Study Routes

The Bachelor's programme ‘Economics and Business Economics’ is a real-world oriented three-year bachelor programme that prepares you for a career as economist in various organisations. Whereas the first half of the programme equips you with a solid understanding of economic principles and related skills, the second half of the programme gives you the freedom to tailor the bachelor’s programme to your interests. It offers you a broad range of courses, which enables you to specialize in several areas of economics.

To help you select courses that best prepare you for the direction you want to pursue as an economist, we have developed four so called ‘study routes’. Two are in Economics (Economics and Public Economics) and two are in Business Economics (Finance and Management). These routes are made to help you understand which courses naturally fit together. You are not required to follow all courses within one route, so you are still able to combine courses from different study routes.

When planning your future study you can use the Courseplanner to select the courses mentioned in the Study Route tool to see how you can combine the courses of your choice. Please note: always consult the course catalogue to see the prerequisites of the courses of your choice.

The study routes

The courses in this study route build on top of the micro- and macroeconomic foundations of the first 1.5 years of your study programme and allow you to apply micro- and macroeconomic models to real world economic problems. This study route is a good match if you are interested in questions like why some countries are more advanced than others, what makes countries grow and why in some countries we see much more inequality than in others. It also allows you to better understand how labour markets operate, and how firms and individuals make strategic decisions using game theory. This study route connects particularly well to the one-year U.S.E. master Strategy, Competition and Regulation and to the two-year U.S.E. research master Multidisciplinary Economics.

To better understand macro- and microeconomic mechanisms the study route includes formal economic methods such as optimization, mathematics, and systematic thinking. Academic skills focus on academic reasoning and social responsibility which will help you solve problems in international organisations or governmental bodies and think tanks.

The research elective associated with this study route is Causes and Consequences of Inequality (research) (ECB3INQ). Additional courses, not officially part of the study route which might be interesting: Industrial Organisation and Competition Policy (ECB3IO, part of the dedicated minor Law) and Behavioural Economics (ECB3EBE, part of the dedicated minor Social Sciences).

The courses included in the study route Economics are as follows:

Trade and Multinationals (period 3, ECB2INTE)
Game Theory (period 4, ECB3GT)
Labour Economics (period 1, ECB3ARBE)
Causes and Consequences of Inequality (research) (period 2, ECB3INQ)
Development and Growth (period 3, ECB3GD)
Advanced Mathematics (period 3, ECB3VWIS)

If you are interested in how policy and institutions influence economic activity and you would like to delve deeply into the workings of government, the study route ‘Public Economics’ is the right way to go. Starting with general market failures and how they can be addressed, the courses in this study route continue with analysing for example tax and social security systems and labour markets before looking how from an economic point of view democratic decisions are made. It prepares you for jobs related to government agencies. The study route connects very well to the U.S.E. master programme Economic Policy and to the two-year research master Multidisciplinary Economics. Career examples include traineeships as policy officers in ministries or private organisations or policy consultant.

The study route offers a varied set of skills. High emphasis is put on analytical skills, communication skills, academic reasoning, and social responsibility, which is visible in individual and group assignments to address policy questions holistically–a requirement for making adequate policy decisions.

The research elective associated with this study route is Public Choice & Welfare (research) (ECB3RPS). Additional courses, not officially part of the study route which might be interesting: Minor ‘Bestuur en Beleid’, Minor PPE, Minor European Governance.

The courses included in the study route Public Economics are as follows:

Market failures, Institutions and Economic Policy (period 3, ECB2MFIEP)
Economics of the Public Sector (period 4, ECB2EPS)
Public Choice and Welfare (research) (period 1, ECB3RPS)
Philosophy, Politics and Economics (period 2, ECB3CMEPC)
Development and Growth (period 3, ECB3GD)
Advanced Mathematics (period 3, ECB3VWIS)

If you are interested in how financial markets work, how large and small corporations obtain finance and use financial instruments and the role of sustainable finance in these processes. Topics and material covered in these courses concern the role of different financial instruments, financial evaluation tools and practical guidance on how they support managerial decision making. In addition, fundamentals of the workings of international financial markets and corresponding institutions and policy are being taught. Students who choose this study route can take several roles in the financial industry such as trainee financial analyst or financial consultant. This study route prepares particularly well for U.S.E. Master programmes Sustainable Finance, Financial Management and Banking and Finance.

Concerning skills, high emphasis is put on formal quantitative analytical skills, academic reasoning, and social responsibility (teamwork and presentation) that are necessary in today’s financial organisations.

The courses included in the study route Finance are as follows:

Management Accounting and Corporate Decision Making (period 3, ECB2FIV)
Sustainable Finance (research) (period 4, ECB3SF)
Financial Markets and Institutions (period 1, ECB3FMI)
International Investment Management (period 2, ECB3BL)
International Financial Management (period 3, ECB3IFMIB)

The study route management focuses on organizational economics, marketing, and entrepreneurship. If you are interested in knowledge about business strategy or management of innovation this study route is the right choice for you. This set of courses prepares you well for a career as manager, analyst, marketeer, or consultant in small and large companies. You will also be well prepared to follow the U.S.E. master programme International Management, which further emphasises the international dimension and the U.S.E. master programmes Business Development and Entrepreneurship and Business and Social Impact.

To address the challenges, analytical and communication skills, social responsibility, and academic reasoning are well integrated across the courses.

The research elective associated with this study route Business Research Methods (research) (ECB3BRM). Additional courses, not officially part of the study route which might be interesting: Venture Marketing (ECB2VM) (Minor Entrepreneurship).

The courses included in the study route Management are as follows:

Economics of Entrepreneurship (period 3, ECB2ECE)
Marketing (period 4, ECB2MKT)
Business Research Methods (research) (period 1, ECB3BRM)
Strategy and Management (period 2, ECB3SM)
Organisation Dynamics (period 3, ECB3OD)
Innovation Management (period 3, ECB3IM)

Study Routes

The study routes

Economics

Public Economics

Finance

Management

Feedback

Contact

Follow Utrecht University