The MA Program in International Economics is designed to train international economic policy experts, researchers,
consultants and executives who can play a leading role in dealing with international economic issues. This program is
designed for highly motivated students of high quality. Graduates are expected to be able to link scientific
skills with economic problems to devise new strategies and policies for business, governments and NGOs. The
program curriculum provides students with a solid background in economic theory and familiarizes them with
recent practices in international economics that are used in research, business and international institutions.
It offers an excellent preparation to enter into a doctoral program, either with a perspective on an academic
career in research or with the purpose of joining later the major international economic organizations. The use of
English as the language of instruction will integrate the students into the mainstream of the profession and will
facilitate the integration of foreign students with local students. Upon completion of the course participants will
have acquired the following main skills:
- General scientific skills
Graduates will be familiar with the research activity in general and in their field in particular.
They will know how to formulate a problem, prepare a research plan, collect data and deal with data analysis, assemble,
analyse and criticize the existing scientific literature. They will be trained in seminar presentations and
discussions. They will be able to write a thesis, structure a presentation, use demonstrations when needed,
present concise syntheses and intuitions where appropriate. They will also be keen to link their observations and
reasoning with policy implications.
- Specific skills
In the field of economics and more specifically of international economics, graduates will have a comprehensive view
of the state of knowledge, the most promising research avenues, the most puzzling issues, the role of quantitative
methods, the current organization of the scientific community. They will also be able to communicate effectively on
economic issues with the policy makers, the press, and the general public and the business community. They will
understand their needs and questions and be able to put them in perspective with the current state of knowledge,
or translate them into new research questions. They should also be able to contribute to economic reforms and
to their explanation taking the local context into account. The diversity and the various experiences of the
lecturers as well as of the student body will highly contribute to this last aspect.
- Personal skills
The research dimension of the program prepares the students very well to life-long learning, even those who will not
pursue research careers. The ability to work in groups and individually will be strongly developed throughout the program.
The students will have acquired experience in written and oral presentations, which will enable them to communicate
in a convincing and adapted way. They will be open for multidisciplinary approaches. They will have learned to take
different points of view (consumer, government, fairness, producers including workers, capital and owners) as usual
in economics but even more so in international economics (North-South, poor-rich, old-young, migrants-locals, etc.).
This will give them a unique openness as social actors.
Program graduates will possess a highly marketable qualification with critical skills required in the global economy,
central banking, international finance and business, foreign ministries, economic development agencies and government
economic policy departments, public international economic organizations or non-profit development-related organizations.
The most successful graduates will be able to pursue a Ph.D. Graduates can compete for careers in all areas of international
economic activity as researchers, advisors, lobbyists, managers or policy makers.
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