RICE ECON
Spring 2018
News and Views from the Economics Department at Rice
Spring Break!
We hope you have a wonderful spring
break and return refreshed and ready to
knock out the rest of the semester. And
that the Astros are diligently utilizing
their spring break to prepare a reprise
of last year’s amazing championship
season.
information below about the next in
our series of lectures by winners of the
Nobel Prize in Economics, coming up
on Thursday, March 8.
Finally, in response to requests from
students and to address some of our
own concerns, we have made a few
changes in course requirements, pre-
requisites, etc., effective Fall 2018.
These changes are: (1) ECON 100:
Students who have (a) received a score
of 5 on the AP Micro exam or a score
of 6 or 7 on the IB high level Micro
exam, (b) received a score of 5 on the
AP Macro exam or a score of 6 or 7 on
the IB high level Macro exam, and (c)
In this issue of our newsletter, we
continue featuring some of the
new courses that we have added in
recent years. “Great Course on the
Menu!” below highlights one of these
offerings, ECON 462, Economics of
Human Capital, which will be taught
next semester by Professor Flávio
Cunha. And be sure to check out the
made a grade of B- or better in MATH
102 (taken at Rice), may substitute any
Economics major elective for ECON
100; (2) ECON 203: ECON 200 is
now a co-requisite rather than a pre-
requisite; (3) ECON 209: ECON 100
replaces ECON 200 as a pre-requisite;
and (4) ECON 308: New pre-requisite:
A grade of B- or higher in MATH 212,
either taken at Rice or transfer credit
for MATH 212 subject to approval of
the course instructor.
We hope the rest of your spring
semester goes well!
George Zodrow
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Great Course on the Menu!
Menu
Main Course: ECON 462
Economics of Human
Capital
Appetizers: ECON 200 &
ECON 209
Master Chef: Professor
Flávio Cunha
Dinner is Served: Fall
2018, Tues and Thurs,
10:50 am - 12:05 pm; Tues,
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Come enjoy a
gastroeconomical delight!
When shopping for Fall 2018 economics courses, be sure to consider ECON 462,
Economics of Human Capital. The course will be taught by Professor Flávio Cunha,
who came to Rice in 2014 and is an internationally renowned expert in labor economics
(he won the Econometric Society’s Frisch medal in 2014 for his work on cognitive and
noncognitive skill formation). ECON 462 covers the theory of the role of human capital
in determining economic growth as well as societal inequality. It is especially geared
towards learning techniques related to the evaluation of public policy and developing
related computational skills so that students can simulate complex economic models that
address these problems. Students interested in studying the sources of long-run economic
growth and acquiring skills in policy evaluation will especially enjoy the material
covered in the class. A broad range of topics related to human capital will be discussed,
including economic development, models of growth, education of young children, and
agglomeration economies, among others. Economics of Human Capital will also utilize
econometric techniques to test theories and to provide insights on what policies can
improve human capital formation while also aiding growth and reducing inequality. The
course emphasizes experimental design and methods of testing the efficacy of policies,
pilot programs, and interventions. The major topics of the course are divided into two
sections, both of which cover important papers on human capital. The first is macro-
based and discusses theory and empirical studies about the role of human capital in the
determination of long-run economic growth. The second half, which is micro-based,
covers theory and empirical studies that examine how to foster human capital formation.
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