UC Davis Agricultural and Resource Economics

Graduate Courses

200A. Microeconomic Theory (5)

Lecture—4 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: graduate standing. Linear and non-linear optimization theory applied to develop the theory of the profit-maximizing firm and the utility-maximizing consumer. (Same course as Economics 200A.)—I. (I.)

200B. Microeconomic Theory (5)

Lecture—4 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 200A. Characteristics of market equilibrium under perfect competition, simple monopoly and monopsony. Emphasis on general equilibrium and welfare economics; the sources of market success and market failures. (Same course as Economics 200B.)—II. (II.)

200C. Microeconomic Theory (5)

Lecture—4 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 200B. Uncertainty and information economics. Individual decision making under uncertainty. Introduction to game theory, with emphasis on applications to markets with firms that are imperfect competitors or consumers that are imperfectly informed. (Same course as Economics 200C.)—III. (III.)

202A. Introduction to Applied Research Methods (3)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours. Prerequisite: courses 204A and 256, or the equivalent; course 200A concurrently. Study of philosophy and methodology of applied research in agricultural economics. Methods of conceptualization of researchable topics. Method of communication and constructive criticism.—I. (I.)

202B. Applied Microeconomics I: Consumer and Producer Behavior (3)

Lecture/discussion—3 hours. Prerequisite: courses 200A and 202A; course 200B concurrently. Application of consumer and producer theory in models of individual behavior and market-level phenomena. Implications of consumer and producer theory for specification of empirical models of supply and demand for inputs and outputs and market equilibrium displacement models.—II. (II.)

202C. Research Design for Applied Microeconomics (3)

Lecture/Discussion—3 hours. Prerequisite: courses 240A and 202B. Third of three courses in the Ph.D level applied microeconomics sequence. Examines the design of empirical research and the application of econometric theory.—III. (III.)

204A. Microeconomic Analysis I (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 100B or Economics 100; advanced undergraduates with consent of instructor. Behavior of consumers and producers and their interactions; tools and methods needed to analyze economic behavior in the marketplace. Application of those methods to real-world problems.—I. (I.)

204B. Microeconomic Analysis II (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 204A or consent of instructor. Behavior in imperfectly competitive markets-monopoly and price discrimination; oligopoly. Introduction to noncooperative game theory. Analysis of decisions made under risk and uncertainty and imperfect information. The economics of externalities and public goods.—II. (II.)

214. Development Economics (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 100A, 100B, Economics 101; course 204A and Economics 160A, 160B recommended. Review of the principal theoretical and empirical issues whose analysis has formed development economics. Analysis of economic development theories and development strategies and their application to specific policy issues in developing country contexts. (Same course as Economics 214.)—III. (III.) Boucher

215A. Microdevelopment Theory and Methods I (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 200A or 204A; course 240A recommended. Agricultural development theory, with a focus on microeconomics. Agricultural household behavior with and without imperfections and uncertainty. Analysis of rural land, labor, credit and insurance markets, institutions, and contracts. (Same course as Economics 215A.)—I. (I.)

215B. Microdevelopment Theory and Methods II (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: courses 200A or 204A; 200D or 205, and 214 or 215A. Models and policy approaches regarding trade, monetary and fiscal issues, capital flows and debt are discussed in the macroeconomic framework of an open developing country. The basic analytical focus is real exchange rate and its impact on sectoral allocation of resources. (Same course as Economics 215B. Official title listed as "Open Macroeconomics of Development")—II. (II.)

215C. Microdevelopment Theory and Methods III (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 215A. Extension of development theory and microeconomic methods. Agricultural growth and technological change; poverty and income inequality; multisectoral, including village and regional models. Computable general equilibrium methods and applications. (Same course as Economics 215C. Official title listed as "Microdevelopment Theory and Methods II)—III. (III.)

215D. Environment and Economic Development (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 200A, 204A or 275. Interdisciplinary course drawing on theoretical and empirical research on interactions between environmental resource use and economic development processes. Analysis of issues emerging at the interface of environmental and development economics. (Same course as Economics 215D.)

222. International Agricultural Trade and Policy (4)

204A; Economics 160A or the equivalent. Analysis of country interdependence through world agricultural markets. Partial equilibrium analysis is used to study the impacts of national intervention on world markets, national policy choice in an open economy and multinational policy issues.—I. (I.)

223. Economics of Agriculture (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite(s): ARE 204A (can be concurrent); ARE 256A (can be concurrent); Or equivalent course(s) completed or concurrent required. Open to MS students in Agricultural and Resource Economics, Ph.D. students in Agricultural and Resource Economics and qualified students from other UC Davis graduate groups/programs. Analytic treatment of the historical development and contemporary role of agriculture in the global, U.S. and California economies. Uses economic reasoning and evidence to develop historical and conceptual understanding of the economics of agriculture, agricultural issues, and related government policies. Effective: 2015 Fall Quarter.

231. Supply & Demand for Agricultural Products (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: courses 200A, 202A, and 240A or consent of instructor. Analysis of supply and demand for agricultural commodities emphasizing the effective use of microeconomic theory with econometric methods, and other empirical procedures, in conducting applied analysis of supply and demand at the firm and industry level.—I. (I.)

232. Agricultural Commodity Markets (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: courses 200A, 202A, and 240A or consent of instructor. Economic analysis of industries that produce, market, transport, store, and process basic commodities. Analysis of market equilibrium under perfect and imperfect competition, with and without government involvement.—II. (II.)

233. Agricultural Policy (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: courses 200A, 202A, and 240A or consent of instructor. Nature, formation, evolution, and institutions of economic policy applied to food, agricultural, and rural issues. Examples for detailed consideration include food security, commodity issues, and trade policy. Analytical approaches include static and dynamic welfare analysis, policy design, and political-economic analysis.—III. (III.)

239. Econometric Foundations (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: one course in undergraduate-level econometrics. The course will prepare students for econometric theory and empirical work by examining the statistical foundation of econometrics. Special attention is paid to problems specific to non-experimental data common to social sciences. Topics from matrix algebra are also covered. (Same course as Economics 239.)—I. (I.)

240A. Econometric Methods (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: Statistics 133 and a course in linear algebra or the equivalent. Least squares, instrumental variables, and maximum likelihood estimation and inference for single equation linear regression model; linear restrictions; heteroskedasticity; autocorrelation; lagged dependent variables. (Same course as Economics 240A.)—II. (II.)

240B. Econometric Methods (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 240A. Topics include asymptotic theory and instrumental variables, pooled time-series cross-section estimation, seemingly unrelated regression, classical hypothesis tests, identification and estimation of simultaneous equation models, cointegration, error-correction models, and qualitative and limited dependent variable models. (Same course as Economics 240B.)—III. (III.)

240C. Time Series Econometrics (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 240B. Probability theory; estimation, inference and forecasting of time series models; trends and non-standard asymptotic theory; vector time series methods and cointegration; time series models for higher order moments and transition data; state-space modeling; the Kalman filter. (Same course as Economics 240C)—II. (II.)

240D. Cross Section Econometrics (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: course 240B. Estimation and inference for nonlinear regression models for cross-section data; models for discrete data and for limited dependent variables; models for panel data; additional topics such as bootstrap and semiparametric regression. (Same course as Economics 240D)—I. (I.)

240E. Topics in Time Series Econometrics (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: courses 240A, 240B and 240C. Modern econometric techniques for time series data. Expand on topics covered in Economics 240A, 240B and 240C. Contents may vary from year to year. (Same course as Economics 240E.)—III. (III.)

240F. Topics in Cross Section Econometrics (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite: courses 240A, 240B and 240D. Modern econometrics techniques for cross-section data. Expand on topics covered in Economics 240A, 240B and 240D. Contents may vary from year to year. (Same course as Economics 240F.)—III. (III.)

252. Optimization with Economic Applications (4)

Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour. Applied linear programming methods emphasizing uses for business decisions: production, diet, blending, network and related problems.—II. (II.)

254. Dynamic Optimization with Economic Applications (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 253 and elementary knowledge of ordinary differential equations. Necessary and sufficient conditions in the calculus of variations and optimal control, economic interpretations, the dynamic envelope theorem and transversality conditions, infinite horizon problems and phase diagrams, local stability and comparative statics of the steady state, comparative dynamics.—I. (I.)

255. Applied Dynamic Structural Econometric Modeling (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 254. Course covers structural econometric models of static games of incomplete information, single-agent dynamic optimization problems and multi-agent dynamic games, with a focus on applications to issues relevant to the environment, energy, natural resources, agriculture, and development.—II. (II.)

256A. Applied Econometrics I (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 106 or Economics 140; or consent of instructor. First of two courses in the Masters-level econometrics sequence. The linear regression model and generalizations are applied to topics in agricultural and resource economics. Tools for empirical research for problems requiring more sophisticated tools than standard regression models are emphasized.—I. (I.) (new course—eff. fall 12)

256B. Applied Econometrics II (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 256A or consent of instructor. Second of two courses in the Masters-level econometrics sequence. The linear regression model and generalizations are applied to topics in agricultural and resource economics. Tools for empirical research for problems requiring more sophisticated tools than standard regression models are emphasized.—II. (II.) (new course—eff. fall 12)

258. Demand and Market Analysis (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: courses 204B and 256 or consent of instructor. Application of theoretical material covered in 204A/B, with particular focus on production theory/factor demand and imperfect competition/market power. Use of theoretical models as a foundation for empirical economic analysis, and empirical exercises. Independent research on chosen topics, with empirical application.—III. (III.)

271. Financial Economics (4)

275. Economic Analysis of Resource and Environmental Policies (4)

Lecture/discussion—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 204A. Development of externality theory, market failure concepts, welfare economics, theory of renewable and non-renewable resource use, and political economic models. Applications to policy issues regarding the agricultural/environment interface and managing resources in the public domain. (Same course as Environmental Science and Policy 275.)—III. (III.)

276A. Environmental Economics: Externalities (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: students should have completed the first year graduate-level sequence in microeconomics and econometrics. Course introduces fundamental and recent research in environmental economics, focusing on the design, implementation and evaluation of environmental policy instruments to correct market failures. It will expose students to economic theories and empirical techniques frequently used in this field.—II. (II.)

276B. Environmental Economics: Non- Market Valuation (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: students should have completed the first year graduate-level sequence in microeconomics and econometrics. Second PhD field course in environmental economics, covering theory and econometrics of methods for valuing nonmarket goods and environmental quality changes. Topics include revealed preference (travel cost, hedonics, sorting equilibrium) and stated preference (contingent valuation, choice experiments, conjoint analysis) techniques.—III. (III.)

277. Natural Resource Economics (4)

Lecture—4 hours. Prerequisite: course 254 or consent of instructor. Application of capital theory and dynamic methods to issues of optimal use of renewable and nonrenewable resources. Examination of policy issues associated with forests, fisheries, groundwater, energy resources, watersheds, soil, global climate, and wildlife.—III. (III.)

290. Topics in Agricultural and Resource Economics (3)

Lecture—3 hours. Selected topics in agricultural and resource economics, focusing on current research. May be repeated 4 times for credit. Not offered every year.—I, II, III. (I, II, III.)

293. Analysis of California Agriculture and Resources (3)

Lecture—1.5 hours; fieldwork—45 hours total, including one 5-day summer field trip. Review and analysis of production, marketing, and resource issues facing agricultural firms in California. Application of economic theory and measurement to individual firm and industry decisions in an applied setting. (S/U grading only.)—II. (II.)

298. Directed Group Study (1-5)

Advanced study through special seminars, informal group studies, or group research on problems for analysis and experimentation. Sections: (1) Managerial Economics; (2) Agricultural Policy; (3) Community and Regional Development; (4) Natural Resources; (5) Human Resources; (6) Research Methods and Quantitative Analysis.

299. Individual Study (1-12)

Sections: (1) Managerial Economics; (2) Agricultural Policy; (3) Community and Regional Development; (4) Natural Resources; (5) Human Resources; (6) Research Methods and Quantitative Analysis; and (7) Dissertation Research Prospectus. (S/U grading only.)

299D. Special Study for Doctoral Dissertation (1-12)

(S/U grading only.)

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