A Partial List of the Courses offered in English by SEPKU

 

Applied Econometrics

This course serves as a general introduction of the econometric modeling tools that are frequently used in the empirical economic research. The topics covered include linear regressions and the selection of functional forms, heteroskedasticity and serial correlation, basic and more advanced time series techniques, pooled cross-sectional and panel data models, models for binary choice and limited dependant variables, endogeneity and instrumental variable estimation, simultaneous equation models, etc. The computer programming techniques that are needed to implement the above models will also be taught using the SAS software. In addition, you will get a taste of empirical research using the real-world data by conducting an independent research project. Course prerequisites: introductory econometrics or statistics.

 

Corporate Finance

This is a first class in Corporate Finance. This class involves the answers to three questions. First is the capital budgeting decision, which is about what long term investments should the firm take on. Second is the financing decision, which is about how can cash be raised for the required investment. Lastly, it examines short term finance and concern net working capital and discusses the way the firm manage its day-to-day cash and financial affairs. At the end of this course, students should be able to think analytically about portfolio selection, corporate decision making and asset pricing. These skills can also be used as personal financial decisions.

 

Economic Globalization

This course will cover a diverse set of topics related to international economic integration, or globalization, specifically in terms of flow of goods, labor and capital. Important topics that will be discussed include the nature of international trade, regional trade agreements, labor mobility, global finance, investment flows and the international business strategies of multinational firms.

Students will be exposed to, and equipped with, the necessary theory, empirics and policy alternatives to understand and debate issues related to economic globalization.

 

English for Economics Majors

This course is open to all economics majors and integrates basic principles from micro- and macro-economics to the study of issues related to urban and regional economics, real estate, public economics and finance. The motivation for this course is straightforward. In 1800, Beijing was the only city in the world with a population of more than 1 million. In 1900, only 16 cities had a population over 1 million, with roughly 10% of the world’s population living in urban areas. By the year 2000, 378 cities had over 1 million people, accounting for nearly half of the global population. This dramatic rise of the spatial economy requires a closer look. What explains this explosive growth of cities and of the urbanization rate over the last 100 years? How do firms and individuals decide where to locate? How is the price of land determined? How can we address current urban problems like urban crime, poverty, traffic congestion, sprawl, gentrification and pollution? Discussions will be geared towards answering these questions, looking specifically at the role of public and private policies that impact the urban form, structure and economy.

 

Enterprise Risk Management

Enterprise risk management is a complex yet critical issue that all companies must deal with as they head into the twenty-first century. It empowers you to balance risks with rewards as well as people with processes. But to master the numerous aspects of enterprise risk management, you must first realize that this approach is not only driven by sound theory but also by sound practice. This course is based on the framework of Enterprise Risk Management. It also introduces the models and applications of Enterprise Risk Management. The scheme of the course is followed by introduction, reform, model, application and future of Enterprise Risk Management. It requires students not only to understand the concepts and framework of Enterprise Risk Management, but also to master the risk management model and applications in the real world. Students are required to finish a group project and present the report at the end of the course.

 

Game Theory

In many situations in life, the outcome for you depends not only decisions you make but also on the decisions of others.  Game theory provides a framework to study such strategic interaction.  In this course we begin by discussing how to formally represent situations of strategic interaction, before introducing and motivating solution concepts such rationalizability and various equilibrium definitions. Applications covered include industrial organization, bargaining, repeated games, adverse selection and signalling.  The course includes a component on mechanism design: how can we design a game to achieve a desired outcome?  We will emphasize the economic intuition of the models and use mathematics to formalize the analysis.

 

Global Markets Investment Strategy and Practice

The objective of this course is to help you understand the global markets dynamics, and to develop a frame work of thinking in developing an investment theme, and to understand different investment philosophies. The course will go through the investment process and how to execute the investment idea, planning emphasis more on the investment strategy and practice. We will consider a typical thematic approach for investment strategy, the due-diligence process, industry analysis, valuation and risk control, hedging strategy and hedging tools. We will briefly discuss what it takes to set up an investment management company, and the importance of setting up a transparent client service platform. The course is for those students who want to develop a career in the investment management industry, or to work for regulators, and investment banks, and other related financial services.

 

Introduction of Behavioral Finance

Traditional finance seeks to understand financial markets assuming that investors are “rational”. Rationality means that investors can access to and have the ability to process information correctly and that competition between investors ensures that securities are correctly priced to reflect all available information. That is, the market is efficient. However, recent studies suggest that markets are not efficient and that investors are not fully rational. At the most general level, behavioral finance is the study of human fallibility in competitive markets; it is the application of psychology to financial behavior. Empirically, behavioral finance both explains the evidence that appears anomalous from the efficient markets perspective, and generates new predictions that have been confirmed in the data. In this course we will cover both the psychological insights and their applications to finance. We will improve our understanding of financial markets and the relation between human behavior and asset prices, as well as our own decisionmaking processes.

 

Principles of Risk Management

This elective course is designed for undergraduate students and foreign students and it will be taught in English. The purpose of this course is to cover basic tools and principles of risk management and insurance, and it will include chapters introducing life and health insurance, property and liability insurance as well as reinsurance. It serves as a course to promote students’ risk management awareness and provide with them tools and guidance in managing risks. In addition, it helps the students to foster communication skills in English.

 

Quantitative Economics

This is a course on economic modeling, focusing on the use of programming for problem solving and building intuition. Students will develop programming skills that can be applied to a wide range of economic problems, such as asset pricing, macroeconomics, growth, search, network problems, game theory, matching and auctions. Students will build expertise in the modern, object-orientated programming language Python. Students will also develop proficiency in using Latex, a de-facto standard for writing academic papers.

 

Security Analysis

The course develops the fundamental principles underlying investment in security analysis. Through the course, the emphasis is on the practical application of financial theory to understand the field of investments. Begin by introducing the concepts of investments and gaining familiarity  with the language of investments, this course then examines asset pricing theory and portfolio selection theory. We put emphsiss on the security analysis on the basis of macroeconomic analysis, business cycle and industry analysis and etc. , followed by the valuation and management of the fixed-income serutity. Finally, portfolio management and asset allocation are discussed. The centrual feature of the course is that we do security analysis from the perspective of behavioral finance, so that we could understand and avoid the psychological biases that trip up many investors and develop an effective personal investment strategy.

 

Topics on Chinese Economy

China’s fast economic growth has generated great interest among media, scholars and ordinary people around the world. The aim of this course is to provide students with both an overview and special perspectives of the Chinese economy. The topics covered include an introduction of the Chinese economic history, the market transition, the background and implications of the urban-rural divide, demographic transition, population policy and the related labor market issues, the growth and structural change, inequality and poverty , financial issues, land economics, economic planning and development model, international trade and foreign investment, etc. Upon completion of the course, students are expected to be familiar with China’s economic system, its current economic reforms, and the challenges that the country faces in the twenty-first century.

 

Topics on Microeconomics

This course covers select topics in microeconomic theory.  The focus is on mechanism design. The first section provides an introduction to social choice theory and axiomatic bargaining.  The main section explores mechanism design: dominant strategy implementation, Bayesian implementation, and the application to auctions.  The third section considers matching theory.

 

World Economic History

The course is meant for students who are interested in an economic perspective on world history. Each lecture will be on a special topic, with focus on research papers. The topics include historical growth, environment, warfare, religion, politics, culture, monetary system, and financial crises. The content of lecture is half-half between theoretical modeling and empirical analysis. Students are required to read an article related to the incoming topics before each class.