Most studies of the determinants of understanding in economics focus on performance in a single course or standardized exam. Taking advantage of a large data set available at the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA), the authors examined the performance of economics majors over an entire curriculum. They...

The authors show how microeconomic concepts and principles are applicable to the study of terrorism. The utility maximization model provides insights into both terrorist resource allocation choices and government counterterrorism efforts, while basic game theory helps characterize the strategic...

The authors measure math skills with a broader set of explanatory variables than have been used in previous studies. To identify what math skills are important for student success in introductory microeconomics, they examine (1) the student’s score on the mathematics portion of the ACT...

The author describes an introductory economics course in which all of the reading material is drawn from the Great Books of Western Civilization. He explains the rationale and mechanics of the course. An annotated course syllabus details how the reading material relates to the lecture material.

The author describes a course designed to build the critical thinking skills of undergraduate economics students. The course introduces and uses game theory to study the Bible. Students gain experience using game theory to formalize events and, by drawing parallels between the Bible and common...

In this work we compare the undergraduate Economics majors and their underlying structure in the top-ranked Economics departments of Europe and the United States. We identify the fundamental courses usually included in an Economics major by means of a cluster analysis. We further distinguish...

A considerable literature indicates that class attendance is an important determinant of academic performance but the narrative on what influences students decisions to attend class is scant. This article examines why students choose not to attend class through the use of a survey distributed to...

The rhetoric of positivism had a profound effect on the worldview and practice of economists in the middle of the last century. Though this influence has greatly diminished, it still may be found in the attitude of many economists toward the history of their discipline. This article traces the...

Harbaugh's daughter went to a French school at which every day before class, everyone in the class must kiss each other. It is easy to see that a class of 35 kids must engage in 595 kisses. Organizing the kissing for the purpose of time-saving and predicting how much time it would take are...

Este trabajo versa sobre la utilidad de las ecuaciones diferenciales y las ecuaciones en diferencias finitas para la resolución de distintos problemas en el ámbito de la economía y la empresa. En Economía es frecuente estudiar la evolución de los valores de una misma variable en distintos...