DOCTORAL PROGRAMS

Course Number

Course Name

Course Description

ACCT 910

Accounting Theory Research

910/911 Accounting Theory sequence.  The course includes an introduction to various analytical models and modeling/mathematical techniques that are commonly used in accounting research as well as related empirical applications.

ACCT 911

Accounting Theory Research II

This two quarter sequence covers various analytical models and modeling techniques that are commonly used in accounting research. Specific topics include the impact of a firm’s accounting information externally - on stock prices or the behavior of other firms - and the role of accounting information in performance evaluation and decision making within the firm. Students generally take this sequence in the fall quarter of the second year.

ACCT 920

Empirical Research in Accounting

A fundamentals course that covers empirical research design and provides students with a perspective on historically important accounting research.

ACCT 921

Empirical Research in Accounting

Topical course on various specific areas such as research on analysts, regulation, and tax) or methodologies such as econometric techniques, event studies, and the use of survey data.

ACCT 922

Empirical Research in Accounting

Empirical topics course in areas such as research on analysts, regulation, and tax or methodologies in econometric techniques, event studies, or the use of survey data.

ACCT 990

Friday Seminar Colloquium

First and second year students are required to attend a Friday seminar colloquium. All PhD students are permitted to attend. The colloquium is a faculty- led one-hour and twenty minute discussion about the Friday seminar paper; it will likely be held immediately prior to the Friday workshop. On days that we do not have an outside speaker, a faculty member (or senior Ph.D.student ) will introduce the students to the ir own research.

ACCT 991

Friday Seminar Colloquium

First and second year students are required to attend a Friday seminar colloquium. All PhD students are permitted to attend. The colloquium is a faculty- led one-hour and twenty minute discussion about the Friday seminar paper; it will likely be held immediately prior to the Friday workshop. On days that we do not have an outside speaker, a faculty member (or senior Ph.D.student ) will introduce the students to the ir own research.

ECON 681

Microeconomic Theory

Basic tools of microeconomic theory: consumer choice, firm behavior, partial and general equilibrium theory.  This is a more theoretical treatment of the basic tools of microeconomic analysis.  Syllabus

ECON 682

Game Theory and Applications

A graduate level introduction to decision making under uncertainty, applied game theory, and information economics.

ECON 897

Basic Mathematics for Economists

  897 Basic Mathematics for Economists. Summer.
 Functions, differentials and integral calculus, inverse and implicit functions, extremum value and constrained maximization, vector-valued functions, economic applications.

ECON 898

Elementary Mathematics for Economists

Vector spaces, linear transformations and matrices, quadratic forms definite matrices, eigenvalues and similarity transformations, linear difference and differential equations, point set topology, and fixed point theorems.

ECON 708

Economics of Agency, Information, and Incentives

This course studies the economics of adverse selection and moral hazard in strategic settings.  The primary focus is on the agency relationship and the structure of agency contracts.  Other settings include auctions, bilateral trading, and the internal organization of the firm.

ECON 713

Game Theory

A rigorous introduction to the concepts, tools, and techniques of the theory of games, with emphasis on those parts of the theory that are of particular importance in economics.  Topics include games in normal and extensive form, Nash equilibrium, games of incomplete information and Bayesian equilibrium, signaling games, and repeated games.

FNCE 911

Pro-seminar in Finance (individual and corporate)

The objective of this course is to undertake a rigorous study of the theoretical foundations of modern financial economics.  The course will cover the central themes of modern finance including individual investment decisions under uncertainty, stochastic dominance, mean variance theory, capital market equilibrium and asset valuation, arbitrage pricing theory, option pricing, and incomplete markets, and the potential application of these themes.  Upon completion of this course, students should acquire a clear understanding of the major theoretical results concerning individuals' consumption and portfolio decisions under uncertainty and their implications for the valuation of securities.

FNCE 912

Financial Institutions

This course provides students with an overview of the basic contributions in the modern theory of corporate finance and financial institutions.  The course is methodology oriented in that students are required to master necessary technical tools for each topic.  The topics covered may include capital structure, distribution policy, financial intermediation, incomplete financial contracting, initial and seasoned public offerings, market for corporate control, product market corporate finance interactions, corporate reorganization and bankruptcy, financing in imperfect markets, security design under adverse selection and moral hazard, and some selected topics.

FNCE 921

Introduction to Empirical Methods

This course is an introduction to empirical methods commonly employed in finance.  It provides the background for FNCE 934, Empirical Research in Finance.  The course is organized around empirical papers with an emphasis on econometric methods.  A heavy reliance will be placed on analysis of financial data.

FNCE 922

Continuous Time Financial Economics

This course covers some advanced material on the theory of financial markets developed over the last two decades.  The emphasis is on dynamic asset pricing and consumption choices in a continuous time setting.  The articles discussed include many classical papers in the field as well as some of the most recent developments.  The lectures will emphasize the concepts and technical tools needed to understand the articles.

FNCE 924

Intertemporal Macroeconomics and Finance

Fiscal policy with optimizing consumers.  Money with optimizing consumers. Asset prices in stochastic dynamic equilibrium models.  Intertemporal models of consumption and investment: econometric evidence.  Liquidity constraints.

FNCE 934

Empirical Research in Finance

Rigorous treatment of current empirical research in finance.  Applications of multivariate and nonlinear methods.  Intertemporal and multifactor pricing models.  Conditional distributions.  Temporal dependence in asset returns.

STAT 500

Applied Regression and Analysis of Variance

An applied graduate level course in multiple regression and analysis of variance for students who have completed an undergraduate course in basic statistical methods.  Emphasis is on practical methods of data analysis and their interpretation.  Covers model building, general linear hypothesis, residual analysis, leverage and influence, one-way anova, two-way anova, factorial anova.  Primarily for doctoral students in the managerial, behavioral, social and health sciences.

STAT 501

Introduction to Nonparametric Methods and Log-linear Models

An applied graduate level course for students who have completed an undergraduate course in basic statistical methods.  Covers two unrelated topics: loglinear and logit models for discrete data and nonparametric methods for nonnormal data.  Emphasis is on practical methods of data analysis and their interpretation.  Primarily for doctoral students in the managerial, behavioral, social and health sciences.  May be taken before STAT 500 with permission of instructor.

STAT 510

Linear Algebra and Probability

Probability.  Elements of matrix algebra.  Discrete and continuous random variables and their distributions.  Moments and moment generating functions. Joint distributions.  Functions and transformations of random variables.  Law of large numbers and the central limit theorem.  Point estimation: sufficiency, maximum likelihood, minimum variance.  Confidence intervals.

STAT 511

Statistics for Business and Economics

Tests of hypotheses.  Examples of normal means and variances.  Neyman-Pearson lemma.  Generalized likelihood ratio tests.  Ordinary least squares estimation.  Inference in linear models: hypothesis tests and confidence statements.  Bivariate normal distribution and correlation.  Analysis of variance for one- and two-way layouts.  Categorical data.  Generalized least squares and autocorrelated disturbances.  Lagged-variable models. Simultaneous equations models and introductory topics in econometrics.

STAT 550

Mathematical Statistics

Decision theory and statistical optimality criteria, sufficiency, invariance, estimation and hypothesis testing theory, large sample theory, information theory.

STAT 551

Introduction to Linear Statistical Models

Properties of the multivariate and spherical normal distributions, quadratic forms, estimation and testing in the linear model with applications to analysis of variance and regression models, generalized inverses, and simultaneous inference.

ECON 705

Econometrics I: Fundamentals

Violations of classical linear regresson assumptions, nonlinear regression models (including logit, probit, etc.), diagnostic testing, distributed lag models, panel data models, identification, linear simultaneous-equations model.

ECON 706

Econometrics II: Methods and Models

Analysis in time and frequency domains, state space representations, Kalman filtering, conditional heteroskedasticity, nonlinear and nonparametric methods for time series, integration, co-integration, numerical and simulation techniques.

Course Number

Course Name

Course Description

ECON 681

Microeconomic Theory

Basic tools of microeconomic theory: consumer choice, firm behavior, partial and general equilibrium theory.  This is a more theoretical treatment of the basic tools of microeconomic analysis.  Syllabus

ECON 682

Game Theory and Applications

A graduate level introduction to decision making under uncertainty, applied game theory, and information economics.

ECON 701

Microeconomic Theory I.

Nonlinear programming, theory of the consumer and producer, general equilibrium.

ECON 703

Microeconomic Theory II

Game theory, decision making under uncertainty, information economics.

ECON 705

Econometrics I:  Fundamentals

Violations of classical linear regresson assumptions, nonlinear regression models (including logit, probit, etc.), diagnostic testing, distributed lag models, panel data models, identification, linear simultaneous-equations model.

STAT 541

Statistical Methods

Multiple linear regression, logit and probit regression, analysis of variance, experimental design, log-linear models, goodness-of-fit.

BPUB 900

Research Seminar

This course is designed to teach the craft of applied economic research to students of any Wharton doctoral program. To this end we will meet weekly, Thursdays at noon, with one of the following items on the agenda: 1) a student research presentation (for example, all BPUB students are required to give such presentations at least annually); 2) a post mortem discussion of the previous day's applied economics seminar; or 3) a faculty guest speaker introducing students to a research approach or a set of researchable topics. The course provides a venue for moving research forward, including both papers assigned for other classes and research leading toward a dissertation. This course aims to bring students a hands-on understanding of the course as appropriate for all doctoral students with applied microeconomic interests who have completed at least one year of their doctoral program.

BPUB 911

Empirical Public Policy

This course examines empirical research methods on topics related to public policy, with the goal of preparing students to undertake their own empirical research. This is not a course in statistical or econometric theory, but rather a workshop in empirical research design and methods for applied research. Each class sessions will review one or more important papers in the literature, on topics including (but not limited to) public economics, labor economics, law and economics, industrial organization, and related areas. These papers are chosen to study two major areas of empirical research: (1) problems and methods for measuring causal relationships in observational data, including statistical endogeneity, instrumental variable methods, research designs using panel data, and selection problems; and (2) structural (behavioral) statistical models. Students are required to prepare a research proposal or empirical research paper that is related to the student's (actual or intended) dissertation.

BPUB 951

Political Economy

This course discusses what should be the role of government in the economy and analyzes why and in what ways the behavior of governments in a representative democracy may diverge from this ideal role. The first part of the course reviews the various criteria such as Pareto efficiency and fairness, which have been put forward as desirable social objectives. It then explores the ability of the market mechanism to achieve these objectives and the potential role of government in correcting market failures. The second part of the course surveys alternative models of political competition and uses these models to assess the normative performance of representative democracy. Alleged government failures such as those due to limited time horizons, rent seeking and bureaucracy, are analyzed. The role of constitutional reforms in improving government performance is also discussed.

BPUB 987

Regulatory Policy

This course will examine the economics of microeconomic government interventions in the marketplace and closely-related topics in industrial organization. Some of the economic topics that will be discussed include contracting, standards, and networks with application to regulation, deregulation, and privatization, strategic alliances with application to antitrust policy, and research and development with application to intellectual property policy. Most of the reading will consist of scholarly papers.

OPIM 900

Introduction to Decision Methods

ALSO KNOWN AS:  Foundations of Decision Processes (in course register)

Problem solving, cognitive processes, and decision making under uncertainty. Comparison of expected utility models with alternative choice models of individual behavior and their implications for market equilibrium. Applications in consumer choice, public policy, and planning are explored.

BPUB 960

Cost Benefit Analysis

The principal tool for project and policy evaluation in the public sector. For government, whose "products" are rarely sold, the valuation of costs and benefits by means alternative to market prices is necessary. It is the counterpart to cost accounting in private firms and provides guidance for avoiding wasteful projects and undertaking those that are worthwhile. In addition, given government regulations, cost benefit evaluations are critical for many private sector activities. Real estate developers, manufacturing firms, employers of all types are required to provide evaluations of environmental impacts and of urban impacts for their proposed projects. They too must engage in cost benefit analysis, in the valuation of social benefits and costs. Government analysts, consultants, and private firms regularly carry out cost benefit analyses for major investments — bridges, roads, transit systems, convention centers, sports stadia, dams — as well as for regulatory activities — OSHA workplace safety regulations and the Clean Air Act are two important examples. PhD students will write a paper on a theoretical or applied issue in cost-benefit analysis in lieu of the final examination.

BPUB 961

Risk Analysis and Environmental Management

This course is designed to introduce students to the role of risk assessment, risk perception and risk management in dealing with uncertain health, safety and environmental risks including the threat of terrorism. It explores the role of decision analysis as well as the use of scenarios for dealing with these problems. The course will evaluate the role of policy tools such as risk communication, economic incentives, insurance, regulation and private-public partnerships in developing strategies for managing these risks. A project will enable students to apply the concepts discussed in the course to a concrete problem.

BPUB 962

Applied Economics Seminar

The goal of this course is to help doctoral students develop critical thinking skills through both seminar participation and writing of referee reports. To this end, students will attend the Wharton Applied Economics Seminar each Wednesday at noon seminar when it meets; prepare two written referee reports on WAE papers per semester, due before the seminar is presented; after attending the seminar - and the ensuing discussion of the paper—students will prepare follow-up evaluations of their referee report reports, due one week after the seminar. We will meet outside the seminar three times per semester (most likely during the Thursday 12-1:30 time slot, joint with BPUB 900) with Joel Waldfogel and staff, for discussion of the papers.

BPUB 998

Privatization: An International Perspective

The first part of the course analyzes the problems of emerging markets including health and population growth. The second part of the course considers the industrialization strategies they have chosen and the recent financial and macroeconomic problems they have encountered. Particular emphasis will be given to the recent problems of Latin American and Asian countries that experienced rapid growth for considerable periods only to encounter major reversals in the last half of the 1990s. The implications of this experience for the private and public sectors will be considered in detail. The role of foreign aid, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in dealing with crises in developing countries will be explored in detail.

BPUB 770

The Political Economy of the Public Sector

This course uses microeconomics to evaluate public policy.  The course has two parts.  The first part of the course provides a a comprehensive microeconomic toolkit that we will use to identify failures of the competitive market; the circumstances in which government intervention can improve economic efficiency; and alternatives to government intervention.  The second part of the course applies this toolkit to current policy issues, including environmental regulation, tax policy, health care reform and the problem of the uninsured; welfare reform; education policy and the public schools; social security reform and the costs and benefits of private accounts; and merger analysis.

BPUB 772

Urban Public Policy and Private Economic Development

This course considers the pervasive interactions between real estate developers and government.  Governments influence real estate development in many ways: through zoning laws, taxes, public expenditures, impact fees, infrastructure, building codes, environmental regulations, to name just a few. Much of the time in the course is spent understanding the effect on residential and commercial real estate development of these government interventions.

      As a "case study" of this interaction between government and real estate developers and markets, we will consider one of the major policy interventions currently being advocated, adopted, and considered by governments throughout the country - growth controls or smart growth to deal with the alleged problem of urban sprawl.  To this end, we will consider what is meant by urban sprawl, why it is considered a problem - by whom - why growth controls are considered a solution to the problem, the possible effects of growth controls on various groups, the views of developers about both urban sprawl and growth controls. Several guest lecturers from the private, not-for-profit, and public sectors are scheduled to make presentations.

BPUB 773

Urban Fiscal Policy

The purpose of this course is to examine the financing of governments in the urban economy.  Topics to be covered include the causes and consequences of the urban fiscal crisis, the design of optimal tax and spending policies for local governments, funding of public infrastructures and the workings of the municipal bond market, privatization of government services, and public financial systems for emerging economies.  Applications include analyses of recent fiscal crises, local services and taxes as important determinants of real estate prices, the infrastructure crisis, financing and the provision of public education, and fiscal constitutions for new democracies using South Africa as an example.

BPUB 789

Nations, Politics, and Markets

This course is designed for students who are interested in pursuing an international career and for those who plan to work for industrial and financial corporations that operate in emerging markets.  The course will dea with the economic and political problems of macroeconomic adjustment, corruption, the transition economies, and international inancial transactions All of these topics will be illustrated with in depth studies of economies in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and China.

BPUB 798

Privatization: An International Perspective

Privatization is sweeping the globe.  The redefinition of boundaries between the public

MKTG 964

Mathematical Models in Marketing Decision Making

Approaches to prescriptive decision making in marketing decisions under risk and uncertainty, promotional mix models, brand switching behavior, and competitive models.  Applies to methods and models developed in economics and statistics to marketing problems.

MKTG 966

Measurements and Data Analysis in Marketing

In this course we consider models for binary, count, and continuous data including contingency table models, logistic and probit regression, ANOVA, ANCOVA, conjoint analysis, and OLS.  In addition we cover multidimensional techniques such as MDS, cluster analysis, principal components analysis, factor analysis, and discriminant analysis.  We utilize the statistics package SPlus 2000, and also BUGS for implementing many of the techniques described in a Bayesian manner.

OPIM 901

Game Theoretic Analysis I

901. (OPIM931) Stochastic Processes II. (M) Staff. Prerequisite(s): OPIM 930 or equivalent.

Martingales, optimal stopping, Wald's lemma, age-dependent branching processes, stochastic integration, Ito's lemma.

OPIM 917

Multi Objective Optimization and Planning

Pre-requistie: OPIM 914 or equivalent.  Introduction to methods of multiobjective optimization and decision analysis.  Topics include vector first and second-order necessary and sufficient conditions, generating methods, preference-incorporation methods, multi-attribute utility theory, SMART, and the analytic hierarchy process.

OPIM 930

Stochastic Processes I

This course introduces mathematical models describing and analyzing the behavior of processes that exhibit random components.  The theory of stochastic processes will be developed based on elementary probability theory and calculus.  Topics include random walks, Poisson processes, Markov chains in discrete and continuous time, renewal theory, and martingales. Applications from the areas of inventory, production, finance, queueing and communication systems will be presented throughout the course.

OPIM 934

Dynamic Programming and Markov Decision Processes

Reviews the theoretical foundations of dynamic programming, stochastic control,and Markov decision processes.  Applications in the area of production and inventory, finance, and marketing will be explored.  Course requirements include homework, exercises and a research paper.

STAT 915

Nonparametric Inference

Statistical inference when the functional form of the distribution is not specified.  Nonparametric function estimation, density estimation, survival analysis, contingency tables, association, and efficiency.

STAT 920

Sample Survey Method

This course will cover the design and analysis of sample surveys.  The focus of attention will be on the latter, specifically, classical analyses of random sampling, stratified sampling, cluster sampling, large sample results, and other topics as time permits and students' interests dictate.

STAT 925

Multivariate Analysis: Methods

Tests on mean vector, discriminant analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, canonical correlation, principal components, and factor analysis.

STAT 927

Statistical Decision Theory

A course in Bayesian statistical theory.  Axiomatic developments of utility theory and subjective probability, and elements of Bayesian theory.

ECON 702

Macroeconomics Theory I

Dynamic programming, search theory, neoclassical growth theory, asset pricing, business cycles.

ECON 704

Macroeconomics Theory II

Equilibrium notions in the growth model.  Economies with distortions. Incomplete markets.  Overlapping generations.

ECON 708

The Economics of Agency, Information, and Incentives

This course studies the economics of adverse selection and moral hazard in strategic settings.  The primary focus is on the agency relationship and the structure of agency contracts.  Other settings include auctions, bilateral trading, and the internal organization of the firm.

ECON 712

Topics in Advanced Economic Theory and Mathematical Economics

Topics and prerequisites announced each year.

ECON 713

Game Theory

A rigorous introduction to the concepts, tools, and techniques of the theory of games, with emphasis on those parts of the theory that are of particular importance in economics.  Topics include games in normal and extensive form, Nash equilibrium, games of incomplete information and Bayesian equilibrium, signaling games, and repeated games.

ECON 721

Econometrics III: Advanced Techniques of Cross-Section Econometrics

Qualitative response models, panel data, censoring, truncation, selection bias, errors in variables, latent variable models, survey design, advanced techniques of semiparametric estimation and inference in cross-sectional environments.  Disequilibrium models.  Methods of simulated moments.

ECON 750

Public Economics

Public goods, externalities, uncertainty, and income redistribution as sources of market failures; private market and collective choice models as possible correcting mechanisms.  Microeconomic theories of taxation and political models affecting economic variables.

ECON 751

Public Economics II

Expenditures: Alternative theories of public choice; transfers to the poor; transfers to special interests and rent seeking; social insurance; publicly provided private goods; public production and bureaucracy.  Taxation: Tax incidence in partial and general equilibrium; excess burden analysis.  Topics on tax incidence and efficiency: lifetime incidence and excess burden, dynamic incidence, the open economy.  Normative theories of taxation: Optimal commodity and income taxation.  The political economy of income taxation.

Economics of Labor I

Topics include: Theories of the supply and demand for labor, wage determination, wage differentials, labor market discrimination, unemployment, occupational choice and dynamics of specific labor markets, theory of matching, trade unions.  The theory and empirics of human capital accumulation, intertemporal labor supply, search, intergenerational mobility of income and wealth, contracts and bargaining, efficiency wage models, principal/agent models, and signaling models.

ECON 793

Economics of Labor II

A continuation of ECON 792.

FNCE 911

Financial Economics

The objective of this course is to undertake a rigorous study of the theoretical foundations of modern financial economics.  The course will cover the central themes of modern finance including individual investment decisions under uncertainty, stochastic dominance, mean variance theory, capital market equilibrium and asset valuation, arbitrage pricing theory, option pricing, and incomplete markets, and the potential application of these themes.  Upon completion of this course, students should acquire a clear understanding of the major theoretical results concerning individuals' consumption and portfolio decisions under uncertainty and their implications for the valuation of securities.

FNCE 912

Financial Institutions

This course provides students with an overview of the basic contributions in the modern theory of corporate finance and financial institutions.  The course is methodology oriented in that students are required to master necessary technical tools for each topic.  The topics covered may include capital structure, distribution policy, financial intermediation, incomplete financial contracting, initial and seasoned public offerings, market for corporate control, product market corporate finance interactions, corporate reorganization and bankruptcy, financing in imperfect markets, security design under adverse selection and moral hazard, and some selected topics.

HCMG 901

Health Care Cost Benefit

The purpose of this doctoral level course is to investigate the theory and practice of cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis as applied to health care.  The three techniques to be examined are cost-effectiveness analysis with single dimensional outcomes, cost effectiveness analysis with multiple attributes (especially in the form of Quality Adjusted Life Years), and economic cost-benefit analysis.  Valuation of mortality and morbidity relative to other goods will be emphasized.  Students will be expected to develop written critiques of articles in the literature, and to design a new application of one of the techniques as a term project.

HCMG 903

Economics of Health Cost and Policy

This course applies basic economic concepts to analyze the health care market and evaluate health policies.  The course begins with an analysis of the demand for health, the derived demand for medical care and the demand for health insurance.  The second part of the course examines the supply of medical care by physicians and hospitals, medical technology, and the role of managed care organizations.  The implication of adverse selection, moral hazard, externalities, and asymmetric information will be explored.  The third part of the course examines the rationale for government intervention in medical markets as well as the effectiveness and efficiency of various health policies, including: Medicare, Medicaid, price regulation of hospitals, physician payment reform, medical malpractice, uncompensated care, and physician manpower planning.

INSR 922

Employment Benefit Plan Design

Large U.S. employers devote up to 40% of payroll on non-wage benefits, and in other countries, the ratio is higher.  What rationales justify such a substantial budget commitment to employee benefits?  How are benefit packages designed and how do they evolve to achieve multiple ends?  Course units cover aspects of life insurance, health and disability insurance, and deferred compensation plans along with the economic consequences of and regulatory environment shaping each.  Executive compensation is also covered.  This course is useful to anyone interested in health care, insurance and retirement planning, for either professional or personal reasons.

INSR 924

Social Insurance

This course presents and evaluates economic rationales for social insurance programs in the developed and developing world.  We explore how social insurance programs are designed and implemented in theory and practice, and examine what their economic effects are on key players' behaviors.  Topics include systems protecting against umemployment, disability, poverty, old age, and medical care expenses.  We examine the relative roles of private versus governmentally-provided benefit programs, focusing on financing and benefit provision.  Special attention is devoted to recent and ongoing real-world experiments with privatization.

MGMT 900

Economic Foundations of Management