10 February 2025

Spring 2025 Call for Participation: Live-Streamed Courses in Economics

Date

10 February 2025

Time

The University of Central Asia's (UCA) Institute of Public Policy and Administration (IPPA), in cooperation with the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education's Economics Institute (CERGE-EI) Foundation, invites all master level students, faculty members, applied researchers, and other interested individuals to participate in a live-streamed economics course starting in March 2025. Courses will be delivered online from CERGE-EI’s Digital Media Center in Prague and coordinated by UCA from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan to allow live streaming to multiple locations. Teaching Assistants from UCA will also provide basic assistance with course delivery.

Costs and Tuition Fees
Courses are offered free of charge to course participants.

Language

The language of instruction for all courses offered by the CERGE-EI Foundation is English. However, we allow for flexibility in using native language when delivering exercise sessions by local instructors.

Course Schedule

In Spring 2025, courses will be offered on Development Economics, Modeling Macroeconomics, Behavioral Economics, Applied Microeconomics: From Correlation to Causation, Financial Markets and Econometrics in a Nutshell. All courses will be conducted in six-week modules, with the final exam scheduled for Week seven and the make-up exam scheduled for Week eight. Participants who complete courses will be awarded CERGE-EI Foundation certificates.

Admission Requirements

The program is intensive and rigorous, and an advanced BA/introductory MA level of economics knowledge is required. Participants should expect to be challenged and should be able to demonstrate self-motivation. UCA reserves the right to select only those applicants it believes have the qualifications and experience to succeed. All courses will require the active participation of all students. Teachers will utilize modern technology to engage students and encourage their active involvement in the coursework and class discussions.

Registration

The number of places is limited. To register for a course, please fill in the registration form until February 10, 2025, following the link below: https://forms.office.com/r/P3Tuae1ZmA

Courses:

Part 1: Applied Microeconomics: From Correlation to Causation, Development Economics, Financial Markets

Classes: March 3 – April 11, 2025

Final exam week: April 14 – 18, 2025

Make-up exam week: April 21 – 25, 2025

Applied Microeconomics: From Correlation to Causation

Brief description: The course “Applied Microeconomics: From Correlation to Causation” will focus on concepts that aim to distinguish “correlation” from “causation”. Therefore, the focus will be on the discussion of appropriate empirical settings rather than solving mathematical proofs. We will discuss specific settings and empirical concepts that lead to a causal interpretation of how a certain variable or behavior causes a certain outcome. The course introduces these concepts in a non-technical manner. Each concept will be introduced with figures and graphs to train the intuition behind it. To deepen the understanding the respective concepts, we will read and understand research papers in the field of long run development and political economy that focus on specific concepts of causal empirical analysis. The aim of the course is to bring students in touch with state-of-the-art empirical research methods of causal inference so that students can critically judge empirical findings and distinguish “correlation” from “causation”. Every researcher should aim for the latter. The course also provides you with a toolbox for your own empirical work, be it your masters’ thesis, PhD thesis or your work as a data analyst.

Prerequisites: Introduction to statistics and econometrics (BA level).

Main instructor: Christian Ochsner, PhD

Christian Ochsner has been an Assistant Professor at CERGE-EI (under U.S. permanent charter) since 2018. He is also an Assistant Professor at CERGE, Charles University, and a Researcher at the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Christian holds a Dr. rer. pol. degree (equivalent to Ph.D.) from Dresden University of Technology, German. He was employed as a Junior Economist at the Ifo Institute for Economic Research (during doctoral studies) and as a Research Fellow/Postdoc at the University of Zurich (part-time). He was a Visiting Research Student at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom) and a Visiting Researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies Vienna (Austria). Christian held M.Sc. lectures on economic history at TU Dresden. He received a B.A. in Business and Economics at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and an M.Sc. in Economics at Humboldt-University Berlin, Germany. He was awarded by Jan Švejnar and Katherine Terrell’s Teaching Prize and Heinz König Young Scholar Award.

Teaching assistant: Mariia Ianova

Mariia Ianova is a Junior Research Fellow at UCA's IPPA. She holds a BA in Economics from the American University of Central Asia. Her research field includes but not limited to the socio-economic development, food security and nutrition, and development economics.

Dates: Classes: March 3 – April 11, 2025; Final exam week: April 14 – 18, 2025; Make-up exam

week: April 21 – 25, 2025.

Development Economics

Brief description: The goal of this course is to expose students to the newest developments in applied microeconomic research in development economics, particularly policy-oriented research. The topics covered will be especially close to the research agenda of the recent Nobel Prize Winners in Economics: Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer. A further focus of the course is on the study of education policies, infrastructure, firms and labor markets in developing countries. Overall, the course offers a thorough understanding of current-day research in development, with a special angle on poverty reduction and private market policies. The goal is to enable students to identify promising research questions in these fields (e.g. for future studies), and to help students prepare for a career as a practitioner in government and non-government development organizations.

Prerequisites: Microeconomics and Econometrics at an introductory level.

Main instructor: Andreas Menzel, Ph.D

Andreas Menzel is an Assistant Professor at CERGE-EI (under U.S permanent charter) since 2016. He is also an Assistant Professor at CERGE, Charles University (previously a Researcher from March until August 2016), and a Researcher at the Economics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Andreas also worked as a Lecturer at the Warwick Economics Summer School and as a Teaching and Research Assistant at the University of Warwick. He received his B.Sc. in Economics, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany, M.Sc. in International Economics and Finance, Tilburg University, Netherlands, and Ph.D. in Economics, University of Warwick, UK.

Teaching assistant: Saniya Soltybayeva

Saniya Soltybayeva is a Ph.D. Candidate at Nazarbayev University. She holds a Master’s degree in local economic development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a Specialist degree in Public Administration from Lomonosov Moscow State University. Her research interests include regional and local economic development, decentralisation, human capital development, and regional innovation systems.

Dates: Classes: March 3 – April 11, 2025; Final exam week: April 14 – 18, 2025; Make-up exam

week: April 21 – 25, 2025.

Financial Markets

Brief description: This course aims to provide a basic understanding of today’s changing landscape of financial markets and institutions with a broad scope and emphasis on general principles. Students will study the key fundamentals of financial markets and learn how financial markets and financial institutions work. We will discuss interest rates and their role in valuation, learn about efficient market hypothesis and exchange rate determination, explore money and capital markets, identify various players in the financial institutions industry, and take a closer look at central banking and the conduct of monetary policy.

Prerequisites: Microeconomics at an introductory level.

Main instructor: Gabriela Kuvíková, Ph.D.

Gabriela Kuvíková, Ph.D. is a Chief Risk Officer at Generali penzijní společnost, a.s. and a Senior Risk Manager at Generali CEE Holding’s Financial & Credit Risk Department. She received her Ph.D. from CERGE-EI in 2015 and holds also an M.SC. in Economics and Corporate Management from the University of Economics in Bratislava, Slovakia. Gabriela’s research is focused on credit risk and the screening devices that lenders utilize in alleviating adverse selection present on the credit market.

Teaching assistant: Ablay Dosmaganbetov, Ph.D.

Ablay Dosmaganbetov is a Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Policy and Administration (IPPA), University of Central Asia. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University, and a Master in Management from the Graduate School of Management, Saint-Petersburg State University. He is also a Bachelor of Economics from the Faculty of Economics and Management, Karaganda State Technical University. Ablay’s research areas include extractive industries, good governance, sustainable development-related topics, quantitative research methods and their applications.

Dates: Classes: March 3 – April 11, 2025; Final exam week: April 14 – 18, 2025; Make-up exam

week: April 21 – 25, 2025.

Part 2: Behavioral Economics, Modelling Macroeconomics, Econometrics in a Nutshell

Classes: April 28 – June 6, 2025

Final exam week: June 9 – 13, 2025

Make-up exam week: June 16 – 20, 2025

Behavioral Economics

Brief description: This course aims to acquaint students with the basics of the main behavioral theories and empirical methods commonly used to test theoretical predictions. The knowledge obtained in this course is useful for both professional life and further study. Upon successful completion of this course, students should be able to: understand the conceptual frameworks of behavioral economics and its tools, apply insights from psychology when predicting or analyzing economic decision-making, critically discuss the assumptions of traditional economic theory.

Prerequisites: Microeconomics, probability theory, and statistics at an introductory level.

Main Instructor: Aizhamal Rakhmetova

Aizhamal is a PhD candidate at CERGE-EI. She holds MAs in economics from both CERGE-EI and Ural Federal University. Her research interests are mainly in environmental economics, with her current research focused on the impact of climate shocks on the livelihoods of people in developing countries.

Teaching assistant: Madina Junussova

Dr. Madina Junussova is a Senior Research Fellow at UCA's Institute of Public Policy and Administration and a CERGE-EI Foundation Teaching Fellow. She is a member of the International Public Policy Association and the International Society of City and Regional Planners (Isocarp). Dr. Junussova holds a PhD in Public Policy from Carleton University and degrees in architecture, urban and regional planning awarded by the Ministry of Education and Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Dates: Classes: April 28 – June 6, 2025; Final exam week: June 9 – 13, 2025; Make-up exam week: June 16 – 20, 2025.

Modelling Macroeconomics

Brief description: The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the general ideas behind structural macroeconomic modelling and how it can be applied to better understand real-world data, whether GDP fluctuations, evolution of lifetime income, or the decision of household to spend monetary transfers on consumption. We will cover several classical and widely used macro models focusing on economic growth, the development of income and consumption inequality over the lifetime of individuals, and on the differences in behavior of poor vs. wealthy households. For each model, we will acquire basic intuition on how a model works and then describe how a model is calibrated to real data. The study of each model will conclude with a discussion on how the model helps us to understand the real world and what it fails to explain.

Prerequisites: The main prerequisites are critical thinking, a readiness to discuss and challenge model assumptions and predictions, and introductory level macroeconomics and microeconomics. Some very basic knowledge of calculus (e.g., first order derivatives) is welcome.

Main instructor: Daniil Kashkarov, Ph.D

Daniil holds a Ph.D. from CERGE-EI. He joined CERGE-EI’s Ph.D. program after obtaining a bachelor’s degree in economics and business administration from the University of Economics in Prague. He also holds an M.A. in economics from CERGE-EI. Last academic year, Daniil spent time at Yale University developing his research on the adjustment of workers to individual and aggregate shocks on labour markets. His research interests include: the macroeconomics of labour, life-cycle modelling, technological change, and skill and human capital accumulation. Daniil enjoys studying and developing quantitative macro models.

Teaching assistant: Kuandyk Tleuzhanuly

Kuandyk Tleuzhanuly holds a master’s degree in public administration from KIMEP University. He is a PhD candidate in Public Administration at Narxoz University, his research interests include educational inequality, impact of socioeconomic status on academic achievement, and public policy in education.

Dates: Classes: April 28 – June 6, 2025; Final exam week: June 9 – 13, 2025; Make-up exam week: June 16 – 20, 2025.

Econometrics in a Nutshell

Brief description: The aim of this course is to acquaint students with basic econometric concepts and methods which are necessary to read and understand current empirical research in economics, as well as plan and execute independent research projects. The course will introduce the idea of regression analysis and cover some of the most recent econometric techniques central to modern econometric practice, which aims to identify causal relationships.

Prerequisites: Introduction to Statistics.

Main instructor: Ella Sargsyan, Ph.D

Ella Sargsyan is a Junior Researcher and Ph.D. candidate at CERGE-EI (Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute). She holds an M.A. in Economics from CERGE-EI and ISET. Her research interests are mainly in the field of Development Economics with her current research focused on the impact of violent conflicts on various economic, social, and political factors in developing countries. She particularly enjoys working with spatial data. Since 2016, Ella has been involved in teaching, both as a graduate teaching assistant and as an instructor of courses including Statistics, Econometrics, Development Economics, and Microeconomics. She also works with the pedagogical team of CERGE-EI’s Academic Skills Center and serves as an instructor for several pedagogical training courses for economists.

Teaching assistant: Ablay Dosmaganbetov, Ph.D.

Dates: Classes: April 28 – June 6, 2025; Final exam week: June 9 – 13, 2025; Make-up exam week: June 16 – 20, 2025.

About the University of Central Asia (UCA) and UCA's IPPA

The University of Central Asia (UCA) was founded in 2000 as a private, not for profit, secular university through an International Treaty signed by the Presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan, and His Highness the Aga Khan; ratified by their respective parliaments and registered with the United Nations. As a university focused on the development of mountain societies, UCA's undergraduate programmes are located at its purpose-built world class residential campuses in Naryn, Kyrgyzstan, and Khorog, Tajikistan near the Tien Shan and Pamir mountains respectively. Established in 2011, UCA's Institute of Public Policy and Administration (IPPA) strengthens public policy making in Central Asia. It provides in-depth analysis of current and emerging policy issues facing the region and works on improving the analytical capacity of governments and civil society to use evidence-based decision-making through professional development. IPPA is part of University of Central Asia’s Graduate School of Development.

About CERGE-EI and the CERGE-EI Foundation

The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education (CERGE) was established in 1991 in the Czech Republic to offer a western-style PhD in Economics to students from the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It subsequently formed a joint workplace with the Economics Institute (EI) of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Today, CERGE-EI offers two additional master level programs: one-year long Masters in Applied Economics and two-years long Masters in Economic Research. All faculty are western-trained and CERGE-EI graduates receive degrees that are recognized in the EU and in the US. The CERGE-EI Foundation is a major financial supporter of CERGE-EI and, through its Teaching Fellows Program, supports western-trained economists teaching at universities across the region.