The Economics profile studies what motivates and drives decisions for individuals, companies, competitors and authorities, and what determines prices, returns and economic allocations.

You will be equipped to analyse a diverse set of core economic questions such as:

• What are the effects of the financial crisis on the economy?
• Why are some mergers not profitable?
• Is taxing wealth a good idea?
• How fast should oil resources be exploited?

Candidates who have completed the Economics profile, have acquired the following at the end of the programme:

Knowledge

• a solid understanding of microeconomic models analysing demand and consumer behaviour, competition and firm strategy, as well as market structure and information;
• a solid understanding of macroeconomic models analysing growth and business cycles in the aggregate economy, inflation and employment, as well as monetary and fiscal policy;
• knowledge of econometric methods to analyse economic data, and an understanding identification of causal effects and prediction;
• an understanding of models and methods used in specialised areas in economics.

Skills

• the ability to work with and analyse analytic models of the economy;
• a critical understanding of the main theoretical models describing economic behaviour both at the micro- and macroeconomic level;
• the ability to analyse economic data and contrast and compare empirical predictions and implications across different economic models

Competences

• the ability to utilise available information and data with necessary critical understanding of sources;
• the ability to analyse economic questions using a combination of theoretical and empirical models;
• the ability to formulate research questions in economics and provide answers using both theoretical and empirical methods.
• the ability to work in teams and to communicate on economic issues to both specialists and a wider audience.

The Economics profile contains three mandatory courses:

• Macroeconomics cover areas such as business cycles, inflation and economic growth in a national and global perspective, including monetary and fiscal policy.
• Microeconomics focuses on consumer behaviour and strategic interaction between companies in markets with imperfect competition and on how information and uncertainty affect decision-making.
• Econometrics applies statistical methods to economic data in order to analyse economic themes with a focus on regression analysis and extensive use of practical lab exercises.

Three additional courses allow you to focus on subject areas you find particularly interesting, such as

• Industrial economics
• Macroeconomics
• International economics
• Development economics
• Labour economics
• Public economics
• Resource and environmental economics
• Behavioural economics
• Economic history

Ethics courses available in the Economics major:

• ECN421 Behavioral Economics
• ETI 450 Corporate Social Responsibility

Remember that the ethics course can also be a part of your elective courses. See list of all ethics courses.

Are you curious about taking a PhD or interested in more research-oriented work both at NHH and later in your career, find out more about the Research Distinction track within the master's programme.

Research distinction