UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA, NSUKKA

FACULTY OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

Postgraduate Programmes in Economics

The Department of Economics offers postgraduate programmes leading to the award of Master of Science (MSc) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in Economics.

Philosophy, Objectives and Scope of Programme

In keeping with the goals of the University and in line with the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) minimum benchmark for Postgraduate programmes in Economics, the postgraduate programme run by the Department of Economics have been redesigned to promote advanced training and research in Economics. The main objectives of the programmes are to develop highly competent and versatile professional economists through the provision of relevant academic and professional courses which are required in order to meet the challenges of the Nigerian economy in the context of globalization. In other words, the ultimate objective of the programme is to continuously produce professional economists who are well armed to play positive roles towards the social and economic advancement of Nigeria, Africa and the world. In addition to preparing students for a career in public and private services, the postgraduate diploma (PGD) is designed to prepare students for advancement to a higher degree programme in Economics. Areas of specialisation include Economic Theory, Econometrics, Monetary Economics, Labour and Industrial Economics, International Economics, Development Economics, Economic Planning, Mathematical Economics, Mathematical Statistics, Operations Research, Petroleum and Energy Economics, Finance and Public Sector Economics, Environmental Economics, and Health Economics.

Postgraduate Diploma (PGD)Programme

Admission Requirements

The criteria for admission into any Post Graduate Diploma programme in Economics are as follows:

  • Candidates must have five credit passes including English Language and Mathematics at O’level
  • Candidates with Bachelors Degree of not less than 3rd class honor degree from an approved university
  • Candidates with HND and/or professional qualifications cognate to Economics from recognized institution with not less than upper credit.

 Duration of the programme

A full time PGD programme shall run for a minimum of two (2) semesters and a maximum of four (4) semesters. The part-time programme shall run for a minimum of four (4) and a maximum of six (6) semesters.

Requirement for Graduation

A candidate must have fulfilled the following conditions to be awarded a Post Graduate Diploma in Economics

  1. Registered and passed a minimum of 30 credit units of both compulsory and elective courses as follows:
  • Compulsory courses 15
  • Electives 9
  • Project 6

Total                                 30

  1. Carry out and submit research project relevant to the area of specialization based on an approved topic by the Department and the Board of School of Postgraduate Studies within the stipulated period for graduation.

Courses shall include:

  • Advanced principles of Economics 3 units
  • Computer Application             3 units
  • Mathematics for Economists             3 units
  • I core course Reflecting the Orientation of the PDG 3 units
  • Seminars            3 units
  • Elective courses reflecting students area of specialization 9 units
  • Project            6 units

Total                                                                                          30 units

Domiciliation of the Programme

The PGD programme shall be domiciled in the Department of Economics and Faculty of the social sciences.

Students Enrolment

This shall not be more than 40% of the Postgraduate for academic Master’s programme of the Department and shall be subject to the carrying capacity of the Department.

External Examiner System

The external examiner shall be used at the end of the PGD programme to assess the courses and projects. The external examiner must be a senior lecturer and above with a PhD in the discipline.

The project shall be subject to oral examination where the student is required to show evidence that he/she carried out the work and had pertinent knowledge of the subject matter. A score shall be awarded at the end of the examination.

List of Supervisors

  1. Professor Cletus Chike Agu, B.Sc, M.Sc (Ibadan), PhD (Wales). Area of Specialisation: Monetary Economics.
  2. Professor Stella Ifeoma Madueme, B.Sc, B.Ed, M.Ed, M.Sc, Ph.D, Ph.D (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation: Economic Development
  3. Professor Hyacinth Ementa Ichoku, B.Sc , M.Sc (Nigeria), M.Sc, Ph.D (Cape Town). Areas of specialization: Health and Development Finance
  4. Professor Osita Ogbu, B.Sc (Nigeria), M.Sc., PhD (Howard). Area of Specialisation:
  5. Ezebuilo Ukwueze, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialization: Development Economics
  6. Jude O. Chukwu, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation: Development Economics
  7. Dr. Uche M. Ozughalu, B.Sc (Nigeria), M.Sc, PhD (Ibadan). Area of Specialisation: Development Economics.
  8. Emmanuel O. Nwosu, B.Sc (First Class Hons), M.Sc., (Nigeria), M.A. (Tsukuba), PhD (Nigeria). Areas of Specialisation: Development Microeconomics, and Microeconometrics,.
  9. Anthony Orji, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation: Finance and Development
  10. Dr. Kojo Edeme, B.Sc., M.Sc (Deltsu), PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation: Public Finance.

LIST OF COURSES: For PGD, the list includes

Compulsory Courses                                                                                                credit units

ECO.               0501 – Advanced Microeconomic Theory & Policy                          3

”                  0502 – Advanced Macroeconomic Theory & Policy              3

”                  0505 – Research Methods                                                                  3

”                      0503 – Economic Statistics                                                                 3

”                  0506 – Econometrics                                                                          3

Elective Courses

”                  0511 – Problems and Policies of Development                                  3

”                  0521 – Monetary Theory and Policy                                                  3

”                  0532 – International Economics                                                         3

”                  0541 – Public Finance                                                                         3

”                     0561 – Comparative Economic Systems                                            3

”                  0571 – Mathematics for Economists                                                  3

”                   0533—Computer Applications                                                           3

”                  0562—Financial Aspects of Development                                         3

“                  0591—Postgraduate Seminars                                                            3

 

SEMESTER DISTRIBUTION OF COURSES AND COURSE UNITS: COURSEWORK AND PROJECT REPORT FOR PGD

First Semester Second Semester
Course Credit Units Course Credit Units
1.      ECO 0501: Advanced Microeconomic Theory and Policy  

3

1.      ECO 0502: AdvancedMacroeconomic theory and Policy  

3

2.      ECO 0505: Research Methods 3 2.      ECO 0506: Econometrics 3
3.      ECO 0503: Economic Statistics 3 3.      Elective 3
4.      Elective 3 4.      ECO 0592: Project 6
5.      Elective 3    
Total 15 Total 15

 

COURSE CONTENTS FOR PDG PRORAMME

ECO 0501                  MICROECONOMIC THEORY AND POLICY (3 UNITS)

Fundamental quantitative relationships; General equilibrium and disequilibrium; dynamic equilibrium analysis; Production functions: duopoly, oligopoly; bilateral monopoly and monopsony.Theories of determination of wages, rent, interest and profit; Optimization in theories of consumption and production. Economic efficiency; and equity; externalities; social and private costs. Pareto optimum; social welfare functions. Policy applications of microeconomic theories.

ECO 0502                  MACROECONOMIC THEORY AND POLICY I          (3UNITS)

Revision of income determination from simple closed economy to a four-sector economy; Detailed theories of consumption and investment functions; The classical and Keynesian theories, the theory of inflation;Business cycles and forecasting; The relation of these issues to leading problems in public policy; The rationale for the existence of the public sector, formulation of national economic policy; Planning principles and analysis; Policy objectives, instruments and implementation; Balance of payments equilibrium and disequilibrium; balance of payments adjustment mechanism; devaluation, contemporary issues in public policy in Nigeria.

ECO 0505                  RESEARCH METHODS                            (3 UNITS)

The objective of this course is to equip students with adequate knowledge and skills in the following aspects of Research methodology the philosophy of economic research; identification of researchable problems and the development of hypotheses or research questions. The course will also involve a detailed treatment of the methods and problems of collecting relevant research data, the format for presenting research results (i.e. from designing the table of contents to footnoting; referencing bibliography). Also to be covered are the various methods of establishing relationships between economic variables; basic elements of model building in economics; application of multivariate analysis, correlation and discriminant analysis; tests of causality (e.g. Sims-Granger tests, (Chow tests and sensitivity and stability of economic models) as well as analysis of variance. Chisquare tests, etc. students will be required to write a seminar paper in this course.

ECO 0503                  ECONOMIC STATISTICS                                    (3 UNITS)

Sampling and sampling distributions; Estimation; Tests of hypotheses; Extension of Regression analysis (simple and multiple) and all the statistical tests of significance; Basic sampling and surveys; Growth surveys extensions of the analysis of variance; Chi-square.

ECO 0506                     ECONOMETRICS                                   (3 UNITS)

Definition and scope of econometrics, stages of econometric research. Regression analysis (Simple and multiple) and the statistical tests of significance. Econometric problems (heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, multicollinearity): their causes, detection, consequences and correction. Basic ideas of the identification problem, dummy variables, and distributed lags. Simultaneous equation estimation methods (2, SLS, 3 SLS, etc); Matrix treatment of multiple regression; Advanced treatment of the simultaneous equation estimation techniques. Instrumental variables.

ECO 0511                  PROBLEMS AND POLICIES OF DEVELOPMENT (3 UNITS)

Capital formation: Savings/capital accumulation. Various Income hypothesis: Implications for policy/saving: Institutional problems: land tenure system: Structural rigidities. Leadership style: Poverty and Income distribution, inequalities of power, prestige, status, political and economic participation in decision-making: population problem: Problems of food scarcity, housing, health/educational systems. Policy options to deal with these problems should be discussed.

ECO 0521                  MONETARY THEORY AND POLICY              (3UNITS)

Role of money in the economy, money and net wealth, the demand for and supply of money under equilibrium and disequilibrium conditions, the monetary approach to the balance of payments, high powered money, monetary policy, international monetary policy.

ECO 0532                  INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS                      (3UNITS)

Theories of international trade: Comparative advantage and factor proportions theories; alternative theories; static and dynamic gains from trade. Trade protection: free trade and restricted trade; tariffs and domestic protection. Theories of economic integration; International and regional trade organization; Balance of payments; the adjustment mechanisms; the foreign exchange market and balance of payment policies; fixed and flexible exchange rates. Exchange control and convertibility; international liquidity and the international monetary system. Foreign aid and capital flows.

ECO 0541                  TAXATION AND FISCAL POLICY                   (3 UNITS)

Rationale for the existence of the public sector; Taxation: the theory of taxation; taxation and tax incidence, welfare costs of taxation. Negative income tax. The Nigerian tax system with respect to personal income tax, import duties, excise and sales taxes. Fiscal policy- elements of fiscal policy: taxation, expenditure, debt management and monetary control. Techniques of revenue estimating. Fiscal federalism. Financing the Nigerian federalism. Principles, effects and problems of debt financing and tax financing in Nigeria.

ECO 0571                  MATHEMATICS FOR ECONOMISTS               (3 UNITS)

Concept of Mathematical Economics, economic models, components of a mathematical model, types of functions, functions of who or more independent variables, equilibrium analysis in economics, linear models and matrix-algebra, concept of derivatives and economic application, optimization: equilibrium analysis, constrained optimization: Lagrange-multiplier method. Cobb Douglas function as a special case of the CES function, integrals and some economic applications, differential equations, simultaneous equations dynamic models, linear programming: Simplex method, input-output analysis and linear programming: Non-linear programming, game theory.

ECO 0561                  COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS         (3 UNITS)

Marxian ideals of development, free market system, mixed marked economics; the Yogoslav, French, USSR, Japanese, Tanzania, Chinese, and Nigerian Experiences.

ECO 0562                  FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT  (3 UNITS)

The financial constraint, sources of development finance-domestic services, domestic credit creation and limitations, governing surplus, foreign finance, the debt problem.

 

MASTER OF SCIENCE (MSc) IN ECONOMICS

  1. Admission Requirements
  2. Candidates must satisfy the matriculation requirements of the University including English Language and Mathematics.
  3. Candidates with Bachelor’s degree in Economics from an approved university whose Economics programme is accredited by the NUC.
  • Candidates with a minimum of second class lower degree and a CGPA of 3.00 on a five point scale.
  1. Candidates with a Post Graduate Diploma degree from a cognate discipline awarded by a recongnized institution with not less than an upper credit.

 

  1. B)     Duration of Programme
  2. A full time Master’s Programmes shall run for a minimum of four (4) semesters and a maximum of six (6) semesters.
  3. Part-time master’s programmes shall run for a minimum of six (6) semesters and maximum of eight (8) semesters.
  4. For extension beyond the specified maximum period, permission of the School of Postgraduate studies shall be required.

Requirement for Graduation

To be awarded a Master of Science Degree in Economics, a candidate must pass a minimum of 33 credit units made up as follows.

M.Sc. Courses

(a)        Core Courses:                                                                          Credit Units

Advanced Microeconomics                                                    4

Advanced Macro-economics                                                  4

Quantitative Research Method                                               3

Qualitative Method                                                                 2

Issues in Entrepreneurship                                                      2

(b)        Elective courses in the area of specialization                          6

(c)        Seminar                                                                                   3

(d)       Dissertation                                                                             6

Total                                                                                        30

 

 For M.Sc. the list of Courses includes

ECO    501 – Microeconomics I

”                 503– Macroeconomics I

”                 502 – Microeconomics II

”                 504 – Macroeconomics II

”                 505 – Mathematical Economics

,,                591—Research Methods

”                 506 – Econometrics II

”                 511 – Economic Development & Planning

”                 521 – Money and Banking

”                 532 – International Economics

”                 541 – Public Sector Economics and Finance

”                 551 – Labour Economics & Industrial Relations

ECO    553 – Project Appraisal

”                   561 – Demography

”                   571 – Econometrics

”                   572 – Advanced Mathematical Economics

”                    574 – Environmental Economics

”                    561 – Health Economics

”                    582 –Energy and Petroleum Economics

”                    592 – M.Sc Project/Dissertation

 

SEMESTER DISTRIBUTION OF COURSES AND COURSE UNITS: COURSEWORK AND DISSERTATION FOR THE MSc PROGRAMME

First semester Second Semester
Course Credit Units course Credit units
1.      ECO501: Microeconomics 1  

2

1.      ECO502: Microeconomics 11  

2

2.      ECO 503:Macroeconomics 1 2 2.      ECO504: Macroeconomics 11 2
3.      ECO505:

Quantitative Methods

3 3.      ECO506: Econometrics 3
4.      ECO591: Research Methods 2 4.      ECO562: Issues in Entrepreneurship 2
5.      Eco 571:

Introductory Econometrics

2 5.      Elective 2
6.      Elective 2 6.      Dissertation 6
Total 13 Total 17

 

COURSE CONTENTS FOR M.SC PRORAMME

The Compulsory Courses

ECO 501           MICROECONOMICS 1                          (2 UNITS)                                                                

Theory of the firm: technology of the firm; properties of the firm’s technology; profit maximization; comparative statics; Cost minimisation; comparative statics results; Consumer behaviour theory: utility maximization; the expenditure function; money metric utility functions; Slutsky equations; compensating and equivalent variations; consumer surplus; Uncertainty: expected utility functions; risk aversion. Intertemporal Utility maximization

ECO 502           MICROECONOMICS           11                          (2 UNITS)

Advanced treatment of the theory of the firm: competitive pricing-short-run and long-run, comparative statics and welfare; Monopoly pricing and output decisions: comparative statics, welfare implications and regulation of monopoly power; Imperfect competitive market pricing, comparative statics; monopolistic competition; oligopoly and theory of games. General equilibrium analysis.

ECO 503 MACROECONOMICS 1                                             (2 UNITS)

Theories of Economic growth and Convergence: Basic Harrod-Dormar model; The Basic Solow neoclassical growth model with extensions to embodied and disembodied technical progress; multiple equilibria, varying savings and consumption assumption; Golden rule of accumulation, The new (Endogenous) Growth models and the challenge to the neoclassical models.

ECO 504 MACROECONOMICS 11                                           (2 UNITS)

Open Economy Macroeconomics and Policy Design:Extensive treatment of open economy macroeconomics: Mundell-Fleming model in small and large open economies; exchange rate regimes; effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policy under alternative assumptions of capital mobility and exchange rate regimes; covered and uncovered interest rate parity; international policy coordination; The Macroeconomic Policy Debate and the Design of Macroeconomic Policy: The macroeconomic policy debate; Activism versus passivism; Rules versus discretion.

ECON.505     MATHEMATICAL ECONOMICS                                  (3 UNITS)

Matrix algebra; special types of matrices; Transpose of a matrix; partitioned matrix; inverse of a matrix; Applications of matrix algebra in economics; eigen values and eigen vectors; the trace of a matrix; derivatives and partial differention; Jacobian matrices; maxima and minima; constrained maxima and minima; integral calculus and its applications to economic models; Difference equations: Linear first-order difference equations; Applications of difference in economic models; linear second order difference equations ; Applications of second order difference equations in economic models. First and second order differential equations and applications to economics; Simultaneous differential equations; phase diagram; Dynamic optimization, calculus of variations and optimal control and maximum principle; transversality conditions;

ECON.506       ECONOMETRICS                                     (3UNITS)

Microeconometrics

Introduction to Cross-sectional and panel data analysis: panel data models: first difference estimator; Fixed effect and random effects models; Limited dependent variable models: probit, logit, bivariate probit and multinomial logit models; method of simulated maximum likelihood; Model Selection: two-step estimator and Heckman model selection.

Time Series/Macroeconometrics

Time series econometrics: Testing for stationarity; multivariate and single equation cointegration analysis and the estimation of error correction models; Structural breaks; VAR Models; ARIMA and GARCH models; introduction to macroeconometric model building; introduction to forecasting and simulations.

ECO 591       RESEARCH METHODS                                        (2 UNITS)     

The design of economic research project: statement of the research problem; research thesis; essence and techniques of literature review; methodology: survey method, historical method, econometric method, experimental designs, etc; estimation, diagnostic tests, and evaluation of hypothesis; inferences and conclusions. Basic issues in interpreting micro and microeconomic data; the base year, scaling of data, summary indicators, nominal and real magnitudes; implication of missing observations, small samples, poor quality of data, and inconsistencies, of data for economic analysis and inference; procedures for managing data; interpolations, and interpolations; Sampling and sampling design (design and validation of research instrument): sample selection procedure and techniques of questionnaire design/administration; procedures for data collation (scoring and coding for computer analysis), Random variables and probability distributions.

ECO 562                    ISSUES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP                               (2 UNITS)

The entrepreneur as a factor of production; basic elements in entrepreneurship development; the role of entrepreneurship in economic development (empirical evidence from journal papers will form examples). The factors militating against entrepreneurship development in Nigeria: regulation, infrastructure, access to credit, security, etc. Government efforts to encourage entrepreneurship development in Nigeria: building capacity, training, startup capital, self-employment as a policy, etc. Developing entrepreneurial capacity in Nigeria: feasibility studies, market analysis, locational advantage, cost of doing business analysis, etc. Analysis of enterprise surveys.)

ECO 571        ECONOMETRICS 1                                                                       (2 UNITS)

The Generalised Linear Model, Extensions of the Generalized Linear Model, Generalized Least- squares, Autocorrelation, Heteroscedasticity; Stochastic Regressors, Instrumental variables, errors in variables and endogeneity problem; simultaneous equation methods, Identification and estimation issues. Introduction to panel data analysis; Introduction to time series analysis: unit roots accounting for structural breaks; introduction to single equation and multivariate cointegration analysis.

 

Elective Courses

ECO 511        ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING       (2 UNITS)

Section A: Development Macroeconomic issues and Planning

Advance theories of economic growth and development: The Harrod-Domar model. The input-output technique and other aggregate models; Impact of industrial, commercial and agricultural policies; import substitution, export promotion, foreign aid, demonstration effects; The choice of planning techniques in national development plans: analysis of a number of planning models used in particular in Nigeria and other less-developed countries-successes and failures; Planning problems involving manpower demand and supply, regional development.

Section B. Development Microeconomic Issues and Survey Data Analysis

Introduction to Survey data analysis: Household and Demographic and Health surveys. Poverty: Poverty as a multidimensional concept; correlates of poverty, measurement issues and survey data analysis; poverty alleviation and targeting; Income distribution: Inequality and various measurement issues; Gini-coefficient and Lorenz curves, Generalised Lorenz curves, generalized entropy index and decompositions; Analysis of pro-poor growth.

ECON 521   MONETARY ECONOMICS                                    (2 UNITS)

Monetary Theory and Issues: Definition of money; Demand for money theories; Money supply theories; Instruments of monetary policy; Rules versus authority in Monetary policy; Transmission mechanism; Monetary versus fiscal actions; Money and economic growth; Banking Issues: An overview of the financial system structure; The Nigerian banking structure; Basic considerations in banking: Risk analysis; bank capital adequacy; bank earnings; Balance sheet management: liquidity concepts and policies, lending policies, investment instruments and policies; Comparative Financial Systems. Empirical papers in monetary and banking issues will form part of class room discussions.

ECO 531             INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS                             (2 UNITS)

Trade theory: advanced treatment of the theories of international trade from classical to modern; Comparative statics of trade with respect to changes in tastes, factors endowments technology, etc, Altemative theories of trade and growth in developing countries. Commercial policy: The free trade doctrine and arguments for a restricted trade. Theories of tariffs, quota and other trade restrictive devices; Regional economic integration; international trade institutions; and international economic co-operation; International Financial Relations: The balance of international payment and the foreign exchange market. The developing countries and the international monetary system: the IMF, etc. Current issues in trade and other negotiations shall form part of class discussions.

ECON 541     FINANCE AND PUBLIC SECTOR ECONOMICS                  (2 UNITS)

Economic Rationale for state intervention; first and second fundamental theorems of welfare economics; assumptions under which markets are efficient; types of intervention; intervention and social justice; Public Goods and Preference Revelation; characteristics of public goods; free rider problem; optimal provision of public goods; Theory of Public Finance: The nature of the public sector. Theory of public revenue and expenditure. Fiscal Federalism;Taxation and fiscal policy; Public debt. Government subsidy.

ECO 551        LABOUR ECONOMICS AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS   (2 UNITS)

Review of basic labour market theory; Theories of individual and household labour supply; Human capital theory. Wages and structure information in the labour market;thelabour market: Efficiency, segmentation, and Flexibility. The relationship between labour market/processes and economic development. Theories of trade unionism. Theory of industrial relations. Institutional aspects to the labour market, the Enterprise, Management and employers’ associations. Aims and objectives of trade unions; Industrial conflict: Collective bargaining; Current issues in industrial relations; Industrial relations in Nigeria and other countries.

ECO 553       PROJECT APPRAISAL                                                                  (2 UNITS)

The project concept; project cycle; Financial analysis and investment criteria for industrial project; Economic Analysis of Projects (Social cost-benefit studies), shadow pricing, distributional impact; special topics e.g. risk and uncertainty, project analysis and national economic planning, project management with particular emphasis on implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

ECO 561        DEMOGRAPHY                                                                  (2 UNITS)

Demographic analysis; population census, vital statistics and registration; adjustment of demographic data including interpolation and graduation procedures; Analysis and measures of fertility, mortality and migration; The life Table; Population Projections; dynamics of population change and population models; Analysis of Demographic and health surveys data; Issues in Migration: Remittances flows; brain drain and migration policies in OECD countries.

ECO 582        ENERGY AND PETROLEUM ECONOMICS               (2 UNITS)

political economy and empirical perspectives of energy policy and its implications for energy supply and demand; local, national, and global markets for oil, natural gas, coal, electricity, nuclear power, and renewable energy; public policies affecting energy markets including taxation, price regulation and deregulation, energy efficiency, and control of emissions and environmental policy more generally. Production and marking of oil products; Demand and distribution of petroleum products in Nigeria; Rationale of uniform pricing and retailing petroleum products. Petroleum subsidy; Contribution of petroleum to Nigeria’s economy and its impact on agricultural policy and productivity. Oil crisis and inflation; Oil money flows and international financial system; International oil companies and the future of the OPEC.

ECON 572     ADVANCED METHEMATICAL ECONOMICS                                  (2 UNITS)

Difference and differential equations; stability properties of dynamic optimization over time, the calculus of variations, dynamic programming, optimal control and maximum principle; The application of dynamic optimization techniques to models of capital accumulation and economic growth. Introduction to stochastic models.

ECO 574        ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS                                             (2 UNITS)

Introductory Issues: Introduction: The emergence of environmental economics; Fundamental Issues in the economic approach to environmental issues; The drivers of environmental impact; Poverty and inequality; Limits to growth; Concepts of Sustainability; Main Issues in Environmental Economics: Environmental Pollution: Pollution Control: Targets; A static model of efficient pollution; intertemporal analysis of stock pollution; International Environmental Problems: International Environmental cooperation: Game theory analysis; International treaties; Acid rain pollution, stratospheric ozone depletion, the greenhouse effect; international trade and the environment; Cost-benefit analysis and the environment; Valuing the Environment: Dimensions of value; The theory of environmental valuation; Environmental valuation techniques: travel cost method, contingent valuation, and other techniques; Natural Resource Exploitation: The efficient and optimal use of natural resources: a simple model of resource depletion; importance of natural resource in the production.

ECO 563                    Health Economics                                                      (2 UNITS)

Course Content Introduction to health economics: Health Facts and statistics within and across countries; Why Health Economics; Applying Economics to Health; Health as a Good and the production of Health. Economic evaluation in health care: Interrelationships between health care and health insurance markets, Health care costs, Production of health, Demand for Medicare, Market for Healthcare and Healthcare facilities. Advanced health economics: Modeling Health Care Demand; Health Insurance; Reproductive Health. Health care policy and statistics: Formulation of Health Policy; Provision and Regulation; Access to Healthcare and Inequality Analysis; Trade in Pharmaceuticals

ECO 592                    MSc DISSERTATION                                                         (6 UNITS)

The thesis must deal with a research problem chosen from the candidate’s area of specialization in which the candidate must have done the relevant elective courses. The Report which is expected to be written in good English should demonstrate the candidate’s mastery of literature and research methodology. The dissertation involves at least a three-stage process: (1) presentation of research proposal (2) Presentation of Final Report and (3) Grading by External Examiner. Candidates whose works fail to pass plagiarism tests will not be allowed to present their works.

 

  1. DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PhD) PROGRAMME

The key objective of the Ph.DProgramme is to train and develop highly Professional economists, preparing and building up their independent intellectual capacity for sustainable and creative useful careers in teaching and research in higher institutions of learning, research and administration in research institutes, government, non-governmental/national and international organizations, business organizations and specialized consultancy services.

The Department of Economics was motivated to introduce PhD courses in order to: (1) bridge the gap between the Master’s degree holders trained in the Department and those coming from other universities (2) bring candidates who finished their master’s degree many years ago up-to-date with the current trend, (3) provide basic training in advanced economic theory, research methods and econometric modeling to enable students produce high quality publishable PhD research in economics and (4) to meet the NUC minimum benchmark for postgraduate programmes in the Nigerian universities. In other words, the ultimate objective of the PhD coursework is to ensure quality control.

The PhD Programme shall consist of three components, namely, a course Work, Thesis Writing and Oral Defence. The course work would be for one academic session, and shall be taken only on a full-time basis. No candidate shall be accepted as a part-time PhD student who has not successfully completed the course work. Where appropriate, all courses failed must be repeated and passed. The pass mark for each course taken shall be 50 percent.

Each candidate shall submit appropriate number of bound copies of a supervised Thesis as the final requirement for the award of the PhD degree. The supervised thesis must be based on original research, which must be orally defended successfully before an appropriate panel of examiners. The thesis must represent a specific original contribution to economic knowledge. Prior to submission for oral examination, each PhD student must give at least three seminars as follows: (1) presentation of research proposal (2) presentation of progress report and (3) presentation of final report. On no account must any of the steps skipped for any student. Ph.D students whose works fail plagiarism tests will not be allowed to present their thesis proposals and may be asked to discontinue the programmme by the Departmental Board.

Admission Requirement

All candidates must:

  1. Possess the university minimum requirement for a B.Sc degree in Economics
  2. Have obtained a Bachelor’s degree from an approved university whose Economic Programme is accredited by NUC.
  • Have a minimum of a Second Class Lower degree in the discipline.
  1. Hold a Master’s degree in Economics with a CGPA of at least 4.0 on a 5.0 point scale.
  2. Submit a brief satisfactory statement of intended area of research.

Duration of the Programme

The duration of the PhD programme shall be:

Full-time: A minimum of six (6) semesters and a maximum of ten (10) semesters.

Part-time: A minimum of eight (8) semesters and a maximum of twelve (12) semesters

Requirements for Graduation

Doctorate (PhD) programmes shall primarily be by Course Work, (12 units) Seminars (6 unites). A Doctoral (PhD) Thesis of 12 credit units must be defended before a panel of examiners of professional status.

Areas of Specialization for Masters (MSc) and Doctorate (PhD) in Economics

  1. Economic Theory
  2. Industrial Economics
  3. International Economics
  4. Monetary Economics
  5. Finance & Public Sector Economics

6          Development Economics

  1. Labour Economics
  2. Environmental Economics
  3. Health Economics
  4. Operations Research
  5. Petroleum & Energy Economics
  6. Economic Planning
  7. Advanced Economics
  8. Mathematical Statistics
  9. Mathematical Economic
  10. All such other areas of specialization that may be approved from time by the Senate of the respective university.

Compulsory Courses:

Selected Topics in Advanced Macroeconomics                                 4

Selected Topics in Advanced Microeconomics                                  4

Research Methods and Econometrics                                                 4

Seminars                                                                                              6

Thesis                                                                                                  12

Total                                                                                                   30

 

Compulsory Courses

ECO 601: Advanced Microeconomic Economic Theory and Policy 1 (first Semester) (2 UNITS)

Advanced treatment of the Theory of the firm: technology of the firm; properties of the firm’s technology; profit maximization; weak axiom of profit maximization and comparative statics; Cost minimization; weak axiom of cost minimization and comparative statics results; Advanced treatment of Consumer behaviour theory and applications to practical issues such as contingent valuation methods, agricultural household models; Decisions under Uncertainty: expected utility theory; risk aversion; principal-agent problem; insurance markets.

ECO 602: Advanced Microeconomic Economic Theory and Policy 11 (Second Semester)       (2 UNITS)

Extensive treatment of theory of Games and its applications to the study of oligopoly models- classical and modern models. Market failures: externalities; public goods; and Asymmetric information; Introduction to mechanisms design. Institutional economics; economics of transaction;

ECO 603: Advanced Macroeconomic Theory and Policy 1 (first Semester)       (2 UNITS)

Theories of Economic Growth and Fluctuations: Solow Model: Cross-country per capita income convergence; dynamic optimization, and applications to dynamics of economic growth; The new (Endogenous) Growth models and the challenge to the neoclassical models; Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans model and Over-lapping generations model, the role of Government purchases; real business cycle theory;

ECO 604: Advanced Macroeconomic Theory and Policy 11 (second Semester)                        (2 UNITS)

The design of macroeconomic policy; Monetary and Fiscal Policies and economic stabilization; Instruments, Targets, and objectives; Feasible and optimal policy in a dynamic setting; Rational Expectations and other problems in optimal policy (Lucas critique) choice; the politics of policy-making.Review of Macroeconomic Models for Policy in African Countries.

ECO 691: Research Methods I: Qualitative Research (first Semester)                (2 UNITS)

The design of economic research project: academic research proposal versus grant-seeking research proposal; identification and formulation of the research problem; formulation of main objectives and specific objectives; essence and techniques of literature review; documentation of literature sources; methodology: survey method, historical method, econometric methods, methods of experimental design. Theoretical and conceptual frameworks; Sources of research data; Sampling and sampling design (design and validation of research instrument): sample selection procedure and techniques of questionnaire design/administration; procedures for data collation (scoring and coding for computer analysis); data reduction: method of principal component, etc. The structure of the research thesis;

Elective Courses

ECO 672: Research Methods II: Microeconometric Modeling (second Semester) (2 UNITS)

Advanced treatment of Cross-sectional and panel data models: Analysis of household surveys using STATA; poverty and inequality analysis and policy simulation; panel data models: first difference estimator; Fixed effect and random effects models; panel instrumental variables and dynamic panels; attrition problems. Limited dependent variable models: probit, logit, bivariate probit and multinomial logit models count data models; two-step estimator and Heckman model selection. Econometrics of impact evaluation: matching techniques and regression discontinuity design. Computer/practical exercises.

ECO 606: Research Methods III: Time Series and macroeconometric modeling (second semester)    (2 UNITS)

Advanced treatment of Time series econometrics: Testing for stationarity; accounting for structural breaks in the data, cointegration and the estimation of error correction models; structural VAR models, ARIMA and GARCH Models; forecasting with ARIMA, GARCH and VAR and VEC models; introduction to macroeconometric model building; forecasting and simulations; Computer/practical exercises.

ECO 692        PhD Thesis                                                                                        (12 UNITS)

The thesis must deal with a research problem chosen from the Candidate’s area of specialization. It must show familiarity with existing Literature and a mastery of research methodology. It must also make an original contribution to knowledge and be publishable.

 

List of Supervisors:

  1. Professor Cletus Chike Agu, B.Sc, M.Sc (Ibadan), PhD (Wales). Area of Specialisation: Monetary Economics.
  2. Professor Stella Ifeoma Madueme, B.Sc, B.Ed, M.Ed, M.Sc, Ph.D, Ph.D (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation: Economic Development
  3. Professor Hyacinth Ementa Ichoku, B.Sc , M.Sc (Nigeria), M.Sc, Ph.D (Cape Town). Areas of specialization: Health and Development Finance
  4. Professor Osita Ogbu, B.Sc (Nigeria), M.Sc., PhD (Howard). Area of Specialisation:
  5. Ezebuilo Romanus Ukwueze, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialization: Development Economics
  6. Jude Okechukwu Chukwu, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation: Development Economics
  7. Dr. Uche M. Ozughalu, B.Sc (Nigeria), M.Sc, PhD (Ibadan). Area of Specialisation: Development Economics.
  8. Emmanuel O. Nwosu, B.Sc (First Class Hons), M.Sc., (Nigeria), M.A. (Tsukuba), PhD (Nigeria). Areas of Specialisation: Development Microeconomics, and Microeconometrics,.
  9. Anthony Orji, B.Sc (Hons), M.Sc., PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation: Finance and Development
  10. Dr. Richardson Kojo Edeme, B.Sc., M.Sc (Deltsu), PhD (Nigeria). Area of Specialisation: Public Finance.
  11. Dr. Nathaniel Emeka Urama, B.Sc. (First Class Hons), M.Sc, Ph.D (Nigeria).

Area of Specialisation: Macroeconomics