Economics (BA, BS)

Ohio State's Department of Economics is ranked 9th among public universities and 27th among all universities in the U.S. At Ohio State, our economics major is distinguished by three factors: our world-renowned faculty who are actively involved in undergraduate teaching, our innovative and expanding research opportunities for undergraduates and our extracurricular activities that provide students the opportunity to develop leadership skills and interact directly with employers and faculty from across the university.

Broadly defined, economics is the study of how individuals, businesses and governments make decisions and how the market mediates those decisions across a wide range of domains. Most people think of economics as answering questions about why new companies start up, the causes of high unemployment and what determines interest rates. Economics is far broader and wider ranging than that. In addition to studying inequality, exchange rates and monetary policy, economists study issues such as underground and illegal markets, why people decide to get married and have children, and the economics of sports.

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Career Opportunities

Career Opportunities

The demand for economics majors is strong in both the private sector and government. Economics is also great preparation for graduate school, whether you’re leaning toward business, law, public policy or going on to become an economist yourself. And, if you’re still deciding, the flexibility that an economics degree offers can help you keep your options open.

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WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

This major studies inequality and exchange rates, but they also have classes on when and why people decide to get married and have children and on underground economies. Have you ever wondered whether athletes are overpaid? They have a class on the Economics of Sports too! Bottom line: Economics is the study of how individuals, businesses, and governments make decisions and how the market mediates those decisions across a wide range of domains.

Department of Economics Website More Economics Courses

An economics degree opens up a wide range of career options. Our graduates are employed in banking, government, insurance securities and as managers, analysts and consultants. An undergraduate degree in economics also provides an excellent base for graduate work in the social sciences, law and business administration. US Census data shows that at mid-career, arts and sciences economics majors have higher earnings than any other arts and sciences major and any business school major. Every year, a sizable number of employers directly recruit our majors for full-time positions and internships.

courses you might take:

ECON 4830: Economics of Sports

This course analyzes the economic and business aspects of sports teams and their strategic interactions in sports markets. In addition, this course also analyzes the economic decision-making that takes place in sporting contests, economic analysis of sports betting markets, and social and economic factors related to professional and college sports.

ECON 4050: Experimental Economics

This course is an introduction to economics as an experimental science. Students participate in and study results of economic experiments dealing with markets, individual decision-making, and game theoretic economic models. The course emphasizes the development of specific mechanisms that underlie everyday decision- making and tests them through actual experiments.

ECON 4130: World Economic Development in Historical Perspective

This course is a survey course that analyzes economic development from the middle ages through the 20th century, emphasizing Europe, Asia, and Africa. It looks at the causes and consequences of economic growth in a number of different historical circumstances, emphasizing similarities and differences in economic development across time and space.

ECON 4553: Economics of Population

This course uses economic principles to analyze non-market behavior such as fertility, mortality, mating, dating, marriage, teen pregnancy, divorce, and migration.

ECON 4597.01: Issues in the Underground Economy

This course focuses on the informal sector of the underground economy as it relates to issues like illegal drugs, arms sales and human trafficking. You will study how economic reasoning applies to illegal markets and studies how illegal and underground markets differ from legal and regulated markets.

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT

Nima Dahir, math and economics, talks about being a double major and one-on-one conversations with faculty.

Nima Dahir, Math and Economics

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM

Undergraduate Economics Society (UES)

UES is a student-driven organization and serves as a platform to discuss economics. It provides opportunities to develop relationships with your peers and faculty. You gain insights into the types of economic research conducted on campus. UES co-sponsors the spring career fair bringing private, non-profit and government employers to campus.

UES

The Economics of Immigration (Econ 3900.01S)

Dr. Darcy Hartman leads students in a study abroad course that also provides service-learning credit. The course consists of three weeks of coursework and one week of field work in Tijuana, Mexico. In Tijuana students help the employees of Esperanza International, an organization that focuses on community-building, construct homes for local families.

Internships (Econ 4191)

With an internship, students can apply their classroom experience with a hands-on career position to gain additional information about economics and how it is applied outside the classroom.

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