Economics

Economics offers majors through both the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Warrington College of Business Administration.

All students majoring in economics must complete preprofessional requirements to include a course in calculus, STA 2023, ECO 2013 and ECO 2023. All students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences must take ECO 3101 and either ECO 3203 or ECO 3704. In addition, students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences must take a minimum of four economics elective courses or three economics elective courses and FIN 3403. All students in the Warrington College of Business Administration must take the college’s core courses (including ECP 3703) and either ECO3203 or ECO 3704. In addition, students must take a minimum of three economics elective courses. Internships, individual work, and honors thesis do not count as economics electives in either the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences or the Warrington College of Business Administration. Students in both colleges must attain a grade of C or higher in EACH required preprofessional and economics course.

Students planning to pursue graduate study in economics should consider either a minor in mathematics or statistics or taking the following mathematics and statistics courses in preparation for graduate school: MAC 2311-2-3, MAP 2302, either MAS 3114 or MAS 4105, and STA 4321 and STA 4322. (Students taking advanced statistics might not be required to take STA 2023.)

Honors programs are available through both the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Warrington College of Business Administration. Students should see the appropriate information within the sections for these colleges.

Course prerequisites are strictly enforced. A current/revised listing of course prerequisites is available each term in the Undergraduate Programs office located in Room 100 Stuzin Hall.

See the appropriate sections for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Warrington College of Business Administration for further details.

The nature of economics, economic concepts and institutions; growth, unemployment, and inflation; money and banking; economic policies; and the international economy. (S)

Theories of production, determination of prices and distribution of income in regulated and unregulated industries. Attention is also given to industrial relations, monopolies and comparative economic systems. (S)

Nature, scope and purpose of economic analysis. Examines the theory of consumer behavior, production, costs, firm behavior and the allocation of resources. (S)

Theoretical determinants of aggregate employment, income, expenditures and the price level. Keynesian and neoclassical models are analyzed.

Role of voters, special interests, legislators and the bureaucracy in determining government expenditure, taxation and other economic policies. Economic models of voting and the structure of governments. (S)

The development of international economic policies; geographic, economic, social and political factors underlying contemporary international problems and economic and political methods employed by the leading commercial nations. (S, I)Not for majors.

Theory of international trade and commercial policy. Current issues in international trade, comparative advantage, scale economics, the economics of tariff and non-tariff barriers. International factor movements and multinational firms. Political economy of trade restrictions, strategic trade policy and trade negotiations.

Macroeconomic theory of an open economy. Current monetary issues of the world economy. The international monetary system, exchange rate determination, balance of payments adjustment mechanism, international financial institutions and their policies. Macroeconomic policies and national income determination in an open economy.

Covers the influence of cultures, demand conditions, factor market conditions, currencies, and political, legal and trade policy environments on the economic decision-making of the firm. Highlights current issues on the status and evolution of the world economy. Also examines potential conflicts between the economic profitability of the firm and societal ethics.

Surveys the economics of innovation. Topics covered include knowledge spillovers and network externalities, the relationship between market structure and innovation, the economics of the patent system, and the diffusion of innovations. Also covers histories of the rise of industrial research and of academic research in its relation to industry, and industry studies of the automobile, chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, electrical power and electronics, computers and software, and the Internet.

An introduction to modern game theory, including the formal theory of Nash equilibrium and solutions techniques. Applications include strategic barriers of entry; cooperative behavior in oligopoly, auctions and bidding strategies; and durable goods sales.

Economic analysis, statistical analysis and forecasting of the time series behavior of important variables in the business cycle, such as the rate of inflation, interest rates, saving, employment, wage rates and national income; and of important sectors such as housing and durables. Includes work with actual data.

The study of the role of the government in a market economy, the effects of government expenditures, and who pays the different taxes. Emphasis is placed on current tax and expenditure issues.

A study of American development from colonial times to the present, focusing on the sources of growth and institutional change. Emphasis on the analytical use of theory and statistics. (S)

An integrated approach to the international operations and environment of the firm. Covers the patterns of international business transactions, international marketing strategies, international corporate strategies, international taxation and government policies affecting the firm in the global economy, exchange risk, working capital management, and foreign investment analysis.

For advanced undergraduate students who need to supplement regular coursework by individual studies under guidance. Will be counted as a free elective credit only.

Course of variable content providing an opportunity for the study in depth of topics not offered in other courses.

After getting some background in economic empirical methodology, statistics, and statistical software and discussing some representative empirical papers, each economics student develops an empirical model and subjects it to statistical testing, helped by several class presentations.

Applied work in economics. Requires several papers and reports. Will be counted as a free-elective credit only.

This course is designed to provide a mechanism by which formal coursework taken at a foreign university as part of an approved study abroad program can be recorded on the transcript and counted toward graduation at the University of Florida.

A thesis is required for the awarding of the high or highest honors designation. To qualify for the thesis option, students will normally have completed 90 semester hours of coursework (exceptions may be made by the honors coordinator of the student’s major department) and must have at least the grade point average (3.6) required for High Honors at the time they enroll. The thesis will be reviewed by at least one faculty member chosen by the honors coordinator for the student’s major department. Will be counted as a free elective credit only.

The course examines the business of sports using economic theory as a framework for analysis. Topics covered include the economics of sports leagues, labor negotiations and arbitration, pricing decisions, discrimination, corruption in sports, gambling, sports memorabilia and antitrust policy.

World population trends and characteristics. Effects of population growth on age structure, labor force participation, wage rates, productivity, saving, consumption, investment, technological change, human capital formation, mobility and pensions, in both less developed and more developed countries. Effects of population growth on natural resources and the environment. Economic determinants of geographic mobility, mortality rates, fertility rates, family size, marriage and divorce. Costs of children. Population policy and economic development. (S, I)

Determinants of demand for labor and labor supply. Labor market equilibrium and changes in the equilibrium due to changes in unionization, public policies, technology and trade. Study of the effects of skill, job amenities and discrimination on wage differentials. (S)

The relations between environmental quality, resource utilization, and economic institutions and policy. An examination of alternative strategies and policies in solving the problems of environmental quality and resource scarcity. (S)

The course provides an overview of the global information industries with an emphasis on telecommunications. Covered in the course are key players, government regulation and trade issues, technology and business practices.

Analysis of health care markets, employing efficiency and equity criteria. Evaluation of current health care policies and their effects on cost, access, and quality. Topics covered include the production of and demand for health and medical care; information asymmetrics between patients, doctors, and payers; health insurance coverage; the effects of managed care (including HMOs) on competition, efficiency, and quality; training and practice of physicians; hospitals; prescription drug pricing; government regulations; Medicare and Medicaid; health care reform.

Analysis of the firm’s decisions regarding prices, outputs and inputs, advertising, etc. under various market conditions. Reliance is placed upon both theories and applications.

The evolution, statutory foundation, and methods of governmental regulation. Antitrust regulation of competitive practices. (S)

Analysis of the interaction between law and economics, and evolution of legal rules; efficiency of alternative rules on pollution and public goods, enforcement of contracts, deterrence of crime, and protection of consumers; and efficiency versus fairness.

A critical assessment of Latin American political economy and economic development. Topics covered include economic history from the colonial period forward; commodity price cycles and balance of payment fluctuations; import substitution industrialization; international indebtedness; trade liberalization; inflation stabilization policies; poverty eradication difficulties.

Problems and policies of modernization related to economic change and growth in the third world. Empirical and theoretical case studies. Area study and formulation of development projects and programs.

Emphasis on Japan and China. Growth patterns and institutional frameworks compared to those of other countries. Quantitative trends of gross national product and qualitative assessments of industrial organization, labor relations, agricultural technology and government policies.

A survey of Russia and the former Soviet Union in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The development of agriculture, industry and trade and their institutional manifestations; and conditions of economic growth. (S, I).