MS in International and Development Economics

Foundation Requirements

The foundation requirements represent three bodies of knowledge that all graduate students must acquire before enrolling in the core courses. Requirements are waived if they have been met by previous studies or work experience. In addition, students are expected to have competence in standard spreadsheet applications.

• Economic Theory – The fundamentals of economic theory at the undergraduate level, including intermediate microeconomics and intermediate macroeconomics.*
• Mathematics – A fundamental understanding of college calculus and the ability to apply calculus and basic linear algebra to economic models.
• Statistics – A basic knowledge of statistics, including random variables, probability distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing.

* Non-economics majors who have not taken Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, or Economic Methods (applications of mathematics and statistics to economics) take these classes as they begin the IDEC program. Students having taken these classes who did not earn a grade of B or higher are conditionally admitted. Conditional admission is removed when these requirements are satisfied, and such students are still able to complete the program in two years.

Overseas Field Study

Field study is coordinated with the help of a faculty adviser. The field research takes place in the summer between semesters of study at USF. Research collected during the field study can be applied to the graduate research project. While the department and its faculty have developed relations with partner universities in the Philippines, India, El Salvador, and Guatemala, students are not limited to these partnerships and can identify and set up an internship at sites in other countries. Travel stipends are available from the university to help cover the costs of the summer internship, but are not guaranteed.

Master's Research Project and Oral Presentation

In this seminar, students study and discuss several published empirical papers in international and development economics, which will serve as a guide for their empirical work.

Summer Bridge Program

The Summer Bridge program is uniquely offered to non-economics and non-math students.

Core Courses

• ECON 601 - Microeconomics: Theory & Applications
• ECON 615 - Mathematics for Economists
• ECON 620 - Graduate Econometrics
• ECON 623 - Field Research Methods
• ECON 637 - Econometrics: Causal Methods
• ECON 638 - Advanced Applied Econometrics
• ECON 670 - International Economics
• ECON 672 - Economics of Development
• ECON 690 - Development Economics Seminar

Note: Students take one of the following combinations in their second semester:

• ECON 663 - Experimental Economics Or
• ECON 676 - Natural Resource Economics & Development Policy and
• ECON 673 - Development Microeconomics or
• ECON 674 - Development Macroeconomics
• ECON 699 - Thesis

Electives

Choose one course from the following:

• ECON 501 - Applied Microeconomic Theory
• ECON 611 - Computation for Economics
• ECON 621 - Data Science for Economics
• ECON 622 - Machine Learning for Economics
• ECON 626 - Experiments & Causal Inference
• ECON 631 - Data Visualization
• ECON 636 - Econometrics: Panel Data
• ECON 663 - Experimental Economics
• ECON 665 - Law and Economics
• ECON 673 - Development Microeconomics
• ECON 674 - Development Macroeconomics
• ECON 676 - Natural Resource Economics & Development Policy

• Understand the application of modern micro and macroeconomic theory to the key problems of economic development, trade, and finance, including the analysis of market failures, poverty traps, the structure of incentives, the use of game theory to model institutional behavior, and open economy models of trade, migration, foreign direct investment, financial markets, and exchange rate determination.
• Design and carry out a fieldwork-based research project, including formation of an original research question, planning of an effective methodology, development of field protocols/survey instruments, and data collection in a developing or transition country
• Conduct original quantitative empirical analysis of an international or development economics problem. Specifically, students should be able to express an economic theory in terms of an observable model; determine the appropriate estimation method for the empirical model; utilize statistical software to conduct such estimation; and meaningfully interpret the results.
• Effectively communicate research findings both in writing and orally, including compilation of a professional literature review, clear presentation of theoretical and empirical models, econometric analysis, and the relevance of the study's principal findings and implications for international and/or economic development theory and policy.

Students are equipped for a future working professionally as program analysts in international agencies, international businesses, and non-governmental organizations, or as development researchers, practitioners, and policymakers for issues facing developing countries. Many also pursue further study in international and development economics in a PhD program.