Awards Offered
CERTIFICATE OF COMMERCE (ECONOMICS)
DIPLOMA IN ECONOMICS
BACHELOR OF COMMERCE (ECONOMICS)
Course Descriptions
HEC 101 Microeconomics I
Microeconomics seeks to explain how scarce resources are allocated amongst competing ends. It develops economic behavior of consumers and firms, covering analysis of demands of goods, services and resources within an economy. The framework develops, examines and evaluates the operation of the market mechanism for various structures and government policies. This course in microeconomics relies heavily on graphical analysis, supplemented by simple numerical illustrations.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 103 – Principles of Economics OR
HEC 001 – Foundation Microeconomics &
HEC 002 – Foundation Macroeconomics
HEC 102 Macroeconomics I
Macroeconomics deals with the behavior of the economy as a whole. This course extends on the Foundation Economics and HEC 101 Microeconomics course content with specific emphasis on the macroeconomic aspect. This course attempts to develop an understanding of macroeconomics concepts, tools, problems and policies at an introductory level. In dealing with macroeconomics problems and issues, the characteristics features of the South Pacific island economies will be highlighted. The key concepts and their applications toward solving contemporary economic problems will be examined through local and global examples and perspectives.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 103 – Principles of Economics OR
HEC 001 – Foundation Microeconomics &
HEC 002 – Foundation Macroeconomics
HEC 104 Economic Statistics
This course deals with statistical techniques that are commonly applied in the study of economics and analysis of economic issues. Statistical thinking deals with multiple statistical measures that are compatible with one another and allow significant perspectives about economic phenomena to be objectively and systematically expressed. It is assumed that all HEC 104 students have access to and have basic familiarity with a computer that is capable of running software SHAZAM.
Prerequisite(s): HCS 185 – Introduction to Computing &
HST 050 – Foundation Statistics
HMA121 Calculus I
The course is the extension of differential and integral calculus topics covered in HMA020. It will include: formal definitions of limits, continuity, and derivatives, and their uses, implicit differentiation, differentials, linearisation, quadratic approximation, indefinite integrals, definite integrals, Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, Indeterminate Forms, Infinite Series, Ordinary Differential Equation (First Order).
Pre-requisite(s): HMA020 or equivalent
HEC 201 Microeconomics II
This course refines and extends introductory microeconomic concepts and applies them to business decision making. Numerous applications and fundamental tools of analysis are introduced to illustrate the use of theory and to show how the tools can be used to explain and predict market phenomena.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 103 – Principles of Economics OR
HEC 101 – Microeconomics I OR HEC 102 – Macroeconomics I
HEC 202 Macroeconomics II
This course develops an analytical framework in order to evaluate the macroeconomic performance of the highly open economies of the Pacific and Asian region and the policy actions taken by their respective governments. Key issues addressed include a more advanced exploration of modern theories of National Income accounting, an overview of Aggregate Supply and Demand which discusses headline issues of Inflation and Unemployment, Goods market, Asset Market, Money Market and some basics of Monetary and Fiscal policy in both the closed and open economy context. Amongst others this course also touches on Consumption, Investment and some basic issues of international interdependence and growth policy.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 103 – Principles of Economics OR
HEC 101 – Microeconomics I & HEC 102 – Macroeconomics I
HEC 203 Business Economics
The goal of this course is to develop the student’s ability to analyze economic problems. This requires two things: first, the student must understand the tools that are available for economic analysis and what they do and second, and more difficult the student must develop the capacity to see the underlying economic structure of economic problems in order to apply the tools. More concretely, it focus on a body of economic knowledge called “Price theory” or “Microeconomics” that explains how businesses make decisions, and how all those decisions combine to produce Corporate and Market outcomes. This course will emphasize state-of-the-art economic theory, but spend quite a bit of time considering “real world” applications in order to illustrate the relevance of the concepts.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 101 – Microeconomics I OR
HEC 103 – Principles of Economics
HEC 204 Regression Analysis
Regression is one of the most important statistical techniques that econometricians use in their efforts to confront economic theories with real life data. This course will emphasize the intuition behind the procedures involved in regression analysis and concentrate upon achievement of proficiency in the implementation and interpretation of regression models in an economy context.
Prerequisite(s): HMA 121 – Calculus & HEC 104 – Economic Statistics &
HEC 103 – Principles of Economics, OR
HEC 101 – Microeconomics I, OR HEC 102 – Macroeconomics I
HEC 205 Environmental Economics
The main objective of this course is to help students understand the economic reasons for current environmental problems such as Air pollution, Water pollution, Ozone Layer depletion, Global warming and Over-exploiting of Natural resources such as Fisheries and many more. Also, students will be taught of relevant economic policies a government can use to remedy environmental and natural resource problems.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 101 – Microeconomics I OR HEC 102 – Macroeconomics I OR HEC 103 – Principles of Economics
HEC 301 Economics of Developing Countries
New Zealand’s income per capita is $US 13,780, virtually everyone can read and write, and on average, people can expect to live for 78 years. In Samoa, income per capita is $US 5,881, literacy rate is 100% and life expectancy is 70 years. In India, income per capita is $US 450, almost half the population cannot read and write and the average life expectancy is 63 years (2003). Most of the countries that make up the world economy have more in common with India. These countries (where more than 2/3 of the world’s population lives) are known as the “Third World’. Other names for this group of countries include “developing countries” and “less developed countries” (LCDs).
Prerequisite(s): HEC 201 – Microeconomics II & HEC 202 – Macroeconomics II
HEC 302 Comparative Economic Performance
This paper considers the application of economic analysis to the study of business organization and strategy, the nature of competition in markets, competition policy and the regulation of markets. Topics include: the nature of businesses and the costs of production, competitive and contestable market environments, monopolized markets and collusion, strategic competition in markets, product differentiation, competition policy and regulation in Samoa, business organization and co-ordination problems within firms.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 201 – Microeconomics II &
HEC 205 – Environmental Economics
HEC 303 Managerial Economics
This paper is fundamental to the business economics major in economics. A corporate or business analysis must be familiar with economic theory relevant to strategy and decision making in the modern corporation. The content of the course covers the review of multiple regression analysis using examples from marketing and investment decision making, utility theory and decision making under uncertainty, the role and value of information in decision making, game theory and managerial implications for strategic decision making, and case studies on strategic decision making in modern corporations.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 201 – Microeconomics & HEC 204 – Regression Analysis
HEC 305 Labor Economics
Labour economics studies how labour markets work. The labour market is undoubtedly the most important market that impacts directly on almost all of us for a significant period of our lives. This paper uses some elementary microeconomic and macroeconomic theory to increase our understanding of labour demand, labour supply and labour market outcomes. It addresses issues associated with changes in participation rates, the effect of minimum wage rates, the impact of unions, income inequality, labour market discrimination, unemployment (its causes and consequences) and an historical analysis of Samoa’s labour market legislation.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 201 – Microeconomics & HEC 202 - Macroeconomics
HEC 306 Economics of Health and Education
Health and Education are amongst the largest areas of government spending in Samoa. This course will teach students how economic policies impact the health and education sectors. Further, students will learn theoretical foundations and techniques of economical evaluation. This affords a special opportunity for the application of a wide range of microeconomic concepts and techniques (some covered in HEC 202) to significant real-world issues, such as health care rationing, the ‘ value of life’ and ‘user-pays’ (i.e., student fees) in education.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 202 - Macroeconomics
HEC 307 International Trade
World Trade Organization’s – the international organization that sets the rules for world trade – planned liberalization of trade in agriculture. In addition to addressing other issues, this course answers the question, why trade liberalization creates so much hostility? Formally, the course provides an introduction to the study of international trade policy. Major topics include explaining the pattern of international trade, the effects of international trade (including the welfare gains from trade and the impact of trade on income distribution), and the effects of trade protection policies.
Prerequisite(s): HEC 201 – Microeconomics & HEC 202 - Macroeconomics
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