ECON Département des sciences économiques

Responsable académique :N.

The Master of Arts (MA) is a one-year program providing advanced training in economics with a special emphasis on foundations (microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics) and on training for research. The MA being a preliminary step towards the Ph.D. program, preparation for research is a major objective of the program.

The Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) and the University of Namur (FUNDP) organize the MA jointly. Optional courses are offered in the fields of expertise of the two partners. Most courses are taught in Louvain-La-Neuve.

• The following research centers are associated with the program:
• Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE, UCL),
• Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES, UCL),
• Chaire d'Ethique Economique et Sociale (ETES, UCL),
• Département d'analyse économique et Département d'économie publique (FUNDP).

They offer a high quality research environment, with the regular presence of visiting professors and contacts with other research centers. Altogether there are about 50 doctoral students in economics some of whom are associated with the MA as teaching assistants.

The program consists of eight courses, one seminar, and a thesis. Optional courses may include presentations by the students of papers from a reading list. At the beginning of the academic year, every student has to meet a professor of the MA to discuss and propose his/her program. The Program Committee must then approve it. The topic of the thesis is approved later.

An undergraduate qualification in economics with honors is required for entry (for instance, a British or American B.A., a French Maîtrise, a Belgian Licence or Maîtrise, or a German Diploma).

Students, who have another undergraduate degree, in particular in engineering, mathematics, or management, are also eligible to enter this program. They must pass an examination on specified topics in microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics. The examination, or part of it, may be waived if they produce convincing evidence that they succeeded previously in courses on these topics.

Admissions are decided by the Program Committee, which is composed of representatives of the two universities.

Students who want to be admitted in the European Doctoral Program in Quantitative Economics must have their program approved by the director of this program.

Three compulsory courses

Advanced Microeconomics I[45h] (7 ECTS)

Claude d'Aspremont-Lynden, Enrico Minelli

Advanced Macroeconomics I[45h] (7 ECTS)

Raouf Boucekkine, David De la Croix

Advanced Econometrics[45h] (7 ECTS)

Luc Bauwens

For these compulsory courses, home works are assigned regularly to the students, and are corrected by a teaching assistant. The teachers will comment the results of the home works in class.

One course chosen in the following list

FUNDP Advanced Microeconomics II [30h]

Advanced Macroeconomics II[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Henri Sneessens

One course with a critical content , choosen in the following list

History of Economic Thought[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Michel De Vroey

Ethics & social choice[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Claude d'Aspremont-Lynden, Philippe Van Parijs

Critical Analysis of Market Economies[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Christian Arnsperger, Philippe De Villé

(course not dispensed this year)

FUNDP Foundations of capitalism [30h]

One seminar

FUNDP Seminar I [ 30h ]

ECON3801

Seminar II[30h]

Pierre Malgrange

Three courses chosen in the following list

Dynamical Methods in Economics[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Raouf Boucekkine

International Economics[30h]

AI-TING GOH

(course not dispensed this year)

Industrial Organization[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Rabah Amir

Labour Economics[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Bruno Van der Linden

Econometrics of Time-Series[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Luc Bauwens

Public Economics[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Maurice Marchand

Monetary Theory[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Henri Sneessens

(course not dispensed this year)

FUNDP Monetary economics [ 30 h]

FUNDP Development economics I [30h ]

(course not dispensed this year)

FUNDP Collective choice theory [ 30h ]

(course not dispensed this year)

FUNDP Law and economics [ 30h ]

Not more than 7 courses of this list will be offered every year.

Students may also choose the following courses available from other third cycle programs

ECON3540

Microeconometrics[30h]

Michel Mouchart

Econometrics Workshop[30h]

Daniel Weiserbs

Capital Markets Theory[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Olivier Scaillet

Théories du développement[30h] (3.5 ECTS)

Jean-Philippe Peemans

A student may propose to choose another third cycle courses or seminar in the programs of UCL and FUNDP. Such a choice has to be approved by the program committee.

Thesis requirement

The thesis is a research paper that is supervised by a professor of the program. It is the key element of research training of the program, from which the ability to conduct research at the doctoral level in an autonomous way can be evaluated.

Every student must propose his/her thesis topic before December 15. This requires to find a supervisor and to write a detailed proposal. The Program Committee approves eventually the proposal and appoints a thesis committee for every student. The thesis committee consists of the supervisor and a reader.

Most of the courses are evaluated on the basis of an exam (oral or written). The seminar activity is evaluated during the term. The thesis is presented in front of the thesis committee.

This programme prepares student for the PhD in economics.