The study programme in a nutshell
In the first block, you get an introduction to sustainable development (8 ECTS). Here you learn the complex societal issues that are at the basis of the SDGs. What is sustainable development? How are SDGs interlinked? What is the timing problem with respect to short- and long-term solutions? How are solutions related to different levels of policy interventions (corporate, national, international)? Several real-world cases are introduced to illustrate these questions and possible answers like climate change, migration, inequality and healthy ageing. External case owners come to the university to discuss with you what their experience is. In this block you follow also Applied Microeconometrics (4 ECTS) to improve your econometric skill.
In the second and third block, you choose your (seminar-)electives (18 ECTS). You can choose from a set of electives and compose your own program.In these blocks you are also exploring the cases introduced in the first block. In a team you are delving in the literature and the case-owners (ministries and Clingendael) help you with relevant reports and finding the right experts to interview.
In block four, an intensive seminar is given where policy interventions for sustainable development are central (10 ECTS). The main assignment in this seminar is to prepare a report about the case. Until now you have delved into the case what the problems are from an economic point of view, but now you are delving intensely in possible solutions. Interaction between the teams guarantees that you learn a lot about all four cases. The knowledge and skills you gained in the mandatory courses, your electives and the case study come together in your thesis (16 ECTS). To guide you in your thesis process, you will be assigned a mentor and a study group of fellow students working on a similar topic. We hope that this is related to the case you studied during the year, but the choice of the subject is yours.
What the programme entails
In teaching about sustainability challenges, we use a different teaching approach than other master programmes. Sustainability challenges are complex, do not stick to national boundaries, and are deeply interconnected. Therefore, our master programme brings together expertise across economic disciplines: from micro- to macro-economics, from health to environmental economics, from regional and urban development to national polities and international trade. When talking about sustainability challenges, there are a lot of different opinions on the issues and the solutions. How do you design solutions when everyone seems to disagree on the problem? To train you on working in such situations, we have designed the impact case. In this assignment, that runs throughout the year, you and your team will be asked by an external case owner to develop a policy plan for a specific sustainability challenge. This guarantees that the scientific knowledge you build up during the year is combined with the practical knowledge from experts working daily on these cases.
The overview below provides an impression of the curriculum for this programme for the academic year 2023-2024. It is not an up-to-date study schedule for current students. They can find their full study schedules on MyEUR. Please note that minor changes to this schedule are possible in future academic years.
The Take-Off is the introduction event for all new students of Erasmus School of Economics. During this interesting introduction event, you will be provided with useful practical information and receive an introduction to your studies, meet your fellow students and our School.
The aim of this course is to introduce the students to the societal issues that the SDGs tackle, the complexities of these issues and how these issues manifest themselves in our economic system. The course is divided in two parts. In week 1 to 5, the students will dive deeper into the societal issues behind the SDGs. After a first introduction, each week one of four themes will be discussed: a) climate change; b) immigration; c) social inequalities; d) healthy aging. For each theme, the following questions are answered:
- What are the societal issues within the theme?
- What are the main causes of these societal issues and how are they related to the characteristics of our economic system?
- What are the economic consequences of these societal issues?
- Why are these societal issues so complex to tackle? What are barriers in our economic system/thinking that hinder ‘solving’ these issues?
- What economic policies are currently in place for these societal issues and why might they not be sufficient?
This course provides students with knowledge of econometric methods which are relevant for applied economics. In particular, it first refreshes the essentials of the standard regression model. It then covers methods that can be useful when the dependent variable of interest is endogenous: instrumental variables and linear panel data models. Finally, the last part of the course covers methods for binary outcomes.
Students follow a hands-on approach to understanding empirical econometric methods, in this way getting the opportunity to develop experience with the application of these methods in their own field of specialization.
This course consists of four parts:
- Linear regression models (linear regression; conditions for causality; specification tests, model selection).
- Endogeneity and instrumental variables estimation (causality, identifying and dealing with endogeneity)
- Linear panel data models (random effects models; fixed effects models; difference-in-differences).
- Models for binary outcomes data.
Students choose two of the listed courses:
- Advanced Development Economics
- Policy Issues in Public Spending
- Advanced Empirical Methods
- Economics of Health and Health Care
Topics covered include:
- How is discrimination in labor markets and organizations identified?
- How are inequalities and discrimination related?
- How do inequalities in education lead to inequalities in labor markets?
- What are firms’ incentives to hire or promote the most productive workers?
- What are stereotypes and biases, and how do they impact employment-related decisions?
- What types of policies can organizations implement to increase diversity and inclusion?
- What types of policies reduce inequalities?
Students choose one of the listed seminars:
- Seminar Cases in Policy Evaluations
- Seminar Sustainable Firm Strategy
- Seminar Regional and Transport Economics
- Seminar Health Economics
In this seminar, the emphasis will be on the policies governments and other stakeholders introduce to respond to the SDGs. Students will investigate how policies are implemented in their case, which stakeholders are impacted by the policies, how these policies affect the SDG’s and what possible change in policies are resulting in better reaching the SDGs. They use the knowledge build up in the first three blocks and present what they learned about the adopted case. This investigation will lead to weekly presentations of the literature and a group assignment in which the case groups report on the implementation of policy options related to their case.
The thesis is an individual assignment about a subject from your Master's specialisation. More information about thesis subjects, thesis supervisors and the writing process can be found on the Master thesis website.