Course Descriptions

Course descriptions are listed below ordered by course number. For additional electives outside the program, please coordinate with you advisor or consult the university Course Listings.

1000 Level Courses

ECO 1301 - Economic and Business History
Course Description A survey of economic history with special emphasis on the United States' role in the world economy. The course examines not only historical events but also the evolution of economic ideas. Among the topics covered are early economic systems, immigration, entrepreneurs, labor unions, the Great Depression, and the emergence of the global economy.
ECO 1305 - Survey of Economic Principles for Non-Business Majors
Course Description Cross-listed as AMS 1305. Note: A student with credit in ECO 1305 may not earn credit in either ECO 2306 or 2307. An introduction to basic economic principles and problems of contemporary society. Surveys the fundamentals of private enterprise and the economic role of government. Topics include competitive and monopolistic markets, income distribution, inflation, recession, monetary policy, and international trade.
ECO 1380 - Introduction to Economic Analysis and Policy
Course Description Prerequisite(s): Admission in the University Scholars Program, Baylor Business Fellows Program, or Honors Program; or consent of department. The nature and outcomes of economic decision-making at the individual, market, and aggregate levels. Rooted in traditional neoclassical economics and augmented with insights from the literature on transactions costs and institutions. Special attention is paid to questions of morality underlying economic decision-making.

2000 Level Courses

ECO 2306 - Principles of Microeconomics
Course Description A study of microeconomic analysis including price theory, analysis of the firm, competition and monopoly, international trade and finance, and current economic problems.
ECO 2307 - Principles of Macroeconomics
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 2306. A study of basic economic concepts, business organization, economic role of government, national income analysis, national income theory, money and banking, and the business cycle.

ECO 2306 - Principles of Microeconomics

Course Description

A study of microeconomic analysis including price theory, analysis of the firm, competition and monopoly, international trade and finance, and current economic problems.

ECO 2307 - Principles of Macroeconomics

Course Description

Prerequisite(s): ECO 2306.
A study of basic economic concepts, business organization, economic role of government, national income analysis, national income theory, money and banking, and the business cycle.

3000 Level Courses

ECO 3305 - Money and Banking
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 2306 and 2307, or 1305. A study of the structure and functioning of American financial institutions; the functioning of financial markets and the nature of security prices and interest rates; the basic concepts of bank management; the nature of money and the role of the central bank in its creation; the basic structure of the economy and the impact of monetary actions on this structure; and the basic tenets of Monetarism and modern Keynesian monetary theory.
ECO 3306 - Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 2306 and 2307, or 1305; and MTH 1305 or 1321; and junior standing. Designed to provide an intensive study of contemporary microeconomic theory. Topics include consumer demand; market structure; production theory; the nature and behavior of costs; the pricing and allocation of productive resources; and the distribution of income. Emphasis is given to the use of these tools in business decision making.
ECO 3307 - Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 2306 and 2307, or 1305. Theories of long-term growth and short-term fluctuations in national economies, with emphasis on the macroeconomic implications of government policy. Topics include the national income accounting, long-run economic growth, unemployment, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, international trade and investment, alternative theories of the business cycle, monetary policy, and fiscal policy.
ECO 3308 - Engineering Economic Analysis
Course Description Note: This course will not count toward a major in economics. Designed to provide an economic foundation for engineering decisions. The course stresses methods for making optimum choices among engineering alternatives. Topics include cash flow and present value analysis.
ECO 3330 - Economic Geography
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 3305; not open to pre-business students. Cross-listed as GEOG 3330 and INB 3330. Note: Will not count toward a major in economics. A study of the effects of geography and resource availability on the pattern of world land use, population growth and migration, technological change, transportation system development, output growth, capital flows, and tariff policy.
ECO 3331 - International Economics
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305, or a minimum grade of C in 2306 and 2307, and junior standing. Note: A student may not earn credit in both ECO 3331 and INB 3332. International trade theories, trade policies and their effects, regional economic integration, international economic organizations, trade problems of less developed countries, determination of exchange rates, and functioning of the international monetary system.
ECO 3355 - Introduction to the Economics of Poverty and Discrimination
Course Description Prerequisite(s): Upper-level standing; not open to pre-business or business students. Cross-listed as SOC 3355. Note: Will not count toward a major in economics. Instead, see ECO 4355. This course develops and applies basic economic concepts to questions of poverty, inequality, and discrimination in the United States, and to global poverty issues. Special attention will be paid to the contribution economic principles can make to understanding family structure, participation in the labor force, and gender and racial discrimination. Attention will also be paid to evaluating public policies designed to ameliorate poverty and discrimination, including social insurance, welfare programs, minimum and living wage laws, and equal opportunity policies. No previous knowledge of economics is necessary; all necessary economic principles will be developed in this class.

4000 Level Courses

ECO 4312 - Business Cycles and Forecasting
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or a minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 and 2307; not open to pre-business students. Examines basic causes of fluctuation in business activity. Topics include an examination of exogenous and endogenous influences on Gross National Product and other measures of economic activity, and the relationship between cycles in Gross National Product and cycles in particular industries and companies. The course emphasizes methods and techniques currently in use by business forecasters.
ECO 4316 - Industrial Organization
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 3306; not open to pre-business students. Examines the economic organization of industry; a survey of major theoretical and applied issues in the fi eld of industrial organization. Topics include theory of the firm, the welfare consequences of competition and market power, goals of the firm and market effects, collusion, mergers, price discrimination, product differentiation, predation, and public policy.
ECO 4317 - The Economics of Regulation
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or a minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 and 2307; and junior standing; not open to pre-business students. The impact of government on market outcomes and business decision-making. Topics covered include the historical development of business and public policy, the current state of antitrust enforcement; issues involving multinational corporations; the basis for regulated markets and forces favoring deregulation; the impact of consumer protection laws, environmental protection policies, occupational and safety enforcement; and affirmative action policies on business; and the outlook for government and business relations in the future. Not open to students who have had PSC 4380.
ECO 4318 - Law and Economics
Course Description Prerequisite(s): A minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 and junior standing; not open to pre-business students. Interrelationship of microeconomic theory and the law. The course looks at both the effects of law on economic activity and the effects of economic forces on the development of the law. Particular areas of law that will be discussed include property, contracts, torts, and procedure.
ECO 4319 - Game Theory
Course Description Prerequisite(s): A minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 or consent of instructor; not open to prebusiness students. An elementary examination of the theory of games and strategic behavior with an emphasis on applications. Topics discussed include strategic form games, extensive form games, and games of asymmetric and incomplete information. Various equilibrium concepts will be discussed. Applies game theoretic concepts to strategic behavior in the social sciences, particularly economics and political science, with applications ranging from cartel behavior to international diplomacy.
ECO 4320 - The Economics of Government
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or a minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 and 2307; and junior standing; not open to pre-business students. Sources of public revenues, problems of the revenue system, public expenditures and budgeting, and public borrowing.
ECO 4323 - The Environment and Economic Analysis
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or 2306 or AMS 1305; and upper-level standing. Economic analysis in description, analysis, and policy formulation of environmental problems such as natural resource development, ecology, energy needs, noise, water, and air pollution. Economic tools used will include social welfare analysis, externalities, and benefit cost analysis.
ECO 4325 - Urban and Regional Economic Analysis
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or a minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 and 2307; and junior standing; not open to pre-business students. Focuses on the use of economic tools to analyze the key intraregional markets-land and housing, transportation, labor and public services-and examines their public policy implications. Also examines interregional relationships, the growth and decline of cities, and the economics of urbanization.
ECO 4327 - E-Commerce Economics
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 2306 and 2307 or consent of instructor; not open to pre-business students. This course applies tools of economic analysis to evaluate the evolving role of electronic commerce in the United States and world economies. The course addresses theories of firm conduct and performance in the electronic marketplace; the role of information and e-commerce intermediaries; the economics of Internet advertising; intellectual property rights of digital products; national and international public-policy issues of e-commerce; the financial and monetary implications of electronic trading; and the broader implications of e-commerce for United States and world economic activity.
ECO 4333 - Foreign Exchange Markets
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or a minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 and 2307; and junior standing; not open to pre-business students. Description and analysis of currency markets, emphasizing their roles in the business environment. Topics include spot forward, futures, and options markets, currency, and interest rate swaps, models of exchange rate determination, the operation and relative merits of fixed and flexible exchange rate systems, and the management of exchange rate risk by business.
ECO 4334 - Economic Development
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or a minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 and 2307; and junior standing; not open to pre-business students. Critical analysis of current explanations of economic growth and development, involving historical aspects, policies for achieving development in emerging countries, and conditions necessary for continued growth in advanced countries.
ECO 4336 - Economics of Labor
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 3306; not open to pre-business students. Neoclassical approach to labor market analysis. Special attention is paid to the study of labor market phenomena from a microeconomic perspective, including the theory of wage rate determination, the concept of investment in human capital, the problems of race and sex discrimination, unemployment, and the impact of unionization on the structure of wages. Upon completion of this course a student will have a general working knowledge of the state of the art in labor market analysis and research.
ECO 4338 - Economic Systems of the World
Course Description Prerequisite(s): Junior standing; not open to pre-business students. Cross-listed as AST 4338 and INB 4338. An examination of the institutional structures and relative performance of representative regions and countries. Some of the countries surveyed include the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, the former Soviet Union, and China.
ECO 4343 - History of Economic Thought
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or a minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 and 2307; and junior standing; not open to pre-business students. Development of economic thought in relation to its economic and institutional background from the ancient philosophers to Alfred Marshall and neoclassical economists. Emphasis is placed on the contributions to economic thought of the founders.
ECO 4345 - Mathematical Analysis in Economics
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 2306 and 2307, MTH 1305 or 1321, and junior standing. Designed to acquaint the student with rudimentary mathematical techniques and their application to economic analysis.
ECO 4347 - Econometrics
Course Description Prerequisite(s):A minimum grade of C in ECO 2306, ECO 2307 and either QBA 2305, STA 1380, STA 2381, or STA 3381, and junior standing, or consent of instructor; not open to pre-business students. Elementary and advanced topics in the application of statistical methods to economic inquiry. Multiple regression, forecasting, advanced estimation processes and simultaneous equation techniques are emphasized. The detection and treatment of problem areas are also examined.
ECO 4350 - Economics of Health and Medical Care
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 1305 or a minimum grade of C in ECO 2306 or consent of instructor; not open to pre-business students. Cross-listed as MH 4350. Economic aspects of health and medical care: theory, empirical evidence, history, institutions, and public policy.
ECO 4355 - Economics of Poverty and Discrimination
Course Description Prerequisite(s): Minimum grade of C in ECO 2306; not open to pre-business students. Cross-listed as SOC 4355. Market and non-market issues in income determination. Emphasis on the supply and demand model and its application to the analysis of poverty and the poverty population. The effects of labor incomes and demographic and institutional factors of living standards, achievements, and shortcoming of income maintenance (welfare), equal opportunity and employment programs will be analyzed.
ECO 4387 - Economic Reasoning and Policy Analysis
Course Description Prerequisite(s): ECO 3306, 3307, and 4347 recommended; not open to pre-business students. An integrative capstone course for economics majors in which the technique of economic analysis are applied to a wide range of issues. Emphasis on the application of basic and advanced economic theoretical and empirical techniques to the analysis of issues relevant to the student's undergraduate degree program and career goals. Basic concepts emphasized throughout the course includes the effect of incentives on behavior, the role of markets as resource allocation mechanisms, and the use of optimization analysis as a standard for comparing outcomes.
ECO 4V98 - Special Studies in Economics
Course Description Prerequisite(s): Not open to pre-business students. With the consent of the chair of the Department of Economics, this course may be taken for one to six semester hours of credit.