Student Guide

Programmes

Master's Programme in Economics

Programme main page

Loading table of contents

Curriculum 2022–2024

Degree structure

Programme studies 84 cr
- Incl. Master's thesis 30 cr
Electives 36 c

MSc degree studies consist of programme studies and elective studies. In some programmes, there is also a compulsory minor. The scope of the modules varies between programmes.

In addition to the goals stated in Government Decree on University Degrees (794/2004) 7 § the aim of the Master of Science degree in Economics and Business Administration is to provide students with

deep overall knowledge of the area of the specialised master’s degree programme, and very good knowledge of the minor subject or corresponding study entities included in the degree;
the knowledge and skills required in challenging managerial positions or positions demanding a high level of expertise, or as entrepreneur;
the ability to independently produce and apply knowledge in the field of business administration and economics, and preparedness for demanding international postgraduate programmes;
the ability to address ethics, sustainability, and international context; and
excellent communication and team working skills.

Programme studies 84 cr

Code: BIZ24
Credits: 84 ECTS
Programme Director: Professor Juuso Välimäki

There are two separate majors in the programme: Economics and Research Master in Economics.

Students aiming at the Doctoral Programme or jobs that require advanced methodological skills can apply for the major Research Master in Economics. Research master courses are arranged within the Helsinki Graduate School of Economics cooperation.

The aim of the master’s programme in economics is to give students a wide understanding of economic issues and a comprehensive knowledge of econometric and mathematical tools of analysis. When studying in the programme, the students will develop the following skills:

analytical thinking: the ability to analyse a wide range of economic phenomena by using different theories;
scientific thinking: the ability to apply the economic theory in practice;
methodological skills: the ability to use econometric and mathematical methods; and
communication skills: the ability to structure and report economic analysis orally and in writing.

Core programme studies 84 cr

Compulsory studies 54 cr

Code	Course name	ECTS credits	Teaching period
31E00910	Applied Microeconometrics I	6 cr	I
31E99906	Capstone: Microeconomic Policy	6 cr	II
31E23000	Macroeconomics: Policy	6 cr	III
ECON.thes	Master’s Thesis	30 cr	I-II, III-IV
31E99905	Master’s Thesis Seminar ¹⁾	6 cr	I-II, III-IV
BIZ.matr	Maturity Test	0 cr	I-II, III-IV

^{1) Enrollment to the seminar held in autumn semester by 31.5. (in the previous spring) and to the seminar held in spring semester by 31.10. (in the previous autumn).}

Economics MSc Thesis Information: aalto-econ.fi/gradu/
It is recommended that students who wish to continue to doctoral studies choose a wider combination of courses in micro- and macroeconomic theory than the minimum requirements. It is also possible to choose the Research Master in Economics major from the beginning of the master's studies.

Elective studies 30 cr

Choose at least 30 credits of elective studies.

Students can also complete advanced courses of economics offered by the University of Helsinki and Hanken School of Economics within the Helsinki GSE cooperation. The courses available from all of the three universities are listed below:

Aalto University 2022-2024

Code	Course name	ECTS credits	Teaching period
31E00920	Applied Microeconometrics II	6 cr	II
31E15000	Development Economics I	6 cr	I
31E16000	Development Economics II	6 cr	IV
ECON-E0800	Advanced Environmental Economics	6 cr	I-II (23-24)
31E40100	History of Economic Growth and Crises	6 cr	III
31E00500	International Trade	6 cr	II
ECON-E0710	Labor Economics I	6 cr	IV
ECON-E0720	Labor Economics II	6 cr	V
31E11100	Microeconomics: Pricing	6 cr	I
ECON-E0910	Public Economics 2: Expenditure Policies	6 cr	IV, no teaching 23-24
BIZ-E0100	Customized Student Business Project ¹⁾	6 cr	I-V, summer
31E13000	Industrial Organization (Micro III)	6 cr	not lectured
31E01400	Macroeconomics of Labor Markets	6 cr	not lectured
31E03100	Topics in Economics	6 cr	not lectured

^{1) Customized Student Business Project must be agreed in advance, see course description in Sisu for more details. Only for Aalto students.}

At the consent of the programme director it is possible to include 1-2 courses offered by other subjects at the School of Business or by other schools of the Aalto University. This enables the student to focus on a certain area of economics, e.g. financial economics. These courses must meet the goals and requirements of the programme. For more information, you can contact the planning officer of Economics.

Advanced courses in University of Helsinki and Hanken School of Economics

Within the Helsinki GSE cooperation the students can also complete advanced courses of economics offered by the University of Helsinki and Hanken School of Economics.

To take courses at the other two universities, you must apply study rights for the courses and fill in a study right application form at https://www.helsinkigse.fi/studies/enrollment

Please note that the teaching periods may differ in different universities.

More information about Helsinki GSE studies

Hanken School of Economics 2022-2024

Course name and code	ECTS credits	Teaching period 22-23	Teaching period 23-24
Behavioral Economics (26037)	5 cr	II	II
Competition Economics (26033)	5 cr	IV	IV
Economics of new ventures and innovations (26043)	5 cr	I	I
Empirical Industrial Economics (26041)	5 cr	II	II
Markets and industrial organization (26044)	5 cr	IV	IV
Money and Banking (26035)	5 cr		III

University of Helsinki 2022-2024

Master’s Programme in Economics

Course name and code	ECTS credits	Teaching period 22-23	Teaching period 23-24
Applied Macroeconometrics 1 (ECOM-411)	5 cr	IV	IV
Applied Macroeconometrics 2 (ECOM-412)	5 cr	I	I
Applied Macroeconomics (ECOM-410)	5 cr	I	I
Contract Theory (ECOM-419)	5 cr	III	ei opetusta
Econometrics 1 (ECOM-G314)	5 cr	II	II
Economic Justice (ECOM-452)	5 cr	-	IV
Experimental Economics (ECOM-448)	5 cr	-	IV
Health Economics (ECOM-447)	5 cr	I	I
Macroeconomics 1 (ECOM-G312)	5 cr	I	I
Macroeconomics 2 (ECOM-G313)	5 cr	II	II
Microeconomics 1 (ECOM-G310)	5 cr	I	I
Microecoomics 2 (ECOM-G311)	5 cr	II	II
Money and Monetary Policy (ECOM-434)	5 cr	III	III
Political Economy of Development (ECOM-449)	5 cr	III	III
Public Economics 1: Taxation Policy (ECOM-440)	5 cr	III	III
Public Economics 2: Expenditure Policies (ECOM-441)	5 cr	-	IV
Search Theory (ECOM-438)	5 cr	IV	IV

Master’s program in Agricultural, Environmental and Resource Economics (AGERE)

Course name and code	ECTS credits	Teaching period 22-23	Teaching period 23-24
Advanced Natural Resource Economics (AGERE-E09)	5 cr	IV	IV
Cost-Benefit analysis MOOC (AGERE-002)	5 cr	IV	IV
Economic Valuation Methods (AGERE-003)	5 cr	II	II
Economics of Aquatic Resources: Numerical Models (AGERE-E06)	5 cr	I	I
Environmental Economics I: Theory (AGERE-E01)	5 cr	II	II
Environmental Economics II: Mechanisms (AGERE-E02)	5 cr	III	III
General Equilibrium Modelling (AGERE-004)	5 cr		IV
Introduction to Dynamic Optimization (AGERE-E08)	5 cr	III	III
Solving environmental problems with data (AGERE-E11)	5 cr	-	IV
Changing theme course in Agricultural economics: Economics of Food Security and Nutrition (AGERE-A07a)	5 cr	IV	IV

Economics students who wish to complete Research Master in Economics must apply for the major. The application period is once a year in the Spring.

To be eligible for the major, student should have a grade point average of at least 4.00 in the core B.Sc. courses, i.e. Intermediate Microeconomics, Intermediate Macroeconomics, Econometrics and Mathematical Methods of Economics. For students from other programs, previous studies must prove sufficient knowledge in economics, mathematics and statistics. To be eligible for the major student's study right must also be valid for at least two years. Student can start completing the research master courses only after the approval of the programme director.

Research Master info for Economics students at Aalto, Spring 2022

Core programme studies 84 cr

Compulsory studies 39 cr

Code	Course name	ECTS credits	Teaching period
ECON.thes	Master’s Thesis	30 cr	I-II, III-IV
31E99905	Master’s Thesis Seminar	6 cr	I-II, III-IV ¹⁾
BIZ.matr	Maturity Test	0 cr	I-II, III-IV
ECON-E6000	Math Camp	3 cr	I ²⁾

^{1) Enrollment to the seminar held in autumn semester by 31.5. (in the previous spring) and to the seminar held in spring semester by 31.10. (in the previous autumn). See further information at}^{http://aalto-econ.fi/gradu/}

^{2) The Math Camp is held 14.8-25.8.2023}

Helsinki Graduate School of Economics, Research Master courses 45 credits

The research master courses are arranged within the Helsinki Graduate School of Economics cooperation. The course details are given on the course host university’s (Aalto University, Hanken School of Economics or University of Helsinki) Sisu page. The research master track courses (Advanced Econometrics, Advanced Macroeconomics and Advanced Microeconomics) are listed on Helsinki GSE website at: https://www.helsinkigse.fi/courses/

Compulsory studies 30 cr

Code	Course name	ECTS credits	Teaching period	University
ECON-L2100	Advanced Microeconomics 1	5 op	I	Hanken
ECON-L2200	Advanced Microeconomics 2	5 op	II	Aalto
ECON-L3100	Advanced Macroeconomics 1	5 op	I	HY
ECON-L3200	Advanced Macroeconomics 2	5 op	II	HY
ECON-L4100	Advanced Econometrics 1	5 op	I	HY
ECON-L4200	Advanced Econometrics 2	5 op	II	HY

Elective studies 15 cr

Choose 3 courses from the following:

Code	Course name	ECTS credits	Teaching period	University
ECON-L2300	Advanced Microeconomics 3	5 op	III	Aalto
ECON-L2400	Advanced Microeconomics 4	5 op	IV	Aalto
ECON-L3300	Advanced Macroeconomics 3	5 op	III	HY
ECON-L3400	Advanced Macroeconomics 4	5 op	IV	HY
ECON-L4300	Advanced Econometrics 3	5 op	III	HY
ECON-L4400	Advanced Econometrics 4	5 op	IV	Aalto

Master’s thesis and thesis seminar

The programme study module includes a Master's thesis. The thesis must demonstrate readiness for scientific thinking, command of research methods, conversance with the topic of the thesis, and ability for scientific communication.

In many programmes, the students also take part in a thesis seminar, which is designed to help the students to prepare their thesis work. The seminar commonly consists of meetings, completing thesis, presenting the research topic to the seminar group and acting as an opponent for a fellow student’s thesis. Seminar lasts usually the whole semester, and it is organised during both autumn and spring semesters.

Seminar practices vary depending on the degree programme: please see the instructions for each programme in Sisu or MyCourses. For instructions on writing and handing in the thesis please see the page Thesis under "During your studies".

At the Department of Economics, the students enroll to the 31E99905 Master's thesis seminar held in autumn semester already by 31.5. (in the previous spring) and the seminar held in spring by 31.10. (in the previous autumn). You can find more information about the enrollment and master's thesis seminar in general from here.

Electives

You can choose elective studies to your Master's degree so that the scope of the degree (120 credits) is fulfilled. You can exceed the scope of the degree by one course maximum.

Elective studies can include basic, intermediate or advanced level courses. You can use the module e.g.

To complete a minor
To broaden your skills and knowledge via multidisciplinary studies:
- select courses in the field of technology or art
- select courses in other universities via JOO study right
- Select gender studies via Hilma network or other Aalto networks
To gain entrepreneurial skills
To deepen your language and communication skills (see short informational video about the Language Center here)
To deepen or broaden your skills and knowledge in the field of business
- select additional courses in your degree programme or major
- select courses from other degree progarmmes or majors in the School of Business
- select additional courses in your minor
- complete the Customized Student Business project BIZ-E0100 (read more here)
To gain work experience and working life skills via an internship (read more at During your studies > Other studies)
To gain skills in self leadership and finding meaningfulness via Personal Impact courses

If you have mandatory language studies in your master's degree, they are included in the elective studies module. You have received information about these in the beginning of your studies, if this applies to you. If you are uncertain of whether you need to demonstrate language proficiency in the master's degree, please contact your programme's planning officer to get further information about the matter.

If you have completed your bachelor's degree in Finland (in Aalto or in another higher education institute), you have fulfilled the compulsory language requirements in the respective degree or received the exemption. You do not need to complete language studies in the master's degree.
If your language of education is Finnish or Swedish and you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you must demonstrate proficiency in national languages by writing the maturity test in your language of education (Finnish or Swedish) and complete the language proficiency tests in the other national language. Read more about the language of education here. You may also apply for an exemption of demonstrating proficiency in national languages. See also the following bullet.
If you have completed your bachelor’s degree outside of Finland, you must complete minimum of 3 ECTS in English. You can choose any course on B2 level or higher. Students, whose language of education is not Finnish or Swedish, may alternatively complete an elementary course in Finnish or in Swedish. The courses in national languages can be at any level on CEFR scale.

Language studies are included in students’ elective studies and are agreed in the personal study plan (HOPS). Language center offers the language studies.

The scope of the minor varies depending on the minor. Please check each minor's requirements. For a list of all the minors at Aalto University, see Aalto Minors hub.

Please also check your programme's curriculum to see if there are any requirements for the minor in your programme.

A minor included in the Master's degree can be one of the following:

a module confirmed in the curriculum (a minor study entity offered at the School of Business)
a module completed in an official exchange programme partner of the School of Business or in another programme meeting the requirements set in the official exchange programme policy of the School of Business
a module earned at another Aalto University school
a module earned at another Finnish university e.g. under the agreement on flexible study rights (JOO agreement).

Exchange studies is a very popular minor among the students of the School of Business. If you are interested in completing exchange studies as your minor, please check out this short informational video.

Published: 8.6.2022
Updated: 2.6.2023

Master's Programme in Economics

Programme main page

Table of contents

Curriculum 2022–2024

Degree structure

Degree goals

Programme studies 84 cr

Learning outcomes

Economics 84 cr

Core programme studies 84 cr

Compulsory studies 54 cr

Elective studies 30 cr

Aalto University 2022-2024

Advanced courses in University of Helsinki and Hanken School of Economics

Hanken School of Economics 2022-2024

University of Helsinki 2022-2024

Research Master in Economics 84 cr

Core programme studies 84 cr

Compulsory studies 39 cr

Helsinki Graduate School of Economics, Research Master courses 45 credits

Compulsory studies 30 cr

Elective studies 15 cr

Master’s thesis and thesis seminar

Master's thesis at the Department of Economics

Electives

Elective studies

Mandatory language studies

Minor