Department of Economics
Introduction
Economics is commonly defined as the study of how society allocates scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. It focuses upon the fact that we wish to maximize our satisfaction through the consumption of goods and services (including leisure time); however, the resources available for production are limited. Hence, decisions must be made regarding what to produce, how to produce it most efficiently, and how to distribute the output among the various members of the society. Economics analyzes the market framework for making such choices.
At the microeconomic or “individual unit” level, economics examines the behavior of consumers, business firms, workers, and individual markets. At the macroeconomic or “aggregate” level, attention is given to the national and international problems of unemployment, inflation, balance of payments, and economic growth.
Advising
All majors and minors have a primary academic advisor from the Academic Advising Program. Students are strongly encouraged to meet regularly with their advisor and review their Tar Heel Tracker each semester. The department’s director of undergraduate studies and undergraduate advisor work with current and prospective majors by appointment. (See contact information above.) Departmental academic advising is particularly important for those majors who are considering going on to graduate school. Further information on courses, undergraduate research opportunities, the honors program, careers, and graduate schools may be obtained from the department’s website.
Graduate School and Career Opportunities
Economics students in recent years have frequently pursued graduate work in law and business administration, as well as the Ph.D. degree in economics. Others have entered international affairs/international studies programs. Students planning to pursue graduate work in economics should continue to take mathematics courses beyond the required level, and a minor or second major in mathematics is recommended.
Most students have accepted employment with commercial and investment banks, accounting and insurance firms, and a variety of other corporations. The economics major competes well with other majors (including business administration) in the job market. Employment surveys of recent graduates by UNC–Chapel Hill’s University Career Services indicate a relatively high ranking for economics majors in terms of employment rates and starting salaries. Note: Recent majors have found that job possibilities are enhanced if at least one accounting course has been completed at the undergraduate level.
Professors
Gary A. Biglaiser, Anusha Chari, Luca Flabbi, Neville Francis, Jane Fruehwirth, Eric Ghysels, Donna B. Gilleskie, Peter R. Hansen, Lutz Hendricks, Jonathan Hill, Fei Li, Brian McManus, Peter Norman, Steven S. Rosefielde, Jonathan Williams, Andrew Yates.
Associate Professors
Andrii Babii, Désire Kédagni, Sergio Parreiras, Klara Peter, Stanislav Rabinovich, Can Tian, Valentin Verdier.
Assistant Professors
Marlon Azinovic-Yang, Jaden Chen, Marco Duarte, Qing Gong, Samuel Higbee, Andrés Hincapié, William Jungerman, Jacob Kohlhepp, Yasutaka Mori, Can Urgun, Chuan Yu.
Teaching Professors
Michelle Sheran-Andrews, Geetha Vaidyanathan.
Teaching Associate Professors
Christopher Handy, Christopher Roark, Kalina Staub.
Teaching Assistant Professors
Yinghsuan Chao, Robert McDonough, Tugba Somuncu.
Professor of the Practice
Bernard Bell.
Adjunct Faculty
Simon Alder, James Anton, Clement Joubert, Ju Hyun Kim, Asger Lunde, Nathan Letts, Gordon Liu, Michael T. Owyang, Toan Phan, Frank Sloan, Duncan Thomas.
Professors Emeriti
John S. Akin, Dennis Appleyard, Rita Anne Balaban, Ralph Byrns, Patrick J. Conway, William A. Darity Jr., Alfred J. Field Jr., A. Ronald Gallant, David K. Guilkey, Dell B. Johannesen, James L. Murphy, Michael K. Salemi, John Stewart, Helen Tauchen, Boone Turchi, Roger Waud, James Wilde, Xiaodong Wu.
