The Economics of Public Policy Program provides students with the theoretical and empirical fundamentals to answer questions that impact entire populations.
How and why do particular public policies get implemented? How are they designed? How do we know if they work? Why are some policies more successful than others?
National-level finance and planning involves big numbers: pensions, health systems, income support, social programs, and so forth. Successful public policies can make all the difference for the lives of millions of individuals, with numbers and effects become much larger for developed countries and faster growing in developing ones.
Students will be drilled in commanding advanced empirical public policy evaluation tools, and will be ready to use these tools in practice.
Students will be exposed to the views of experts from fields other than Economics in order to build an appreciation for the multidisciplinary nature of public policy design and evaluation. A master's advisor will guide each student in completing an independent master's project by the end of the program, allowing specialization in a policy topic of the student's choice.
Our graduates will be prepared to take on analytical positions at public institutions, international organizations, consulting firms, research institutions, and think tanks.
Graduates will also be well-prepared to pursue advanced post-graduate study of Policy or Economics.
Program schedule:
The course offer displayed is for next year's edition (2021-22). Course offer is subject to change.
In the first term, students will have the opportunity to take a brush-up course in Mathematics and Statistics. This courses is not mandatory but highly recommended to assure a smooth start.
In the second term, students will have the opportunity to take a course in Text mining and web scraping with R. This course is not mandatory, but highly recommended.
A master project, which will be supervised in regular meetings with an advisor, will allow each student to put their knowledge into practice and improve their writing and exposition skills.
Students must complete 60 ECTS by the end of the program (51 ECTS in mandatory courses and 9 ECTS in elective courses).
Policy Lessons
Policy Lessons are shared by all programs in the Master’s in Specialized Economic Analysis. Students must choose two Policy Lessons among those organized by any of the programs (Competition, EPP, ITFD, and Macro)
The master project is a required component of all Barcelona GSE Master's programs. Working individually or in groups, students use the tools and knowledge they've acquired during the entire year to explore a topic of their choice. A professor supervises throughout the project.
Examples of master projects from recent Economics of Public Policy cohorts
Select a project to view a summary on the Barcelona GSE Voice, our student and alumni blog:
Hazel Elizondo, Sandra Flores, and Alicia de Quinto
Master's degree awarded
Upon successful completion of the program, students will receive a Master's Degree in Specialized Economic Analysis awarded jointly with Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).
All Barcelona GSE Master's degrees have been recognized by the Catalan and Spanish Education authorities within the framework of the Bologna Process (in Spanish, “Master Universitario o Master Oficial”).
The Master's is a wholesome experience, teaching you more than just what's part of the course work. Barcelona is also a wonderful city to live in, and the coming together of people from all parts of the world is truly amazing! The faculty is top notch, approachable and great with students!
The expertise in quantitative methods and economics of public policy knowledge that I gained at BGSE is essential to help bridge the communication and information gap between empirical evidence and the decision-making of practitioners. These skills enable me to develop strategies and draw conclusions with confidence when consulting with partners.
The Barcelona GSE connected me with experts in my area of interest. Through these connections I was able to get in touch with some very interesting data for my research project later on in the program.
The Barcelona GSE gave me the start I needed to pursue the work that I am passionate about. It provided me with the skills necessary to succeed at my first job at the OECD, and doing my Master’s in such an international environment was a good signal for employers that I could adjust to any type of work environment.
Junior Research Fellow / Think Tank Young Professional Development Program
Originally from
Tirana
Albania
Currently living in
Tirana
Albania
The master program in Economics of Public Policy has been a great asset to me with its distinctive combination of a solid foundation in economic theory with the applied aspect – all accompanied by the teaching of world-class professors.
The ability to interpret scientific research papers has helped me grasp the economics of innovation and firm behavior in the context of intellectual property. The state-of-the-art econometric techniques and focus on policy issues will prove to be particularly useful when I am undertaking applied research in the near future.
Having a tool-set that allows you to think clearly and logically through a position, and the potential pitfalls, is invaluable, and these were continually reinforced with each class that I took in the Economics of Public Policy master's program.
