PROGRAM - European University Institute, Florence (Italy)

 

 

The EUI Economics Department entered the EDP-network in 2004.

The Department is committed to research, the provision of teaching at the highest international level for doctoral students and the generation of a flow of applied research on topics of European concern. In the 2005-06 academic year a re-structured doctoral programme with more emphasis upon coursework in the first year of the programme was introduced.

The teaching in the doctoral programme is based upon formal coursework in the areas of microeconomics , macroeconomics and econometrics , conducted at a level needed for the students to pursue successful academic careers in leading universities or to make the best use of professional non-academic opportunities in international organisations such as IMF, World Bank, European Commission and Central Banks. Alumni have been placed successfully both in such institutions and in top universities. The faculty also provides guidance in research methods and advises students on the preparation of their dissertation. The department's placement office supplies information about the job market process and assistance in preparing a CV and "job market" paper, which are made available for reference on the department's website.

Basic and advanced graduate courses in microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics are taken by students during their first year. In addition the department, together with visiting professors from top universities, offers a wide range of advanced and specialised graduate courses to first and second year students. Furthermore, weekly research seminars in macroeconomics, microeconomics, econometrics and economic policy are given by visiting speakers. Students have a supervisor and a second advisor chosen from amongst the faculty. By efficient and regular supervision, students are expected to complete their thesis within four years, during the course of which they are funded by their home countries and by the Institute. Full details of the programme are available from the web site http://www.eui.eu/ECO/ .

The research undertaken in the Department depends on the interests of the current staff but covers a wide variety of topics, some of which are summarised below.

Microeconomic theory and policy
Specific research areas are game theory, bounded rationality and learning; social networks; applied microeconomics and, in particular, industrial organisation, contract theory, personnel economics, regulation and competition policy; price discrimination and economic analysis of law.

Macroeconomics and economic policy
Research topics pursued in this general area include: international transmission and economic interdependence; technological progress and the determinants of economic growth; optimal monetary and fiscal policy in closed and open economy; European Union economic integration issues; p ublic finance; economics of the welfare state and labour economics.

Econometrics
Research interests include: semi-parametric estimation and causality assessment in microeconomic data sets; time series methods for macroeconomic data modelling and forecasting, with emphasis on cointegration, structural breaks, panel data methods for integrated series. The research carried out in these areas includes both theoretical and applied studies.