The scope of economics, which mainly focuses on the studies of the use of scarce resources to meet human needs, has expanded its coverage from analyses of the economic behavior of individuals and firms to the analysis of the economic behavior of countries and international institutions. Economic behavior has become a subject that requires analysis at the global level due to the rapid development of information and communication technologies in the 1990s. In addition, companies operating at the worldwide level prepare their strategies with optimization at the global level. This reduces the constraints imposed on the national level of economic behavior and requires a global structure that allows for the free movement of goods and services and factors of production such as capital and labor. Although the worldwide crisis of 2008 has some consequences that will cause the effects of nation-states on economic behavior to rise again, economic globalization is continuing.
These developments at the global level have increased the importance of economics as a science. The analysis of labor, money, and capital markets and products in goods and services markets, as well as the interaction between these markets, is vital in understanding the policies that need to be developed at the national and global levels. In this respect, universities have a significant role. The rising of human resources with knowledge and experience of basic concepts of economy, methods of analysis, and economic policies will contribute to the sustainable development of the countries and the continuation of their competitive advantages. Moreover, it is possible to improve human resource potential in this area through graduate programs.
İbn Haldun University's Master of Arts in Economics program is expected to contribute to students coming from different undergraduate majors to gain the ability to understand and evaluate the changes in local and global economics. In addition to the core courses for two years, a variety of elective courses will allow the participants to apply theory to the current economic issues and prepare the theses. As the medium of instruction in the program is English, the graduates are expected to be employed at national and international organizations.
Prof. Muhittin Kaplan
Our graduate program offers theoretical courses such as microeconomics, macroeconomics, research methods, and econometrics to gain the ability to understand and interpret national and global economic events, as well as sectoral courses that will provide specialization in areas such as energy, environment, foreign trade, finance, real estate, infrastructure, and transportation.
This graduate-level course provides guided reading, research, expert discussions, and workshops in economics. The system heavily relies on the invited speakers' presenting their academic work in the seminar sessions.
This course will cover empirical analysis techniques to investigate the relationships between financial and economic variables. Under this context, topics such as linear regression, multiple regression, dummy variables, heteroscedasticity, hypothesis testing, omitted variables, misspecification, asymptotic theory, measurement error, instrumental variables, time-series modeling; predictability of asset returns will be explained through empirical examples. In the content of the course, essential characteristics of the time series and panel data will also be emphasized, and the model selection will be taught to make the best guess for the structure of the given data.
This course aims to provide students the ability to command the basic concepts, theories, and applications of microeconomics and to apply this knowledge to practical problems. For this purpose, consumer theories, demand theory, production theory, and uncertainty will be discussed under individual decisions. Then, continuing with game theory, this course will end with an analysis of free-market structure, public goods, and economic externalities.
This course, which is the continuation of the system in the program's first semester, will start with analyzing different market structures and examine issues such as information asymmetry, reverse selection, and the principal-agent problem, which provides the markets to operate effectively. In addition, this framework will discuss the possible effects of these problems on social welfare. In the last part of the course, which the General Balance Theory will cover, topics such as collective decision-making, bargaining based on specific hypotheses, and economic mechanism design will take place.
This course will be started within the first semester. It will begin with defining the main topics of macroeconomics within the framework of different economic schools and then continue with national income accounting. Afterward, such issues as dynamic aggregate demand and aggregate supply, IS-LM models, monetary and fiscal policies, investment and consumption decisions, macroeconomic decisions in open economies, exchange rates, and interest rates will be covered in the framework of neoclassical and Keynesian economics.
This course, which is the continuation of the system in the first semester, will be explained in more detail regarding the functioning of money and foreign exchange markets and methods of struggling against inflation in an open economy. In this frame, Marshall-Lerner's condition, Keynesian Theory, the function of money and capital markets in open and closed economies, macroeconomic models and rational expectations in these models, political effectiveness, and dynamics of macroeconomic modeling will be discussed.
Econometrics is a branch of economics. It applies mathematical and statistical methods to explore and quantify the relationships between economic, financial, and social variables, where these relationships are either hypothesized by models or based on observed phenomena. This course covers estimation methodologies used in Econometrics and a detailed discussion on Time Series Analysis. Time series models ranging from univariate models, single equation multivariate models, and multiple equation models are discussed in detail.
In this course, students will learn about the mechanism of international economic and commercial activities, the main reasons for the emergence of these relations, and the main theories trying to explain these relations. It will also touch upon the economic policies developed to make international financial activities and trade more effective and to develop them, the factors that determine foreign exchange prices, the essential components of balance-of-payments balance, the factors determining foreign trade, basic shapes and determinants of capital flows between countries and how globalization affects the international economy.
This course mainly analyzes the relationship between economic development and knowledge-based economic structure and the impact of innovation on competitiveness. Examples from individuals, companies, and countries examine creativity's role in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, current applications and case studies are addressed using global data clusters. Finally, the theoretical models of research and development, intellectual property rights, and patent economics are passed on to the students through the innovation indicators.
Based on the game theory frequently used in economic theory applications, this course will provide basic information about games under different assumptions and their equilibrium conditions. In this context, regular and consecutive games in which there is no cooperation between the participants will be explained based on whether participants have complete and perfect knowledge of the competitions and conditions of the game. Examples will address how these games are used in economic theory and applications. Other topics, such as experimental game theory and Markov-perfect equilibrium, will also be discussed.
In this course, we will focus primarily on the fundamental functions of money in an economy and the factors that affect money demand. Then, the issues such as money supply, the essential components of monetary policy, the role of central banks in the economy, and the process of determining policy and market interest rates will be discussed. Next, different concepts and models of the monetary transmission mechanisms used to explain the actual economic effect of monetary policy will be presented, and the problems, such as how to determine the optimal institutional and operational monetary policy, will be addressed. Additionally, some disruptions that may arise in financial markets and macro-financial links will be touched upon.
This course will be based on possible disruptions to the market. It will use different optimization and game theory models to model other market structures outside the entire competition market, such as monopoly, oligopoly, and card, and models of various price and price strategies of companies operating in such market structures. Antitrust regimes and competition policies to prevent social welfare losses from such market structures will be studied globally.
This course will examine the theoretical and empirical approaches of primary energy sources such as oil, natural gas, coal, and electricity. The theoretical and practical practices of the processes in the spot and futures markets will be reviewed. Additionally, the impacts of energy and natural resources on economic development will be discussed.
The central theme of this course is the basic concepts of fiscal policy, finance policy applications, comparative analysis of the market economy with the public economy, and public goods. In addition, issues such as decision-making processes of public finance in the framework of models such as voting, contract and game theory, economic analysis of bureaucracy, local and central budgets, budgeting process, development of public expenditures, public incomes, and welfare will also be discussed.
This course addresses advanced qualitative forecasting methods and explains different time series modeling approaches, regression analysis, and econometric modeling. In the system's content, the characteristics of the time series will be emphasized, and the model selection will be taught to make the best guess for the structure of the given data. E-views and RATS software programs will be used during the coursework.
In addition to the course on the analysis of time series, this course aims to develop different models for understanding the relations between economic variables. The study explains different approaches to modeling panel data, problems encountered in estimating these models, and related econometric methods. In the study, applications will be made using STATA, a statistical software program.
This course, based on the mutual interaction between the environment and economics, will discuss how the economic operation should be regulated optimally to achieve a balance between economic activities and other social objectives. . Generally using microeconomic theories and practices, this course has the central theme of how to optimize economic efficiency and productivity with sustainable environmental policies.
This course will explain basic definitions, concepts, and theories about participatory development. In this framework, various indicators of economic development and growth will be addressed, as well as criticisms of different economic theories attempting to explain economic development, as well as criticisms of the concept and ideas of evolution. Finally, with essential information will discuss the structural transformations of economies, industrialization, agricultural change and environment, development policies, and market relations from an empirical point of view.
The course aims to provide students interested in this area as a whole with the ability to make an economic analysis of the transportation sector and to understand the contributions of the transportation sector to economic development. The course also seeks to understand various analytical techniques of managerial economics that facilitate decision-making in production and costs, demand, pricing, investment, and government regulation and intervention in the transport sector.
This course aims to examine the economic activities in the real estate, construction, and building sectors from a theoretical point of view and to analyze urban economics. At the beginning of the course, economic models and applications for the housing sector and financing are covered, followed by the construction and operation economics of commercial real estate. This model of models and applications of real estate products in banking and capital markets is studied in detail, with simulations and calculations of some of these products. This course also focuses on the financing dimension of the issues such as intelligent urbanization, urban transformation, and green building and their impact on economic growth.
This course is an introduction to understanding Islamic economics and finance. The course aims to teach the main theories and practices of Islamic economics and finance using basic concepts. Starting from the origins and historical background of Islamic Economics and finance to understand the paradigm, this course then examines the Islamic rule system and financial instruments. In the central part of the course, Islamic capital markets and the banking sector are emphasized. This course also focuses on Turkey's experience and shows how Islamic economics and finance are positioned within the Turkish financial sector.
This course is based on the claim that economic analysis methods are applied in law. In particular, it aims to examine the legal rules and legal institutions from the perspective of economic efficiency. It tries to guide rule-makers and judges by reviewing how much the legal order and practices such as property, law, compensation, peace, and jurisprudence overlap with the principle of efficiency of the economy.
This course discusses economic ideas and doctrines, namely how people perceive and make sense of the financial world around them. These discussions are handled with a comparative method, taking into account the perspectives of Eastern and Western civilizations. On the other hand, considering that ideas and doctrines are not independent of the environment in which they emerged, it also finds the discussion of the economic conditions in the time and place where ideas emerged, thus establishing a relationship with the history of economics.
This course surveys the literature and relevant research incorporating psychological evidence into economics and finance. It introduces the theories developed by research into cognitive biases, individual emotions, and other psychological effects on decision-making. It also explores applications of these theories in economics and finance. This course will investigate various behavioral frames, biases, and heuristics, and some implications on the market and investors will be examined. In addition, discussing some of the more popular and accepted theories and academic papers on human behavior from psychology and decision-making, some prominent features of irrational behavior in the economy and financial markets will be characterized.
This course aims to provide a theoretical and empirical examination of the labor market, addressing essential questions such as: How are wages determined? What is unemployment, and why do we observe it? What are the links between demographics and labor market outcomes? Is it worth investing in education? What is immigration's impact on wage earnings? Why does an informal labor market arise in economies? In addition, essential aspects of the US and Turkish labor markets will be discussed during the course.
In this course, using current economic data, the structural features of Turkey's economy are examined in depth while discussing the current economic issues. Economics and financial institutions are analyzed on the overall functioning of Turkey's economy, and major companies are concerned with business life in Turkey. Economic growth, unemployment, and international trade focus on significant economic issues such as privatization policies. Also, in this course, banking and capital markets out of the current problems of the financial sector in Turkey are analyzed.
As discussed during the historical development of Turkey's economy, the transition to modernity is a structural and institutional change analysis. In this course, economic politics of the last period of the Ottoman Empire, growth to and after the Republic, post-Great Depression, post-Second World War developments, import substitution politics, and liberal politics after 1980 are examined.
This course aims to develop the knowledge and competence of the participants on selected topics related to the economy.
In this course, the main principles and contract types of Islamic finance, which have grown remarkably in recent years, will be covered by referring to various financial sectors and institutions compared to conventional finance. The main aim of the course is to increase the participant's awareness of Islamic finance as an alternative financing model for Turkey and the World. The system will include contract types such as Musharakah, Ijarah, Musharabah, Musharakah, Salam, and Istisna, together with their usage, management, and risks. Furthermore, Islamic capital market instruments and institutions such as Sukuk and Islamic investment funds will be explained. Finally, the challenges to the further development of Islamic finance will also be discussed.
econ@ihu.edu.tr