ECO 101: The Economic System
3, 3/0; Y
Prerequisite: None
A Social Sciences Core Course
Overview course. Development of fundamental economic concepts, basic economic institutions and their history, and contemporary economic issues. Supply and demand, markets, gross domestic product (GDP), inflation and recession, and the role of government. Economic issues such as energy, environment, education, and health care included when appropriate. Will not count toward the credit hour requirement of majors. May not be taken concurrently with or subsequent to ECO 201 or ECO 202.
Recent Instructors: Drs William Ganley, Curtis Haynes, Jr., Douglas Koritz and Ted Schmidt
Semesters Offered: Every Fall, Spring
ECO 103: Economic history of the United States
3, 3/0; 1
Prerequisite: None
A Civilizations,U.S History Core Course
The history of the United States from an economic perspective. U.S. history is understood by studying the development of economic institutions and social change. Causes and effects of changing labor organization and relations, production technique, business and industrial organization, trade patterns, and economic policy.
Recent Instructors: Drs Susan Davis, Victor Kasper, Douglas Koritz and M. Stephen Pendleton
Semesters Offered: Every Fall & Spring
ECO 104 History of Economic Development in the Third World
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: None.
A history of economic development in Asia, Africa and Latin America for those with no previous college-level background in economics. The course concentrates on the experience of formerly colonized countries over the past 200 years as part of a broad outline of world economic history since 1492.
Recent Instructors: Dr Douglas Koritz
Semesters Offered: New Course
ECO 189: Topic Course
1, 1/0
ECO 201: Principles of Macroeconomics
3, 3/0; Y
Prerequisite: None
A Social Sciences Core Course. Required of all Economics & Finance majors.
The major economic forces—consumer expenditure, business investment, and government spending—and their influence on national income. Money and banking, monetary and fiscal policies, inflation and recession, economic growth, and international monetary problems. Either ECO 201 or ECO 202 may be taken first.
Recent Instructors: Drs Susan Davis, William Ganley, Yung Mo Kim, and Douglas Koritz
Semesters Offered: Every Fall, Spring and Summer
ECO 202: Principles of Microeconomics
3, 3/0; Y
Prerequisite: None.
A Social Sciences Core Course Required of all Economics & Finance majors.
Individual units in the economy—consumers, firms, and resource owners—and how their decisions influence market prices and industrial output. Supply and demand, competition and monopoly, corporations, capitalism and socialism, labor, and international trade. Either ECO 201 or ECO 202 may be taken first.
Recent Instructors: Drs William Ganley, Yung Mo Kim and Douglas Koritz
Semesters Offered: Every Fall & Spring, Most Summers
ECO 220: Economics of Sports
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: None.
The principles of economic analysis through investigation of the sports industry. Profits, labor conflicts, and other special features of professional and collegiate sports.
Recent Instructors: Dr Susan Davis
Semesters Offered: Based on Staff Availability
ECO 300: Labor Economics
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 202
Competing theories of labor-market operation in market economies. Problems of labor markets (such as unemployment and discrimination). History of the evolution of labor markets in the United States and the role of government in affecting outcomes. Current issues, including increasing international competition in product and labor markets, the impact of technological change in altering workforce skill and educational requirements, and structural change in compensation and occupational distribution.
Recent Instructors: Dr Susan Davis
Semesters Offered: Based on staff availability
ECO 301: Economics of Labor Relations
3. 3/0
Prerequisite: None
Present-day techniques in labor-management negotiations, the collective bargaining agreement, the development and structure of organized labor, labor law, and labor economics.
Recent Instructors: Dr Susan Davis
Semesters Offered: Based on staff availability
ECO 302: Women in the Economy
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 201 or ECO 202 recommended.
A Diversity Course
Women’s position in the U.S. economy, how it has changed, how it compares to that of men and to the economic positions of women in other countries. Theoretical and empirical issues in analyzing women’s economic status.
Recent Instructors: Dr Susan Davis
Semesters Offered: Every Spring Semester
ECO 304: Money and Banking
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 201, MAT 110, or consent of instructor.
Required of B.S. majors in Financial Economics
The nature and function of money. The American monetary system and the role of the banking system. The structure and functions of the Federal Reserve System. Fundamental monetary theory and its relation to monetary policy. Current problems relating to the impact of monetary policy on prices and employment.
Recent Instructors: Drs Fred Floss, Alex Ratkowski and Ted Schmidt
Semesters Offered: Every Fall & Spring
ECO 305: Statistics For Economics
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: Must pass Math competency.
Introduction to elementary statistical principles, descriptive statistics, and statistical inference. Applications in economics, business, and criminal justice. Required for majors.
Recent Instructors: Drs Ted Byrley, Fred Floss and William Ganley
Semesters Offered: Every Fall, Spring and Summer Semesters
ECO 307: Intermediate Microeconomics
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 202, MAT 110, or consent of instructor.
Required of all Economics & Finance majors.
Advanced study of individual units in the economy and how their decisions influence market prices and industry output. Includes the theory of consumer demand, the theory of the firm, resource allocation, income distribution, and welfare economics. Required for majors.
Recent Instructors: Dr Alex Ratkowski
Semesters Offered: Every Fall & Spring Semester
ECO 308: Intermediate Macroeconomics
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 201, MAT 110, or equivalent.
Required of all Economics & Finance majors.
Advanced study of aggregate economic activity and its influence on national income. Includes Classical and Keynesian theory, monetary and fiscal policies, business cycles, forecasting, and economic growth. Required for majors.
Recent Instructors: Dr Victor Kasper
Semesters Offered: Every Fall & Spring Semester
ECO 312: Urban Economics
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 202, or instructor consent.
A Diversity Course
Application of economic analysis to urban growth, land use, poverty, housing, segregation, pollution, congestion, and urban public finance.
Recent Instructors: Dr Douglas Koritz
Semesters Offered: Alternate Spring Semesters;
ECO 320: Managerial Economics
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 202 , ECO 305, MAT 110 or equivalent.
Using economic analysis to formulate and provide guides to the solution of management decision and control problems, and the development of appropriate business policies.
Recent Instructors: Dr. Alex Ratkowski
Semesters Offered: Based on staff availability
ECO 325: Industrial Organization
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 202 or permission of the instructor.
The links between economic theory and structure, conduct, and performance of national and international industry over time. Designed for economics and business majors. Emphasis on price theory, inter- and intra-firm relationships, and industrial policy.
Recent Instructors: Dr. Curtis Haynes Jr.
Semesters Offered: based on staff availability
ECO 350: Public Finance
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 202 and MAT 110 or equivalent; ECO 307 recommended.
The nature and growth of public expenditures; principles of taxation; federal, state, and local revenue; introduction to fiscal policy and theory; significance of public debt; selected problems in intergovernmental fiscal relations.
Recent Instructors: Dr Frederick Floss
Semesters Offered: Based on Staff Availability
ECO 355: The Economics of Energy and the Environment
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 202 or permission of the instructor.
Micro- and macroeconomic activity imposed by the availability of energy resources and by environmental considerations. Alter-native policy strategies relating to energy and the environment are evaluated in terms of their economic impact.
Recent Instructors: Dr M Stephen Pendleton
Semesters Offered: based on staff availability
ECO 360: Introduction to the Economic Analysis of Law
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 307 or permission of the instructor.
Introduction to the study of law from an economic perspective. No prior knowledge of law is required, and all economic concepts needed are presented. Uses economic concepts and reasoning to explain and predict consequences of legal rules. Includes important issues found in court cases involving contracts, property law, liability, and environmental law.
Recent Instructors: Dr Yung Mo Kim
Semesters Offered: Based on Staff Availability
ECO 389: Topics Course
3, 3/0
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 201 and ECO 202; ECO 307 recommended.
Basic theories of international trade. The international monetary mechanism and the institutions that facilitate its operation. Foreign economic policy and contemporary problems relating to tariffs, payments, balances, devaluation, and gold as a means of setting international payments in balances.
Recent Instructors: Drs Frederick Floss, Yung Mo Kim
Semesters Offered: Based on Staff Availability
ECO 403: Comparative Economic Systems
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 201 and ECO 202 or instructor consent.
Essential characteristics of different market economies as they have evolved to the present, their strengths and weaknesses, increasing social control, trading and monetary unions, contrast with socialist systems.
Recent Instructors: Drs Susan Davis and M. Stephen Pendleton
Semesters Offered: Alternate Fall semesters
ECO 404: Economic Development
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: At least two economics courses, not including ECO 101,.
The difficulties of economic development, industrialization, and worldwide poverty. Competing theories of economic growth and structural change. Problems of population, natural resources, and environment. The growing interdependency of the U.S. and lesser-developed countries’ (LDCs) economies. The crucial role of women in development, as well as ethnic and other social and cultural relationships. LDCs debt crisis and international finance. Macro- and microeconomic planning models. The policy-making process, development strategies, and specific case studies of LDCs in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Recent Instructors: Dr Douglas Koritz
Semesters Offered: Alternate Fall Semesters
ECO 405: History of Economic Thought
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 201 and ECO 202 or instructor consent.
Required of all B.A. majors in Economics and all B.S. majors in Applied Economics.
The attempts of key economic thinkers from Aristotle to the present to analyze economic phenomena and provide guidance for economic policy.
Recent Instructors: Dr. William Ganley
Semesters Offered: Every Spring
ECO 411: Regional Economic Analysis
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 201 and ECO 202 or instructor consent; MAT 110 recommended.
Analysis of location on economic activity, urbanization patterns, and regional growth and development. Techniques in measuring the level of economic activity of a region, using Western New York as a model. The impact of the Buffalo urban area on the development of the surrounding region.
Recent Instructors: Dr Douglas Koritz
Semesters Offered: Based on Staff Availability
ECO 412: Urban Economics
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: ECO 201 or ECO 202 or permission of instructor.
Application of economic analysis to urban growth, land use, poverty, housing, segregation, pollution, congestion, and urban public finance.
ECO 424: Econometrics
3, 3/0
Prerequisite: MAT 126, ECO 201 or ECO 202, ECO 305 or equivalent.
Required of all B.S. majors
Introduction to applied statistical analysis, with primary emphasis on business and economic applications. Provides quantitative background for graduate study in economics, business, public administration, and related social science, as well as for many types of employment.
Recent Instructors: Dr Victor Kasper
Semesters Offered: Every Fall & Spring
ECO 488: Internship
Variable Credit
Prerequisite: ECO 201, ECO 202, and one relevant ECO elective; 2.5 GPA; upper division status.
Application and integration of economic concepts and methodologies in an off-campus field setting, under the direction of a faculty sponsor, with the cooperation of a designated field supervisor. A maximum of 3 credit hours of ECO 488, ECO 495, or ECO 499 may be applied toward the major.
Internship Director: Dr. Alex Ratkowski
Semesters Offered: Every Fall, Spring & Summer
ECO 490: Senior Seminar in Economics and Finance
Prerequisite: Senior standing; ECO 305, ECO 307 and ECO 308, ECO 424 recommended.
Required of all Economics & Finance majors.
Capstone course in economics. Required of all senior economics majors. Investigation and presentation of findings of selected advanced topics in economics. Senior paper on a topic in economics or financial economics required.
Recent Instructors: Rotates among faculty on an annual basis
Semesters Offered: Every Fall & Spring
ECO 495: Special Project
Prerequisite: 3.0 GPA (in major and overall); ECO 307, ECO 308, or approval by Curriculum Committee.
A maximum of three hours of ECO 488, 495, 499 may be used in the major.
Semesters Offered: Every Fall, Spring & Summer
ECO 498: Honors ResearchVariable Credit
Prerequisite: Admission to honors in economics.
A review of the literature and development of the theoretical issues relevant to research topic.
Semesters Offered: Every Fall & Spring
ECO 499: Independent StudyPrerequisite:3.0 GPA (in major and overall); ECO 307, ECO 308, or approval by Curriculum Committee.
A maximum of three hours of ECO 488, 495, 499 may be used in the major.
Semesters Offered: Every Fall, Spring & Summer