data analysis to various applications in business analytics. A set of these applications in business analytics that are relevant is data analysis (statistics, machine learning), data visualization (charting), algorithms (optimization, numerical methods, linear algebra), and forecasting (time series analytics, stochastic methods). Usually offered every semester.

BUS 216f Python and Applications to Business Analytics II

Prerequisite: BUS 215f. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Harnesses the power of Python to build an application from design to deployment stages. Students will be learn about the product design stage, setting up a code development environment, developing and utilizing test-driven use-cases, harnessing Python-based libraries to build a GUI, implementing business analytics with user-developed and library algorithms, coding best practices, and finally, deployment to the intended device. All developed applications can be used by business analytics students that aspire to build analytics-based applications in the business world. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 219f Fundamentals of Organizational Behavior

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. May not be taken for credit by students who took BUS 220a in prior years.

Covers the fundamentals of organizational behavior, including the topics of leadership, work motivation, organizational culture, organizational structure, group dynamics, perception, decision-making, and cross-cultural interaction. Final project includes analysis of cultural differences in organizational behavior concepts. Usually offered every year.

BUS 222f Global Dexterity

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

To be a global worker and a true "citizen of the world" today means you are able to adapt your behavior to conform to new cultural contexts without losing your authentic self in the process. Work on developing "global dexterity" skills to accomplish this. Usually offered every year.

BUS 224g Launching Your Global Career

Offered exclusively on a credit/no credit basis. Meets for one-quarter semester and yields quarter-course credit.

The goal of this course is to equip students with the career management skills essential to surviving and excelling in today's global labor market. Provides graduate students with a foundation and necessary tools for identifying target positions; conducting an effective and efficient job search; building career-planning and job-search skills that will be useful throughout their careers. Usually offered every year.

BUS 225a Leading in an Era of Diversity

Introduces students to analytical frameworks for understanding and influencing individual, group, inter-group, and total organization dynamics. Provides a foundation for developing self-awareness and an authentic leadership style suitable for working in diverse workplace. Increases students' awareness of and competence in reporting to, collaborating with, and managing people different from themselves. Usually offered every year.

BUS 227a Influence, Power and Identity

Examines how many aspects of your career--landing a job, a promotion, or a new client--require you to influence other people and to affect how they think, feel, and behave. Students will explore and apply the latest research on successful influence strategies. Usually offered every year.

BUS 228b MBA Career Strategy and Management Communication

Yields half-course credit.

Provides students the opportunity to develop career plans, professionalize management communication style, and fine-tune professional presentation alongside academic pursuits while at Brandeis IBS, so that students are prepared to take the steps needed to gain experience through internships during graduate studies and pursue an excellent and fulfilling career upon graduation. Usually offered every year.

BUS 230a Entrepreneurship

Addresses the fundamentals of starting and growing a business, including entrepreneurial finance and financial management. Covers theory and practice and includes presentations by speakers engaged in entrepreneurship, underwriting, and venture capital. The major assignment is a team project to construct a business plan for a startup company using actual data. Usually offered every year.

BUS 232f Digital Fabrication with Robotics

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

The goal of this course is for students to walk away with the ability to imagine a design and produce it in physical reality. Students will learn the fundamental underlying technologies in digital fabrication, 3D scanning, 3D design, and robotics. Through a combination of real world examples and hands-on experiences, students will learn to take a design from concept to reality. There will be a focus on literacy of underlying technologies: how things work, what their limitations are, why they fail, and how to troubleshoot or design around those limitations. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 233a Entrepreneurship and Rapid Prototyping

Recommended prerequisites: BUS 152a and BUS 232f. Can not be taken for credit by students who have previously taken BUS 131a.

Focuses on prototyping/lean startup, minimum-viable products, design thinking, project management, and product/service development. Today, the most important skills entrepreneurs need to have are not necessarily learned in the traditional classroom environment. The work of an entrepreneur and project manager of any kind requires mastering the art of rapid experimentation/prototyping with multiple iterations to improve systems, products or services. This course is designed to allow students to learn those tools in a hands-on, immersive approach, allowing students to launch one actual product or service in the course of a semester. Usually offered every year.

BUS 235f Real Estate Fundamentals

Prerequisite: FIN 212a or FIN 213a (can be taken concurrently). Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Introduction to the analysis, financing, and management of income-producing real property. Explores how investors and developers identify projects, determine value, design marketing strategies, and obtain financing in the debt and equity markets. Usually offered every year.

BUS 238f Real Estate Development

Prerequisite: BUS 235f. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Focuses on how developers create value from real estate assets. Examines development process: market analysis, site selection, acquisition, planning, construction, leasing and permitting. Working in teams, students plan and present actual original development projects to a visiting panel of professionals. Usually offered every year.

BUS 240f Information Visualization

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Modern computer graphics provide many ways to tame "big data," allowing users not only to view multidimensional information, but to interactively explore, combine, and interpret massive volumes of information using software tools including R, Microstrategy and Tableau. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 242a Predictive Modeling in Sports

Co-requisite: BUS/FIN 241a. May not be taken for credit by students who have taken BUS 140a in the past.

Offers a general topic course on machine learning tools, and their implementation through Python, and the Python packages, Scikit Learn, Keras, TensorFlow, and the Natural Language Toolkit (NLT). The course is oriented heavily to applications in business and finance, giving students the tools needed to survive in the modern data analytics space. It is not intended as a deep theoretical approach to machine learning. Students will finish the class with a basic understanding of how to execute predictive analytic algorithms, as well as rigorously test their performance. The course is statistical in nature. Usually offered every year.

BUS 243a Introduction to Natural Language Processing

Prerequisites: Bus 215f and either Econ 184a or Econ 213a with a grade of C+ or higher. Machine Learning is recommended.

Natural language processing (NLP) is becoming increasingly widespread. Applications of NLP have become embedded in our everyday lives, and these applications are based somewhere between formal linguistics and statistical physics. Especially over the past decade, neural network approaches have become the de facto standard for many NLP tasks. This course aims to provide a survey of these foundations, but we will take NLP in a narrow sense to cover the text analysis only. The course assumes a background in multivariate calculus, linear algebra, and proficiency in Python. The goal of this course is to enable you to build your language applications using the PyTorch framework. Usually offered every year.

BUS 244a Generative AI Foundations for Business

Prerequisites: BUS 215f, ECON 210a, and one of the following: BUS 211a, or BUS 212a, or BUS/FIN 241a.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) focuses on systems that can create, manipulate, and understand content across various modalities including text, images, and structured data, and has the potential to transform business operations across sectors by learning patterns from vast amounts of data to generate new, contextually relevant content.

This course aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of generative AI technologies, architectures, and deployment strategies in business contexts. It is designed to equip students with both theoretical foundations and practical implementation skills that are grounded in real-world business applications. The primary objective is to help students develop the ability to identify business problems where Gen AI can create value, select appropriate AI architectures and models, and implement end-to-end solutions while considering business constraints. Usually offered every year.

BUS 248b Business in Global Markets

Noncredit.

Usually offered every year.

BUS 249f Immersion Experience

Prerequisite: BUS 248b. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. Meets in a country with a dynamic business and economic environment. Consult the program administrator for details regarding special costs and meeting times. May be repeated once for credit, to different destinations.

Provides analysis of the host country's business, economy, markets, and institutions, in the broader context of its history, politics, culture, and society. Explores their relationship with broader global trends in business. In-country program consists of academic lectures, field trips to companies and other institutions, and group discussion. Preparatory lectures at Brandeis in advance of visit. Usually offered every year.

BUS 252a Marketing Management

An in-depth exploration and practical application of the basic marketing tools of product policy, pricing, promotion, distribution, sales management, customer segmentation, and retention in order to analyze marketing opportunities and develop marketing programs for a variety of management situations. Usually offered every year.

BUS 253a Marketing Research: Design and Analysis

A practical exploration of a broad sampling of market research techniques to compile, analyze, and apply consumer, product, and market intelligence to strategic and marketing decisions concerning market segmentation, targeting, positioning, product design, and demand forecast. Usually offered every year.

BUS 254a Branding Strategy

Prerequisite: BUS 252a.

Examines the value of building, sustaining, and communicating a company's brand and its value proposition through promotional activities and channels of distribution. A competitive, online simulation is used to enhance case studies. Usually offered every year.

BUS 255a Consumer Behavior

Focuses on fundamental theories and concepts in consumer psychology and exciting new findings to enhance students' understanding of how and why people choose, use and evaluate goods and services the way they do. This knowledge will come from lectures, readings and discussions in class, but also from hands-on experiential learning through involvement in a semester-long group project. Usually offered every year.

BUS 256a Marketing Analytics

Prerequisite: ECON 210a. Corequisite: BUS 211a.

Provides experience with applications of business analytics to marketing decisions. We begin each topic with a representative case study, practicing the skills of framing questions and decisions in ways that can be answered with available data. We study a group of widely-used statistical models to support and/or automate marketing decisions. Usually offered every year.

BUS 257f Social Media and Advertising

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Explores the activities a company undertakes to educate, engage and prompt to action its various target customer segments. Topics include advertising, promotions, event sponsorship, internet marketing, social media marketing, corporate blogs, word-of-mouth advertising, and marketing communications for social initiatives. Usually offered every year.

BUS 258f Sales and Sales Management

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Explores concepts and techniques for professional sales and sales management. Includes strategies for maximizing revenue and customer satisfaction while optimizing costs to sell, service and maintain customer relationships. Usually offered every year.

BUS 259f Digital Marketing

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Introduces students to important concepts and techniques of online marketing, such as search engine optimization (SEO), paid search marketing (search and display ads), web analytics, and monetization models (sales funnel and email campaigns). Students will have first-hand experience applying these concepts and techniques by building a website themselves to market a product or service. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 260a Competition and Strategy

Introduces frameworks for analyzing industries and firm competitive advantage and reviews key concepts in business strategy. Uses case method to practice strategic thinking and team projects to practice business research. Core for MBA students and recommended for other business students. Usually offered every year.

BUS 262a Alliance, Acquisition, and Divestment Strategy

Business combinations are central to competitive strategy. Inter-firm alliances of various sorts (e.g., joint ventures) are particularly valuable in rapidly changing industries and in unfamiliar markets. Mergers and acquisitions can add value when scale and scope are keys to success. Surveys the strategic and organizational issues involved in business combinations. Discusses ideas from research, and applies them to managerial decisions using case studies and projects. Jointly taught by researcher and experienced consultant. Usually offered every year.

BUS 264b Climate Innovation

Innovations are critical to fighting climate change. But innovations don’t spread automatically. We
will learn the status of climate technologies and explore real-world barriers and opportunities they
face. Prior coursework in business or climate issues is helpful but not required. Usually offered every year.

BUS 272a Operations Management

Explores how different business strategies require different business processes, and, conversely, how different operational capabilities support different strategies to gain competitive advantage. Topics may include inventory management, cycle time management, supply chain management, quality management, and process management and improvement, as well as recent developments such as lean or world-class manufacturing, just-in-time operations, time-based competition, and business reengineering. Usually offered every year.

BUS 274f Supply Chain Analytics

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Instructs students how to optimize supply chain processes so that they can achieve a company's strategic goal of either efficiency or responsiveness. The course will cover supply chain metrics, production planning, inventory control and supply chain coordination. We will also investigate global supply chain design, logistics, and outsourcing. Usually offered every year.

BUS 275a Introduction to Negotiations

Introduces students to the fundamentals of negotiation analysis and practice. It uses case studies and experiential exercises, which take place inside and outside of the classroom to build an analytic and behavioral framework for sharpening understanding and improving performance in negotiation. Usually offered every year.

BUS 276a Business Dynamics: Managing in a Complex World

A study of why so many business strategies generate disappointing results or outright failure. Case studies include successful applications of system dynamics in growth strategy, management of technology, operations, project management, and implementation of improvement programs. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 278f Corporate Governance: From Colossal Failures to Best Practices

Prerequisite: FIN 212a or FIN 213a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

How the board of directors, management, shareholders, and an external auditor should work. How individual goals and external pressures influence individuals, and how their decisions impact a corporation's failure or success. Focuses on the United States with comparisons to Europe and Asia. Usually offered every year.

BUS 279f Corporate Fraud: Detection and Prevention

Prerequisite: FIN 212a or FIN 213a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Exposes students to the problem of fraudulent financial reporting, including its causes, impact, and practical, cost-effective responses. Using actual and simulated case material, students will acquire skills needed to identify, investigate, and report findings on corporate fraud. Usually offered every year.

BUS 281f Cyber Security and Operational Risks: A Need to Secure the Future

Prerequisite: FIN 212a or FIN 213a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Today's managers must be able to assess the risk profile of their business and respond to issues as they arise. Cyber security is an emerging risk for any company, small or large. Examines how companies are dealing with the challenges and legislation that have made executives in the U.S. and abroad fully accountable for effective cyber security and operational risk management processes. Usually offered every year.

BUS 290a Directed Research

Prerequisite: Two full semesters of MSBA coursework (at least 32 credits). Open to Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) students only.

The MSBA Directed Research is a 4-credit course that provides an opportunity for MSBA students to carry out a detailed directed research and independent study under the supervision of a faculty member. The MSBA Directed Research requires students to apply principles and frameworks from the MSBA curriculum to identify and analyze a question/puzzle with a data-driven approach that broadens the students understanding and knowledge on that particular issue and could potentially help the student in his/her job search. The Directed Research counts towards fulfilling the 4-credit core practicum requirement for the MSBA degree. As the MSBA Directed Research necessarily requires an advanced understanding of Business Analytics it is expected that students would have completed related coursework prior to undertaking this course. Usually offered every year.

BUS 291g General Education Seminar

Open only to IBS students. Enrollment is limited. Yields one-fourth course credit (one credit). May be repeated for credit as the seminar topic varies.

Addresses a narrow, important topic and is taught jointly by an IBS faculty member and a prominent outside expert. Each seminar involves nine hours of structured learning and discussion. Usually offered every year.

BUS 292a Marketing Field Project

Students work in teams on marketing projects for external sponsors. This course provides an opportunity for students to apply their skills and knowledge to solving real-world problems under the supervision of a faculty member. The course culminates in a final presentation to the sponsor before the end of the semester in which it is undertaken. Field Projects serve as a transition point for students from education to professional practice. Requires a strong foundation in marketing, along with good presentation and teamwork skills. Usually offered every year.

BUS 293a Real Estate Field Project

Students work in teams on real estate projects for external sponsors. This course provides an opportunity for students to apply their skills and knowledge to solving real-world problems under the supervision of a faculty member. The course culminates in a final presentation to the sponsor before the end of the semester in which it is undertaken. Field Projects serve as a transition point for students from education to professional practice. Requires a strong foundation in real estate, along with good presentation and teamwork skills. Usually offered every year.

BUS 294a Data Analytics Field Project

Students work in teams on data analytics projects for external sponsors. This course provides an opportunity for students to apply their skills and knowledge to solving real-world problems under the supervision of a faculty member. The course culminates in a final presentation to the sponsor before the end of the semester in which it is undertaken. Field Projects serve as a transition point for students from education to professional practice. Requires a strong foundation in data analytics, along with good presentation and teamwork skills. Usually offered every year.

BUS 295a Field Project: Social Impact Innovation

Students work in teams on projects for external sponsors. This course provides an opportunity for students to apply their skills and knowledge to solving real-world problems under the supervision of a faculty member. The course culminates in a final presentation to the sponsor before the end of the semester in which it is undertaken. Field Projects serve as a transition point for students from education to professional practice. Requires a strong foundation in business, along with good presentation and teamwork skills. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 296a Internship

Prerequisite: Two full semesters of MSBA coursework (at least 32 credits). Open to Master of Science in Business Analytics (MSBA) students only.

The MSBA Internship is a 4-credit course that provides an opportunity for MSBA students to carry out a formal internship with a client organization under the supervision of a faculty member. The MSBA Internship requires students to apply principles and frameworks from the MSBA curriculum for a client organization seeking help with a business analytical challenge. The Internship counts towards fulfilling the 4-credit core practicum requirement for the MSBA degree. Along with the Field Project in Business Analytics, the MSBA Internship serves as a transition point for students from education to professional practice. Usually offered every year.

BUS 297a Internship

Prerequisite: Two semesters at IBS or permission of program director. Yields half-course credit. May be repeated for credit up to 3 times (6 credits) for IBS MA and MBA students only. MSF and MSBA students may take only once.

Offers students an opportunity to apply the theories and key themes covered in the core courses in a real-life setting. Requires completion of at least six weeks of a paid or unpaid internship approved and monitored by a faculty advisor. The project could involve a research or consulting assignment or a structured internship in the school's fields. Interested students should consult the guidelines established by the school. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 297c Leadership Internships in Social Impact Organizations

Yields half-course credit per semester. Both semesters are required.

Provides an opportunity for students to individually assume high level strategic, tactical and/or leadership assignments in social impact organizations. Students may become a non-voting board fellow as part of their assignment and/or may be providing board level strategic and tactical consulting, depending on the nature of the host organization and the scope of each student's particular assignment. All opportunities will provide a forum for students to develop and amplify their own unique brand of high stakes contributions to real world social impact organizations. Usually offered every year.

BUS 297g Internship

Prerequisite: Two semesters at IBS or permission of program director. Yields quarter-course credit. This course may be repeated twice for credit.

Offers students an opportunity to apply the theories and key themes covered in the core courses in a real-life setting. Requires completion of at least six weeks of a paid or unpaid internship approved and monitored by a faculty advisor. The project could involve a research or consulting assignment or a structured internship in the school's fields. Interested students should consult the guidelines established by the school. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 298a Independent Study

Normally available for a student who wishes to pursue advanced reading on research in a subject or field not available in the department's course listings. Usually offered every semester.

BUS 298f Independent Study

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

See BUS 298a for course description.

BUS 398a Independent Study

Normally available for a PhD student who wishes to pursue advanced reading under the direction of a faculty member. Usually offered every semester.

BUS/ECON 265f Business and Economic Strategies in Emerging Markets

Formerly offered as BUS 265a.

Studies the economic strategies followed by emerging markets and examines the differences in the business environment in emerging and developed markets. We then zoom in and study the strategies of firms that successfully (and unsuccessfully) do business in emerging markets. We analyze strategy in large and small entrepreneurial firms, particularly social enterprises that target the base of the pyramid. Usually offered every year.

BUS/FIN 241a Machine Learning and Data Analysis for Business and Finance

Prerequisites: BUS 215f and ECON 210a. Corequisisite: Either ECON 184a or ECON 213a.

Offers a general topics course on machine learning tools, and their implementation through Python, and the Python packages, Scikit Learn, Keras, TensorFlow, and the Natural Language Toolkit (NLT). The course is oriented heavily to applications in business and finance, giving students the tools needed to survive in the modern data analytics space. It is not intended as a deep theoretical approach to machine learning. Students will finish the class with a basic understanding of how to execute predictive analytic algorithms, as well as rigorously test their performance. The course is statistical in nature. Usually offered every semester.

ECON 202a Applied International Macroeconomics

Using countries to illustrate, this course covers domestic and international macroeconomics. Topics include the goals and functioning of monetary authorities, financial crises, international competitiveness and PPP, exchange rate regimes, hyperinflation, and the sustainability of government finances. Students also master basic skills for manipulating and presenting macroeconomic information. Usually offered every year.

ECON 207a Managerial Economics

May not be taken for credit by students who took ECON 80a. Teaches students to apply basic microeconomic concepts to business and management decision-making. Key concepts include consumer behavior, properties of market supply and demand, firm's production decisions, market structures, government interventions in the markets, and optimal pricing strategy under various market conditions such as monopoly and oligopoly. Usually offered every year.

ECON 210a Introduction to Probability and Statistics for Business and Economics

Provides a working knowledge of the analytical tools of probability and statistics used in business and economic analysis. Some of the topics that we will cover include descriptive statistics, probability theory, the Central Limit Theorem, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. The course will conclude with an introduction to regression analysis using the bivariate model. Students will learn how to use R for statistical analysis. Usually offered every year.

ECON 213a Applied Econometrics with R

Prerequisite: ECON 210a. May not be taken for credit by students who took ECON 184b.

Aims at introducing econometric models and empirical techniques that are useful to conduct economic research with data. The course covers linear regression models, discrete choice models, time series models, and panel data models. We will devote significant space to empirical applications, and give the students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience on how to conduct empirical work in econometrics using the R programming language. Usually offered every year.

ECON 241a Antitrust Economics: Regulating Competition

Prerequisites: ECON 80a or ECON 207a.

Studies antitrust economics and economic regulation. The first part of the course will introduce the student to the economics of antitrust and to the economic theories and tools needed to understand and conduct antitrust policy analysis. The second part of the course will focus on economic regulation and introduce the student to the theory and practice of economic regulation involving the basics of natural monopoly regulation as applied to public utilities such as electricity, gas, water and telecommunications. Usually offered every year.

ECON 260a International Trade Policy and Institutions

Prerequisite: Intermediate Microeconomics or ECON 207a.

Develops the fundamental economic theories behind the various policies that regulate and interfere with international trade. Examines the predominant national and international institutions that are charged with administering these policies as well as the scope and process for potential reform. Usually offered every year.

ECON 261a Empirical Methods for Economic Consulting

Prerequisite: ECON 184b or ECON 213a.

Applies and extends econometric tools to analyze current economic issues in global trade, economic development, environmental sustainability, and more. Offers hands-on work with real-world data, where students apply advanced techniques, with a focus on economic consulting. Students carry out their own original research, from hypothesis to data collection, testing and evaluation. Usually offered every year.

ECON 270a Economic Development Strategies

Prerequisites: At least one semester of undergraduate microeconomics and one semester of undergraduate macroeconomics, or the equivalent.

Discusses the current situation of developing countries and the main theories of development and underdevelopment. Introduces the field and tools of development economics, explores the theoretical and policy debates around developing economies, and looks at alternative development strategies. Usually offered every year.

ECON 288a Field Projects: Global Firms, Trade and Development

For Business School second year MA, BA/MA, MA/MBA, and MSBA/MA students only.

Can digital technology help countries trade better? Can global value chain production be used to improve environmental quality? Are firms shrinking their global footprint due to the trade war? Has the pandemic further excluded small firms from participating in the global economy? This Business School MA capstone course gives students the opportunity to research current issues like these as field projects for clients at international institutions and global research firms. Throughout the semester, students will work on projects designed with and guided by their clients. The first part of course will include a workshop exploring several topics that provide a foundation for all the field projects. The rest of the semester will be focused solely on the team projects. Teams will work with the professor, guest experts, and staff members of the partner organization) to complete their projects. Usually offered every year.

ECON 298a Independent Study

Normally available for a student who wishes to pursue advanced reading or research in a subject or field not available in the department's course listings. Usually offered every semester.

ECON 298f Independent Study

Open only to IBS students. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Normally available for a student who wishes to pursue advanced reading on research in a subject or field not available in the department's course listings. Usually offered every year.

ECON 301a Advanced Microeconomics I

Prerequisites: Prior coursework in microeconomics, multivariate calculus, and linear algebra.

Study of the theories of microeconomics, including optimization, theory of the firm, theory of the consumer, duality theory, general equilibrium, welfare economics, public goods, and externalities. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 302a Advanced Microeconomics II

Prerequisites: ECON 301a.

This course will focus on game theory with specific emphasis on its application to firm behavior, information economics, and the study of market organization including auctions. Important contributions of behavioral economics will also be addressed in this course. A strong emphasis will be placed on acquiring the tools that are required for economic research. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 303a Advanced Macroeconomics I

Prerequisites: Prior coursework in microeconomics, multivariate calculus, and linear algebra.

Study of modern theories of short-run and long-run determination of aggregate income. Topics include private consumption and investment behavior, fiscal policy, the current account and exchange rates, economic growth, and stochastic dynamic programming with applications to macroeconomics. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 304a Advanced Macroeconomics II

Prerequisite: ECON 303a.

Current research issues in macroeconomics, such as the impact of supply shocks, real demand shocks, and monetary shocks on output, interest rates, and exchange rates. Empirical studies and testing of competing macroeconomic theories. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 307f Applied Methods: Macroeconomics

Prerequisites: ECON 301a, ECON 302a, ECON 303a, ECON 304a, and ECON 311a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

This course is an advanced PhD-level course in macroeconomics. It studies the concepts behind key economic aggregates and (dynamic) inter-relations amongst them, with a particular focus on business cycles and monetary economics. It provides insights into major modern macroeconomic models developed and thereby, tools for analysis of macroeconomic and policy questions, forming a basis for future research work. Prerequisites include graduate-level macroeconomics, microeconomics, and econometrics. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 308f Applied Methods: Microeconomics

Prerequisites: ECON 301a, ECON 303a, and ECON 311a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. Intended for IBS PhD students.

This advanced course for PhD students in economics covers empirical methods in applied microeconomics, including both reduced-form and structural approaches. Topics include difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, discrete choice models of differentiated products demand, dynamic optimization models, moment inequalities, and web scraping. The course integrates theoretical foundations with practical skills, equipping students to apply these methods through hands-on problem sets. Prerequisites include graduate-level microeconomics, econometrics, and game theory. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 311a Advanced Econometrics I

Prerequisite: ECON 213a.

Econometric theory and applications. Discusses the statistical theory of regression modeling and associated hypothesis testing, with emphasis on the construction, interpretation, and use of econometric models. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 312a Time Series Econometrics

Prerequisite: ECON 213a.

Examines the models and statistical techniques used to study time series data. Topics will include linear and non-linear univariate as well as multivariate econometric models. One objective of the course is to provide the students with a good understanding of econometric models for time series data. These models are widely used in the empirical literature, and a good understanding of these models is crucial for the second objective of the course: to provide the students with the ability to evaluate recent empirical studies. The third objective of the course is to develop practical skills, which are necessary to perform independent research using real world data. A theme throughout the course is the use of computational methods for analyzing the material covered in class, and throughout the course we will rely heavily on examples and applications with Matlab. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 330a International Macroeconomics

Prerequisite: ECON 304a.

Applications of macroeconomic theory to open economies. Topics include international parity theorems, models of exchange rate determination, and central bank management of the exchange-rate. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 332f Topics in Empirical International Economics: Questions, Methods, and Data

Prerequisite: Open to IBS PhD students only. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Students present and discuss current working papers in economics and finance focusing on the questions that are being asked, the empirical methods used, and the sources of data. Course prepares students for the thesis process and for presenting thesis work. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 360a International Trade Theory

Prerequisite: ECON 301a. Open only to International Business School students.

Studies economic models explaining comparative advantage and the gains from trade, followed by trade policies at the center of current global debate. Examines empirical contributions testing the implications of trade and trade policy for welfare, wage inequality, growth, employment, sustainability, global production networks, and more. Students design their own empirical research proposal. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 370a Development Economics

Prerequisite: ECON 302a.

Introduces selected topics in the micro-economic literature in development economics. Also teaches advanced empirical techniques that are commonly used.Usually offered every second year.

ECON 398a Independent Study

Normally available for a PhD student who wishes to pursue advanced reading under the direction of a faculty member. Usually offered every semester.

ECON 399a Dissertation Workshop

Prerequisites: ECON 302a and ECON 304a.

Third year and above PhD students present to PhD cohort and faculty. Presentation and discussion of dissertation topics and work in progress. Graded on a satisfactory / unsatisfactory basis. Usually offered every semester.

ECON/FIN 209a Behavioral Finance and Economics

Prerequisites: ECON 207a or intermediate microeconomics and statistics.

How do economic agents make decisions? Though economists historically assumed that decisions are made "rationally," the evidence suggests otherwise. Examines evidence on human decision-making processes culled from many disciplines. Students investigate how those processes can explain observed patterns in economic and financial behavior. They also analyze how such behavior can explain observed market phenomena that would not emerge if agents were "personally rational." Usually offered every other year.

ECON/FIN 210a The Psychology of Finance

Prerequisites: Basic statistics or ECON 210a; basic microeconomics or ECON 207a; and FIN 203a or FIN 205a. May not be taken for credit by students who have taken ECON/FIN 209a or BUS 109a in prior years.

Applies insights from psychology to understand the human behavior that drives prices and quantities and strategies in financial settings including investing, saving, day trading, banking, pension management. The Psychology of Finance builds on the insights of psychology to enhance our understanding of such real world phenomena. It starts by asking: How do people actually think? As psychologists began documenting a century ago, normal human thinking deviates in predictable ways from the traditional assumption in academic finance: “perfect rationality.” Perfectly rational individuals make decisions following the rules of logic and statistics textbooks; they see the world accurately, and they have perfect recall. This course introduces you to some of these predictable deviations and shows how they help explain a wide range of economic behavior and market outcomes. Why do stock prices, house prices, and exchange rates sometimes go through bubbles and crashes? Why do retail investors trade too much, and why don't they diversify enough? Why don't people save enough for retirement? Usually offered every third year.

ECON/FIN 250a Forecasting in Finance and Economics

Prerequisites: FIN 201 or FIN 203a or FIN 205a and ECON 213a.

Covers the basics of forecasting and time series analysis as used in finance and economics. Time series topics will include linear regression, ARMA models, trend modeling, seasonal adjustments, and volatility modeling. We will also cover more unusual topics such as bootstrapping, and technical trading rules. Students will leave the course with a good introduction to many of the tools used in modern time series forecasting and quantitative finance. Usually offered every semester.

ECON/FIN 272a Financial Crisis

Prerequisite: Open to second year MA students who have completed ECON 82b or ECON 202a and ECON 213a or ECON 184b.

Exposes participants to the methods of modern economic analysis in a learning-by-doing environment. The history of financial crises provides context and motivation for using them. Special one-time offering, spring 2024.

FIN 203a Financial Management

May not be taken for credit by students who took BUS 71a, FIN 103a, ECON 171a, FIN 201a, or FIN 202a in prior years.

Aims to develop the financial skills and logical thought processes necessary to make and implement business decisions in a global environment. The main objective is to analyze how financial managers make decisions within a framework which emphasizes the time value of money and the relationship between expected return and risk. The course also examines different techniques used by financial managers to evaluate feasibility of undertaking new projects (i.e., capital budgeting). Usually offered every year.

FIN 204a Corporate Finance Theory and Practice

Co-requisite: FIN 203a or FIN 205a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken FIN 104a in previous years. 

Develops depth of financial skills and logical thought processes necessary to formulate and implement corporate finance decisions in a competitive environment. Usually offered every year.

FIN 205a Investment and Portfolio Management

Prerequisite: FIN 103a or FIN 203a. Cannot be taken for credit by students who have taken FIN 105a in previous years. 

Provides a thorough grounding in portfolio management for students who are already familiar with financial markets. The first half of the course will cover Markowitz portfolio optimization, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and the Arbitrage Pricing Theory. The lectures will cover the theories, and the problem sets will teach you how to apply these theories to manage portfolios.

The second half of the course will deal with recent developments in portfolio management. We will be spending several weeks discussing what does and does not deliver extraordinary investment performance. We will also deal with special techniques employing derivatives to enhance performance as well as the Black-Scholes model. The final part discusses the evaluation of the performance of funds and fund managers and the impact of transaction costs. Usually offered every year.

FIN 212a Accounting and Financial Analysis

Develops a fundamental understanding of financial accounting and corporate reporting issues. Students will be exposed to a variety of real world applications involving for profit financial statements. More specifically, students will acquire skills allowing them to read, interpret and analyze the income statement, balance sheet and the statement of cash flows. This course will primarily address accounting standards employed in the US (GAAP) but will acquaint students with international standards (IFRS) used by other countries in numerous accounting areas. Further, issues related to the project on the convergence of standards currently being conducted by the FASB and IASB will be discussed. Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on interpreting financial statements to understand how accounting information, in a variety of decision settings, can be utilized by managers. Usually offered every year.

FIN 213a Intermediate Financial Accounting

Prerequisite: FIN 212a or an approved introductory course in the area of financial accounting.

Students should be familiar with the formal financial statements, transaction analysis, income measurement and accrual accounting. This course provides an extensive expansion of the introductory accounting course. Additional topics include revenue recognition, long term construction contracts, deferred taxes, capital leases, pensions, inventory valuation, dollar value LIFO, earnings per share and share based compensation. Usually offered every year.

FIN 214a Managerial Accounting

Prerequisite: FIN 212a or FIN 213a.

Provides a general introduction to the concepts, problems and issues related to managerial accounting. Managerial accounting predominantly addresses the internal use of economic information regarding the resources used in the process of producing goods and providing services. Internal users of accounting information are all of those individuals that are involved in the business decision-making process of the economic entity. In the course, you will become acquainted with some of the conventional methods of internal reporting used in planning, control and decision-making. Fundamental aspects of cost behavior and cost accounting will also be discussed, but always from the perspective of the manager who must make decisions rather than the accountant who prepares the information. Usually offered every year.

FIN 215f Python and Applications to Finance

Open only to IBS Master of Science in Finance (MSF) students with a concentration in Fintech.

Designed for finance students to build a skill set that can harness the power of the computer, computer science, and data analysis to various applications in finance. A set of these applications in finance that are relevant is data analysis (statistics), data visualization (charting), algorithms (optimization, numerical methods, linear algebra), and forecasting (time series analytics, stochastic methods). Usually offered every year.

FIN 216f Financial Statement Analysis

Prerequisite: FIN 212a or FIN 213a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Presents techniques of financial statement analysis that deepen the understanding of financial statements and the economic and strategic information they provide. Exposes students to the financial reporting environment and practices of U.S. companies. The course does not cover equity valuation. Usually offered every year.

FIN 217f Corporate Financial Modeling

Prerequisite or corequisite: FIN 202a, FIN 203a, or FIN 204a, and either FIN 212a or FIN 213. Corequisite may be taken during module 2. Students are expected to know basic excel. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Develops skill sets required for an integrated corporate financial modeling. The course takes an approach of first developing the building blocks of financial models and integrate them into pro forma financial statements forecasting from which cash flows can be built for valuation, scenarios and sensitivity analysis. The course starts out with a quick review of critical excel skills required for this module, followed by developing coherent frameworks for financial modeling and valuation. The course culminates with students applying these modeling frameworks to real company of financial modeling project and presentation. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 218f Portfolio Financial Modeling

Prerequisite: FIN 201a or FIN 203a or FIN 205a. Students are expected to know basic excel. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Introduces fundamental methods and frameworks for portfolio financial modeling. Topics covered include mean-variance- covariance portfolio optimization, Black-Litterman approach to portfolio optimization and other portfolio models. The course is designed to be hands-on implementation of these models using real data and hence requires solid understanding of matrix and array functions and how to implement them in excel or any computational software. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 219g Financial Modeling Bootcamp

Prerequisite: FIN 217f. Yields quarter-course credit.

Further develops skill sets acquired in the corporate financial modeling course. The bootcamp builds on the knowledge base by introducing the students to advanced modeling techniques in applied areas such as: Capital Structure (LBO) Modeling and Merger Modeling. Usually offered every year.

FIN 225f Real Estate Finance

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Focuses on debt and equity financing of income-producing real property, primarily in the U.S. market. Considers real estate finance from the perspective of the users of capital (developers and property owners) and the sources of capital (lenders and equity investors). Usually offered every year.

FIN 231f Private Equity

Prerequisites: FIN 202a, FIN 203a, FIN 204a, or FIN 205a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Explores the history, structure, players and adjacent industries of Private Equity; the kinds of companies that make attractive candidates for investment; how PE firms add value; what they do when things go wrong; and how they create successful exits. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 232a Mergers and Acquisitions Analysis

Prerequisites: FIN 201a, FIN 203a, or FIN 205a, and either FIN 202a or FIN 204a (may be taken concurrently).

Reviews the core concepts involved in mergers and acquisitions; value, negotiation, deal structuring, corporate strategy and valued added, financing, and tax consequences. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 234a Social Impact Investing

Prerequisites: FIN 201a, FIN 203a, FIN 205a, or ECON 171a.

Looks at the intersection of finance and a social conscience both from the perspective of investors, and the perspective of corporate decision makers. Investors and businesses face many ESG (environment, social and governance) concerns, including climate change, income inequality, discrimination, and worker welfare, to name only a few. Students will learn about the growing field of ESG investing, and the closely related field of Impact Investing. We will examine how ESG factors can be integrated with other investment criteria such as diversification and risk. In the second part of the course we will examine ESG decisions from the perspective of corporate decision makers, often referred to as CSR (corporate social responsibility). We will look at investments in green technology, investments in the community and involvement in social causes. We will examine these investments both from a social and a financial perspective. Usually offered every year.

FIN 236f Technical Analysis

Prerequisite: FIN 201a, FIN 203a, or FIN 205a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

From FX to equity indexes to real estate futures markets, traders rely on technically-derived signals to enter speculative positions, set protective orders, and time their exits. Provides an introduction to technical analysis and familiarizes students with strategies in common use. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 237f Security Analysis

Prerequisites: FIN 201a or FIN 203a or FIN 205a, and either FIN 212a or FIN 213a. FIN 216f is recommended. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Examines fundamental-based investment strategies that funds use to generate alpha or positive risk-adjusted returns, with a focus on long-short equity strategies used by hedge funds and 130/30 mutual funds. Usually offered every year.

FIN 240a Venture Capital and Financing Innovation

Prerequisites:  FIN 201a, FIN 203a, or FIN 205a.

Emphasizes financial decision making skills for entrepreneurs. The structure will follow the firm's life cycle, with modules on contracting, valuation, and financial planning in the entrepreneurial context, raising capital, security choice, and the structure and valuation of exit decisions in the presence of information uncertainty. Usually offered every year.

FIN 242f Credit Risk Analysis

Prerequisite: FIN 212a or FIN 213a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit. 

Examines credit risk (i.e., the possibility that an obligor will fail to perform as agreed) from the perspective of the commercial banker. Focuses on a sound understanding of the firm and its business plan and how the banker constructs the appropriate structure for the senior loan. Topics include asset-based, real estate, and cash flow lending. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 247a Transfer Pricing Theory and Practice

Prerequisites: FIN 202a, FIN 203a, or FIN 204a, and either FIN 212a or FIN 213a. 

Introduces the economics of transfer pricing (a "price setting" exercise adopted by multinational enterprises among divisions within an enterprise). This course draws upon students' multi-disciplinary training across accounting, economics, and finance and applies them to the theory and practice of transfer pricing. Usually offered every year.

FIN 252a Predictive Analytics and Corporate Innovation

Prerequisite: FIN 202a, FIN 203a, or FIN 204a.

Technology has disrupted business practices dramatically over the last several years. We see great opportunities in applying technology to strategic corporate decision making. The real power of financial technology lies in our ability to think outside the world of structured financial data; incorporate other related structured and non-structured data sources; and incorporate predictive analytics, and AI to develop insights that drive new financial thinking and processes to deliver innovative financial products and strategies for long run productivity improvements. This course will explore these ideas and take initial steps to incorporate predictive analytics in corporate decision making. Usually offered every year.

FIN 253a Advanced Quantitative Analysis in Finance

Prerequisites: FIN 201a, and FIN 202a, 203a, 204a, or 205a, and either FIN 215f or BUS 215f.

Advanced Quantitative Analysis in Finance is a course to introduce students to a broad range of topics related to using quantitative models and the latest financial technologies to generate time value of money via a term structure, trading signals, price instruments, calculate/manage risks and the creation of an algorithmic trading application. This course is designed to be relevant to any finance student that wishes to build a skillset that can harness the power of the computer, computer science, and quantitative analysis to various applications in finance. A set of these applications in finance that are relevant are time series analysis and forecasting, determining trading signals from an exchange limit order book, security pricing using Monte Carlo simulation, building a term structure of interest rates, algorithmic programming, and risk analysis. Usually offered every year.

FIN 254a Modern Finance, Fintech and Beyond

Prerequisite: FIN 201a or FIN 203a or FIN 205a.

Examines the modern financial system. First to be discussed is the nature of banking, including the role of shadow banks. We will then proceed to discuss financial regulation, why we need it and how it is changing followed by discussing central banking, examining the role of central banks in the economy. In the last part of the course, we bring the various strands together--banks, shadow banks, regulation and central banks--to examine the future of finance. Usually offered every year.

FIN 261a Fixed Income Securities

Prerequisites: FIN 201a or FIN 203a or FIN 205a, or permission of the instructor.

Studies fixed income securities; cash flow structures, pricing risk measures; features of major fixed income sectors; valuation of fixed income securities with embedded options; portfolio management and performance measurement; interest rate derivatives and applications to asset/liability management. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 270a Options and Derivatives

Prerequisites: FIN 201a or FIN 203a or FIN 205a, or permission of the instructor.

Introduces students, using a reasonably formal mathematical approach, to a broad range of topics related to the traded securities, markets, pricing, and applications of financial derivatives. Special focus is placed on how replication is used to price financial derivatives. Derivatives studied include those defined on commodities, currencies, equities and equity indexes, with an introduction to fixed income derivatives. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 271a Options & Derivatives II

Prerequisites: FIN 270a.

Focuses on numerical methods for pricing various kinds of financial derivatives, with the first third of the lectures focused on reviewing and deepening the understanding of the calculations and models introduced in Options and Derivatives (i.e., FIN 270a). The second third of the course will study Monte Carlo numerical methods for these and related derivatives as well as the pricing of credit derivatives. The final third of the course will focus on interest rate derivatives. The level of mathematics for this course is the same as FIN 270a. Usually offered every year.

FIN 279a Applied Risk Management

Prerequisites: FIN 203a or FIN 205a, and either FIN 212a or FIN 213a. Co-requisite: FIN 270a.

Studies risk management in a variety of contexts as well as the applications of financial derivatives. Focuses on case studies from many industries which address risks related to commodities, weather, foreign exchange rates, interest rate, and credit, and also corporate governance matters and integrated risk management. Students will be expected to be able to analyze a corporate risk situation, work through examples and develop hedging strategies. Usually offered every year.

FIN 280a Financial Risk Management

Prerequisite: FIN 203a or FIN 205a, and FIN 270a or FIN 279a.

Introduces many of the approaches financial institutions (investment and commercial banks, hedge funds, insurance companies and pension plans) take to model, quantify, and manage risk. Types of risks covered include financial (equity, currency, interest rate, and credit), as well as operational. The Basel II and Solvency II regulatory frameworks to risk management will also be studied. Students will be expected to have good exposure to financial derivatives from the prerequisite courses as well as to the basic concepts from calculus and statistics. Usually offered every year.

FIN 282f New Frontiers of Finance: From Animal Spirits to Cyber Risk

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Introduces students to new and developing topics in finance. The first part of the course will cover the new and still little understood cybersecurity risk that firms increasingly face as they are becoming more and more reliant on information technology. We will discuss how negative spillover effects from a cyberattack can propagate beyond the directly affected firm to the wider economy and how firms can reduce their cyber risk exposure by investing in supply chain security.  The second part of the course will be devoted to behavioral finance and its practical applications to investments, corporate finance, and entrepreneurship. This part of the course will also cover innovations in the field of asset management and its increasing reliance on big data. Usually offered every year.

FIN 285a Computer Simulations and Risk Assessment

Prerequisite: FIN 201a or FIN 203a or FIN 205a.

Introduces the computational tools and show how they can be used in various forms of financial risk assessment and portfolio construction. We will look at classic risk methods such as exponentially weighted moving average model and GARCH model, and also other modern methods such as conditional forecasting and copulas. We will apply these concepts through practical examples such as construction of index ETFs and risk-parity strategies. Students are asked to do hands-on programming through both research projects and homework. This course has been taught in various programming languages and current iteration is done through Python. Usually offered every year.

FIN 288a Corporate Financial Engineering

Prerequisite: FIN 201a or FIN 203a or FIN 205a. Corequisite: FIN 202a or FIN 204a.

Focuses on how financial engineering is used in firms to reduce their costs of financing, to alter their fundamental risk exposures and, in a handful of cases, to provide them with new ways to compete. Primarily intended for students who plan to serve in corporate roles that will involve significant interaction with financial markets and institutions. Usually offered every year.

FIN 291g General Education Seminar

Open only to IBS students. Enrollment is limited. Yields one-fourth course credit (one credit). May be repeated for credit as the seminar topic varies.

Addresses a narrow, important topic and is taught jointly by an IBS faculty member and a prominent outside expert. Each seminar involves nine hours of structured learning and discussion. Usually offered every year.
Staff

FIN 292a Internship

Prerequisite: Two full semesters of coursework (at least 32 credits).

Provides an opportunity for MSF students to carry out a formal internship with a client organization under the supervision of a faculty member. The internship requires students to apply principles and frameworks from the MSF curriculum for a client organization seeking help with a management-related challenge. Along with FIN 293a, the Field Project in Finance, the internship serves as a transition point for students from education to professional practice. Usually offered every year.

FIN 293a Field Project in Finance

Prerequisite: One full semester of MSF coursework (at least 16 credits). Open to Master of Science in Finance (MSF) students only.

Provides a unique and valuable educational opportunity for MSF students to apply their skills and knowledge in a real world setting. Under the supervision of a faculty member, students will partner with a sponsoring firm to work deeply on a theme or question. The course culminates in a final presentation to the sponsor before the end of the semester in which it is undertaken. Each field projects team will consist of 4 to 5 students and an instructor. The primary student outcome is to gain experience evaluating and analyzing financial questions conduct in-depth and sophisticated analysis and market research and understand how financial decisions are taken in a corporation. Along with FIN 292a Internship, Field Project in Finance serves as a transition point for students from education to professional practice. Usually offered every year.

FIN 294a Directed Research

Prerequisite: Two full semesters of MSF coursework (at least 32 credits). Open to Master of Science in Finance (MSF) students only.

Provides an opportunity for MSF students to carry out a detailed directed research and independent study under the supervision of a faculty member. Directed Research requires students to apply principles and frameworks from the MSF curriculum to identify and analyze a financial question/puzzle that broadens the students understanding and knowledge on that particular issue and could potentially help the student in his/her job search. As Directed Research necessarily requires an advanced understanding of finance knowledge it is expected that students would have completed related coursework prior to undertaking this course. Usually offered every year.

FIN 298a Independent Study

Normally available for a student who wishes to pursue advanced reading or research in a subject or field not available in the department's course listings. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 298f Independent Study

Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Normally available for a student who wishes to pursue advanced reading or research in a subject or field not available in the department's course listings. Usually offered every semester.

FIN 305f Asset Pricing

Prerequisite: ECON 301a. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

A course in asset pricing for PhD candidates. Topics include risk aversion and choice under uncertainty, no arbitrage and stochastic discount factor, mean variance analysis, factor models, and recent empirical puzzles. Focuses on theory and empirical applications. Usually offered every second year.

FIN 306f Topics in Corporate Finance

Prerequisites: ECON 302a, ECON 304a, and ECON 213a or equivalent. Meets for one-half semester and yields half-course credit.

Equips students with some fundamental concepts in the field of Corporate Finance and to the tools commonly used to conduct empirical research in this field. This course exposes students to a few active research areas in empirical corporate finance and prominent papers in those areas, both to build a knowledge base and to learn to read and assess empirical research. It prepares students for producing their own high-quality, independent empirical research in corporate finance. Upon successful completion of this course, students will have developed an understanding on issues related to firm and project valuation, capital structure and security issuance decisions, payout policies, and venture capital financing. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 122b The Economics of the Middle East
[ nw ss wi ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a or the equivalent. Does not count toward the upper-level elective requirement for the major in economics.

Examines the Middle East economies ' past experiences, present situation, and future challenges ' drawing on theories, policy formulations and empirical studies of economic growth, trade, poverty, income distribution, labor markets, finance and banking, government reforms, globalization, and Arab-Israeli political economy. Usually offered every year.

ECON 134b Public Sector Economics
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 80a and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

The effect of tax and expenditure policies on economic efficiency and equity. Topics include externalities and public goods, public choice, cost-benefit analysis, income redistribution, social security, and health care. Also discussion of the U.S. tax system, public debt, and state and local finance. Usually offered every year.

ECON 135a Industrial Organization
[ oc qr ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 80a and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

Microeconomic analysis of firm behavior under alternative market structures and implications for market outcomes. Topics include strategic interaction, entry and exit, collusion, predation, price discrimination, product differentiation, vertical relations, imperfect information, advertising, and patents and innovation. Usually offered every year.

ECON 141b Economics of Innovation
[ ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 80a and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

Studies innovation and technological change as the central focus of modern economies. Topics include the sources of growth, economics of research and development, innovation, diffusion and technology transfer, appropriability, patents, information markets, productivity, institutional innovation, and global competitiveness. Usually offered every year.

ECON 172b Money and Banking
[ ss wi ]

Prerequisites: ECON 82b and ECON 83a or permission of the instructor.

Examines the relationship of the financial system to real economic activity, focusing especially on banks and central banks. Topics include the monetary and payments systems; financial instruments and their pricing; the structure, management, and regulation of bank and nonbank financial intermediaries; and the design and operations of central banks in a modern economy. Usually offered every year.

ECON 173a Central Banking: Theory and Policy
[ ss wi ]

Prerequisite: ECON 82b.

Studies the purposes and functions of central banks over time and the challenges they confront. Examines central banks' roles in the recent financial crisis and explores current debates over the policies that central banks are following in its aftermath. Usually offered every other year.

ECON 175a Introduction to the Economics of Development
[ djw ss wi ]

Prerequisite: ECON 2a or ECON 10a or permission of the instructor. Does not count toward the upper-level elective requirement for the major in economics.

An introduction to various models of economic growth and development and evaluation of these perspectives from the experience of developing and industrial countries. Usually offered every second year.

ECON 182a Topics in Advanced Macroeconomics
[ oc ss ]

Prerequisite: ECON 80a, ECON 82b, and ECON 83a.

Contemporary theories of economic growth, business cycles, monetary economics, and financial crises and their implications for monetary and fiscal policy. Emphasis on empirical work and computer modeling. Usually offered every year.

ECON 184b Econometrics
[ dl qr ss ]

Prerequisites: ECON 83a. Corequisite: ECON 80a or permission of the instructor. Students must earn a C- or higher in MATH 10a, or otherwise satisfy the calculus requirement, to enroll in this course. This course may not be taken for credit by students who have previously taken or are currently enrolled in ECON 185a, ECON 213a, or ECON 311a.

An introduction to the theory of econometric regression and forecasting models, with applications to the analysis of business and economic data. Usually offered every year.

HS 228a Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Explores how entrepreneurship has become a driving force in the social enterprise sector, provides tools for developing and evaluating new ventures, and explores the blurring line between for-profit and nonprofit social initiatives. The course also teaches hands-on social venture business plan development tools, from assessing markets to developing financial and operating plans. Usually offered every year.

HS 244a Responsible Negotiation

Provides concepts, observations and suggestions to improve analytical and operational negotiation skills. Everyone negotiates on a daily basis, but what about doing it responsibly? Faced with projects, contracts, conflicts or crises, coping with people, problems and process, how can negotiators lever the right reflections and actions in the right direction? How can they optimize utility for themselves and for others? This course also addresses negotiation foundations on how to do first things first, i.e. how to make the right moves at the right time in order to reach the right decisions and to achieve ad hoc implementation. Usually offered every year.

HS 254a Human Resource Management

Considers how human resource management might aid in achieving organizational excellence. Focuses on the development of concepts and strategies that can increase effectiveness in developing policies and practices to enhance the value of people in the organizations served. Usually offered every year.

HS 257b Conflict Resolution by Negotiation

Develops in students an understanding of the nature, advantages, and limitations of negotiations as a conflict resolution tool. Provides a normative and practical framework for pursuing a negotiation strategy as a method of resolving disputes. Provides students with opportunities to apply this knowledge in a variety of simulated negotiation contexts. Finally, exposes students to feedback regarding their negotiation approaches via explicit instructor evaluation and via the impact of their actions on their teammates and opponents. Usually offered every year.

HS 342f ESG Measurement and Impact Investing

ESG investing has emerged as a default approach to investing for many across the globe. But the practice of ESG analysis and measurement is multi-faceted and issue specific. With new forms of ESG data arriving and evolving standards for ESG data disclosure from companies and investors alike, the landscape is shifting rapidly. In addition, impact across other asset classes has developed to allow for full portfolio alignment according to specific goals and metrics. How do investors incorporate ESG data effectively into stock selection? How do stakeholders use this information to help influence corporate action through shareholder advocacy and policy change? How does impact investing extend to other asset classes, such as bonds and private investments? How do we measure impact for specific ESG issues, such as climate risk management, diversity & inclusion, and ESG disclosure, as well as across a portfolio?

Through case studies and discussions with professional practitioners, this course explores the evolving approaches to harnessing ESG data in practical terms, with real world tools useful for investors, advocates, and company executives. Usually offered every year.

HS 353a Managing the Triple Bottom Line

Explores a new kind of 'bottom line' developing for corporations which includes social and environmental returns as well as financial returns. How can we measure 'Return on Responsibility?' What are the implications for stockholders, employees and consumers when it comes to social and environmental accountability in the corporate world? How do business decisions get made when financial considerations are not the only decisions central to continued growth and success? Through case studies and meetings with institutional decision makers, this course explores shifting strategies and developing programs in the rapidly changing landscape of the Triple Bottom Line. Usually offered every year.

HS 372b Economic Theory and Social Policy

Introduces concepts of economics that can be applied in analyzing and evaluating social policies. By the end of this course, you will be more literate in fundamental economic principles for consumer demand, producer decisions, market equilibrium, workers’ choices about labor force participation and job choice, and demand and supply of collective goods. You will better understand the limits of economic theory and free markets, as well as the context and consequences of government and nonprofit intervention in the economy. Usually offered every year.