ECN 190 Topics
What is a 190 course? An ECN 190 course is a newly-introduced course that has yet to receive an official course number. More than one ECN 190 course, on different topics, may be offered in any given quarter.
Please note: our Economics department and Professors require all prerequisites to be completed before enrollment in any ECN 190 topic course. If you do not meet the prerequisites, you will be emailed during Pass 2 and asked to drop the course, or you will be dropped by the 12th day of instruction.
2024-25 Academic Year
- FALL 2024
ECN 190: Research with Economics Data
Instructor: Colin Cameron
Prerequisites: ECN 102 or ECN 140 or STA 108 with a grade of B- or better.
Note: Enrollment is capped at 30 students, this is a new ECN 190 topics section being offered.
Specialization Track: Data Analytics and Economic Analysis (Advanced)
Description: The goal of this new course is for students to write a research paper based on analysis of economics data. As background the class will go through several published papers and several econometrics methods. The key component of this class is the research paper which will be a group project (2-4 students per paper depending on class size). For more details see https://cameron.econ.ucdavis.edu/e190/e190.html
Colin Cameron is professor of economics at the University of California, Davis. He is also a member of the UCD Graduate Group in Statistics, a faculty member of the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care at UC Davis, serves on several university committees, and is a Visiting Professor at the School of Economics at the University of Sydney. He is associate editor of The Stata Journal. Dr. Cameron is the co-author of three graduate-level books in microeconometrics methods (Microeconometrics: Methods and Applications, Microeconometrics using Stata, and Regression Analysis of Count Data) and has presented many short courses around the world. He is also the author of the undergraduate text Analysis of Economics Data: An Introduction to Econometrics.- WINTER 2025
ECN 190-A: Using Big Data to Solve Economic and Social Problems
Instructor: Santiago Pérez
Prerequisites: None, All Majors Welcome
Note: This class counts as a Restrictive Elective Course for Economics majors.Description: The goal of this course is to illustrate how economists and other social scientists can use "big data" to understand and address some of the most important social and economic problems of our time. To do so, the course will give students an introduction to recent research and policy applications in economics and social science. The course will introduce topics in a non-technical and accessible manner that does not require prior coursework in economics or statistics, making it suitable both for students exploring economics for the first time, as well as for more advanced students. Topics include equality of opportunity, racial and gender disparities, education, and immigration.
Santiago Pérez is an associate professor in the UC Davis Department of Economics and a Research Associate at the NBER. He specializes in economic history and applied microeconomics. Professor Peěrez focuses his research activity primarily on economic history and applied microeconomics. In particular, he has conducted research on immigrant assimilation during the age of mass migration and on historical social mobility.ECN 190-B: Economics of Crime and Criminal Justice Policy
Instructor: Hannah Laqueur
Prerequisites: ECN 100A and ECN 102; ECN 140 recommended but not required.
Specialization Track: Policy; Data Analytics and Economic AnalysisDescription: This course will introduce students to the theoretical and empirical tools from economics used to analyze crime and criminal justice policy. We will apply economic reasoning to understand the behavior of offenders and criminal justice actors (e.g., police officers, judges) and analyze public policies that shape crime and justice outcomes. Key topics include economic models of decision-making under uncertainty, benefit-cost analysis of crime, and econometric methods for assessing the causes of crime and the effectiveness of policy interventions. The course will cover contemporary issues in criminal justice policy, including incarceration, policing, racial bias, drug policy, gun regulations, and place-based crime prevention strategies. Through interactive lectures, group discussions, and hands-on activities, students will gain practical skills in analyzing policy-relevant data and evaluating the incentives created by different policy approaches.
Hannah Laqueur is an associate professor of emergency medicine at UC Davis. She earned her PhD from UC Berkeley Law's Jurisprudence and Social Policy program, an interdisciplinary social science program, where she specialized in Law and Economics. Her research includes work on crime policy, decision-making, and risk assessment in the criminal justice system.- SPRING 2025
ECN 190: TBD
Instructor: TBD
Prerequisites: TBD
2023-24 Academic Year
- FALL 2023
ECN 190: Research with Economics Data
Instructor: Colin Cameron
Prerequisites: ECN 102 or ECN 140 or STA 108 with a grade of B- or better.
Note: Enrollment is capped at 30 students, this is a new ECN 190 topics section being offered.
Specialization Track: Data Analytics and Economic Analysis (Advanced)
Description: The goal of this new course is for students to write a research paper based on analysis of economics data. As background the class will go through several published papers and several econometrics methods. The key component of this class is the research paper which will be a group project (2-4 students per paper depending on class size). For more details see https://cameron.econ.ucdavis.edu/e190/e190.html
Colin Cameron is professor of economics at the University of California, Davis. He is also a member of the UCD Graduate Group in Statistics, a faculty member of the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care at UC Davis, serves on several university committees, and is a Visiting Professor at the School of Economics at the University of Sydney. He is associate editor of The Stata Journal. Dr. Cameron is the co-author of three graduate-level books in microeconometrics methods (Microeconometrics: Methods and Applications, Microeconometrics using Stata, and Regression Analysis of Count Data) and has presented many short courses around the world. He is also the author of the undergraduate text Analysis of Economics Data: An Introduction to Econometrics.- WINTER 2024
- No ECN 190 is being offered in Winter Quarter 2024.
- SPRING 2024
ECN 190: Making Better Decisions
Instructor: Anujit Chakraborty
Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in one of the following courses: MAT 16B; MAT 17B; MAT 19B; or MAT 21B. If you have completed ECN 100A or ECN 100B, a grade of C or better is also required. We would use calculus in this course.
Specialization Track: Behavior and Strategy (Advanced)
Description: If you are like most people, you think that the table on the left is longer and narrower than the one on the right. But if you used a ruler to measure each table (developed by cognitive scientist Roger Shepard), you would find that they have identical dimensions! Not only do a lot of people get this wrong, but they all also get it wrong the same way, which means there is something systematic in the errors. Just like our optical system, our decision-making system can make systematic errors too, and these are called behavioral biases. In this course, we will learn about systematic mistakes we make in intertemporal decisions, risky decisions, and strategic environments. We will see the empirical evidence about it, and learn the economic models developed to study behavioral biases. Prior knowledge of game theory (100B level) and statistics (ECN 102/STA 108) would come in handy during the course.
Anujit Chakraborty is an Assistant Professor of Economics at UC Davis. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of British Columbia, under Professor Yoram Halevy in 2017. He has previously received a B.E in Electronics Engineering from Jadavpur University and an M.S in Economics from the Indian Statistical Institute. Dr. Chakraborty works in the intersection of Economic Theory, Behavioral Economics, and Experimental Economics.
ECN 190: The College Fed Challenge
Instructor: Deborah Swenson
Prerequisites: ECN 101 and must be an active student in Fall 2024
Specialization Track: International Macro-Finance OR Policy (Advanced)
Background: Entering 2024, the U.S. Federal Reserve faces just such a quandary. As posed in the New York Times, Why Cut Rates in an Economy This Strong? A Big Question Confronts the Fed.(January 30, 2024 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/30/business/economy/fed-interest-rates.html) “The central bank is widely expected to lower interest rates this year. But with growth and consumer spending chugging along, explaining it may take some work.” In this setting, the Federal Reserve would like to preserve the current soft landing, as it reduces inflation from its disruptive 2022 peak. To this end, it needs to decide both when, and how quickly, it should act during 2024.
Course Description: This course will focus on macroeconomic forecasting and policy formation, in simulation of the U.S. Federal Reserve decision-making. The majority of the course work, which will involve group projects and presentations, will provide hands-on practice applying economic tools to specific questions. Although the course applications will generally center on Federal Reserve policy decisions, the practice of applied economic decision-making will be broadly applicable to other economic settings.Due to group projects and in-class presentations, class attendance is essential.
Application: https://forms.gle/bL4AdGXtpoqLvbxE9
2022-23 Academic Year
- FALL 2022
ECN 190-A: INTERNATIONAL MACRO-FINANCE ***NOW ECN 164***
Specialization Track: International Macro-Finance (Advanced)
Prerequisites: ECN 100A
This is an advanced course in international finance. The goal is to understand how investors from different countries interact in global financial markets. The course studies the decision-making processes of large firms (both financial and non-financial), institutional investors, and sovereign governments. It further examines the role of governments and international institutions as intermediaries and regulators of global markets. The course combines solving rigorous theoretical models, analyzing financial data, and presenting solutions to real-life case studies. Instructional material includes a required textbook and case study materials, and evaluation is based on online quizzes, a country study, individual and group assignments, and a short case-study group presentation.
Instructor: Professor Ina Simonovska
Professor Simonovska specializes in international trade, international finance and macroeconomics. She received her PhD in Economics at the University of Minnesota as well as her Master's in Economics. Their research interests focus on understanding the sources of welfare gains from international integration.
ECN 190-B: ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS DATA ANALYTICS ***NOW ECN 142***
Specialization Track: Data Analytics and Economic Analysis (Advanced)
Prerequisites: ECN 100A, STA 13, and ECN 102 with a B grade or higher
This course introduces state-of-the-art econometric methods to analyze economic and business data. Topics of this course include key concepts and tools which are essential for data analyses in economic and business environments. This course is designed as a stepping stone for graduate study. The students are required to implement the programming language R.
Instructor: Professor Takuya Ura
Takuya Ura is an assistant professor of economics at UC Davis. His research interest is econometrics, with emphases on microeconometrics and causal inference.
ECN 190-1: ECONOMICS OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
Specialization Track: Policy (Advanced)
Prerequisites: ECN 100A and ECN 102; ECN 140 recommended (previous or concurrent)
This course will provide an introduction to the economics of crime and punishment. We will apply economic thinking to gain insight into the behavior of the key actors (potential offenders, potential victims, and criminal justice agents), and key public policies that determine crime and justice outcomes. We will examine economic models of decision-making under uncertainty, the use of benefit-cost analysis to estimate the cost of crime and assess different crime reduction strategies, and econometric techniques for analyzing the causes of crime and the effects of crime-control measures. The course will consider contemporary issues in criminal justice policy including incarceration, policing, racial bias, drug policy, and gun regulations.
Instructor: Professor Hannah Laqueur
Hannah Laqueur is an assistant professor of emergency medicine at UC Davis. She earned her PhD from UC Berkeley Law's Jurisprudence and Social Policy program, an interdisciplinary social science program, where she specialized in Law and Economics. She also completed a Masters in Biostatistics at Berkeley, focusing on machine learning methods for causal inference and prediction.
- WINTER 2023
ECN 190-A: ECONOMICS & MATHEMATICS
Specialization Track: Data Analytics and Economic Analysis (Advanced)
Prerequisites: You should drop this course if you are not willing to engage in hard work each week or if you are allergic to mathematics. You should also drop this course if you don’t satisfy the prerequisites in mathematics: 16A, 16B or 21A, 21B with a grade of a C- or better in each course.
Students will become comfortable with the most important and foundational methods applied in mathematical economics: set theory, linear algebra, differential and integral calculus, unconstrained and constrained optimization, methods of comparative statics, and basic applications of mathematics to financial economics, consumer behavior, the behavior of firms, and market exchange.
Instructor: Professor Carvajal Escobar
Andrés Carvajal Escobar is a Professor at UC Davis. He is an economic theorist with an emphasis in microeconomics and mathematic economics. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Mathematical Economics and served as a co-chair of the 2018 North America Summer Meeting of the Econometric Society.
- SPRING 2023
ECN 190-A: MAKING BETTER DECISIONS
Specialization Track: Behavior and Strategy (Advanced)
Prerequisites: A grade of C or better in the courses: ECN 100A and ECN 100B. We would use calculus in this course.
If you are like most people, you think that the table on the left is longer and narrower than the one on the right. But if you used a ruler to measure each table (developed by cognitive scientist Roger Shepard), you would find that they have identical dimensions! Not only do a lot of people get this wrong, but they all also get it wrong the same way, which means there is something systematic in the errors. Just like our optical system, our decision-making system can make systematic errors too, and these are called behavioral biases. In this course, we will learn about systematic mistakes we make in intertemporal decisions, risky decisions, and strategic environments. We will see the empirical evidence about it, and learn the economic models developed to study behavioral biases. Prior knowledge of game theory (100B level) and statistics (ECN 102/STA 108) would come in handy during the course.
Instructor: Professor Anujit Chakraborty
Anujit Chakraborty is an Assistant Professor of Economics at UC Davis. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of British Columbia, under Professor Yoram Halevy in 2017. He has previously received a B.E in Electronics Engineering from Jadavpur University and an M.S in Economics from the Indian Statistical Institute. Dr. Chakraborty works in the intersection of Economic Theory, Behavioral Economics, and Experimental Economics.
