Mar 28, 2024  
2016-2017 Graduate Catalog 
    
2016-2017 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Economic Policy Analysis (ECPA)


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DAVID MITCH, Chair
TIM GINDLING, Graduate Program Director

Degree Offered

M.A. (Degree Types )

Faculty

Professors

BRENNAN, TIM (Public Policy and Economics), Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison; Communications, law and economics, philosophy of social science.
CARPENTER, ROBERT (Economics), Ph.D., Washington University; Macroeconomics, financial economics.
COATES, DENNIS (Economics), Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Public finance, public-choice economics, economics of education, sports economics.
FARROW, SCOTT (Economics), Ph.D., Washington State University; Empirical risk analysis, program evaluation, benefit-cost analysis.
GINDLING, T. H. (Economics), Ph.D., Cornell University; Economic development, labor economics, economics of education.
LAMDIN, DOUGLAS (Economics), Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Corporate finance, managerial economics, economics of education.
MANDELL, MARVIN (Public Policy ), Ph.D., Northwestern University; Quantitative analysis, program evaluation, delivery of public services.
MEYERS, ROY (Political Science), Ph.D., University of Michigan; Budgeting, public policy and administration, American politics.
MILLER, NANCY (Public Policy), Ph.D., University of Chicago; Health policy, health care financing, health care evaluation.
MITCH, DAVID (Economics), Ph.D., University of Chicago; American, Asian and European economic history; labor economics, economics of education.
NORRIS, DONALD (Public Policy ), Ph.D., University of Virginia; Public management, urban affairs, state and local government, public-management information systems.
SALKEVER, DAVID S. (Public Policy) Ph.D. Harvard University; Health economics, economics of mental health, disability studies, economics and behavior of non profit organizations.
TAKACS, WENDY (Economics), Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University; International economics, international trade.

Associate Professors

CARROLL, KATHLEEN (Economics), Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University; Economics of organizations, antitrust, regulation.
DICKSON, LISA (Economics), Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin; Economics of education, labor economics.
ROSE, MORGAN. (Economics), Ph.D., Washington University in Saint Louis; Applied microeconomics, corporate finance, corporate governance, industrial organization, financial institutions.
VIAUROUX, CHRISTELLE, (Economics), Ph.D., University of Toulouse, France; Theoretical and applied econometrics, structural applied microeconomics, structural applied game theory, microeconomics.

Assistant Professors

MA, BING (Economics), Ph.D., University of California Los Angeles; Labor economics, health economics, applied econometrics, and applied microeconomics.
YUAN, CHUNMING. (Economics) Ph.D. University of California Los Angeles; international economics/finance, financial economics, econometrics.

Professors Emeritus

BRADLEY, MICHAEL (Economics), Ph.D., Cornell University; History of economic thought, comparative economic systems.
GOLDFARB, MARSHA (Economics), Ph.D., Northwestern University; Health economics, economics of education.
GREENBERG, DAVID (Economics emeritus), Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Labor economics, industrial relations, cost benefit analysis, evaluation of welfare and government-funded training programs.
McCONNELL, VIRGINIA (Economics), Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Environmental economics, cost-benefit analysis, air pollution policy, land-use policy.
SORKIN, ALAN L. (Economics), Ph.D., The Johns Hopkins University; Health economics, economics of human resources.

Associate Professor Emeritus

PEAKE, CHARLES (Economics), Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park; Monetary economics, finance.

Program Description

UMBC has been in the vanguard of public policy education since the inception of its Policy Sciences graduate program in 1974. The M.A. in Economic Policy Analysis is a joint program offered by the departments of Economics and School of Public Policy. The course of study combines a multi-disciplinary approach to policy analysis, with focused study on the use of economic tools to analyze policy issues. The core economics courses present the tools of analysis commonly used by economists, such as economic modeling and econometrics.

The M.A. in Economic Policy Analysis is flexible enough to accommodate students with different backgrounds, interests and career objectives. The program is designed for students from a variety of undergraduate majors, including, but not limited to, business, computer science, economics, history, information systems, mathematics and statistics, political science and sociology. However, as described below, students are expected to have completed some undergraduate coursework in economics, mathematics and statistics before entering the program. Potential students in the program include managers and policy analysts employed in policy formulation who would like to deepen their understanding of policy issues and/or develop their quantitative skills; students who would like to pursue graduate study to prepare for entry- level positions in the economic policy field with international organizations, federal, state or local governments, consulting firms, corporations or nonprofit organizations; and students who would like to prepare for further graduate study in accounting, business or law and at the Ph.D. level in public policy or economics.

Full- or part-time students, students with schedules limited to evening courses, or students with schedules that combine evening and day courses all can be accommodated. All required courses and many electives will be offered in the late afternoon or evening to accommodate the needs of students employed full time. UMBC undergraduates may want to consider the accelerated pathway combining the B.A. in Economics, the B.S. in Financial Economics or another undergraduate major at UMBC with the M.A. in Economic Policy Analysis. The accelerated pathway makes it possible to complete both a B.A. and an M.A. in as few as five years. Program guides that describe the M.A. degree and accelerated pathway in detail are available on the UMBC Economics Department website, http://economics.umbc.edu/.

Program Admission Requirements

Students applying for admission to the program must submit scores from the general Graduate Record Exam (GRE); provide three letters of recommendation, preferably from individuals familiar with the applicant’s prior academic work; and fulfill all of the other admissions requirements set forth by the Graduate School. Contact the Graduate School or the economic policy analysis graduate program director for admissions materials. Application materials also may be found on the Graduate School Web site.

To succeed in the program, students will need some undergraduate economics, mathematics and statistics background. Before beginning the core economic theory and econometrics courses in the graduate program, a student must have completed courses in calculus, intermediate microeconomic theory, intermediate statistics, undergraduate econometrics and mathematical economics. The undergraduate econometrics course requirement may be waived for students with a strong statistics background, and the undergraduate mathematical economics course requirement may be waived for students with a strong mathematics background. Prospective students may apply to the program before completing all of these courses.

The UMBC economics department frequently offers an intermediate microeconomic theory course, a mathematical economics course and an undergraduate econometrics course in the summer for those students who wish to enter the program but who have not yet taken these courses. Depending on instructor availability, some of these courses may be offered in the evening to accommodate students who work during the day. The mathematical economics course, ECON 490, will provide students who have had at least one semester of undergraduate calculus with the mathematics background necessary to succeed in the master’s program. Students applying to the ECPA M.A. program should consult with the graduate program director at econ-masters@umbc.edu to discuss whether their prior coursework in economics, mathematics and statistics provides adequate preparation to begin the program.

UMBC undergraduates who want to complete the accelerated pathway for a combined B.A. and M.A. should contact the economic policy analysis graduate program director during the first semester of their junior year to ensure that they complete the course requirements for entry into the accelerated pathway program.

Financial Assistance

The university and the economic policy analysis program offer a limited number of assistantships to qualified applicants who wish to study full time. These assistantships include tuition remission, a stipend for living expenses and health insurance. Contact the economic policy analysis graduate program director for more information. Students intending to study full-time also should consult the Office of Financial Aid and refer to the financial information section of the graduate catalog for details about the variety of scholarships, grants and loans available. Students also may receive income from working on faculty research projects. Other students may choose to participate in paid internships or co-op programs with various government agencies. UMBC has one of the largest co-op programs on the East Coast. Contact the Shriver Center for details at 410-455-2493.

Many ECPA M.A. students work full-time and may be eligible for tuition assistance through their employers. Students currently employed should check with their employers to see what type of financial support is available. We will help them develop a curriculum or the documentation necessary to receive employer financial support. Also, with good planning, research projects and papers in individual courses can be related to the student’s full-time job in such a way that a single project or modified version may meet the requirements of both institutions.

Programs

Courses

    Economics

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