Managerial Economics, as an EMBA core discipline that combines microeconomics to managerial issues, focuses on analyzing the functioning of markets, the economic behavior of firms and other economic agents and their economic/managerial implications through a selected set of topics that are motivated by real-world observations of business operations. Topics to be covered include fundamental market forces, consumer and firm behavior under various market structures, sophisticated pricing strategies with market power, decision-makings under uncertainty/risk/information asymmetry, strategic interactions in interdependent situations and a variety of behavioral insights.

The course begins with the analysis of business cycle dynamics (how output, employment, interest rate and price are determined) and the role of stabilization policy. It then moves on to the open economy with trade and capital flows. Key issues covered here include the determination of exchange rate in the short- and long-run, how currency risk can be hedged, how economic “shocks” are transmitted internationally and what policy can achieve in response. Additional topics covered include: the interplay between financial markets, macroeconomics and policy, determinants of economic growth in the long-run with lessons from Asia, rising economic integration in Asia and implications on currency regime, global imbalance and policy adjustments, and perspectives on financial crises.

Corporate Governance gives an overview of the importance of corporate governance and the mechanisms that help control managerial behavior. Different models and systems of corporate governance internationally are compared and contrasted, and policy responses of different countries to corporate governance concerns are examined. The course will then examine specific corporate governance mechanisms and issues. The Ethics sub-module will enable students to think critically about contemporary ethical issues and dilemmas faced by businesses and their stakeholders.

The focus of this course is on how general managers enhance and sustain business performance. It covers analytical and conceptual tools that are aids to the development of judgment. The fundamental focus, however, is not on tools, but on sharpening skills at developing robust judgments in the face of uncertainty and complexity.