The Kenyon College faculty voted to change from Kenyon units to semester hours. This change will go into effect for all students who start at the College in the fall of 2024. Both systems will be used throughout the course catalog with the Kenyon units being listed first.
This course studies issues of economic choice, economic efficiency, and social welfare. The course presents theories of consumer and producer behavior and shows how these theories can be used to predict the consequences of individual, business, and government actions. Topics covered include opportunity cost, supply and demand analysis, and price controls; consumer choice; production and cost; product pricing, market structure, monopoly power, and government regulation; and energy problems, resource conservation, and pollution. This course is required of students who major in economics.
This course studies national economic performance. Building upon the microeconomic theories of consumer and producer behavior developed in ECON 101, the course introduces models that focus on the questions of unemployment, inflation, and growth. Topics covered include measurement of national income and inflation, macroeconomic models, saving and investment, money and banking, fiscal and monetary policy, and international trade and finance. This course is required of students who major in economics.
Microeconomics is an intensive study of the fundamental logic of economic behavior primarily within the context of a market economy. The course develops a systematic analysis of consumer and producer behavior, linked together through the principles of exchange and market structure. The resulting explanation of product prices and factor rewards is used to evaluate and analyze economic efficiency and the distribution of welfare under alternative economic policies and conditions.
This course is a theoretical and applied study of the level of national income and employment. The performance of the economy, in terms of prices, interest rates, unemployment rates, international trade relations, business cycles, and the long-run growth of income, has significant effects on our standards of living. The course offers explanations of macroeconomic performance in these aspects. Diverse schools of thought exist, distinguished by theoretical concepts, priorities in performance goals, and empirical evidence. The course considers these approaches and also emphasizes the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic theory. Government is active in the management of both domestic and international aspects of the macroeconomy, and the course considers current public-policy issues.
Students learn how to express economic concepts in quantitative terms, perform basic statistical measures and tests of hypotheses using a spreadsheet program, and interpret quantitative presentations of information. Students learn how the economics literature presents research by studying examples from journal articles. Students also study the choice of appropriate methods for analyzing empirical economic research questions. Topics include the scientific method, applications of statistical concepts in economics, measurement of economic concepts, and the use of mathematical models, graphs, and data sources.
Students examine the economic conditions and problems of developing economies. Alternative theories of economic development are studied, as are strategies for achieving development goals. Specific topics include the meaning of development; historical and theoretical perspectives; income distribution; agriculture, population, and human resources; industrialization, employment and technology; urbanization and migration; foreign trade, investment, and aid; and government planning.
This course focuses on the Russian economy between the freeing of the serfs in 1861 to the attempted transformation into a market economy in the present. Emphasis is given to the early industrialization and development of the Russian economy, the Soviet revolution, and Marxism?s role in the revolution and the development of the Soviet economy. Marxism is analyzed in terms of its economics and politics along with its influence in the Soviet Union. An analysis is made of Soviet economic growth and income distribution, and the political economy involved in perestroika and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Considerable emphasis will be given to the transition problems of the Russian economy, and its performance from the early attempts in the 1990s to form a market economy up to the present day. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102 (or ECON 102 concurrently), or permission of instructor.
This course examines the impact of immigration on the U.S. economy, focusing on why people choose to come here and what impact they have on labor markets, product markets, income inequality, the nature of cities, and government budgets. The goals of the course are (1) to develop the analytical tools used by economists to understand the economic effects of immigration, (2) to examine the empirical evidence on these effects, and (3) to assess the political economy and potential economic and political consequences of U.S. immigration policy choices. The course will also examine the impact of immigration on the countries that people leave. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor.
This course uses economic analysis to better understand the nature of environmental issues such as pollution and the allocation of natural resources. The course also examines the economic rationale behind policies aimed at improving the quality of the environment and altering our use of natural resources. The relative strengths of alternative policies will be discussed using a series of case studies focusing on actual policies aimed at correcting environmental problems. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor.
Portfolio Allocation and Financial Asset Pricing
QR ECON 337 (1/2 unit)
Melick
This course examines the optimal allocation of an individual?s wealth among risky financial assets and the related question of the pricing of these risky assets. After a consideration of various measures of risk and return, modern portfolio theory is used to derive the capital asset pricing model. The empirical performance of the capital asset pricing model will be analyzed and alternative asset pricing models will be discussed. Throughout the course, equity shares will be used as a particular application. (The pricing of fixed income assets is left to ECON 343 Money and Financial Markets.) The remainder of the course is spent on derivative assets, most importantly futures and options. Time permitting, options will be treated in some detail, concluding with a discussion of the Black-Scholes option pricing model. While completing assignments, students will make fairly heavy use of a spreadsheet program such as Excel. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor. Recommended: MATH 106.
This course focuses on the basics of international trade--theories of international trade, the instruments of trade policies, their impact on welfare and employment, factor movements, and economic integration. While emphasis is placed on developing and empirically testing theories, we also discuss major trade related issues such as the economic effects of globalization, the role of the World Trade Organization, labor and immigration issues, foreign direct investment, and outsourcing. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor.
This course examines the determination of national incomes, price levels, interest rates, and exchange rates using open-economy macroeconomic models. The course begins with an intensive study of balance of payments accounting and the foreign exchange market, followed by a consideration of the law of one price, purchasing power parity, and uncovered and covered interest parity. The second half of the course will be spent deriving several open-economy macroeconomic models and using these models to discuss important international financial policy issues. These discussions will highlight the interaction of domestic policymakers with important international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Bank for International Settlements. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor.
This course examines government regulation of the behavior of individuals, firms, industries, and
markets. The first half of the course will focus on the economic regulation (and deregulation) of industry and on antitrust policies. Examples of government-imposed restrictions on prices, quantities, and the freedom to enter and exit industries will be drawn from the airline, electricity, and funeral-services industries. The second half of the course will focus on various types of social regulations, including environmental, health, and safety regulations. Throughout the course, we will explore the economic rationales for the regulations and evaluate their effects upon economic efficiency. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor.
This course examines U.S. money and financial markets, and their interaction with and influence on prices, real output, employment, and international trade. After an extensive discussion of fixed income pricing and the term structure, the class will consider the operations of financial institutions and the Federal Reserve System. The implementation of monetary policy and its effect on domestic and foreign financial markets, real output, and foreign trade will also be examined. In addition, alternative domestic and international monetary arrangements will be considered. While completing assignments, students will make fairly heavy use of a spreadsheet program such as Excel. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor.
This course provides an introduction to the economic analysis of labor markets. Topics include: the determinants of labor demand and labor supply; the theory of compensating wage differentials; formation of human capital; discrimination in the work place; public policy toward the work place; and the determinants of earnings inequality. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and 102 or permission of instructor.
This course examines the underlying foundations of law and politics by using economics to analyze property law, contracts, torts, criminal law, and the new economics of institutional change. Legal applications include problems such as environmental issues, malpractice suits, product and workplace safety, racial and gender discrimination, and crime. Political applications include issues such as relative economic performance between nations and regions, income distribution, the relative performance of economic groups, and the role of the state. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor.
This course provides an introduction to industrial organization, a field that focuses on how firms, interacting through markets, attempt to exploit opportunities for profit. The standard models of perfect and imperfect competition are examined, emphasizing the strategic behavior of the interacting firms. Topics include pricing models, strategic aspects of business practice, vertical integration, and technological change. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor.
This course is a study of the public sector in the U.S. economy, featuring government provision of public goods, redistribution of income, and taxation. Students consider the theory that justifies government intervention in a market economy, as well as the reasons for government?s tendency to create economic inefficiencies. Specific expenditure programs such as defense, health care, education, social insurance, and welfare are studied, as well as specific taxes. Each student writes a term paper. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and 102 or permission of instructor.
This course examines the economic aspects of the production, distribution, and organization of health?care services. Topics include measuring output; structure of markets; demand for, supply of, and pricing of services; and financing mechanisms and their impact on the relevant markets. Analysis will also focus on government policy toward health care and public health, its impact upon institutions and resource allocation, and major policy alternatives. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited.
This seminar examines the role of women in the labor market and how that role has changed over time. This examination involves a comparison of women and men with respect to labor supply (for both market and nonmarket work), wage rates, occupational choices, and unemployment levels. The seminar evaluates different economic models that attempt to explain these differences between labor market outcomes for men and women. Finally, the seminar examines some public policy proposals that are aimed at remedying gender differences in work opportunities and pay. Each student will write and present a seminar paper. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102, or permission of the instructor.
This course is for students who wish to do advanced work beyond regular courses or to study subjects not included in course offerings. Prerequisites: ECON 101, ECON 102, and permission of both the instructor and the chair of the department.