The social world is complex, as it involves people and their choices, which makes applied economics interesting and relevant for all society, from individuals to policymakers and business leaders. Because economics provides a rigorous way of thinking about trade-offs, incentives, costs and benefits, it has many real-world applications. An important theme is to analyze the economic motives for government intervention to improve societal welfare, and the work done nationally and internationally on sustainability.
Education
Our department gives courses in Economics from undergraduate level up to Master's level (One-Year Master Programme in Economics). In most of our courses we use theories and methods that examine the influence of incentives and regulations on individuals and firms from private markets to institutional settings. The progression in our teaching starts with the basic models and tools and are eventually combined with courses on quantitative methods (called econometrics), and how to apply them to analyze real-life phenomena. From the intermediate level, the teaching is performed in English.
Research
Our research can be described as Applied Economics in fields like transport, energy, health, environmental, public policy and finance. We mainly use quantitative methods, either based on register data, large datasets or questionnaires using experimental research designs. The core areas of research are environmental economics (for example energy, circular economy and management of public goods) and financial economics. In addition, health economics and public economics are growing in importance.
As most of our research is applied, we co-operate with many institutions locally, nationally and internationally – in Sweden with agencies such as Trafikverket (The Swedish Transport Administration), Transportstyrelsen (the Swedish Transport Agency), Naturvårdsverket (the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency), Energimyndigheten (The Swedish Energy Agency) and Myndigheten för Samhällsskydd och Beredskap (The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency) but also with various EU institutions and international organizations.
Careers
Upon completion of our programmes, you will be prepared to get managerial positions in the public and private sectors. The career opportunities in the private sector include consultancy, trading expert, financial advisor, and analyst. Opportunities in other sectors include all public policy areas and international NGOs. The Master programme will also prepare you for advanced studies in PhD programmes in Economics.