2000

The course addresses market structures by using graphic and quantitative analytical tools. Some of the topics are the following: perfect competition, prices and production under monopoly, monopoly balance in the short and long terms, monopoly balance with several plants, price discrimination, comparison of monopoly to perfect competition, introduction to the game theory, prices and production in oligopoly, comparison of solutions in oligopoly: collusion, threat, Cournot, Stackelberg, Bertrand, homogeneous and heterogeneous products, prices and production in monopolistic competition, balance in the short and long terms, horizontal and vertical product differentiation, competitive factor-based markets, imperfect information, moral risk, adverse selection, signboarding, principal-agent and information technology.

This course intends to provide a more in-depth analytical study of the issues concerning the microeconomics theory covered in Introduction to Microeconomics and Microeconomics II by using tools of differential calculus and dot-matrix algebra. The topics discussed are the following: intertemporal choices: interest rates, decisions on consumption and savings, assets and determinants of investment. Uncertainty, risk and information: expected benefit, aversion, uncertain assets, claim for insurances and financial assets, applications. General equilibrium: Edgeworth Box and the Walrasian equilibrium, Walras Law, income distribution, equilibrium characteristics, existence of equilibrium, properties of equilibrium, second-best theory, growing returns. Welfare Economics: Theory of justice and criteria of social welfare, market faults, welfare measurements.

The core objective of the course is to familiarize students with the fundamentals of the game theory and develop their ability to understand its applicability to the solution of economic analysis problems. Static and dynamic games are studied in environments of complete and incomplete information. Thus, covering various concepts of equilibrium in games. Applications include oligopolies, auctions and tenders, public decision mechanisms and labor economics.

Framed by market economies, this course summarizes the core issues of microeconomics in relation to the consumer theory and the behavior of the firm in face of markets. The class will study the core issues of the consumer theory, production and cost functions, and the behavior of the firm in face of a marked based on perfect competition. In this regard, some of the topics studied are: analysis of simple monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition and factor-based market. The course also includes a brief introduction to the game theory and an analysis of the relation between markets and the concept of welfare. It also puts into practice analytical and quantitative tools more advanced than those applied in introduction to microeconomics.

The course introduces students to the most important issues of the modern microeconomic theory based on an intuitive, critical and applied approach. The following topics are addressed: market theory and concept of equilibrium between demand and supply, household and consumer theory, theory of the firm and production, industrial organization, markets, perfect and imperfect competition, game theory, public goods, inefficiencies and free-riding, regulation, State and institutions, social preferences, moral risk, adverse selection, auctions and information disclosure. The student is expected to develop basic economic intuition geared to gain an insight into economics, based on concepts as supply and demand, incentives, market strategy, market faults, the concept of equilibrium and welfare. The course is targeted to elaborate on the basic functioning of markets and their conditions, as well as on how to determine when markets yield socially expected results.

The course in Intermediate Macroeconomics introduces the student to the formal language of modern macroeconomics and intends to provide students with basic analytical and mathematical tools used in more advanced economics courses. The core issue of the macroeconomic analysis in this course refers to the study of its microeconomic grounding and how the interaction between several agents (families, firms, government, external sector, trade unions, central bank, etc.) in various markets (assets, money, savings, labor, international, etc.) determines the aggregate behavior of economy. Macroeconomic aggregates as such meet the condition of aggregate consistency in terms of equilibrium. The course begins with a leisure-consumption static general equilibrium model and then goes into more complex dynamic models. Throughout the course, the various models are applied to study economic phenomena as inflation, unemployment, economic cycles, and the effects of tax monetary policy and international trade.

This course is an introduction to the modern theories of growth. It goes beyond the neoclassical model of economic growth and studies models based in the intertemporal choices of consumption-savings, labor-leisure and education-labor participation. It also deals with the role of factors such as accumulation of human capital, technological innovation and absorption of existing technologies in the long-term economic development. Finally, students will get into detail about the endogenous transition of a Malthusian stage to a modern time of sustained economic growth and the role of demographic transition.

This is the first course of basic preparation in macroeconomic theory. The course is focused on presenting the fundamentals of this discipline and approaching the typical methodology of the macroeconomic analysis. The Colombian situation is a permanent indicator throughout the course, it is used to compare the theoretical statements posed and show some peculiarities of our domestic economy. Finally, the student is expected to get familiar with database management and get used to provide follow-up in the macroeconomic situation. The course will also address the classical model as benchmark of long-term economic analysis and short-term IS-LM and Added Supply/Demand Models, along with basic macroeconomic concepts as GDP and other macroeconomic aggregates, interest rates and inflation.

This course intends to provide the student with an insight into the main concepts and instruments used by economists and other social scientists of the economic field to conduct quantitative measurements and analyses. The student will be also introduced to the main accounting concepts.

Econometrics, with its rigorous statistical instrumentation, serves to provide validation in the empirical field of economic theory. Statistical methods taught throughout the course in Econometrics I allow to estimate empirical relations among economic variables and validate or refute economic theories in specific contexts. The main objectives of the course are: (i) to familiarize the student with empirical works, (ii) to present the basic econometric concepts and (iii) to provide some guidelines on how to conduct applied research in economics. Some of the subject matters are the following: classical linear model of simple and multiple regression, minimum square and maximum verisimilitude estimators, estimation and application of different functional forms, constraints, fictitious independent variables and management of different problems associated with the non-compliance with classical linear model statements. The operational part lying at the heart of the course is based upon the most commonly used econometric programs such as EVIEWS and STATA.

This course is concerned with the Marxian economic theory, particularly, with regards to the issues of value, distribution, exploitation and general trends of capitalism. It begins with an overview about the value theories of Smith and Ricardo, aimed to show that Marxism represents both an evolution and breaking off of the classical thinking. Later, the class will study some chapter of Marx´s main economic work, The Capital, in order to grasp the core elements of his exploitation theory. Finally, some contemporary works, and Marx´s critics and specialists will be analyzed to encourage students to exercise their intellectual autonomy and own criteria.

This course is concerned with the nature and dynamics of the renewable and non-renewable resources, ecosystems and the related social services. The class will analyze the technological and institutional causes of the issues of water, air and soil contamination and deterioration and their social and economic consequences.