Chinese people’s awareness of their individual economic and social rights has increased dramatically in the last two decades. So is the importance of public policy making in China. This course will survey the characteristics of public policy making in China, both at the national and local levels. The ideological debates between the neo-liberals and neo-left will be examined with details, especially over the issues of contesting principles of social justice and local distributional justice. The course will analyze many important public policy events and policy debates, including protections of individual’s social and economic rights (especially of redundant workers, migrant workers and peasants), fights over environmental pollutions and environmental protection, public crises related to food and drug safety, and industrial safety, changes of policy and institutions over public education system, public health system, pension and unemployment insurances, and the making of general social protection nets in an age of market economic reform.

In this module students will explore the conditions that promote viable enterprises and increased employment in the community. Topics include: Principles of Economic Development and Growth (community history and community growth potential, the role of business, labor, & jobs, building sustainable systems, social capital); the Role of Community-Based Institutions (community support organizations, sources of funding); Economic Development Planning (local economic development incentives, building public/private collaboratives); The Economic Influence of Neighborhood and Building Design; and Measuring Economic Growth (data sources, methodology).

This course examines the role of civil society (churches, civic associations, unions, community-based organizations, NGOs), and business as agents for change and development. Students will also explore the ways in which governments respond to such pressures and opportunities.

Among the topics this course addresses are economic analysis and optimal decisions, consumer choice and the demand for products, production functions and cost curves, market structures and strategic interactions, and pricing and non-price concepts. Cases and problems are used to understand economic tools and their potential for solving real-world problems.

Throughout history, no two countries have developed and prospered using the same economic system and economic ideas and doctrines. It is valuable to learn what has been thought and practiced in the past. The past provided valuable insights into the present and future.    Economics is an evolving social science, and there is no better way to recognize this fact than to study the various economic systems and the rationale for their existence.

This module focuses on the optimizing behavior of individual consumers and firms and on the coordination of individual decisions through markets, including the evaluation of market outcomes. Topics include: theory of the consumer, theory of the firm, decisions involving time and risk, perfect competition, monopoly and monopsony, oligopoly and game theory, markets with asymmetric information, law and economics, public finance, the economy of the family, religion and riots, externalities and public goods.

This course surveys a number of comparative themes in the political economies of developing countries. The content is designed to examine patterns of politics, stratification, and state intervention in the economy that are to some extent shared by Late Developing Countries. There will be a particular emphasis on the countries of Southeast Asia.

Comparative Political Economy of Development - LGS201 / LGS224

The central theme of this course is to learn how to navigate the financial decisions of a multinational firm or company that operates in a foreign economy. Attention is devoted to the specific topics of short-term cash management, transfer pricing, and long-term financial management, including capital budgeting and capital structure in an international market. Assessing stock market and international portfolio opportunities, and dealing with inconvertible or hyperinflationary currencies will be the third major theme of the course. Global Financial Management is designed to supplement a course of study in finance or international business.