Mar 29, 2024  
Undergraduate Record 2009-2010 
    
Undergraduate Record 2009-2010 [ARCHIVED RECORD]

Economics


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The Major in Economics


Prerequisites to Declaring the Major

1.   Complete at least two graded economics courses at the University.

2.   Achieve an economics GPA of at least 2.3 for all economics courses completed.

Although the economics GPA is ordinarily nothing more than an hour-weighed average of grades received in courses taken at the University of Virginia that have the ECON prefix, there are a few matters that require clarification.

a.  Grades received in courses taken outside the University’s Economics Department, such as transfer courses or direct credit courses offered through study abroad programs, are not included in the economics GPA.

b.  If a student is granted economics elective credit for a course taken in another school or department at the University of Virginia, the grade received in that course is not included in the student’s economics GPA.

c.  HIUS 2061 is cross-listed as ECON 2060 and is, in fact, the same course as ECON 2060. A grade in HIUS 2061, therefore, would be included in the economics GPA.

d.  If a student fails a course and then retakes it, both grades – the failing grade and the grade received on the retake – enter into the computation of the economics GPA. If a student has taken and passed a course, grades received on any subsequent retake(s) are not included in the student’s economics GPA.

e.  If a student completes more than the minimum number of economics elective courses for the degree, the economics GPA will be computed using the elective courses with the highest grades that simultaneously satisfy all degree and concentration requirements. The extra courses the student has completed will not be included in the economics GPA.

f.    If a student takes an economics course that the University considers equivalent to a transfer course or a course in another department for which the student has already received credit, that course does not count in the student’s UVa GPA. It also does not count in the student’s economics GPA, although the grade maybe used to meet other Economics Department declaration prerequisites.

3.   Microeconomics. Complete one of the following courses—ECON 2010, ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110)—with a minimum grade of C+.

a.   Students who have AP or transfer credit for ECON 3010 at the time that they matriculate at the University are exempt from this prerequisite.

b.   Students who matriculate at the University of Virginia with AP or transfer credit for ECON 2010 and complete ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) may not subsequently meet this requirement by taking ECON 2010. Students in this situation who fail to satisfy this prerequisite on their first attempt are permitted to retake ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) once. Those who fail to get a grade of at least C+ in two attempts are not eligible to declare an economics major.

c.   Students who entered with AP credit for ECON 2010 and satisfied the prerequisite by taking ECON 2010 at the University before Fall 2009 are exempt from the provisions of 3(b).

d.   Students who take ECON 2010 at the University of Virginia and fail to satisfy this prerequisite may not retake ECON 2010 to meet it.

e.   Students who take both ECON 2010 and ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) at the University of Virginia and still fail to satisfy this prerequisite may not retake courses to meet it; they are not eligible to declare an economics major.

4.   Calculus. Complete one of the following courses—APMA 1110, MATH 1220, or MATH 1320—with a minimum grade of C+.

a.  Students who twice fail to obtain a grade of at least C+ in these courses, whether in the same or different courses, are ineligible to declare the economics major. Students considering the concentration in financial economics or graduate work in economics are encouraged to take MATH 1310 and MATH 1320 (or APMA 1110 and APMA 2120) instead of MATH 1210 and MATH 1220.

b.  Students who matriculate at the University with AP or transfer credit for one of these courses are exempt from this requirement.

c.  Students who entered the University prior to Fall 2006 may use MATH 1210, MATH 1310, or APMA 1090 to satisfy the calculus prerequisite, provided they obtain a grade of C or above.

d.  Students who took APMA 1110, MATH 1220, or MATH 1320 before Fall 2009 and obtained a C or above are exempt from this requirement.

5.   Statistics. Complete one of the following courses—ECON 3710, STAT 2120, MATH 3120, STAT 3120, APMA 3110, or APMA 3120—with a minimum grade of C+.

a.   Students who twice fail to obtain a grade of at least C+ in the statistics courses listed above, whether in the same or different courses, are ineligible to declare the economics major.

b.   Students who matriculate at the University with transfer credit for one of the preceding courses or a grade of 5 on the AP test in Statistics are exempt from this prerequisite.

c.   Students who completed ECON 3720 or ECON 4720 before Fall 2008 with a grade of C or higher are exempt from this prerequisite.

d.   Students who completed   ECON 3710, STAT 2120, MATH 3120, STAT 3120, APMA 3110, or APMA 3120 before Fall 2009 and obtained a C or above are exempt from this requirement.

 

Important Policies for Declaring the Major

1.   Effective February 1, 2010, students cannot declare an economics major after having completed their sixth semester unless they have already completed ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) and ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720).

2.   No transfer course taken after matriculation at the University may be used to satisfy any of the five prerequisites for declaring the major, with one exception. If a student has post-matriculation transfer credit for the statistics prerequisite, he or she may meet the statistics prerequisite by taking ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720) and obtaining a grade of C+ or above.

3.   Transfer students must meet all prerequisites. They cannot automatically enroll in the major. Third-year transfer students considering the economics major are strongly advised to contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies before selecting courses.

Students with questions about prerequisites for declaring the economics major should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

 

Declaring the Major

1.  A student can view his or her transcript to verify completion of prerequisites.

2.  Students pick up a Declaration of Major form from Monroe Hall, and fill in the courses completed or in progress.

3.  Students should submit the declaration form and a current Academic Requirements form to the Undergraduate Secretary at the Economics Department. The secretary will confirm completion of the prerequisites and make a faculty advisor assignment.

4.  Students should meet with their advisor to make preliminary decisions about the economics electives that will be taken to complete the major and get his or her signature on the declaration form.

5.  Students must return the yellow copy to the secretary and take the original (white) copy to Monroe Hall (or their school of enrollment, if not Arts and Sciences), where it is entered into their student record.

 

Requirements that Must be Completed to Graduate with a Major in Economics

1.   Required Courses

Complete five required courses—ECON 2010, ECON 2020, ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110), ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720), and ECON 3020.

a.   Students entering the University with ECON 3010 or 3020 on their transcript are exempt from ECON 2010 or 2020, respectively.

b.   Students who declare an economics major before February 1, 2010 are exempt from the ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720) requirement.

c.  ECON 2010, ECON 2020, ECON 3010 (or 3110), and ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720) must be completed by the end of the sixth semester. Majors who fail to do so will be dropped from the major. [Students who declare an economics major before February 1, 2010 are exempt from the ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720) portion of this requirement.]

2.   Elective Courses

Students who declare an economics major on or after February 1, 2010 must earn 12 hours of elective credit in economics courses, at least nine hours of which must be in courses numbered above 2999, and at least six hours in courses above 3999. Students who declare an economics major before February 1, 2010 must complete a total of 15 hours of elective credit, at least 12 hours of which must be in courses numbered above 2999, and at least six hours in courses above 3999. (Note: ECON 3710 does not count as an elective course.)

3.  GPA

a. Students who finish their sixth semester with an economics GPA below 2.0 will be dropped from the major.

b. Students must achieve at least a 2.0 economics GPA in order to graduate.

4.   Degree Audit

Students expecting to receive their diploma in May must complete a degree audit of their economics major, preferably by the end of November, but under no circumstances later than the first Friday in February. Students whose final semester is in the fall, and who expect a January graduation, must complete a degree audit by September 30, or the preceding Friday if this falls on a weekend. Information is sent to the student from Monroe Hall or the student’s school. The same deadlines apply to students wishing to declare economics as a second major. Students with questions about their status as an economics major should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Note: No course taken credit/no credit may be used to satisfy major, minor, or concentration requirements.

Transfer Credit Policies for Economics Majors

1.   No course taken outside the University after matriculation may be counted towards the major in place of ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110), ECON 3020, or ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720). This limitation includes direct credit courses, such as Semester at Sea courses, as well as courses for which transfer credit is awarded.

2.   At most, six hours of elective course credits may be in courses taken outside of the University of Virginia’s Economics Department. This limitation includes direct credit courses, such as Semester at Sea courses, as well as courses for which transfer credit is awarded. Direct credit courses will only be accepted for elective credit towards the major when a student receives a grade of C or above.

3.   To receive transfer credit, all courses taken outside the University after matriculation (with the exception of direct credit courses) must be approved in advance by the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The approval process is described at http://www.virginia.edu/economics/Transfer.htm

4.   More information about transfer credit policies and study abroad is available at: http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/college/newtransfer/guide/policies.html#a3 and http://artsandsciences.virginia.edu/college/programs/study_abroad.html.

5.   Occasionally, a course offered outside the College of Arts and Sciences covers material similar to that offered by a course in the Economics Department. At the time these rules were drafted, there were two such courses: COMM 3720 (Corporate Finance) and SYS 4044 (Economics of Engineering Systems). The first course is similar to ECON 4350 (Corporate Finance) and the second is similar to ECON 4190 (Industrial Organization). The Economics Department  policy is to offer economics elective credit for such courses as if they were transfer courses, with the following qualifications.

a.   Only students in the Commerce school may count Commerce school courses as electives  towards an economics major, and then only in cases such as COMM 3720, where a Commerce school course mimics the content of an existing economics elective. Only students in the Engineering school may count Engineering school courses as electives towards an economics major, and then only in cases such as SYS 4044, where the Engineering school course mimics the content of an existing economics elective.

b.   Like other transfer credits, no elective credit towards the major will be awarded unless the student achieves at least a C. Such courses count towards the maximum six hours of elective transfer credits allowed by the department. Also, the level of transfer credit is set by the Economics Department based on, among other things, the prerequisites of the class. Both COMM 3720 and SYS 4044, for example, require only ECON 2010 as a prerequisite, so they are credited as 3000-level electives in the Economics Department.

c.  Students may not receive Economics Department elective credit for both the SYS/COMM version of a course and its analogue in the Economics Department.

 

Requirements for Minor


Prerequisites that Must be Completed Before Declaring the Minor

  1. Effective February 1, 2010, you must have an economics GPA in all economics courses taken of at least 2.3 to declare the minor. Students declaring an economics minor before February 1, 2010 must have an economics GPA of at least 2.0. See the prerequisites section under “The Major in Economics” for details on computing the economics GPA.
  2. Microeconomics. Complete both ECON 2010 and ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110). At least one of the two must be completed with a minimum grade of C+.
  • Students who matriculate at the University of Virginia with AP or transfer credit for ECON 2010 and complete ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) may not subsequently meet this requirement by taking ECON 2010. Students in this situation who fail to satisfy this prerequisite on their first attempt are permitted to retake ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) once. Those who fail to get a grade of at least C+ in two attempts are not eligible to declare an economics minor.
  • Students who take ECON 2010 at the University of Virginia and fail to satisfy this prerequisite may not retake ECON 2010 to meet it.
  • Students who take both ECON 2010 and ECON 3010 (or ECON 3110) at the University of Virginia and still fail to satisfy this prerequisite may not retake courses to meet it; they are not eligible to declare an economics minor.
  • Students who declare an economics minor before February 1, 2010 are exempt from the C+ minimum grade requirement.
  • ECON 2010 and ECON 2020 are the only courses for the minor that may be taken outside the University after matriculation.
  • Students who have AP or transfer credit for ECON 3010 at the time that they matriculate at the University are exempt from this prerequisite.

3.  Macroeconomics. Complete ECON 202.

4.   Calculus. Complete one of the following courses—APMA 1090, MATH 1210, or MATH 1310—with a minimum grade of C+.

  • Students who twice fail to obtain a grade of at least C+ in these courses, whether in the same or different courses, are ineligible to declare the economics minor.
  • Students who matriculate at the University with AP or transfer credit for one of these courses are exempt from this requirement.
  • Students who complete one of the following courses—APMA 1090, MATH 1210, or MATH 1310—before Fall 2009 need only to have achieved a passing grade.

5.   Statistics. Complete one of the following courses—ECON 3710, STAT 2120, MATH 3120, STAT 3120, APMA 3110, or APMA 3120—with a minimum grade of C+.

  • Students who twice fail to obtain a grade of at least C+ in the statistics courses listed above, whether in the same or different courses, are ineligible to declare the economics minor.
  • Students who matriculate at the University with transfer credit for one of the preceding courses or a grade of 5 on the AP test in Statistics are exempt from this prerequisite.
  • Students who complete one of the following courses—ECON 3710, STAT 2120, MATH 3120, STAT 3120, APMA 3110, or APMA 3120—before Fall 2009 need only to have achieved a passing grade.

How to Declare the Minor

College rules require that the minor be declared by the end of the add period in the semester before graduation, ordinarily the seventh semester. Under some circumstances this deadline may be extended until early in the semester in which you intend to graduate.

1.   Review your transcript to make sure you have completed all the prerequisites.

2.   Bring your current Academic Requirements form to the Undergraduate Secretary at the Economics Department.

3.   Pick up a Declaring the Economics Minor form at the Economics office and fill in the top portion.

4.   The secretary checks your Academic Requirements, fills in the courses you have taken to confirm your prerequisites are complete, signs the form, and makes a copy. (Economics minors are not assigned faculty advisors.)

5.   The student takes the original form to Monroe Hall (or your school of enrollment, if not Arts and Sciences), where it is entered into your student record.

Requirements that Must be Completed to Receive a Minor

1.   Required Courses

The student must complete all the prerequisite courses for declaring a minor.

2.   Elective Courses

The student must complete an additional nine credits of ECON electives.

  • Of the economics elective credits used to calculate the economics GPA, at least six must be earned in courses numbered above 2999.
  • The nine elective credits in economics must be earned at the University and taken for a grade.

3.   GPA

The student must have a cumulative economics GPA of at least 2.0 to graduate with the minor. See the prerequisites section under “The Major in Economics” for details on computing the economics GPA.

3.   Degree Audit

Students expecting to receive their diploma in May must complete a degree audit of their economics minor, preferably by the end of November, but under no circumstances later than the first Friday in February. Students whose final semester is in the fall, and who expect a January graduation, must complete a degree audit by September 30, or the preceding Friday if this falls on a weekend. Information is sent to the student from Monroe Hall or the student’s school. Students with questions about their status as an economics minor should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Concentrations in Economics


Concentrations are optional, but economics majors whose interests are heavily focused on one of the following areas may want to declare a concentration. Concentrations involve additional requirements beyond the major requirements.

For students who expect to graduate in May, the deadline for declaring a concentration is the first Friday in February in the student’s final semester. If the student’s final semester is in the fall, and a January graduation is expected, the deadline for declaring a concentration is September 30, or the preceding Friday if this falls on a weekend.

The Economics Department offers three concentrations: Financial Economics, International Economics, and Public Policy.

Concentration in Financial Economics


Goals

The concentration aims to provide an academic grounding in financial markets and financial decision making – to teach you how economic theory and econometric methods can be combined to analyze economic phenomena in general and in particular the core issues in financial decision-making. The finance concentration is the most technically challenging of the departments concentrations. It requires a high level of mathematical and econometric knowledge. Students should be very comfortable applying the tools of calculus to applied problems. Students are also expected to be comfortable with computer programming.

 

Structure

The concentration is composed of two parts. Students first take a core set of economics courses as well as COMM 201 (financial accounting). These courses provide a broad background in financial economics. These courses have long been offered in the economics department and are taught at a level accessible to all economics majors.

 

The second part is the preparation for and completion of the capstone course, ECON 4360: Empirical Finance. The pre-requisite for this course is ECON 4720: Introduction to Econometrics. ECON 4720 is needed because ECON 4360 will rely heavily on econometric tools. Half of ECON 4360 will teach students the theoretical basis of the stochastic discount factor (SDF) methodology for pricing assets. The second part of the class will teach students how to use the General Method of Moments (GMM) econometric framework for estimating and testing the validity of a variety of SDF models.

 

Who should take the Finance Concentration?

The concentration should be of interest to a variety of students. Those who plan to go on to Ph.D. level work in either economics or finance, or masters level work at quantitative finance MBA programs, will benefit from the advanced financial theory and econometric tools we learn and apply. Those who do not have plans for further post graduate study, but who are intellectually curious about finance, will find their curiosity sated. Students heading for quantitative Wall Street jobs will benefit from studying the formal modeling and econometric methods.

 

Notes on Coursework

Completing the concentration requires that one plan in advance. Because COMM 2010 is generally taken by pre-Commerce students, first and second year students are given priority in registering for the class. You may find it impossible to register for COMM 2010 if you wait until your third year to take it. ECON 4720 must be completed before starting ECON 4360. Since ECON 4360 is typically offered in the fall semester only, ECON 4720 must be completed in the 3rd year or earlier. While linear algebra is not required for the concentration, concepts of linear algebra appear (and are taught) in the context of ECON 4720 and ECON 4360. Students may benefit from taking MATH 3351 beforehand, though this is not required.

 

Prerequisites for Declaring the Concentration

1.     Students entering the University in or after Fall 2009 must complete one course from the following list: ECON 3710, ECON 3720, STAT 3120, STAT 3220, APMA 3110, or APMA 3120. Students who entered the University before Fall 2009 may also meet this requirement by completing STAT 2120.

2.     Complete ECON 4720 (Introduction to Econometrics) with a grade of B or better before beginning the fall semester of the student’s last year.

Requirements for Completing the Concentration

In addition to meeting the ordinary requirements for the major, students must:

1.     Complete ECON 3030 (Money and Banking)

2.     Complete ONE of the following:

·        ECON 4340 (Theory of Financial Markets)

·        ECON 4350 (Corporate Finance)

·        ECON 4370 (Behavioral Finance)

·        COMM 3720 (Corporate Finance—McIntire School of Commerce).

Only Commerce school students are permitted to use COMM 3720 to meet this requirement. Students in other schools, such as the College of Arts and Sciences, do not have this option.

3.     Complete ECON 4360 (Empirical Finance)

4.       Complete COMM 2010 (Financial Accounting—McIntire School of Commerce)

COMM 2010 does not count as an economics elective. Economics elective courses such as ECON 4720, ECON 3030, etc., taken to meet finance concentration requirements can be counted as electives towards meeting major requirements.

For more information on the concentration in financial economics, contact Chris Otrok at otrok@virginia.edu.

 

 

Concentration in International Economics


The international economics concentration is designed for ambitious majors with a keen interest in global economic policy.   The core course requirements, ECON 3720 (or ECON 4720 or STAT 3220) and ECON 4210 develop basic literacy in empirical techniques and international economic theory. International finance, ECON 4220, is strongly recommended as the monetary complement to ECON 4210, though it is not currently required due to scheduling constraints. The remaining course electives allow students to specialize further in economic development (through ECON 4610 and/or 4230) and/or a particular geographic area (i.e. ECON 3630, 3650, 4410, 4660 or 5352). Please note that no more than one area studies can count towards the concentration. Many students combine the international concentration with a study abroad program or with the Foreign Affairs major. Recent graduates have gone on to work for international governmental and non-governmental organizations, master’s degree programs in international studies or public policy, law school, and business school.

Economics majors may declare a concentration in international economics when they are enrolled in or have already completed ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720).

To complete the concentration, students meet the ordinary requirements for the major and complete:
 

1.      ECON 4210, and

2.      Any three of the following: ECON 4220, ECON 4610, ECON 4230, or an area studies course within the department (ECON 3630, 3650, 4410, 4660, or 5070).

For more information on the concentration in international economics, contact Emily Blanchard at blanchard@virginia.edu.

 

Concentration in Public Policy


 

Economics is highly relevant for public policy as well as private business decisions. Among the topics of interest in microeconomics are the wide range of effects of specific taxes, expenditure programs and regulations. The courses in the public policy concentration apply general theoretical models for explaining how individuals and organizations respond to changes in their circumstances to predict the qualitative effects of existing and proposed government programs, and they introduce empirical evidence on the quantitative magnitudes of these effects. The concentration also develops the abilities of its students to critically evaluate arguments for particular government actions. It provides majors with the type of training that will enable them to compete successfully for the best junior analyst positions in governments, public policy research firms, and other organizations and for admission into the leading graduate programs in public policy. It should also appeal to students with a strong interest in public policy who intend to pursue careers in related areas such as law.
 
To declare a concentration in public policy before his or her last year at the University, an economics major must have completed
1.     ECON 3010 (or 3110) with a grade of B or better, and
2.     ECON 3720 ( or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720) and
3.     ECON 4310
To declare the concentration in the second-to-last semester at the University, a major who has satisfied the microeconomics requirement must have completed, or be enrolled in, ECON 4310
To graduate with the concentration, a major must meet the ordinary requirements for the major and complete
1.     ECON 4310
2.     ECON 4880, and
3.     At least two of the following courses: ECON 3040, 3050, 3330, 4080, 4150, 4160, 4180, 4200, 4210, 4220, 4230, 4330, 4420, 4430, and 4610
For more information on the concentration in public policy, contact Ed Olsen at eoo@virginia.edu.

 

Distinguished Majors Program


 

The Distinguished Majors Program brings the best undergraduates together in their fourth year to learn from each other, enter the intellectual life of the Department of Economics, discover the nature of research in economics, and write a thesis. Applications are due in March of the student’s third year. Applicants should have a strong overall academic record, with a cumulative grade point average in economics that is at least 3.6 at the time of application. Specific requirements of the program include:
1.     Every student who begins the program in the fall semester of 2010 or later must take ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720) before entering the program. 
Students who will begin the program in the fall semester of 2009 must either 1) take ECON 3720 (or STAT 3220 or ECON 4720) before entering the program; or 2) take ECON 4720 in the fall semester of 2009.
2.     Each student must take the Distinguished Majors Seminar (ECON 4990) in the fall of the fourth year.
3.     Each student will complete a DMP thesis (ECON 4999), independent research under the supervision of an economics faculty member. The thesis is due in April.
Department recommendations for Distinction, High Distinction, and Highest Distinction will be based on:
1.   quality of the thesis
2.   overall work in the Distinguished Majors Program
3.   overall work in economics, and
4.   overall college record.

 

Contact Information


The Department of Economics is located in Monroe Hall. The mailing address is P.O. Box 400182, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4182. The department’s web address is www.virginia.edu/economics. If you have further questions about undergraduate study in economics, please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies.

Course Descriptions


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