MBA Online

Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration at Hokkaido University

The purpose of this course is to train future researchers to cultivate profound knowledge in economics and business management, an open perspective, and abundant creative ability.
Titles of Recent PhD Dissertations

Incentive Compatibility of Allocation Mechanisms in Discrete Economic Environments
Essays on Financial and Trade Policies in Developing Countries
Multinational Firms and Host Country Policies
Alternative Growth Theory with Endogenous Money and a Security Market
Fiscal Competition in a Federal State with Mobile Populations
Underpricing, Underwriter Reputation and Venture Capital: Evidence from the Japanese IPO Market
European Integration and Foreign Direct Investment: Experience of Spain
Regulating System of Foreign Trade in Uzbekistan at the Transitional Period

Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration at Hokkaido University

These courses focus on a variety of research subjects such as the rapidly diversifying modern economies and management systems, which stem from advances in globalization and information digitization, and management information that is located at the core of value creation in modern society.
More specifically, they will examine the logical analysis of economy, analysis of economic systems and history, NPOs’ proposals for corporate management, and the utilization of information technology in business management.

Economics Macroeconomics 4 Koyama
Uchida
Kudoh Itaya
Uchida
Microeconomics 4 Ono
Hizen Ono
Hizen
Kubota
Public Finance 4 - Koyama
Political Economy 4 Okabe
Nishibe Karato
Nishibe
Hamada
Economic History 4 Naito
Takai
Miyamoto Naito
S.Tanaka
Miyamoto
Environment Economics 4 - Yoshida
Development Economics 4 - Yoshino
Econometrics 4 Sono
Kakizawa
Suzukawa Takagi
Sono
Hasegawa
History of Economic Ideas 4 Hashimoto K.Sasaki
Public Economics 4 Itaya -
Money and Banking 4 Hamada -
Labor Economics 4 Abe -

Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration at Hokkaido University

Curriculum

Subjects common to All Faculties
In their first year after enrollment, students study “Subjects common to All Faculties” in which they master the fundamentals of economics and business administration before studying more specialized content. Here, a wide variety of academic disciplines are available; Students are exposed to not only the social sciences but the natural sciences and humanities as well.
The first year is crucial in that students acquire the “perspectives and ideas” needed to comprehend social phenomena in a realistic manner. Students are encouraged to learn foreign languages, which are essential for success in a global environment
Specialized Subjects
The study of specialized subjects begins in the second year. For example, second-year students study macroeconomics and microeconomics, and third- and fourth-year students study more advanced content in macroeconomics and microeconomics. The curriculum is designed to facilitate students in acquiring knowledge and ideas in specialized fields in incremental stages.
Intensive and Special Lectures
As economics and business administration rapidly becomes more specialized and diversified, it is more difficult for one university to conduct leading-edge research in all fields.
For this reason, we invite leading researchers, in fields that have not been designated by the curriculums, from other colleges and research institutions to give lectures on an intensive basis. These lectures last about one week and are scheduled for the end of the first half of the academic year.
We also invite policy-making professionals (from various government agencies) and professionals in finance and management (corporate entrepreneurs, financial experts, accountants) to give special lectures several times during the year. This provides students with an opportunity to learn about the realities at the forefront of economics and business administration.
Seminars
The greatest aspect of the curriculum is that seminars are designated as required subjects. All students in the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration belong to one set of seminars in their third and fourth years.
As seminars are scheduled at the end of the day, it is possible to extend discussion hours if necessary. The gathering of third- and fourth-year students together in one arena for discussion is rarely seen in other universities; based on their own experiences, senior students offer juniors sage advice on the “graduation thesis” and “job-hunting activities”.
Because the number of seminar students is small, only five to ten per college year, the instructors can offer students firsthand research guidance.
The relationships students cultivate in the seminar — between instructors and students, fellow students, and juniors and seniors —are a valuable asset for every student.
As the summation of research activity during the two-year seminar, as well as confirmation of four years of college life, all students write a graduation thesis. The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration has established the “Graduate Thesis Scholarship Program” in order to reward students who have penned exceptional graduation theses.

The Origin of Seminars

One major characteristic of the educational program at our faculty is the old tradition of small-group education with the seminar as its core. The founder of the seminar system, a system distinguished from lectures, in Japan is believed to be Inazo Nitobe.
Nitobe, the well-known author of “Bushido: The Soul of Japan,” was a graduate of Hokkaido University (formerly the Sapporo Agricultural Institute). Nitobe’s portrait was featured on the 5,000-yen banknote from 1984 to 2004.
In 1895 when Nitobe was the head of the Instruction Department at the Sapporo Agricultural Institute, he adopted the ’seminar’ as something equivalent to the ‘experiment’ in the natural sciences, and incorporated it into liberal arts education as a part of curriculum reform. This was the first time the seminar was adopted in education.

Corporate Restructuring and M&A
This course provides students not only with the fundamental theories of capital structure, such as the MM prepositions and the role that leverage plays in capital restructuring involved in asset transactions, but also with a variety of financial restructuring techniques, which includes spin-offs, tracking stocks, equity carve-outs, LBOs, reversed LBOs, leveraged recapitalization, share repurchase, and bankruptcy reorganization. Of course, we discuss M&As as a most extreme form of corporate restructuring. Each topic that we discuss describes a transaction that restructures the firm in some particular way. The objectives of the course include: (1) to help build a framework for analyzing various corporate restructuring transactions primarily through valuation techniques; (2) to provide an overview of corporate restructuring approaches which can then be critically applied to solve business problems; (3) to establish an economic perspective from which to assess the corporate and social consequences of alternative corporate restructuring and reorganization techniques. Prerequisite: Corporate Finance. Co-requisite: Financial Accounting and/or Managerial Economics.

Faculty of Economic at The University of Tokyo

4019: Methodology of Economics
Summer Maruyama
The purpose of this course is to acquire deeper understanding of the methodology of economics as social science by means of studying Karl Polanyi’s economic anthropology.

The Undergraduate Program

Faculty of Economics

Economics and Development Studies Department
Accounting Department
Management Department

The University of Hong Kong

Admission Requirements

Applicants are judged on the basis of academic record and letters of recommendation.

The basic qualification necessary for admission to research postgraduate studies is a good honors degree from this University or an equivalent qualification from comparable institutions. Applicants for the four-year PhD degree should have a bachelor’s degree at second class honours upper division or above and a taught master’s degree or a Bachelor’s degree at first class honours. Applicants for the three-year PhD degree should hold a Bachelor’s degree at 2nd class honors upper division or above and a research Master’s degree.

Applicants from institutions outside Hong Kong where the language of teaching and/or examination is not English are required to obtain a paper-based score of not less than 550 or a computer-based score of not less than 213 in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). TOEFL scores more than two years old will not be accepted. Qualifying examinations to test the applicants’ ability to follow the prescribed courses may be conducted.

For applicants in the School of Business, they are required to take either GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) or GRE (Graduate Record Examinations). GMAT and GRE scores more than five years old will not be accepted.

The University of Hong Kong

Bachelor of Economics and Finance [BEcon&Fin]

The BEcon&Fin programme combines the strengths of both the BEcon and BFin programmes. The programme recognises the significance of economics both in its own right and as a foundation for the study of finance, and the significance of finance as a career path for student in Hong Kong. As a result, students are required to study all the core courses that are prerequisites for both the BEcon and BFin programmes.

The University of Hong Kong
Bachelor of Business Administration (Law) [BBA(Law)] {in conjunction with LLB}

Offered in collaboration with the Department of Law, BBA(Law)/LLB is a five-year*, double-degree programme designed for students who are interested in the dynamic worlds of business administration and the legal profession. The programme provides an extensive education, which gives students a great deal of flexibility in their career choices.

After completing the first three years of study successfully, students will receive the BBA(Law) degree. The remaining two optional years of study enables them to obtain the Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree, which is the basic requirement needed to pursue a career in law. Graduates who have obtained the LLB degree can be eligible for admission to courses leading to the Postgraduate Certificate in Laws (PCLL) provided that they have fulfilled relevant admission requirements.

*Subject to the University approval, BBA(Law)/LLB will become a five-year programme from 2004-05 onwards. The fourth and fifth years of this double-degree programme will operate on a self-financing basis, and the fees are therefore slightly higher than the usual undergraduate fees. Those requiring financial assistance can apply for non-means tested loans, repayable at an interest rate to be determined by the Government. There are no additional requirements for admission to the fourth year other than having satisfactorily completed the BBA(Law).