Learning outcomes

The concepts and methods course is a review of basic economics. Its goal is to facilitate the mastering of the concepts and methods in more advanced courses, seminars and in the development of a personal study project. The course covers 4 topics: macroeconomics, microeconomics, quantitative methods and econometrics.

Content

1/ Macroeconomics - Review of basic concepts and mechanisms :

  • National accounts, balance of payments, exchange rates systems ;
  • Equilibrium and macroeconomic policies ;
  • Introduction to macroeconomic data analysis with two softwares (Macrobond and Matlab).

2/ Microeconomics - Fundamental microeconomic models :
Consumers' choices, producers' choices, competitive equilibrium, monopoly and characterisation of resulting allocations

3/ Quantitative methods - Review of the analytical tools for economists

4/ Econometrics - Review of basic econometrics using Stata :

  • Basic statistics ;
  • OLS : hypothesis, quality and biased estimation ;
  • Interpretation of results ;
  • Use and interpretation of dummy variables.

Teaching methods

Six weeks of sessions mainly based on recorded lectures focused on the mastering of concepts and their application (exercises, homework, software tutorials).

Assessment method

Each topic will be evaluated separately and is worth one quarter of the final grade.

For QM:

- 20% of the final grade: assignments

- 10% of the final grade: participation to the online or in-class sessions

- 70% of the final grade: written, in-class exam

For Macro:

- 20% of the final grade: project

-80% of the final grade: written, in-class exam

For Micro:

- 20% of the final grade: assignments

- 80% of the final grade: written, in-class exam

For Econometrics:

- 20% of the final grade: assignments

- 80% of the final grade: written, in-class exam

Sources, references and any support material

Videos of the recorded lectures and slides will be made available to the students.

Language of instruction

English