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MA in International Development
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| The two-year curriculum of this track consists of a combination of disciplinary/analytical courses and country/regional courses: the former provides analytical skills and general development knowledge that are applicable to all aspects of the development process; the latter focuses on the policies and/or experiences of a particular country or region. |
| The First Year Curriculum |
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| The first-year curriculum introduces the preparatory and core required courses that provide students with tools, concepts, and theories in international development. The program's core courses are among the best in the world when compared to core courses in other Master's-level professional programs. These courses expose students to cutting edge knowledge in development economics and related fields, thus helping them to analyze public policy issues within an inclusive and coherent theoretical framework.
Students begin preparations for a Master's Thesis toward the end of the first-year . Before the spring term of the first year, all students will have decided on their research topic and will have chosen an academic supervisor. In addition, students with their supervisor's guidance will have the opportunity to enroll in elective courses that will help them explore their research topic.
All required courses are designed to be taken in the first year so that the second year can be more devoted to effectively taking applied and thus advanced courses as well as completing the MA thesis as indicated in the following table:
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FIRST-YEAR CURRICULUM |
| FALL term |
WINTER term |
SPRING term |
Economic Concepts
and Theories |
Microeconomics I
Macroeconomics I |
Microeconomics II
Macroeconomics II |
Development Economics |
Analytical and
Computing
Skills |
Mathematics for Economics and Management(A)
Statistics for Economics and Management |
Applied Econometrics |
Research Methodology
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| Thesis Supervising |
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Advanced Seminar I |
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Elective Courses |
| Language Courses |
| The Second Year Curriculum |
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The second-year curriculum consists of disciplinary/analytical and country/regional elective courses. Practical and policy-oriented second-year courses strive to expand the theoretical knowledge and analytical capabilities developed from the first year in order to facilitate problem-identification and problem-solving in the international development arena.
In the second-year curriculum, each student has to write her/his own Master's Thesis while participating in advanced seminar sessions with their academic supervisors. Defending her/his Master's Thesis is the most demanding component of the program. It gives students an opportunity to analyze their research topic in depth by integrating tools, methods, concepts, and theories that they have acquired in the entire two-year program as well as the skills and knowledge base that each student had developed in his or her previous professional and academic careers.
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| Courses Offered and Course Requirements |
(MA in International Development)
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| Course Requirements |
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| Students must at least gain the number of credits in the Required Courses, Elective Required Courses, and Elective Courses for their graduation, as indicated in the following table: |
| COURSES |
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CREDITS |
Required
Courses |
Core Required Courses |
18 credits |
| Advanced Seminars I, II, and III |
6 credits |
Elective
Required
Courses |
Applied Disciplinary Courses |
at least 12 credits |
| Regional and Country Courses |
at least 4 credits |
| Electives |
From among all courses at the IUJ including preparatory courses within the GSIR and the courses offered in the GSIM |
at least 4 credits |
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Total |
at least 44 credits |
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Required
Courses |
Microeconomics I
Macroeconomics I
Mathematics for Economics and Management (A)
Statistics for Economics and Management
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
Research Methodology
Applied Econometrics
Development Economics
Advanced Seminars I, II, and III |
Elective
Required
Courses
(Applied Disciplinary) |
Agricultural Economics
Computable General Equilibrium Modling
Cost Benefit Analysis
Cross0Sectional and Panel Analysis
Development Finance
Development Planning (Multisector Models)
Economic Geography
Econometric Modeling and Forecasting with Time Series Data
Environmental Economics
Financial Economics and Capital Markets
Foundation of Web Technologies
Health Economics
Industrial Organization and Public Policy
Inequality and Poverty: Measuerment and Applications
International Finance
International Trade
IT Strategy & Policy Planning
Macroeconomics and Policy Analysis
Mondy and Banking
Project Cycle Management
Public Finance
Public Sector Economics
Quantitative Methods for Decision Making
Urban and Regional Planning
*It is recommended that students chooses Applied Disciplinary courses from the above.
Student can also choose other Applied Disciplinary courses offered by GSIR and GSIM if they are necessary for the research |
Elective
Required
Courses
(Regional and Country) |
Japanese Banking and Financial System
Japanese Political Economy
Japanese Public Finance and Administration
OPEC and Economic Development
Postwar Japanese Economy
*Students can also choose other Regional and Country courses offerd by GSIR and GSIM. |
| Language Courses |
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| English |
Academic English I, II and III
English for Thesis Writing I and II
English for Professional Communications |
| Japanese |
Basic Japanese I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and IX
Elementary Japanese I, II and III
Intermediate Japanese I, II and III
Advanced Japanese I, II, III and IV
Business Japanese I
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*Please note that any credit gained from language courses cannot contribute towards your graduation, while you can earn some credits by taking language courses.
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(MA in International Development)
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| Core Required Courses |
Mathematics for Economics and Management (A)
This course introduces a variety of fundamental mathematical tools that are useful in analyzing economic and social issues.
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Statistics for Economics and Management
This course introduces students to basic theories of probability. The objective of the course is to understand the assumptions (requirements) of statistical decision making and to get used to the idea of probability. This process lays the groundwork for a sequence of econometrics courses. As you may know, econometrics is the most widely used tool for analyzing data in economics. You are expected to use econometrics in your thesis if you are interested in empirical research.
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Microeconomics
This course extends and generalizes the basic framework of microeconomic theory. Assumptions on no market failure will be released to consider asymmetric information, externalities, public goods, and strategic interaction among agents, in which markets themselves do not work well. This course also extends an equilibrium in a single market into a general equilibrium in multiple markets.
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Macroeconomics
This is a survey course in macroeconomics and is designed to develop a structural under-standing of
the economy as a whole. This course gives students the background they need to understand the broad
movements in the global economy. Key topics include long-run economic growth, business-cycle,
in.ation, rates, monetary and .scal policy, wage inequal-ity, unemployment. By the end of the course,
students should be able to understand the discussions of macroeconomic issues in the level of graduate
school.
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Research Methodology
This course aims to provide students with the working knowledge of research methodologies and techniques that are the systematic and objective search for and the analysis of information relevant to the identification and solution to the development issues. The general objectives of this course are to: (1) develop the students' problem formulation and analytical skills; (2) provide students with a sound knowledge of research process and methodologies; and (3) raise the students' awareness to the potential biases and limitations of research data and techniques.
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Applied Econometrics
The aims of this course are to get students to be familiar with econometrics techniques to deal
with actual data. The course will thus provide students basic theoretical concepts, and practical
techniques to handle actual data. The course consists of two parts; lectures of basic concepts and
applications of the basic concepts to practical estimation with actual data. In the practical
applications, both of EViews and Excel will be used to apply basic concepts for practical
estimation. This course assumes students’ full understanding of materials taught by Dr Mangyo in
the autumn term. One of the most important objectives of this course is to provide students
bridges between the econometric theory and practical estimations, and the final goal of this
course is to give students their confidence to “cook” data properly consistent to the econometric
theory.
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Development Economics
This course introduces students to typical topics in development economics. Both micro and macro issues in development economics will be covered. For example, we will discuss rural credit issues. Informal money lenders, such as landlords and shopkeepers, offer loans with high interest rates in rural credit markets. What prevents formal lenders, such as government and commercial banks, from participating in rural credit markets in spite of the prevalent high interest rates? For another example, we will study agricultural land tenancy. In Latin American countries, land tenancy is largely in the form of fixed rent, whereas Asian tenancy is characterized by a high incidence of sharecropping. Where does the difference come from? My hope is that students find one or more topics particularly interesting, so you can work on the chosen topic as your thesis project or even as your research project after graduating from IUJ.
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| Elective Required Courses (Applied Disciplinary) |
Agricultural Economics
This course explores the economic foundations for public policy
analysis related to agricultural issues in rural areas. The emphasis of this course is on
concepts and introduction of various tools required for policy analysis and empirical
research in agricultural economics. In particular, the course aims to deepen students'
understanding of how economic theory can be applied to analyze policy problems of
agricultural sectors. This course is suitable for individuals who have strong interest in
economic development and agricultural economics, and want to examine these issues
with quantitative and econometric methods as a policy analyist.
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Applied Time Series Analysis
The goals of the course are twofold: (1) develop a comprehensive set of tools and techniques for analyzing various forms of time series and for understanding the current literature in applied time series econometrics; (2) show how to use STATA to estimate time series models.
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Computable General Equilibrium Modeling
The aims of this course are to introduce students basic concepts of the general equilibrium
and techniques of computable general equilibrium models. The first half of this course will
cover static models, and the other half will cover dynamic models.
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Cost Benefit Analysis
This course is intended to provide a clear understanding and guidance in the use of benefit-cost analysis while evaluating development projects that bear major resource and policy implications. This course requires a basic knowledge of microeconomics. Wherever possible, examples are used to aid the exposition. Certainly, this is not a course on pure microeconomics or welfare economics exclusively. Microeconomic and welfare concepts that are relevant in benefit-cost analysis will be discussed.
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Development Finance
This course aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the role of monetary and fiscal economics in developing countries combining theory and empirical evidence and to acquire deeper insights into the interrelationships between finance and growth. It also exposes students to the theoretical principles and practical applications of various microfinance models.
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Development Planning
This course is designed to introduce some techniques and models of development planning
and policy analysis in developing as well as developed countries. The course focuses on
multi-sector models and their applications in development planning.
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Econometric Modeling and Forecasting with Time Series data
Econometric modelling and forecasting have become one of the most important tools for policy makers of the day in quantifying the impacts of various policies on their economies. To tackle practical problems policy makers and business managers need to build empirical models.
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Environmental Economics
This course explores the economic foundations for management
and public policies of environmental problems such as natural resource depletion and
pollution control. The emphasis of this course is on basic concepts and introduction
of analytical tools for policy decision-making as well as generating research in environ-
mental economics. In particular, the course aims to deepen students' understanding of
why resource and environmental problems have occurred from the economic point of
view and what kind of policy tools, which are provided by economics and management
science, should be implemented to solve these problems.
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Health Economics
This course will be different from a typical Health Economics course in that it covers journal articles and textbook chapters I find interesting. A wide range of topics are included. For example, you may believe that professional medical services have historically contributed a lot to the advancement of human health. A close examination of the relationship between the two, however, would reveal that professional medical services may not be as effective to human health as you think. For another example, you may think that physicians always try to cure your illnesses or injuries as quickly as possible with the minimum costs incurred on you and the society as a whole. However, if you look at physicians as economic agents, you may also think that physicians maximize their profits rather than maximize patients’ or societal utility. We will look at some studies relating to this issue.
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Inequality and Poverty: Measurement and Applications
This course is a one-credit course, designed to introduce some measures of inequality
and poverty and present their applications in developing countries. Topics covered in
the course include: growth-inequality-poverty relationships, Kuznets hypothesis,
meaning of inequality (income homogeneity, population homogeneity, and transfer
principle), Lorenz curves and Lorenz comparisons, Lorenz-consistent inequality
measures and decomposable inequality measures, Gini coefficient and its
decomposition by factor components, generalized entropy class of measures (e.g., Theil
indices) and their decomposition by population sub-groups, Theil indices and the
Kuznets process, measurement of regional income inequalities, measures of poverty,
Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) index. Some STATA commands are introduced to
conduct inequality and poverty analyses with household survey data.
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International Finance
This course is an introduction to open macroeconomics (or international finance); international capital flows, international monetary system, and their implications for economic policies for individual nations and the world as a whole. It is divided into a theory part and a policy part. We study international macroeconomic theory by building up an integrated model of exchange rate and output determination. In the second part of the course we will apply our analytical tools to a range of current and historical issues. These include the evolution of the international monetary system, macroeconomic policy coordination, optimum currency areas, global capital markets, and currency crises.
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International Trade and Commercial Policy
Why do nations trade? What determines the pattern of trade? Who gains from trade? This course
first investigates the reasons and determinants of trade using well-established theories in the field.
Even though most of these theories assume free trade environments, there are a variety of
restrictions in the real world. Some people say that these restrictions ought to be lifted, but other
people argue the opposite. In this normative perspective, this course examines policies that
intend to promote or regulate international trade. Finally, current international trade agreements
(bilateral and multilateral) and trade-related organizations, particularly the WTO, will be
reviewed.
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Macroeconomics and Policy Analysis
This is a course in dynamic macroeconomic theory. It is based on general equilibrium theory and consists
of several self-contained modules. In each module we will combine the learning of techniques with a
particular topic in Macro, Public Finance, Money, Labor, Growth and Business-cycle or other areas. The
purpose of this course is to familiarize students with the techniques and models of aggregate dynamic
economics. In this course we will spend a fair amount of time developing techniques for dynamic analysis
and applying the results to the study of traditional macroeconomic questions.
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Project Cycle Management
Project Cycle Management Course is designed to provide students with a practical knowledge of the management method, skill and tool for development projects including ODA projects and NGO’s projects.
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Public Finance
The aims of this course are to introduce students basic concepts of public finance,
particularly in the context of macroeconomic policies. The course will also provide students
relevant theoretical methods to analyze government public finance policies. The course will
emphasize on applications of advanced macroeconomics to public finance, where
microeconomics assumptions such as the optimal behavior of each agent over time are
introduced. Thus the course will include the review of introductory microeconomics and
macroeconomics.
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Public Sector Economics
The aims of this course are to introduce students basic concepts of public sector
economics, particularly paying more attention to the role of the public sector in the market
economy in the context of microeconomics. This course could thus be considered as an
opportunity to apply microeconomics for several practical issues related to the public
sector, and students would realize how much their understanding of microeconomics helps
them evaluate many issues related to the public sector in practice.
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Quantitative Analysis of Economic Policies
The purpose of the course is twofold. The first is to teach students econometric and computational skills so that they can better understand extant research papers in the area of economic development. The second is to help students to undertake quantitative analyses on their own while using the skills learned in the course.
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Quantitative Methods for Decision Making
This course is designed to provide students with a working knowledge of quantitative techniques for economic and management decision problems. Stress is placed on problem formulation in decision-making situations, and the interpretations of the problem solution results. Solution procedures will be discussed also to facilitate the interpretations, but not in a rigorous manner, so that no advanced mathematics are required.
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Urban and Regional Economics
This course aims to introduce the foundation and applications of urban and regional economics. The course will examine the concepts and theory of urban and regional economics, based mostly on microeconomics theory. The principles discussed in the course provide the basis for analyzing and understanding the spatial dimension of economic activities. The emphasis in the course is on the theoretical principles, but the analysis of practical issues is not neglected. The better understanding of economic behavior in an urban and regional context, however, requires that its analytical underpinnings be clearly understood. This course will be relevant to students interested in urban and regional economic analysis, economic geography, local government policy, business location decision, and urban affairs and management.
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| Elective Required Courses (Regional and Country) |
Japanese Banking and Financial Systems
 The financial system, particularly its banking sector, has frequently been in the news over the years. The objective of this course is to understand various roles of banking and financial systems. In economics, a bank can be defined as an institution whose current operations consist of granting loans and receiving deposits from the public.
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Japanese Political Economy
This course focuses on selected issues in the political economy of contemporary Japan. The primary focus will be the interaction between Japanese political and economic institutions, and public policy. It first looks at how postwar political institutions (e.g., the structure of the bureaucracy; the long-dominance of the Liberal Democratic Party) shaped Japanese politics and public policy to promote economic growth. Second, it examines how the old system became out of date as Japan has become a world economic power; and finally explores how the system will change through policy reforms (such as deregulation). The class is a mixture of lecture- and seminar-style, and is designed for graduate students with some background in Japanese studies or political economy.
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Japanese Public Finance and Administration
The course analyzes the system of the Japanese public finance and administration. Japan has employed a centralized system introducing Western countries’ various social mechanisms since Meiji Restoration and succeeded in catching up with the Western countries. After World War II, the Japanese government introduced Keynesian policy to strengthen social infrastructures that stimulated both supply side and demand side of the economy with a large amount of government debts. In the course, the role of central and local government is examined elucidating the public money flows through taxation system, local allocation tax system, etc..
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OPEC and Economic Development
This course focuses on the economic policies and development of the OPEC members in the Middle East. Those countries have not yet succeeded to attain the economic development. There is, however, no simple explanation of the economic policy for the failure in the region, because other than economic factors such as political, social, cultural and external have also shaped the economic landscape. Therefore, in this course, we are going to analyze the situations of the economic development in the OPEC members from the interdisciplinary point of view for the better understanding the difficulties and dilemma which those countries are commonly facing.
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Postwar Japanese Economy
This course studies the postwar Japanese economy from both historical and empirical perspectives. The Japanese economy achieved high economic growth and overcame the oil crises after World War II. The course analyses the factors that lay behind the development of the Japanese economy, focussing on the roles of the government and of the private sector. The contemporary Japanese economy is also subjected to empirical analysis.
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