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Course Synopses
EC161-3 Elements of Microeconomics
The subject matter of Economics; the economic question; economic systems; planned market and mixed economics. Tools of analysis; the role of mathematics and statistics. Factors of production; scale of production and cost of production. Determination of the market price; demand and supply elasticities. Extreme market structures; perfect competition and monopoly.
EC162-3 Elements of Macroeconomics
The scope of macro-economics; the problems of aggregation. The circular flow of income. National Income Accounting: National Product; National Expenditure; and National Income. The simple Keynesian model of National Income Determination. Money and its functions. The Banking System and Financial Instruments. Simple Portfolio Management. Inflation, Unemployment and growth.
EC260-4 Principles of Microeconomics (Pre-requisite(s): EC161, M103 and M104 or M111 and M112)
The theory of consumer behaviour the marginal utility approach and the indifference curve approach; price theory. The theory of the firm principles of production. Market types; perfect competition; monopolistic competition oligopoly; and monopoly. Distribution theory: the pricing and employment of the factors of production under perfect competition monopoly and monopsony. Production and pricing under public enterprise.
EC261-4 Principles of Macroeconomics (Pre-requisite(s): EC162, M103 and M104 or M111 and M112)
National Income accounting; sector accounts; determination of the national product and the domestic product; consumption functions; saving and investment; government Income and expenditure; exports, Imports and the balance of payments; wages employment and output; monetary and fiscal policy inflation; cyclical fluctuations; development and growth.
EC262-3 Basic Microeconomics (Pre-requisite(s): EC161, M001 and ST151 or any other first year Mathematics combination)
EC263-3 Basic Macroeconomics (Pre-requisite(s): EC162, M001 and ST151 or any other first year Mathematics combination)
These two courses cover the same material as EC260 and EC261. The difference is that less quantitative techniques are used. They are intended for students who do not intend to major in Economics.
EC360-4 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (Pre-requisite(s): EC260, M205 and M206 or M221 and M222)
Theories of consumer behaviour: Utility, indifference curves and revealed preference; elasticity of demand and supply and their applications; the use of factors of production, present and future consumptions, yield and risk. The theory of the firm; single-product and multi-product models. Production, costs and pricing under different market conditions. Theories of distribution, marginal productivity the pricing and employment of factors of production, introductory welfare analysis.
EC361-4 Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory (Pre-requisite(s):EC261, M205 and M206 or M221 and M222)
The measurement, analysis and control of aggregate economic activity; national income determination; consumption, saving and investment functions; government revenue and expenditure; wages; employment and output; export and import functions; demand for supply of money; monetary and fiscal policy; economic growth and development; fluctuation in economic activity; general equilibrium and the level of national income.
EC362-6 Introduction to Development Economics (Pre-requisite(s):EC260 and EC261 or EC262 and EC263)
The meaning of economic development; indicators of development; trends in international development; growth models; factors for development; dualistic development; evolution theories of development; critique of integrated rural development programmes; relevance of theory; the role or foreign aid; experience of newly industrialising countries.
EC363-6 Mathematical Economics (Pre-requisite(s):EC260, EC261, M205 and M206 or M221 and M222)
The nature and scope of Mathematical Economics. Mathematical models versus other economic models. The application of mathematics to comparative statistics; slopes and elasticities of economic functions; optimisation. Exponential, logarithmic and power functions in economics. Homogeneity and returns to scale. Solving systems of equations using matrix algebra. The use of matrix algebra in Input-Output analysis. Index number topics; Linear programming. Special topics.
EC364-6 Econometrics I (Pre-requisite(s):EC260, EC261, M205 and M206 or M221 and M222)
Mathematical models and econometrics model. Introduction to Basic Linear econometric methodology. Regression Theory: Regression Model. Properties of OLS estimators; Inference and prediction. Extensions and illustrations of the Basic Linear Regression Model. Correlation Theory. Regression and the Analysis of variance. Problems in the Basic Linear Regression Models; Multicollinearity, Heteroscedasticity, and Serial correlation. The GLS estimators.
EC365-6 An Introduction to Political Economy (Pre-requisite(s): EC260 and EC261 or EC262 and EC263)
The Goals of Political Economy. Critical Evaluation. Explanation of Understanding. Foundations of the Theory of Value, the Materialist conception of history. The Methodology of Political Economy. The Theory of Value, the Classical Theory of Value. The Neoclassical Theory of value and the Marxian Theory of Value. Value and Capitalism. Exploitation and Surplus Value. Surplus Value and Profits. The Social Relations of Capital. Value and Price. Reproduction and Accumulation.
EC366-6 History of Economic Thought (Pre-requisite(s): EC260 and EC261 or EC262 and EC263)
The Mercantilists and the "need to trade" doctrine, the role of money and the "quantity theory of money". The physiocrats and their critique of mercantilism. Say and Quesnay contributions to the law of Markets. Classical economists: Adam Smith and the industrial revolution; Malthusianism and the population theories; Ricardo and the theory of differential rent; The contribution of Marx and the labour theory of value. The transformation problem. The marginalists revolution:
EC461-6 Development Planning and Project Analysis (Pre-requisite(s): EC360 and EC361)
Development Planning: Nature and role of economic planning; rationale for planning; alternative strategies for development; choice of particular planning models, aggregate models, sectoral models; planning for multiple goals; input/output analysis; activity analysis; principle of optimization in development programming; regional planning.
Economics of Project Analysis: Need for project analysis in economic development; identification of project aspects for appraisal; techniques for identification and selection of projects for implementation; cost-benefit analysis; shadow pricing; effects of uncertainty and risk on project selection; project evaluation.
EC462-6 Regional Economics (Pre-requisite(s): EC360 and EC361)
Regional Analysis: The concept of a region and regional accounts; location theory; an examination into the practical and theoretical aspects of industrial location; transportation costs and location; examination of the macro demand models of spatial equilibrium and change; spatial competition pricing and location; technology and locational change; industrial complex analysis supplement theories of location and space with techniques of regional analysis.
Regional Growth, Development and Regional Economic Policy: Regional structure and growth; growth pole analysis; uneven regional development; competing analysis of the spatial aspects of capitalist development; urbanisation patterns; city size distribution and the economies of central places; Regional Economic policy: Monitoring urban-regional performance, Marxism and regional policy; overall policy evaluation.
EC463-6 Agricultural Economics (Pre-requisite(s): EC360 and EC361)
The scope, nature and role of agricultural economics; the role of agriculture in economic development; the world agricultural and food situation; Economics of African agriculture; problems and issues; green revolution; price formation and stabilisation in agriculture; agricultural product markets; agricultural credit. Strategies for agricultural development.
EC465-6 Monetary Economics (Pre-requisite(s): EC360 and EC361)
Nature and functions of money: Definition and Evolution of Money. Community Money; Token money; Bimetallism and its demise; the gold standard and its demise; International Money and its problems. The case of modern liquidity crisis and trends. The role of Central Banking and Financial Intermediaries in the supply and control of money-credit base theories. Demand for money theories and evidence. Integration of money into the theory of value. Changes in the value of money. Policy targets in control of Money Supply: Keynesians versus monetarists. Monetary transmission Mechanisms and channels of Monetary influence on Inflation: wage and Price links. Demand pull and cost push Inflation. Adaptive and rational expectations. Monetarist view of inflation. Evolution of international Monetary Institutions and Liquidity problems.
EC466-6 Research Project (Pre-requisite(s): EC360, EC361, and EC364)
The course is intended to encourage students to apply theoretical and methodological tools learned to contemporary economics research problems. Under supervision by the members of the department, students are expected to conceptualise economic research problems, crystallise them into research proposals, conduct research, and write a research paper.
EC467-6 International Economics (Pre-requisite(s): EC360 and EC361)
Pure theory of international trade; Classical, Neo-Classical and modern explanations of trade: Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson theorem, the Leontief paradox, the Stolper-Samuelson theorem, Factor-Price Equalization theorem and Rybczynski theorem. Barriers of trade: tariff and no-tariff barriers. International Economic integration with special emphasis on the Southern African Customs Union (SACU), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market of Eastern and Southern African states (COMESA). International Monetary System. Exchange rates and foreign exchange markets. Devaluation and revaluation of domestic currencies. Balance-of-payment adjustments. Asset markets: Capital mobility and monetary stability; Portfolio balance and international transmission mechanism.
EC468-6 Environmental Economics (Pre-requisite(s): EC360 and EC361)
Introduction to environmental issues; sustainable development, global environmental issues. Typology on natural resources (minerals, energy, water, forestry, wildlife, arable and rangelands); renewable resources, property rights, environmental degradation; causes and solutions; non-renewable resources; exploitation rules. Environmental policy; externalities and instruments. Valuation; non-market valuation methods, Environmental Impact Assessments.
EC469-6 Public Finance (Pre-requisite(s): EC360 and EC361)
Introduction to Public Sector Economics. The size of the public sector. Fiscal institutions. Private versus Public goods. Principles of Taxation,. Fiscal Policy objectives: allocation, distribution and stabilisation, Fiscal policy and the Business Cycle. Models of fiscal policy. The theory of Social Goods. Theory of optimal distribution. Fiscal politics. Public Expenditure: Structure and growth. Expenditure evaluation principles: Case studies. Fiscal incidence: effects on efficiency and capacity. Fiscal Stabilisation and Welfare. Negative income tax and social security. Public pricing and environmental Policy. Development Finance. Monetary and fiscal policy co-ordinates.
EC470-6 Introduction to Welfare Economics (Pre-requisite(s): EC360 and EC361)
The Premise of Welfare Economics. Social optimum and efficiency in production and consumption. Marshallian and Hicksian consumer surplus as a measure of Welfare. The relevance of the compensating variation (CV) and the equivalent variation (EV). General equilibrium theory and Pareto optimality. The compensation principle. The theory of the Second Best. The impossibility theorem. Internal and external externalities. Case Studies of specific projects in
EC471-6 Labour Economics (Pre-requisite(s): EC360 and EC361)
The position of labour in economic theory; the special position of labour under capitalism; theories of wage determination and the labour market; imperialism and the making of the labour markets in underdeveloped countries; the concept of structural migrancy; labour in the production process and the choice of techniques; skills, wages and stabilisation; job evaluation and wage structures; labour time investment; theories of trade unionism and the growth of unions in Black Africa; concepts of human capital; manpower planning; national incomes policies; labour in development strategy.
EC472-6 Econometrics II (Pre-requisite(s): EC360, EC361, and EC364)
Theory and Applications: Simultaneous equations; the K variables model and the introduction of regression theory using matrix algebra; Identification problem; Lag structure; instrumental and dummy variables; model building and interpretation; Applications of single equation models; Applications of simultaneous equations models; Selected topics.
EC500-3 Microeconomics
This course covers the core material in advanced microeconomics theory. Topics include consumer theory, theory of the firm, markets and resource allocation, general equilibrium and social welfare. Decision under conditions of uncertainty and imperfect information, and special topics drawn from contemporary developments in microeconomics theory and policy.
EC501-3 Macroeconomics
Core topics in macroeconomic theory. These include detailed general macro framework. Traditional dynamics of the real sector. Comparative statics in closed and open economies, general dis-equilibrium mode, capital and financial assets, inflation and unemployment, rational expectations, the natural rate hypothesis and the stabilization debate, current controversies in Macroeconomics, theory of economic policy and macroeconomic policies in Lesotho since independence.
EC503-3 Mathematical Methods in Economics
Applications of mathematical tools in economic theory. Topics include formulation of economic models, comparative statics, optimisation, equilibrium analysis, theory of competitive markets, stability of competitive equilibrium, global stability, optimal growth of an aggregate economy. Multi-sector models of economic growth. Applications of development of optimal control theory. Quantitative methods used by economists; linear, integer, quadratic, and separable programming. Other topics include transportation, inventory, and scheduling problems.
EC504-3 Econometrics Methods and Applications
Theory and practice of econometrics; the course deals with alternative methods of estimating economic relationships. Topics include econometric model building, simultaneous equation models, inference theory, asymptotic theory, time series and panel data and co-integration error correction models, distributed lag models, forecasting, economic simulation, and qualitative dependent models. Multivariate Probit models, Bayesian Econometrics, Tobit censored regression models. Recursive estimation in the General Linear Model.
EC505-3 Policy Analysis and Economic Management.
The importance of policy analysis in the sub-Saharan
EC510-4 Microeconomics
Theories of consumer behaviour: utility and revealed preference theories; their applications. Theory of the firm: output, cost, and profit optimization; cost theory; their applications. Market organization: perfect competitions, monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly models. Concepts of normative economics.
EC511-4 Macroeconomics
The measurement, analysis, and control of aggregate economic activity: alternative approaches to national income determination; consumption, savings, investment, government revenues and expenditures, exports and imports, demand for and supply of money, monetary and fiscal policies, wages, employment and output supply, deficit financing, inflation policy, growth theories, macroeconomic models. Applications.
EC512-4 Quantitative Methods
Mathematical Techniques. Linear Algebra; solutions of sets of equations and Cramer's rule, differentiation; single and multiple variable, input-output and SAM analysis, applications.
Econometrics. Simple and Multiple Linear regression models, violations of basic assumptions, special econometrics models, econometric forecasting. Topics include econometric model building, simultaneous equation models, inference theory, asymptotic theory, time series and panel data models. Co-integration and error correction models.
EC513-4 Macroeconomic Policy Analysis I
The origins, content, and record of development policy, new development economics, analytical framework for policy, foundations of stabilization and adjustment programmes, design of adjustment programmes, evaluation of policy programmes, trade liberalization, fiscal policy issues: restructuring government expenditure, taxation policy, exchange rate policy issues: exchange rate unification, devaluation and inflation, price policy issues: (getting the prices right), response of agriculture to policy incentives. Social dimensions of policy: approaches to analysis, targeting.
EC514-4 Macroeconomic Policy Analysis II
Consistency framework for macroeconomic analysis, planning and policy models,(two-gap model, RMSM, RMSM-X models), financial programming, debt management, the political economy of reform.
EC515-4 Project Appraisal
Need for project appraisal in economic development; identification of projects aspects for appraisal, techniques for identification and selection of projects for implementation, CBA, Financial analysis versus economic analysis; shadow pricing, effects of uncertainty and risk on project section; discounting; arguments for and against; the appropriate discount rate; project evaluation.
EC516-4 Environmental Economics
Introduction to environmental issues; sustainable development, global environmental issues. Typology on natural resources (minerals, energy, water, forestry, wildlife, arable and rangelands); renewable resources, exploitation rules, property rights, environmental degradation; causes and solutions; non-renewable resources; exploitation rules. Environmental policy; externalities and instruments. Valuation; non-market valuation methods, EIA.
EC517-4 Development Planning
Nature and role of economic planning; rationale for planning; alternative strategies for development; choice of planning models; aggregate models, sectoral models; planning for multiple goals; activity analysis, principle of optimization in development programming; long term perspective planning; futures studies, rolling plans.
EC518-4 Trade and Development
The course is designed to help students to acquire the theoretical background, to develop the analytical techniques required and to gain insights into three broad issues associated with the role of trade and trade policy in the development process. These issues include the following:
· the theoretical and conceptual underlining of the relationship(s) between trade and development:
· the place of trade policy in development strategies:
· the institutional arrangements and operational modalities of key elements of the world trading system;
EC601-3 Development Economics:
Characteristics of underdevelopment versus development. Theories of economic underdevelopment and socio-economic development. Problems of contemporary dependencies of LDCs (African) on the external economies. The nature of factor of product. Markets; problems of dualism and dependent capitalism. Appropriate technologies, strategies and policies to transform economies of LDCs, industrialization, agricultural transformation, foreign investment, international trade and foreign aid.
EC602-3 Monetary Economics
Monetary theory and practice. Effects of money and economic activity. Classical theory of money. Keynesian and modern monetary analysis. Estimation of demand for and supply of money. Problems of dual currency circulation. Problems of implementation in developing countries.
EC603-3 International Economics
i) International Monetary Theory. The course provides an in-depth analysis of international transactions payments and their implications to economic policy formulation. Topics; Currency substitution, balance-of-payments adjustment under fixed and flexible exchange rates, assets markets, capital movements, stabilization policy, and portfolio management.
ii) International Trade. Detailed analysis of international trade theory for economic policy making. Topics include determinants of trade, theories of trade; Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson theorem, Rybszynski theorem, tariffs and commercial policy, multiple-trade equilibria and theory of comparative advantage.
EC604-3 Industrial Economics
Industrial growth and development. The economics of industrial structure, conduct and performance; concentration, barriers to entry, price and non-price behaviour, efficiency and profitability, growth of the firm. Theories of business behaviour. Public policy towards industry. Investment expenditures. Industry and structural adjustment. Advertising, Technology and Innovation, International investments.
EC605-3 History of Economic Thought
History of economic thought traced from the mercantile era to Keynes. Major contributions to the law of markets such as Adam Smith, Ricardo, Karl Marx, marginalist revolution, Marshall, Wicksell, Bohm-Bawerk and the Austrian theory of capital and interest.
EC606-3 Agricultural Economics
Study of the application of economic principles to various aspects of agriculture, which include production, marketing, and consumption of agricultural products. Topics include application of production economic principles to decision-making in farming, uncertainty and technological innovation, agricultural resource use, problems of agricultural input and output marketing, international marketing of agricultural products, policy and welfare issues related to agriculture.
EC607-3 Welfare Economics
Basic theory and applications of welfare economics; (a) Theory; the market system as welfare maximizer, the compensation principle and efficiency, eternality theory, the theory of second best, social choice and collective decision making--Arrow's impossibility theorem. (b) Applied Welfare Economics; consumer surplus as a measure of welfare, relevance of compensation and equivalent variations, cost-benefit analysis, case studies.
EC608-3 Political Economy.
Method of political economy; development of productive forces and the nature and character of productive relations. Law of super profit and the features and operations of contemporary financial capitalism. The place and role of developing economies in the system of the world capitalist economy. Forms of dependency: the role of transitional capital and international financial agencies, the drive toward regional integration and the problem of epi-centre-periphery relationships. Some approaches to socio-economic development in the light of development of productivity forces, the nature and character of productive relations.
EC609-3 Labour Economics
The basic aim of the course is to acquaint students with more rigorous and advanced theoretical and empirical conceptualization labour markets processes, actions or behaviour of participants, institutional arrangements and the general performance thereof. Topics include supply and demand for labour, income distribution, imperfect information and implications for a neo-classical analysis of labour markets, micro-theories of unemployment, public policy in the labour market, unionisation and manpower planning and forecasting.
EC610-3 Public Finance
The course focuses on fiscal functions, fiscal institutions, theory of social goods, optimal distribution theory, expenditure structures, revenues structures, fiscal incidence, effects of efficiency and capacity output, fiscal stabilization, fiscal policy and its effects on economic development.
EC611-3 Health Economics
Health and socio-economic development. Theories of consumer and producer behaviour applied to the health sector. Health care systems in developing countries. Empirical issues on determinants and impact of health in developing countries. Empirical issues on determinants and impact of health in developing countries. Health sector financial planning. Economic analysis of primary health care. Current topics in health economics.
EC612-3 Population Economics
Dynamics of population change. Determinants of morbidity, mortality and fertility rates in developed and developing countries. Economic issues relating to population employment, and economic development. Human capital. Population projections and planning.
EC617-3 Rural Development
Rural development and the national economy. Structure and characteristics of rural communities. Rural organizations and development. Participation of rural communities in development. Planning implementation and evaluation of rural development programmes. Needs identification, creation of local support and organizing programme resources for rural development. The role of agricultural and non-agricultural sectors in rural development. Effects of economic policies on rural development. Alternative strategies for rural development. Rural factor markets, rural finance and development.
EC618-3 Environmental Economics
Typology of natural resources (minerals energy, water, forestry wildlife, arable and grazing land and water). The valuation of natural resources: marginal opportunity cost; external and user costs; willingness to pay. Externalities; causes, social costs and benefits; markets for externalities; taxes and externalities. The common property problem: inter-temporal efficiency; intergenerational equity; sustainable development. Contingent markets and Intertemporal equilibrium; intergenerational welfare and the rate of time preference. Exhaustible resources; efficiency of Intertemporal extraction programmes; taxes, royalties and the rate of extraction. Renewable resources optimal rates of exploitation; optimal regulation, taxes, user fees and the rate of exploitation. Environmental pollution. Mass balance methods, environmental bonds; pollution markets; pollution control. Applications of economics of natural resources in LDCs.
EC619-3 Economics of Public Enterprises
Rationale for public enterprise (PE): Natural monopolies. externalities. public goods and merit goods. Types. structure, operation and control of public enterprises. Spheres of activity; operational balance between autonomy and accountability. Performance of PEs: efficiency concepts, parity and general equilibrium pricing, and constrained pricing. State or private control: the privatization debate.
EC620-3 Transport Economics
The nature of transport and its role in economic development. Factors affecting the demand and supply of transport. Transport forecasting modeling and planning. The role of government in the provision and control of transport services. Economic evaluation of transport services. Economic evaluation of alternative modes of transportation.
EC621-3 Urban and Regional Economics
Urban and regional problems and economic theory: industrial location, city size and spatial development. The linkages: land distribution, utilization and regional inequalities; externalities or urban concentration and regional development; the economics of infrastructural development and provision of social services. Planning for the urban and regional economies: input-output analysis, linear programming and social cost-benefit analysis.
EC622-3 Corporate Finance and Investment.
This course is intended to introduce students of economics at the graduate level to the rudiments of financial economics. It is designed as an integrated course in corporate finance and investments with emphasis on the underlying principles. Thus it supplements the traditional money and banking and international finance courses by emphasizing the micro economics of money and finance. The course is organized in three parts. Part one will deal with financial markets and institutions, part two will dwell on corporate finance and part three will deal with issues of investments, portfolio theory and security analysis and portfolio management. in addition there will be supplements on introduction to stochastic processes and continuous time finance.
EC623-3 Managerial Economics .
The course is divided into two parts. The first part lays the groundwork for decision making. It introduces the student to the field of Managerial Economics and the use of models and other analytical concepts in decision making process. It introduces the concept of the "risk and uncertainty" and the adjustment of decisions to reflect the decision maker's attitude towards risk. The behaviour of consumers and the demand side of the firms business as well as the estimation techniques of the firm's demand are examined in this section. The production and cost aspects of the firm's business are also examined and linked together for pedagogical effectiveness. Empirical applications of demand and supply estimations and forecasting techniques are also covered in this part of the course. The second part of the course concerns itself with the strategic decisions that managers have to make in order to make the activities of their firms more effective and competitive. Pricing strategies, product decisions, product quality and designs, advertising and promotional decisions, capital budgeting and long term investment decisions are all covered in this section.