Understand how social issues can be analysed theoretically from an economic perspective. Being able to describe behaviour in terms of choices people make (trade-offs) and market interactions that exist. Acquiring skills for developing a theoretical economic model.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) USED IN THIS COURSE IS WITH RESERVATION. A RE-EMERGENCE OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND NEW COUNTERMEASURES BY THE DUTCH GOVERNMENT MIGHT FORCE COORDINATORS TO CHANGE THE TEACHING AND ASSESSMENT METHODS USED. THE MOST UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TEACHING/ASSESSMENT METHOD(S) WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE COURSE SYLLABUS.

In many areas of life, such as education and learning at work, many trade-offs exist and decisions have to be made. People have to choose a school, a specialization and a field of study. Schools have to decide about the content of their curriculum, class size and selection criteria. Firms might consider to offer traineeships, and training courses. And the government has to decide about the structure of the educational system, its financing and how to monitor this. The main aim of this course is to understand such complex problems and to formulate them as an economic model. Economics comprises a powerful and flexible set of tools that can be applied to analyse the consequences of social forces and market behaviour to get to grips with such problems.

Several articles (will be announced through Canvas and course manual)

Required knowledge for this course is a basic understanding of economic models and elementary knowledge of mathematics. Students must be able to derive the maximum of a function. A bachelor degree in economics or a related field would be a perfect start for this course.