NOTE: This information is for students who began this major before Fall 2022.

In addition to meeting with your advisor throughout your time at Tippie, you'll also use the course planning worksheet—it will help you know what courses you need to take for your major, as well as help you plan when you'll take them. Plan your course schedule with the worksheet and read about the courses you'll be taking below.

Course planning worksheet - Pre-Fall 2022 (pdf)

Common required courses

Intermediate Microeconomics (ECON:3100)
Economic theory of the behavior of consumers, producers, and other economic agents; role of markets in coordinating economic activity; effects of government policies on market outcomes; conditions that markets require for efficient allocation of resources; market imperfections; strategic behavior of economic actors. Prerequisites: ECON:1100 and (MATH:1380 or MATH:1460 or MATH:1550 or MATH:1850 or MATH:1860). (3 s.h.)

Intermediate Macroeconomics (ECON:3150)
Measurement of macroeconomic indicators; economic growth and business cycles; use of macroeconomic models to study the role of government fiscal and monetary policies. Prerequisites: ECON:1200 and (MATH:1380 or MATH:1460 or MATH:1550 or MATH:1850 or MATH:1860). (3 s.h.)

Business track courses

Introduction to Econometrics (ECON:3300)
Statistical tools used in economic analysis; regression models; estimation and hypothesis testing; causal effects; application to economic data and questions; use of statistical software. Prerequisites: STAT:1030 and (MATH:1380 or MATH:1460 or MATH:1550 or MATH:1850 or MATH:1860). (3 s.h.)

Personnel Economics (ECON:3325)
Microeconomic analysis of labor markets with special emphasis on strategic personnel choices of the firm; labor supply decisions made by workers; labor demand decisions made by firms; labor market equilibrium; returns to education; hiring, job design, evaluation, and compensation. Prerequisite: ECON:1100. (3 s.h.)

Money, Banking, and Financial Markets (ECON:3335)
Role of money and financial institutions in determining domestic and international income, employment, and prices. Prerequisites: ECON:1100 and ECON:1200. (3 s.h.)

Global Economics and Business (ECON:3345)
Modern theories of international trade and investment; impact of tariffs and other restrictions on international trade; effects of export and production subsidies; free trade agreements; exchange rates and foreign exchange markets; international monetary arrangements; balance of payments; international economic policy. Prerequisites: ECON:1100 and ECON:1200. (3 s.h.)

Industry Analysis (ECON:3350)
Structural evolution; imperfect competition; resource allocation; development of public policy on monopoly; selected industries. Prerequisites: ECON:1100. (3 s.h.)

Economic and Business Forecasting (ECON:3355)
Development and utilization of forecasts of business and economic variables; application of modern statistical methods and software to quantitative forecasting problems. Prerequisites: ECON:1100 and ECON:1200 and (ECON:3300 or ECON:4800 or MSCI:2800 or STAT:3200). (3 s.h.)

Household Finance (ECON:3370)
Application of micro- and macroeconomic theory to economic decisions of families and households; practical and theoretical issues in income generation, spending and saving decisions, risk management, and asset allocation. Prerequisites: ECON:1100 and ECON:1200. (3 s.h.)

Business and Government (ECON:3380)
Examination of relationship between government, private sector, and citizenry; legal, regulatory, market, and civic context in which private sector functions; how business owners and entrepreneurs have shaped political and economic outcomes in the United States; central theme of exploring and understanding the nature of government policy, how policy affects businesses, and how policy affects societal welfare. Prerequisite: ECON:1100. (3 s.h.)

Policy track courses

Global Economics and Business (ECON:3345)
Modern theories of international trade and investment; impact of tariffs and other restrictions on international trade; effects of export and production subsidies; free trade agreements; exchange rates and foreign exchange markets; international monetary arrangements; balance of payments; international economic policy. Prerequisites: ECON:1100 and ECON:1200. (3 s.h.)

Economic Growth and Development (ECON:3620)
Determinants of rising living standards; accumulation of physical and human capital; predictions of economic growth models compared to observed changes in living standards. Prerequisites: ECON:1100 and ECON:1200. (3 s.h.)

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (ECON:3625)
Environmental and resource use problems; efficient mechanisms and other policies for environmental protection, management of common property resources. Prerequisite: ECON:1100. Same as URP:3135. (3 s.h.)

Regional and Urban Economics (ECON:3640)
Theory of location and regional development; central place theory; why cities exist and trade with one another; models of land-use patterns, rents; empirical tests of models; policy applications. Prerequisite: ECON:1100. Same as URP:3134. (3 s.h.)

Policy Analysis (ECON:3650)
Economic functions of government in modern economies; effects of government expenditures and taxation on allocation of resources. Prerequisites: ECON:1100. (3 s.h.)

Sports Economics (ECON:3690)
Theory and literature of economic issues in professional sports; issues such as relative advantages of large- and small-market teams, city subsidies for baseball and football stadiums, star players' true value to their teams; ideas from introductory economics (such as demand and cost curves) combined with additional economic theory, statistical evidence, and information about particular sports. Prerequisite: ECON:1100. (3 s.h.)

Transportation Economics (ECON:3750)
Overview of transportation markets—intercity, rural, urban; transportation modes—rail, highway, air, water, pipeline, transit; issues in finance, policy, planning, management, physical distribution, and environmental, economic, and safety regulation. Recommendations: ECON:1100 and ECON:1200. Same as GEOG:3940, URP:3350. (3 s.h.)

Health Economics (ECON:3760)
Externalities and health behaviors; government influence on health behaviors; overview of health insurance and health insurance markets; health care costs; public health insurance; health insurance reforms. Prerequisites: ECON:1100. (3 s.h.)

Urban Transportation (ECON:3770)
Transportation in the urban market; urban transport modes, technologies, costs, pricing, and ways to develop and analyze urban policy in order to promote city livability and sustainability; development of urban transportation and transport operations in the U.S. and worldwide; urban transport policies, plans, and policy development processes; major urban transportation issues, investigation of possible means of attacking urban transportation issues. Prerequisites: ECON:1100. Same as URP:3360. (3 s.h.)

Law and Economics (ECON:3800)
Law examined through analytic tools of microeconomics; impact of legal rules on resource allocation, risk bearing, distribution of economic well-being. Prerequisite: ECON:1100. (3 s.h.)

Behavioral Economics (ECON:3850)
Behavioral economics is a relatively new field that applies insights gleaned from psychology to economics; standard economic theory assumes people are all homo economicus: we know exactly how to maximize our own utility, and we do it well; behavioral economists seek to improve microeconomic theory with more realistic assumptions about human behavior. Prerequisites: ECON:1100. (3 s.h.)

Topics in Policy Economics (ECON:3875)
Topics vary. Prerequisites: ECON:1100 and ECON:1200. (3 s.h.)

Analytical track courses

Behavioral Economics (ECON:3850)
Behavioral economics is a relatively new field that applies insights gleaned from psychology to economics; standard economic theory assumes people are all homo economicus: we know exactly how to maximize our own utility, and we do it well; behavioral economists seek to improve microeconomic theory with more realistic assumptions about human behavior. Prerequisites: ECON:1100. (3 s.h.)

Natural Resource Economics (ECON:4090)
Economics of natural resources; interaction between economic theory, empirical evidence, and public policy; land, water, fish, trees, minerals; externalities. Prerequisite: ECON:3100. (3 s.h.)

International Economics (ECON:4110)
Neoclassical model of international trade; imperfect competition and international trade and investment; role of trade barriers; regional trade agreements and the World Trade Organization. Prerequisites: ECON:3100 and ECON:3150. (3 s.h.)

Labor Economics (ECON:4140)
Labor supply and demand; investments in human capital; compensating wage differentials; discrimination; long-term contracts; occupational choice; family decisions; unions; immigration. Prerequisite: ECON:3100. (3 s.h.)

Public Sector Economics (ECON:4160)
Economic functions of government; social welfare programs; income distribution; policies that address market failures; budgetary processes; effects of government expenditures; taxation. Prerequisites: ECON:3100 and ECON:3150. (3 s.h.)

Monetary Economics (ECON:4170)
Demand for and supply of money; money's role in economy; empirical studies of money's impact; problems with monetary control. Prerequisites: ECON:3100 and ECON:3150. (3 s.h.)

Industrial Organization (ECON:4180)
Market structure; effects of business practices, informational problems on market structure; appraisal of antitrust policies, government regulation of business. Prerequisite: ECON:3100. (3 s.h.)

Mathematical Economics (ECON:4190)
Mathematical structure of economic principles, problems, systems; may include constrained optimization, choice under uncertainty, general equilibrium and welfare economics, dynamical systems and control theory, game theory. Prerequisites: ECON:3100 and ECON:3150. (3 s.h.)

Game Theory (ECON:4200)
Basic concepts of game theory including dominance, backward induction, Nash equilibrium, evolutionary stability, commitment, credibility, asymmetric information, adverse selection, signaling; provides students with a working understanding of game theory; examples drawn from economics and politics. Prerequisites: ECON:3100 and ECON:3150. (3 s.h.)

Topics in Analytical Economics (ECON:4700)
Topics vary. Prerequisites: ECON:3150 and ECON:3100. (3 s.h.)