2024-2025 Academic Catalog
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Welcome to Virginia Tech! We are excited that you are here planning your time as a Hokie.
Economics is a social science that studies how people make decisions in order to pursue their goals in the best possible way and how this affects aggregate social outcomes. It studies how individuals, families, groups, markets behave as well as other types of formal and informal institutions and the interactions between them. Economists use mathematical modeling, data techniques and experimental methods to understand the causal underpinnings of behavior. Economic analysis is directed at a wide range of economy-wide problems including inflation and unemployment, monetary policy and interest rates and taxation decisions. Regulatory and antitrust problems, race relations and their history, environmental problems like greenhouse gas emission abatement, education and health policies are key policy questions tackled by economists. Statistical and econometric modeling, forecasting, big data techniques and using experiments for causal inference form an important part of the economist's toolkit. Individual decision-making, what drives cooperative behavior and altruism, managerial decision-making pricing and advertising behaviors of firms, voting and elections, strategic reasoning and several different types of logical paradoxes associated with human behavior fall within the purview of economics. Finally, economics also studies why some nations are richer than others, what drives sustainable development, international trade flows and the causes and consequences of globalization.
The Department of Economics at Virginia Tech not only has strengths in the core of areas of economics like microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics but also in new and emerging areas like Neuroeconomics, Decision Theory, Behavioral Economics and Big Data. Students can choose a variety of courses on topics like Development Economics, Health Economics, Economics of Gender and Race, Economic History of Race Relations, Game Theory, Economics of China and the Middle East, and the Application of R and Python to economics issues. Students opt for the regular degree in Economics or pursue a degree in Economics with the Business option. The Department strongly believes in providing all majors and minors individualized attention.
Specialization in economics prepares a person for a wide variety of careers that emphasize the methods and consequences of analytical decision-making in business and government and a broad understanding of the operation of the economy. Research shows that students with economics training perform better in cognitive tests. Economics prepares students for a variety of private sector jobs that require analytical skills including positions in consulting, marketing, data analytics, business analytics and finance. They are routinely employed in the federal, state, and local governments as well as in the non-profit sector and international organizations. Undergraduate education in economics also provides an excellent background for further study in law, political science, urban planning, and business administration.
Science majors can declare a Business option which is designed to provide students an opportunity to explore introductory courses in traditional business subjects. It should be noted that this option is not a degree in the College of Business.
This option is tailored toward students interested in careers in data science and consulting. This option provides students an opportunity to complete advanced courses in Math, Statistics, and Computer Science.
This option is tailored toward students who are interested in careers in policy, non-profits, government agencies, and professional graduate degrees in law and public policy. This option provides students an opportunity to complete additional courses in Political Science, Urban Affairs and Planning, Philosophy, and Natural Resources.
The requirements to earn a minor in economics can be found on its checksheet by visiting the University Registrar website at http://registrar.vt.edu/graduation-multi-brief/index1.html.
The department offers a 5-year combined bachelor's and master's degree for students with a GPA of at least 3.5. See the undergraduate advisor for details.
The department also offers an honors degree. See the undergraduate advisor for details.
University policy requires that students who are making satisfactory progress toward a degree meet minimum criteria toward the General Education (Curriculum for Liberal Education) (see "Academics") and toward the degree.
Chair: Sudipta Sarangi
Professors: R. Ashley, S. Ball, N. Bose, S. Ge, H. Haller, D. Salehi-Isfahani, S. Sarangi, A. Spanos, and T. N. Tideman
Associate Professors: E. Bahel, R. Cothren, A. Dominiak, X. Lin, A. Smith, K. Tsang, and J. Wooten
Assistant Professors: S. Barrera, A. Habibnia, M. Kovach, S. Luo, M. Miller, P. Tantihkarnchana, and B. Zhou
Professor Emeritus: A. Kats
Instructors: G. Gebremariam, M. Liu, and Z. Yang
Undergraduate Advising/Career Advisor: E. Perdue (231-7726)
The course focuses on supporting first-year students and first-semester transfer students to build relationships with faculty, upper class mentors, and each other to prepare them to enter a more significantly diverse and interdisciplinary dependent community. The course also focuses on building skills for students to create personal, academic, and career goals. The course also focuses on resume building opportunities for internships, research experiences, and graduate school.
Economic approach to the causes and consequences of male/female gender differences in economic outcomes. Tools in microeconomic analysis and empirical work. Woman, family choices and labor markets. Gender gap in earnings. Employment and wage policies related to women.
Causes and consequences of racial disparities in economic outcomes including education, health, housing, entrepreneurship, and earnings. Tools in microeconomics and statistics as applied to the study of racial issues. Historical and institutional contexts of racial problems. Change in racial gaps across generations. Impact of public policies to address racial discrimination in labor markets. Does not count toward ECON major.
Economic analysis of topics concerning diversity and inclusion. Emphasis on Virginia and surrounding states. Introduction to the basic principles of economic analysis and economic history, with a special emphasis on models of institutional change, economic growth, discrimination, inequality, migration, and indigenous economic systems. Impact of institutions, environment, and technological change on labor markets, asset markets, and standard of living. Consideration of the role of data in understanding diversity and related ethical issues.
2005: Introduction to microeconomics. The economic approach to decision-making. Model of supply and demand. Elasticities. Consumer behavior. Firm behavior under varying industry structures. Sources and consequences of market failure. Costs and benefits of international trade. The role of government in the economy. Economic, ethical, and social ramifications of issues such as pollution, missing information, and income inequality. 2006: Introduction to macroeconomics. The measurement of economic activity. Macroeconomic problems (such as unemployment and inflation). The monetary system. Effects and limitations of monetary and fiscal policies. International economics. Social and ethical issues related to macroeconomic policy.
2005: Introduction to microeconomics. The economic approach to decision-making. Model of supply and demand. Elasticities. Consumer behavior. Firm behavior under varying industry structures. Sources and consequences of market failure. Costs and benefits of international trade. The role of government in the economy. Economic, ethical, and social ramifications of issues such as pollution, missing information, and income inequality. 2006: Introduction to macroeconomics. The measurement of economic activity. Macroeconomic problems (such as unemployment and inflation). The monetary system. Effects and limitations of monetary and fiscal policies. International economics. Social and ethical issues related to macroeconomic policy.
2025H: Microeconomics. Consumer behavior and demand, firm behavior and supply, price determination and market equilibrium under varying industry structure. Applications to labor and financial markets. 2026H: Macroeconomics. Measuring aggregate economic activity, macroeconomic problems (such as unemployment and inflation), the monetary system, effects and limitations of monetary and fiscal policies.
2025H: Microeconomics. Consumer behavior and demand, firm behavior and supply, price determination and market equilibrium under varying industry structure. Applications to labor and financial markets. 2026H: Macroeconomics. Measuring aggregate economics activity, macroeconomic problems (such as unemployment and inflation), the monetary systems, effects and limitations of monetary and fiscal policies.
Honors section.
The economic analysis of current issues and problems. This course may be repeated with different topic.
This course explores how different assumptions regarding the basis of claims for access to economic resources lead to different outcomes. Students will explore a variety of theories and examine their own beliefs about economic justice.
Poverty and inequality in the United States and around the world. Sources of poverty. Antipoverty policies. Definition, empirical evidence, and causes of discrimination. Emphasis on ethical human behavior and policy analysis.
Provides an introduction to data-driven forecasting, with applications in economics and in other disciplines - e.g., political science and climatology. Specification, estimation, and validation of time-series regression models; ethical issues arising in model specification and estimation. Forecasting theory and evaluation.
Theories of demand, production, perfectly and imperfectly competitive price determination, and general market equilibrium. Analytic applications.
Theories of rational choice, utility, and revealed preference. Intertemporal decision problems and choice under uncertainty with applications to insurance and investments. Behavioral regularities and evidence of violations of rational choice theory. Behavioral models that accommodate this behavior. Applications of behavioral models to economic problems, ethical questions, policy, and organization design. Pre: Sophomore standing.
Economics of regulation with a focus on U.S. laws and institutions. Market structures, mergers, antitrust laws, and anticompetitive behavior, including collusion and monopolization. Economic regulation of price, entry, and output. Incentive regulation and alternatives to regulation. Valuing life and other nonmonetary benefits. Regulation of health, safety, and the environment.
Applications of economic concepts and models to practical issues. Demand analysis, the law of demand, and different approaches to analyzing consumer behavior (elasticity, consumer surplus, and utility theory). Supply analysis, producer behavior, and theories of firms (diminishing returns, price takers and price searchers). Pricing strategies including segmentation, two-part tariffs, collusion, and predatory pricing. Market imperfections and extensions including signaling, adverse selection, network externalities, and the economics of time. Empirical analysis: formulating economic questions, finding and analyzing relevant data, and presenting findings to non-specialists.
Theories of the determination of the level of aggregate economy-wide activity. Employment, the price level, aggregate national income, and the interest rate. The roles of money and expectations.
Money and credit. The U.S. monetary system. Monetary theory, monetary policy and economic stabilization.
Sources of economic data. Application of spreadsheet and/or statistical software to analysis of economic relationships using graphical and regression techniques. Emphasis is on economic applications rather than statistical theory.
Introduction to the economies of the Middle East and North Africa. Application of economic analysis to economic history and modern economic growth of the region. Historical role of a strong state and Islam in shaping the institutions of private property in Middle Eastern societies. The market for oil and the integration of the region into the global economy. The modern economy of the Middle East with focus on human capital development, inequality, and the role of women.
Topics-based course in philosophy, politics, and economics (PPE). Discussion of important topics and thinkers in PPE with historical and practical relevance. Focus on interdisciplinary analysis and methods. Topics include: limits of markets; well-being theory, science, and policy; socioeconomic justice; economic and political institutions; and global poverty. May be repeated 1 time with different content for a maximum of six credits hours. Pre: 3 credit hours in PPE, PHIL, PSCI, or ECON.
Microeconomics, macroeconomics and economic policies of the European Union. EU economic law, institutions, decision-making, and budgeting. Historic and current influences on regional economic development. Monetary and fiscal policies. Economic research methods, analysis, and reporting.
Economic dimensions and aspects of programs designed to impose quality controls upon the environment. Special emphasis on problems of controlling air and water pollution.
Economic rationale of the public sector. Proper size and functions of government. Market failure, Cost-benefit analysis, public goods provision. Pricing of public enterprise services.
The structure and incidence of taxation in the U.S. Effects of taxes on incentives and economic efficiency. Tax Policy.
Human capital theory, labor supply and demand, discrimination, effects of labor unions and collective bargaining, wage differentials, income distribution.
The structure and performance of American industry. Dimensions and measures of market structure. Factors affecting market structure. The relationship between structure and performance. Purpose and effects of antitrust policy, regulation, and other public policies toward industry.
Theories of economic growth. Policies to foster growth, and their consequences.
4135 International Trade: Factor mobility and commercial policy (tariffs, quotas, export licensing). 4136 International Finance: Liquidity, exchange rates, comparative international living standards, foreign aid.
4135 International Trade: Factor mobility and commercial policy (tariffs, quotas, export licensing). 4136 International Finance: Liquidity, exchange rates, comparative international living standards, foreign aid.
Evolution of the Chinese economy since 1949. Exposition of alternative economic systems, the commune, incentive problems, and state owned enterprises. Analysis of recent reforms and their effects on economic efficiency; and key issues of economic transition related to Russia and other East European countries.
Effects of medical care on health; cost and production of medical care; demand for medical care and its financing; structure of the health care industry; reorganization for efficiency.
An introduction to econometric modeling techniques, including regression methods. Particular emphasis on the special problems posed by economic data.
Applied econometrics dealing with big data. Theoretical, computational, and statistical underpinnings of big data analysis. The use of econometric models and deep machine learning algorithms to analyze the high-dimensional data sets. Implications in research focusing on economic questions that arise from rapid changes in data availability and computational technology. Materials are hands-on tutorials that come with Python codes and real-world data sets.
Economic theories of organization, with specific attention to their internal structure, and to design of incentive systems. Application to mergers, to the relationship between stockholders and managers, etc. Students with one year of economics, calculus and major in some other social science, by permission of the instructor.
Introduction to games and solution concepts, such as prisoners dilemma, noncooperative equilibrium and Nashs bargaining solution. These concepts are applied in analyzing economic problems including bargaining problems, oligopoly and agency.
This is a course in the use of laboratory methods to study behavior in economics and the social sciences. Students will study state-of-the-art methodology in experimental economics, including experimental design, laboratory technique, financial incentives, and analysis of data. Students will participate in, design, and conduct experiments in bargaining, auctions, asset markets, public goods and commons situations, and risky decision-making.
Neural processes related to reward, learning, reflection, delay of gratification, and social interaction. Clinical uses of neuroeconomics research techniques. Implications of neuroeconomics in economics, policy, law and business.
Analysis of economic data with focus on understanding of decision-making in financial markets. Behavior of and optimal outcomes for individuals (consumption, savings, and investment), financial institutions (lending, borrowing, and risk management), regulators, and policy makers. Statistical tools and inference using recent data sets.
Using R to combine economic theory and data. Focus on general R programming fundamentals related to data science techniques and economic data (gathering, standardizing and cleaning, analysis, and visualization). Hands-on experience with a variety of data, data sources, and techniques within R. Flaws and limitations of data. Direct application with individual project combining economic theory and data using R.
Qualified students are placed in an industry or government position under the combined supervision of a faculty member and a responsible supervisor in the employing agency. Satisfactory evaluation from employer, detailed reports on the internship experience and a specific project will be required of each intern. Pre: Junior standing, QCA of 2.50 or better and consent.
Senior-level capstone course to apply theories and models from behavioral decision science to real world problems on topics from education, organizations, health, crime, environment, and volunteerism. Utilize behavioral science theories, data and analytical frameworks from research papers to define and analyze problems or unintended consequences resulting from individual decision-making. Emphasis on identifying specific problems, formulating behavioral policies or interventions to improve performance, and designing experiments and randomized controlled trials to test their effectiveness.
Analysis of the economic effects of legal rules, with emphasis on the law of property, contract, liability, and land use.
Honors section.
Honors section.
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