Welcome to the web site of the Department of Economics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (UST). We are a very young department, because UST only began admitting students in the Fall of 1991. In the last eight years, the department has experienced extremely fast growth. Starting with five faculty members in 1991, we now have reached our full size of 23 faculty members.
As one of six departments in the School of Business and Management, we offer two undergraduate degree programs (the B.B.A. in Business Economics and B.Sc. in Economic and Finance) and two graduate degree programs (the M.Phil. and Ph.D). In addition, we contribute to the School''s M.B.A. programs.
We are keen to maintain the quality and attractiveness of our teaching programs. The department will launch a series of initiatives to enhance the attractiveness of our undergraduate programs. Among others, we will start a faculty advisor program beginning in the spring semester of 2000. Under this program, each student majoring in economics will be assigned a faculty advisor. The advisers and advisees will have close interaction through formal and informal meetings.
The department emphasizes both teaching and research, and sees them as mutually reinforcing. Faculty members are encouraged to engage in important research that leads to publication in leading international journals. Faculty members are also encouraged to apply rigorous methodologies to local economic issues that are of high academic value. In short, we aspire to be recognized for the quality of our research programs, both theoretical and applied.
Hong Kong is an entrepot and an international financial center located in the dynamic Asia-Pacific region. Because of this reason and the fact that our department is in the School of Business and Management, we have decided to focus our research effort in four specific areas in addition to the common core of microeconomics and macroeconomics. They are (1) Econometrics; (2) Economic Growth and Development; (3) Industrial Organization/Theory of the Firm, and (4) International Economics.
The department has attracted distinguished scholars to join either as permanent or visiting faculty members. It has also attracted young scholars who actively engage in high quality research on important issues in economics. Their accomplishments are formally recognized in a recent study of the research productivity of East Asian universities published by Jin and Yau in Economic Inquiry (October 1999). In that study, UST was not only ranked number one in East Asia, but also compared favorably against major research universities in the United States. We are proud of this recognition, and will continue to contribute to the economic knowledge of the world.
The Center for Economic Development was established in 1995 and its Director is Professor Francis Lui. Its goals are to support research on the process of economic development, with emphasis on economic development in the Asia-Pacific region, in particular development issues of Greater China. Professor Paul Brewer, Soo Hong Chew and Guofu Tan are active in the School''s multidisciplinary Center for Experimental Business Research.
I hope you enjoy browsing our web site.
Sincerely, Leonard K. Cheng
Professor and Head
Location: Kowloon, Hong Kong
Postal: Clear Water Bay, Kowloon
Email:
Tel:
Fax: (852) 2358-2084
Homepage: http://www.bm.ust.hk/%7Eecon/
