International Economic Consulting

• What are the total costs and benefits of building a new airport in Berlin?    
• Should farmers in Bangladesh receive direct financial support or just price guarantees?
• How many cars will need a parking space in Copenhagen in 2020?
• How can CO2 quotas be priced and distributed in a market efficient manner?
• Which pipelines should be built in order to secure the EU’s future gas supply?  

These and many other problems, their increasing complexity, their positioning at the border between economics and management and their placement in international contexts have been the backbone of the steadily growing demand for International Economic Consulting services. Large multinational corporations, regional and national policy makers, international organisations (like the World Bank, the EU and the OECD) and a growing number of non-profit interest groups require sound economic analyses and feasibility studies for an impressive range of issues and industrial sectors.

The MSc programme in International Economic Consulting – which ASB has developed in close cooperation with major players of the industry – is organised to prepare students for various job functions within this context. The programme will provide you with up-to-date theoretical knowledge required for applied economic analyses; relevant quantitative and empirical methods suitable for sectoral studies, policy impact analyses and forecasting; the training and concepts required for the implementation of national and international project consulting and, last but not least, introduce you to an exiting international environment.

Prerequisite courses

Introductory Methods in Economic Consulting
This course introduces widely applicable quantitative methods with a special focus on their relevance for policy analysis. The main aim of the course is to introduce and apply relatively simple methods and models that can be used for econometric analysis of empirical questions that inevitably arise when project evaluations are performed.

Advanced Methods in Economic Consulting
A rigorous evaluation of public programs and policies often requires sophisticated quantitative methods to obtain reliable estimates of the effects of the programs. Furthermore, the analysis and assessment of the economic consequences also involves estimation of the costs and benefits. Hence, a thorough knowledge of advanced applied econometric methods is necessary to solve many of the complicated economic consulting problems.

Advanced Industrial Economics
This course is concerned with the theoretical and empirical understanding of the intensity of competition across industries and its effect on prices, quantities, quality choice, efficiency and market structure. It also studies the need of public intervention by describing the economics of competition policy.

Organisational Economics and Strategy
This course studies how firms create a competitive advantage and maintain it, and analyses strategic choices regarding the boundaries of the firm, the incentive mechanisms and the organisational structure that will best serve their strategies.

Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) or Project Evaluation as it is sometimes referred to, is an essential tool in economic consulting. The purpose of CBA is to facilitate better decision-making. It ensures that resources are effectively allocated by estimating the monetary values - as far as this is possible - of all the benefits and costs to society of alternative projects, typically public investment projects. Cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness are also central elements within the context of budgetary and political considerations as parts of social evaluation of investments.

Specialisation courses

International Economic Integration gives a broad understanding of the forces and effects of globalisation through technological and policy changes. Based on the theory of international economics we examine integration as driven by organisations like e.g. the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the EU. The ability to put institutional knowledge into operation in an economic analytical context is a key element in working with government agencies, international institutions and many non-profit organisations on issues such as changes in trade rules or EU policies.

Developing and Emerging Economies
The growing wealth of the world is distributed unevenly. This is a central challenge for policy makers and a field of growing demand for informed economic advice. The course will focus on the opportunities and conditions for economic growth in developing and emerging economies and provide you with an understanding of the underlying economic mechanisms.

Applied Economic Consulting
Would it be a good idea to attract the Olympics to Denmark? These and many other questions come down to economics. What is the total impact, what are the involved costs and benefits, how do you forecast primary and secondary effects? This course simulates the entire process surrounding a real-world economic consulting problem, including an introduction to various project management tools.

In the third semester you can choose elective courses within your areas of interest. The courses can either be taken at the Aarhus School of Business during the semester, at the ASB Summer University or at one of our more than 200 partner universities abroad. You can also participate in internship programmes either in Denmark or abroad.

The fourth semester is devoted to the final thesis. You may choose the topic of the thesis freely and so get a chance to concentrate on and specialise in a specific field of interest. We encourage students to work on topics that are related to international economic consulting and/or are performed in cooperation with a consulting company or a governmental or international institution. The thesis may be written in collaboration with another student or it may be the result of your individual effort. When the thesis has been submitted, it is defended before the academic advisor as well as an external examiner.

Job profile

Career opportunities for graduates in MSc IEC include the following possibilities:

• Consultant in International Consulting Companies
• Analyst in regional and national governments
• Consultant in International Organisations and Development Agencies
• Economist with non-profit organisations
• Economist/Analyst with multinational companies, banks or industrial interest groups

Profile of competencies

The research-based MSc study programme in Economics and Business Administration builds on the competencies and insights acquired in the BSc study programme in Economics and Business Administration.

The study programme provides the graduate with specialist knowledge within the disciplines of the study programme that give the graduate high academic qualifications to develop solutions to issues pertaining to business administration in companies and organisations in the public and private sectors.

The study programme also qualifies the graduate for further studies, including PhD studies.

Through the study programme, the graduate has acquired knowledge that enables the graduate to

• Understand and consider knowledge pertaining to the various disciplines as well as identify academic issues
• Master the scientific methodologies and tools of the various disciplines as well as master general skills associated with employment within the areas studied
• Assess and choose among the scientific methodologies and tools of the various disciplines as well as develop new analysis and solution models
• Discuss professional and academic issues with both specialists and laymen
• Manage work and development situations that are complex, unpredictable and require new solution models
• Initiate and carry out, on an independent basis, monodisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration and take professional responsibility
• Take responsibility, on an independent basis, for own professional development and specialisation