Web Site of the Department

Head of Department : Gökhan Özertan

Associate Department Heads : Selcen Çakır

Professors : Fikret Adaman, Ceyhun Elgin, Mehmet Yiğit Gürdal, Ayşe Mumcu, Gökhan Özertan, Begüm Özkaynak, Burak Saltoğlu, Ünal Zenginobuz, Onur Başer, Talat Ulussever

Associate Professors : Güzin G. Akın, Burçay Erus, Ozan Hatipoğlu, K. Kıvanç Karaman, Murat Koyuncu, Tolga Umut Kuzubaş, Orhan Torul, Levent Yıldıran, Murat Yılmaz

Assistant Professors : Orhan Aygün, Selcen Çakır, Yeliz Kaçamak, Meltem Poyraz, Emekcan Yücel

Instructors : Mustafa Can Özer*, Ayhan Yüksel*, Ahmet İrfan Söylemezoğlu*, Ahmet Burak Emel*

The Department of Economics offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Economics. The modern analytical and quantitative methods of economics are emphasized, not merely as tools but as part of an overall approach to train students in systematic and independent critical thinking.

The undergraduate program offers a wide range of courses in all fields of economics and the students graduate with a very strong overall background in economics. For the majority of graduates who go on to professional careers in private and public sector, the economics education they receive at Boğaziçi University constitutes a very solid base on which to develop more applied skills. Those who go on to graduate school, both in Turkey and abroad, have been exceptionally successful with their analytical background.

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

Total: 139 Credits/241-249 ECTS.
 

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
 

EC 101 Principles of Microeconomics (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6           
(Mikroekonominin İlkeleri)
Nature, scope and methods of economics; a general view of the price system; consumer behavior; theory of the firm; illustrations and applications from the Turkish economy.

EC 102 Principles of Macroeconomic (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6            
(Makroekonominin İlkeleri)
National income and its determination; changes in national income, elements of public finance, money and banking, international trade, macroeconomic policy, economic growth and development; illustrations and applications from the Turkish economy.

EC 103 Orientation to Economics I (1+0+0) 1 ECTS 1
(Ekonomiye Yönlendirme I)
A short history of economics, its development, its present status, and its contribution to other social sciences; issues pertaining to positive versus normative economics, macro- versus micro-economics.

EC 104 Orientation to Economics II (1+0+0) 1 ECTS 1
(Ekonomiye Yönlendirme II)
Presentation  of different areas of research in economics and curriculum offerings related to them; overview of helpful resources for theoretical and applied research in economics.

EC 203 Microeconomics I (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Mikroekonomi I) 
Consumer theory, budget constraint, utility maximization, individual demand, income and substitution effects; market demand; firm theory, profit maximization, cost minimization; firm supply; market supply; general equilibrium; consumer and producer surplus; Walrasian equilibrium; efficiency and equilibrium; welfare theorems; monopoly; market failures.
Prerequisite: EC 101.

EC 205 Macroeconomics I (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Makroekonomi I)
Classical and monetarist economic theories; exogenous economic growth models; economic fluctuations and Keynesian short-run economic models; the Lucas critique and theory of rational expectations; life-cycle permanent income hypothesis and the real business cycle theory.
Prerequisite: EC 102.

EC 206 Microeconomics II (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Mikroekonomi II) 
Public goods; externalities; inefficiency in monopoly; price discrimination; policy, regulation and role of government; oligopoly. Static games under complete information: dominated strategies, Nash equilibrium. Dynamic games: backward induction; subgame perfect equilibrium; repeated games. Information economics: decision under uncertainty; adverse selection; moral hazard.
Prerequisite: EC 203.

EC 208 Macroeconomics II (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Makroekonomi II)
Open economy macroeconomics: exchange rate regimes; Mundell-Fleming and Dornbush models; monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies; foreign exchange markets; international trade and finance in small open economies. Global imbalances; currency crisis; twin-deficits; balance of payments adjustments; domestic and foreign savings and economic growth in open economies.
Prerequisite: EC 205.

EC 223 Mathematics for Economists (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6                       
(İktisatçılar için Matematik)
Fundamental logic; set theory; relations; functions; limits, continuity and differentiability; univariate-multivariate calculus; static optimization; Lagrange and Kuhn-Tucker theorems; difference equations; differential equations; phase diagrams; dynamic optimization. Economic applications.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102, MATH 101, MATH 102, MATH 201

EC 233 Mathematical Statistics I (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Matematiksel İstatistik I)      
Introduction to statistics; data presentation with graphical and numerical methods; probability theory; conditional probability; discrete and continuous random variables and their probability distributions; multivariate probability distributions. Data applications.  
Prerequisites: MATH 101.

EC 234 Mathematical Statistics II (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Matematiksel İstatistik II)  
Elements of statistical analysis; sampling distributions and the central limit theorem; statistical inference including estimation and tests of hypotheses. Data applications.
Prerequisite: EC 233.

EC 301 Economics of Industrial Organization (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Sanayi Organizasyonu Ekonomisi)
Review of firm theory; economies and scale; monopoly and market power; durable good monopoly; price discrimination; nonlinear pricing; twopart tariff; bundling and tying; Dixit’s entry deterrence model; theories of competition; oligopoly; monopolistic competition; product differentiation; Hotelling’s location model; mergers; collusions; price competition under demand shocks; quality signaling; technological progress; R&D and patents. Industry case studies.
Prerequisites: EC 206.

EC 304 Game Theory  (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Oyun Kuramı)
Dominance, iterated elimination of dominated strategies; best response and Nash equilibrium; rationalizability; undominated Nash equilibrium; mixed strategy Nash equilibrium; Bayesian Nash equilibrium; backward induction; subgame perfect Nash equilibrium; perfect Bayesian equilibrium; signaling games; repeated games; other refinements. Applications: auctions; bargaining; voting.
Prerequisites: EC 206.

EC 305 Urban Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Kent Ekonomisi)
Economic analysis as applied to urban problems and policy; the need for cities; urban spatial structure; urban transportation; housing; local public goods.
Prerequisites: EC 203.

EC 306 Advanced Microeconomics (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(İleri Mikroekonomi)
Information economics: strategic interaction under asymmetric information; moral hazard (hidden action); adverse selection (hidden information). Selected applications: principal-agent models, bargaining, auctions, insurance markets, labor markets, herd behavior, voting. Experimental economics; behavioral economics.
Prerequisites: EC 206, EC 223.

EC 307 Evolution of Economies and Economics (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Ekonomilerin ve İktisadın Evrimi)
A review of evolution of economic institutions in history; development of economic thinking in the context of changing economic environment; alternative paradigms for analyzing economic issues and policies.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 308 Advanced Macroeconomics (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(İleri Makroekonomi)
Dynamic models in macroeconomics; calculus of variations; optimal control and dynamic programming methods; general equilibrium theory; applications in economic growth; real business cycles and political economy.
Prerequisites: EC 205, EC 223.

EC 310 Economic History of Europe (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6                          
(Avrupanın İktisadi Tarihi)
Introduction to the economy history of Europe; a survey of economic and social characteristics of different periods; Medieval, Early Modern and Modern Periods; factors driving economic and social change. 
Prerequisites: EC 101, 102.

EC 311 Economic History of the Ottoman Empire (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Osmanlı İktisat Tarihi)
Introduction to Ottoman economic history; review of evidence on different periods of the Ottoman  history; institutions and institutional change; causes of economic stagnation; comparative analysis with other regions of the world.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 312 Comparative Schools of Thought in Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Karşılaştırmalı İktisadi Düşünce Okulları)
The subject matter and methodological standpoint of leading traditions of economic thought: Neoclassical, Keynesian, Post Keynesian, Chicago, Austrian, Institutional, Marxian, Feminist and Radical.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 314 Economic Methodology and Philosophy of Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(İktisadi Yöntem ve İktisat Felsefesi)      
Economics as a science; methodologies of and epistemologies in economics; logical positivism, falsificationism, research programs, scientific paradigms and epistemological anarchism; methodological debates and innovations in economics.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 315 Economic History of Turkey (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Türkiye İktisat Tarihi) 
The economic and social history of the 19th and 20th century Turkey; economic policy in different periods; changing social coalitions and conflict; economic growth and distribution over time; interaction with the outside world.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 317 Gender and the Economy (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Ekonomi)
Understanding of gender roles in the household, the labor market, and the firm; feminist economic critique of mainstream economics and alternatives; gender division of labor; paid and unpaid work; occupational segregation and discrimination; economic and social policies altering or reinforcing prevailing gender roles.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 331 Econometrics (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Ekonometri)  
Classical least squares analysis; properties of least squares estimators; statistical inference in simple and multiple regression; misspecification problem; regression with dummy variables.
Prerequisites: EC 234, MATH 101.

EC 332 Advanced Econometrics (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(İleri Ekonometri)  
Heteroskedasticity; autocorrelated errors; univariate and multivariate time-series analysis; time varying volatility models; simultaneous equation models; system methods of estimation; limited dependent variables, instrumental variables.
Prerequisite: EC 331.

EC 344 Money, Banking and Financial Institutions (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Para, Banka ve Finansal Kurumlar)
Bond markets and yield to maturity; determinants of interest rates; risk and term structure of interest rates; stock markets, risk-return theories, and efficient market hypothesis; derivative assets and hedging; roles of financial intermediaries, bank management, banking regulations; financial crises; central banking, conduct of monetary policy and monetary base; money supply process and monetary policy tools.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 350 Government Control (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Devlet Müdahalesi) 
Structure of markets; promotion of competition by anti-trust laws and other means; public control of certain industries, including public utility regulation; government control of production, sales and prices, government ownership and operations.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 351 Public Finance (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Kamu Maliyesi) 
Causes of market failure and the need for government intervention in the economy (analysis of public goods, externalities, decreasing cost conditions); the problem of income distribution; budget systems and cost-benefit analysis; government expenditure patterns and tax structures.
Prerequisite: EC 203.

EC 352 Topics in Public Finance (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6                                     
(Kamu Maliyesinde Özel Konular)
Theory of income determination; unemployment problems; the theory of economic stabilization and the impact of government expenditures and taxes on the level of economic activity.
Prerequisite: EC 351.

EC 358 World Economic History (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6                                     
(Dünya Ekonomi Tarihi)
Survey of world economic history; theories of long run economic development; discussion of roles of geography, institutions, politics and culture; characteristics of and empirical evidence on different eras; transition to agriculture; Malthusian era; industrialization.
Prerequisite: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 361 International Economics (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Uluslararasi İktisat) 
The determinants of international trade, patterns of specialization and gains from trade in classical and neoclassical (Ricardian, Hecksher-OhlinSamuelson) models and new trade theories; effects of trade on production and consumption patterns, factor prices, income distribution, economic growth and development; instruments and effectiveness of trade policy.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 362 Topics in International Economics (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Uluslararası İktisatta Özel Konular)
Theory and practice of international macroeconomics and finance; balance of payments, adjustment mechanisms, functioning of foreign exchange markets and international capital markets; global economic and financial interactions and international policy coordination; financial crises and contagion.
Prerequisite: EC 361, EC 208.

EC 403 Economic Policy (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(İktisat Politikası) 
Growth and development policy; fiscal policy; monetary policy; labor market policy; open economy and trade issues; political economy of economic policy; redistribution, government regulation and oversight; political aspects of economic policy-making.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205, EC 331.

EC 404 Environmental and Ecological Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Çevre Ekonomisi ve Ekolojik Ekonomi)
The development of environmental thinking in economics; alternative definitions and measurements of sustainability; a survey of contemporary economic approaches that conceptualize the economics-environment relationship; environmental valuation; decision-making techniques, costbenefit analysis and multi-criteria evaluation; environmental policy instruments. Case studies.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 405 Transportation Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Ulaşım Ekonomisi) 
Nature of demand and cost in the transportation industry; pricing of transportation services; resource allocation; urban transportation; problems of congestion; transportation and location theory; international transportation organizations.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 406 Agricultural Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Tarım Ekonomisi)
Sources and nature of contemporary agricultural problems; various models of agricultural development: the role and effect of agricultural policies; the interrelationships between agricultural development and other sectors of the economy; analysis of food systems; impacts of technology use in agriculture; applications to agribusiness; Turkish agricultural problems and various possible methods of solving these problems.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 407 Labor Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Çalışma Ekonomisi)
Determinants of labor supply and labor demand; determinants of wages; welfare programs and work incentives; household production; the employment effects of minimum wages; the impact of immigration on the wage and employment opportunities of natives; segmentation and discrimination in labor markets; human capital investment; estimating the rate of return on schooling; impact of government programs on labor market outcomes.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 408 Applied Macroeconomics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Uygulamalı Makroekonomi) 
Macroeconomics from an applied perspective; national income accounting; applied general equilibrium; calibration and simulation; economic growth—the roles of capital accumulation, increased education, and technological progress in determining economic growth; savings—the effect of government and private debt on economic growth; and exchange-rate regimes.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205, EC 331.

EC 409 Health Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Sağlık Ekonomisi)
The supply and demand for health services; health insurance, adverse selection, moral hazard; healthcare providers, physicians, hospitals, pharmaceuticals; health systems, regulation, financing of health care and health care reform.
Prerequisites: EC 203.

EC 411 History of Economic Thought (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(İktisadi Düşünce Tarihi)
The pre-history of classical political economy; forefathers and constitutive debates in the classical political economy. Marx’s challenge and critique; transition from feudalism to capitalism; colonialism; enclosure movement; industrial revolution; the free trade debate; population growth; capitalism and its crises.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205; or consent of the instructor.

EC 412 Topics in History of Economic Thought (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(İktisadi Düşünce Tarihinde Özel Konular)
Constitutive debates and internal divisions in neoclassical economics; the heterodox alternatives to the neoclassical orthodoxy; different notions of actors, knowledge and equilibrium; different explanations of the interactions between markets and states; different theories of market and government failures; different and competing conceptualizations of the role that institutions, power mechanisms and class structures play in shaping social outcomes.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 414 Institutional Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Kurumsal İktisat)
Introduction to institutional economics; definitions, key concepts and methodology of institutional economics; examples of economic institutions in historical developments; evolution of economic and political organizations, laws, contracts and customs in different regions; game theoretic models and empirical studies.
Prerequisites: EC 206.

EC 416 Marxian Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Marksist İktisat) 
Introduction to Marxian economics; definitions, key concepts and methodology of Marxian economics; modes of production; transition from feudalism to capitalism; labor theory of value; class analysis; capitalism and its crisis tendencies.
Prerequisites: EC 203.

EC 419 Mechanism Design (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Mekanizma Tasarımı) 
Impossibility theorems; implementation; direct mechanisms; the revelation principle; Vickrey-Clarke-Groves (VCG) mechanisms; Arrowd'Aspremont-Gerard-Varet (AAGV) mechanisms; auctions with private values; first-price auctions; second-price auctions; revenue equivalence; optimal auctions; auctions with interdependent values; winner’s curse; affiliation; English auction; linkage principle.
Prerequisites: EC 206.

EC 423 Economics of Corporate Finance (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6             
(Kurumsal Finansman Ekonomisi)
Tools and techniques of corporate finance, with emphasis on theoretical foundations; economic analysis of investment, financing, capital structure, and dividend policy decisions of firms and corporations.
Prerequisites: EC 203.

EC 425 Diverse Economies (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Farklı Ekonomiler) 
Alternative ways of conceptualizing economies and organizing economic processes. Alternative ways of conceptualizing economies: diverse economies framework with special emphasis on household economies, gift economies, sustainable economies, communal economies, cooperative economies and participative economies. Alternative ways of organizing economic processes: controlling markets, extending credit, taming capital and building community and solidarity economies.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 427 Financial Economics I (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Finansal Ekonomi I)
Theory of financial economics: analysis of financial decision making; portfolio theory; asset pricing theory; arbitrage theory and efficient market hypothesis.
Prerequisites: EC 203.

EC 428 Financial Economics II (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Finansal Ekonomi II) 
Theory and applications of the term structure of interest rates, derivatives, futures and options markets, volatility models.
Prerequisites: EC 427, EC 332.

EC 431 Applied Econometrics I (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Uygulamalı Ekonometri I) 
Examination of the problems of micro-econometric model building; testing; preparing and analyzing forecasts; discrete choice models; panel data estimation with micro-econometric data; simultaneous equations.
Prerequisites: EC 331.

EC 432 Applied Econometrics II (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Uygulamalı Ekonometri II) 
Examination of macro-econometric models; estimation, forecasting and simulation; introduction to large sample theory; panel data estimation with macro-econometric data. 
Prerequisite: EC 332.

EC 433 Project Evaluation (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Proje Değerlendirme) 
A critical survey of general investment criteria, Social Marginal Productivity of Capital (SMP), marginal per capita reinvestment surplus and time series criteria; the Little-Mirrlees method of project appraisal: choice of a numeraire and world prices; valuation of traded and non-traded goods, shadow wages and accounting rate of interest. The UNIDO approach to project appraisal: direct present benefits and costs, indirect future benefits and costs, the shadow wage rates, shadow price of investment and social discount rate, project appraisal and income distribution.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 436 Quantitative Methods for Public Policy Evaluation (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6            
(Kamu Politikaları Değerlendirmesinde Nicel Yöntemler)
Causality versus correlation; descriptive analysis; randomized experiment; natural experiments and instrumental variables; regression discontinuity design; propensity score matching and regression; difference in difference.
Prerequisites: EC 331.

EC 438 Experimental Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Deneysel Ekonomi)
A brief history of controlled experiments in economics; methodology of experimental design and hypothesis testing; review and discussion of results from experiments on individual decision making, simultaneous and sequential games, social preferences, trust, reciprocity, public goods and coordination problems. Programming computer-based experiments.
Prerequisite: EC 206.

EC 439 Behavioral Economics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Davranışsal Ekonomi)
Introduction to classical models of decision making; bounded rationality and behavioral biases; behavioral models of choice under uncertainty, intertemporal choice, overconfidence, fairness, reasoning in multi-player games. Using behavioral economics for public policy.
Prerequisite: EC 206.

EC 442 Game Theoretical Models of Political Economy (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6            
(Oyun Kuramı Temelli Ekonomi Politik Modelleri)
Models of voter participation—pivotal voter model, ethical voter model, uncertain voter model; strategic voting; electoral competition—Downsian electoral competition, median-voter equilibria, probabilistic voting; electoral systems; theory of political regimes and transitions.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 447 The Political Economy of the Environment (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6            
(Çevrenin Ekonomi Politiği)
Analysis of environmental and natural resource allocations among competing individuals, groups, and classes; interplay between values and institutions in environmental problem-solving; common pool resources; financialisation of nature and environmental ethics; ecological distribution conflicts; challenges of global environmental governance. Case studies on issues such as fisheries, forest management, biodiversity conservation, climate change.
Prerequisites: EC 101, EC 102.

EC 449 Topics in Banking and Finance (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6            
(Bankacılık ve Finansta Özel Konular)
Functions of banks; asymmetric information in financial markets; bank management, risk management; competition in banking; banking and financial crises; banking regulation, Basel capital accord; lender of last resort; issues in credit and deposit markets.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 205.

EC 454 Turkish Tax System (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Türkiye'de Vergi Sistemi)
Historical development of the Turkish tax system. Structure of the tax system, taxes based on income, taxes based on expenditures, taxes based on wealth and transfer of wealth, elasticity of the tax system and tax burden.
Prerequisites: EC 351, EC 352.

EC 465 Computational Methods in Macroeconomics (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Makroekonomide Hesaplama Yöntemleri)
Selected data sources; introduction to statistical and econometric programming (EViews and STATA); introduction to computation and solution methods (MATLAB); numerical economic modeling and computational applications of life-cycle permanent income hypothesis; real business cycle theory and other general equilibrium models; numerical dynamic programming.
Prerequisites: EC 205.

EC 470 Turkish Economy (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Türkiye Ekonomisi)
The evolution of the structure and institutions of Turkish economy; growth, production, trade and distribution patterns; evolution of economic policy and current economic issues.
Prerequisites: EC 208 and Senior Standing.

EC 471 Growth and Development (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Büyüme ve Kalkınma) 
Concepts and measurement of growth and development; a survey of conventional, non-conventional and critical theories of growth and development; the identification of major problems of economic development and globalisation.
Prerequisites: EC 203, EC 208.

EC 474 Topics in International Development  (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Uluslararası Kalkınmada Özel Konular)
The evolution of the post war international economic order; development strategies and country experiences in a comparative perspective; a survey of leading issues in economic development.
Prerequisite: EC 203, 208.

EC 475 European Union - Turkey Economic Relations (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Avrupa Birliği - Türkiye Ekonomik İlişkileri)
Economic policies of the European Union (trade policy, competition policy, industrial policy, the Common Agricultural Policy, regional policy) and their implications for Turkey; trade and investment relations with the European Union; capital and labor mobility; the impact of the Customs Union. Other economic policy issues.
Prerequisite: EC 205 or POLS 343 or POLS 344.

EC 480-489 Special Topics in Economics (3+2+0) 3 ECTS 6                 
(Ekonomide Özel Konular)

EC 490 Directed Reading and Research (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Yönlendirilmiş Okuma ve Araştırma)
Members of the Economics Department give reading and research assignments to students and supervise the progress of these projects. The circumstances where such projects are warranted are to be determined by the faculty members. The scope and duration of the reading and research projects are to be indicated at the beginning of the semester.