Program Overview

Master of Economics (Applied Economics)

Overview

The Master of Economics (Applied Economics) program is designed for students who wish to become professional economists or economic consultants, or who wish to work for government agencies. It is an applied orientation program that requires students to take core theory courses and courses in various areas such as financial economics, economic data analytics, behavioral economics, economic policies, and international economics.

Career-Oriented Track: Applied Economics

This track is for students who wish to apply economics to a wide range of challenging situations facing firms, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

Class Schedule

• ECA courses – ECA5103 and all the elective courses are offered on weekday evenings, while ECA5101 and ECA5102 are offered on both weekday daytime and evenings.
• EC courses – All the classes are offered on weekday daytime.

Curriculum for Master of Economics (Applied Economics)

The graduation requirement for the career-oriented track is TEN courses. Of the ten courses, THREE will be core foundation courses that are required for all students. The students are free to choose the other SEVEN elective courses.

Assessment

The assessment for each course will be based on a combination of examination and continuous assessment (CA). Examinations for coursework are usually held at the end of each semester of study. Students are not permitted to repeat any course that they have taken previously and passed.

Core Compulsory Courses

• ECA5101 Microeconomics: This course is designed to provide students with a sound understanding of modern microeconomic theory.
• ECA5102 Macroeconomics: This subject covers topics in modern Macroeconomic Theory and Policy at the advanced level.
• ECA5103 Quantitative and Computing Methods: This is an applications-oriented introductory level course for students who do not have a sufficient training in econometrics.

Elective Courses

• ECA5304 Machine Learning and Economic Forecasting: This course provides an introduction to machine learning and data mining methods for economics problems.
• ECA5305 R Programming for Economists: The course will introduce our economic students to practical approaches to handling all kinds of data using R programming language.
• ECA5307 Python Programming for Economists: The course is an introduction to the Python language for economic applications.
• ECA5308 Machine Learning for Applied Economics: This course introduces a diverse set of statistical tools allowing data-driven decisions based on causal insights.
• ECA5313 Topics in Econometrics: This course is designed to cover topics that are not covered under ECA5103 Quantitative and Computing Methods.
• ECA5315 Financial Econometrics: This course is designed to provide students with vigorous training in applied financial econometrics.
• ECA5325 Project & Policy Evaluation: This course emphasises applied cost-benefit analysis.
• ECA5331 Open Economy Macroeconomics: This course aims to provide an understanding of some of the major issues in international finance.
• ECA5333 Financial Markets & Portfolio Management: This course is to offer a broad overview of financial assets traded in the money, options, and stock markets.
• ECA5334 Corporate Finance: This course provides a theoretical and practical treatment of corporate financial theory for students who have completed an introductory course in financial economics.
• ECA5335 Derivative Securities: The course provides an in-depth analysis of the theories and models that are essential to the understanding of contingent claims.
• ECA5336 Financial Anomalies & Behavioural Finance: This course studies the stock performance in world stock markets by using different approaches.
• ECA5337 Applied Financial Economics: The course studies how trading takes place in financial markets.
• ECA5341 International Trade & Finance: This is a Masters' level course on international trade and finance, open to both economics and non-economics graduate students.
• ECA5342 Advanced International Trade: This course undertakes an in-depth study of topics in international trade.
• ECA5343 Advanced International Finance: The goal of this course is to provide students with an in-depth knowledge of topics in international finance.
• ECA5351 Public Finance: The main objective of the course is to gain appreciation of how economic theory can be used to analyse both the individual components of the fiscal system.
• ECA5371 Economic Growth and Development: This graduate course on economic growth and development is organised into three parts.
• ECA5372 Big Data Analytics and Technologies: This course covers the concepts of big data, analytics and technologies.
• ECA5373 The Singapore Economy: This course provides an in-depth study of Singapore’s economic structure and development strategies.
• ECA5374 The Modern Chinese Economy: This course aims to provide students with a basic understanding of the contemporary Chinese economic system.
• ECA5375 Economic Growth in East Asia: This course is designed to enhance understanding of economic growth by analysing the experience of East Asian countries.
• ECA5376 Auctions and Market Design: Modern market design principles are creatively and increasingly improving a range of economic and other systems.
• ECA5381 Urban Economics: The course provides an overview of key urban economic theories, including increasing return and spatial equilibrium.
• ECA5383 Environmental Economics: This course examines the economics behind environmental issues and problems and policies designed to address them.
• ECA5395 Political Economy of Globalisation: To familiarise advanced (graduate) students with comprehensive knowledge of the problems and prospects of the developing agenda of Globalisation.
• ECA5396 Economics of Business and Law of Intellectual Assets: Evaluating and commercializing intellectual assets (IA) is important to seek capital source or cash for any entity who owns any form of IA.
• ECA5880 Topics in Applied Economics: The purpose of this course is designed to help students become comfortable and creative as economic researchers and modelers.
• ECA5881 Topics in Economic Policy: The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the application of economic theory to public policy.
• ECA5882 Topics in Applied Macroeconomics: This course applies the tools of macroeconomic analysis to analyze issues related to the determination of output, unemployment and inflation in the economy.
• ECA5884 Applied Behavioural Economics: This course provides an introduction to the field of behavioural economics.

Other Courses

Other university courses may be taken upon approval by the department. For EC courses, please consult the Master of Economics (Quantitive Economics) curriculum information.

Course Offerings

Not all courses may be offered in any particular academic year. Course offerings will depend on student interest and staff availability.