2024-2025 Edition

Economics and Statistics

Chair: Homa Zarghamee (Professor)

Professors: Elizabeth Ananat, André Burgstaller (Professor Emeritus), Alan Dye. Sharon Harrison, Jingchen Liu (Statistics), Shaw-Hwa Lo (Statistics). Lalith Munasinghe, Randall Reback, David Weiman (Alena Wels Hirschorn '58 Professor of Economics)

Assistant Professors: Martina Jasova, Anja Tolonen

Associate: John Park

Lecturers in Statistics: Banu Baydil, Ronald Neath. David Rios, Joyce Robbins. Gabriel Young

Adjunct Assistant Professor:  Ashley Timmer 

Requirements for the Computational Track

The Economics-Statistics, Computational Track requires a minimum of 16 courses (52 minimum credits).

10 courses in Economics, Mathematics

ECON BC1003Introduction to Economic Reasoning
MATH UN1102CALCULUS II
MATH UN1201CALCULUS III
MATH UN2010LINEAR ALGEBRA
ECON BC3033INTERMEDTE MACROECONOMC THEORY
ECON BC3035INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS
ECON BC3041THEORETICL FOUNDTNS-POLIT ECON
Two Upper-level Electives in Economics
ECON BC3063SENIOR SEMINAR

6 courses in Statistics

STAT UN1201CALC-BASED INTRO TO STATISTICS
ECON BC3018ECONOMETRICS
STAT UN2102Applied Statistical Computing
STAT UN2104APPL CATEGORICAL DATA ANALYSIS
One of the following two courses:
APPLIED STATISTICAL METHODS
APPLIED MACHINE LEARNING
One Upper-level Elective in Statistics (STAT UN3106, GU4203, GU4204, GU4205, GU4206, or a Computer Science Elective)

Requirements for the Theoretical Track

The Economics-Statistics, Theoretical Track requires a minimum of 16 courses (52 minimum credits).

10 courses in Economics, Mathematics which are the same as in the Computational Track above, plus

6 courses in Statistics which differs from the Computational Track somewhat:

STAT UN1201CALC-BASED INTRO TO STATISTICS
ECON BC3018ECONOMETRICS
STAT GU4203PROBABILITY THEORY
STAT GU4204STATISTICAL INFERENCE
STAT GU4205LINEAR REGRESSION MODELS
One Elective in Statistics at the 3000+ level (or a Computer Science Elective such as COMS W1004, W1005, W1007, or STAT UN2102)

Economics, Mathematics

ECON BC1003 Introduction to Economic Reasoning. 4 points.

Covers basic elements of microeconomic and marcoeconomic reasoning at an introductory level. Topics include Individual Constraints and Preferences, Production by Firms, Market Transactions, Competition, The Distribution of Income, Technological Progress and Growth, Unemployment and Inflation, the Role of Government in the Economy.  Note: Students cannot get credit for ECON BC1003 if they have taken the Columbia introductory course ECON W1105 Principles of Economics.

Spring 2025: ECON BC1003
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 1003 001/00775 T Th 11:40am - 12:55pm
263 Macy Hall
Alan Dye 4 66/100
ECON 1003 002/00774 M W 2:40pm - 3:55pm
263 Macy Hall
Mulu Gebreyohannes 4 62/65
Fall 2025: ECON BC1003
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 1003 001/00054 T Th 11:40am - 12:55pm
405 Milbank Hall
Alan Dye 4 0/75
ECON 1003 002/00055 M W 1:10pm - 2:25pm
418 Barnard Hall
Mulu Gebreyohannes 4 0/60
ECON 1003 003/00773 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
Ll003 Barnard Hall
Mulu Gebreyohannes 4 0/30

MATH UN1102 CALCULUS II. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: MATH UN1101 MATH V1101 or the equivalent.
Prerequisites: MATH UN1101 or the equivalent. Methods of integration, applications of the integral, Taylors theorem, infinite series. (SC)

Spring 2025: MATH UN1102
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
MATH 1102 001/00477 T Th 2:40pm - 3:55pm
Ll002 Milstein Center
Lindsay Piechnik 3.00 88/90
MATH 1102 002/15285 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
312 Mathematics Building
Evan Sorensen 3.00 49/100
MATH 1102 003/00493 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
323 Milbank Hall
Wenjian Liu 3.00 38/100
MATH 1102 004/15287 M W 4:10pm - 5:25pm
606 Martin Luther King Building
Jingbo Wan 3.00 27/30
MATH 1102 005/15289 T Th 10:10am - 11:25am
417 Mathematics Building
Peter Woit 3.00 20/64
MATH 1102 006/15291 T Th 11:40am - 12:55pm
203 Mathematics Building
Dawei Shen 3.00 23/100
MATH 1102 007/15294 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm
312 Mathematics Building
Andres Ibanez Nunez 3.00 8/100
Fall 2025: MATH UN1102
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
MATH 1102 001/00297  
0. FACULTY 3.00 0/65
MATH 1102 002/00298  
0. FACULTY 3.00 0/65

MATH UN1201 CALCULUS III. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: MATH UN1101 MATH V1101 or the equivalent.
Prerequisites: MATH UN1101 or the equivalent Vectors in dimensions 2 and 3, complex numbers and the complex exponential function with applications to differential equations, Cramers rule, vector-valued functions of one variable, scalar-valued functions of several variables, partial derivatives, gradients, surfaces, optimization, the method of Lagrange multipliers. (SC)

Spring 2025: MATH UN1201
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
MATH 1201 001/00494 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
405 Milbank Hall
Cristian Iovanov 3.00 30/90
MATH 1201 002/00496 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
405 Milbank Hall
Cristian Iovanov 3.00 56/90
MATH 1201 003/15298 M W 2:40pm - 3:55pm
312 Mathematics Building
Deeparaj Bhat 3.00 94/100
MATH 1201 004/15300 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm
203 Mathematics Building
Deeparaj Bhat 3.00 85/100
MATH 1201 005/15301 T Th 4:10pm - 5:25pm
203 Mathematics Building
Rostislav Akhmechet 3.00 90/100
MATH 1201 006/15302 T Th 6:10pm - 7:25pm
203 Mathematics Building
Rostislav Akhmechet 3.00 89/100
Fall 2025: MATH UN1201
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
MATH 1201 001/00300  
Daniela De Silva 3.00 0/65
MATH 1201 002/00301  
0. FACULTY 3.00 0/65
MATH 1201 003/00302  
0. FACULTY 3.00 0/65

MATH UN2010 LINEAR ALGEBRA. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: MATH V1201, or the equivalent.

Matrices, vector spaces, linear transformations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors, canonical forms, applications. (SC)

Spring 2025: MATH UN2010
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
MATH 2010 001/00487 M W 8:40am - 9:55am
263 Macy Hall
Wenjian Liu 3.00 82/100
MATH 2010 002/00491 M W 2:40pm - 3:55pm
Ll002 Milstein Center
Lindsay Piechnik 3.00 79/90
MATH 2010 003/15325 T Th 10:10am - 11:25am
312 Mathematics Building
Qiao He 3.00 62/100
MATH 2010 004/15328 T Th 11:40am - 12:55pm
312 Mathematics Building
Qiao He 3.00 78/100
MATH 2010 005/15331 T Th 4:10pm - 5:25pm
312 Mathematics Building
Elliott Stein 3.00 55/64
Fall 2025: MATH UN2010
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
MATH 2010 001/00303  
0. FACULTY 3.00 0/70

ECON BC3033 INTERMEDTE MACROECONOMC THEORY. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: An introductory course in economics and a functioning knowledge of high school algebra and analytical geometry or permission of the instructor. Systematic exposition of current macroeconomic theories of unemployment, inflation, and international financial adjustments

Spring 2025: ECON BC3033
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3033 001/00755 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
302 Barnard Hall
Nuria Quella 4.00 47/50
ECON 3033 002/00756 M W 1:10pm - 2:25pm
418 Barnard Hall
Nuria Quella 4.00 58/70
Fall 2025: ECON BC3033
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3033 001/00069 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
408 Zankel
0. FACULTY 4.00 0/100

ECON BC3035 INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: An introductory course in microeconomics or a combined macro/micro principles course (ECON BC1003 or ECON W1105, or the equivalent) and one semester of calculus or ECON BC1007, or permission of the instructor. Preferences and demand; production, cost, and supply; behavior of markets in partial equilibrium; resource allocation in general equilibrium; pricing of goods and services under alternative market structures; implications of individual decision-making for labor supply; income distribution, welfare, and public policy. Emphasis on problem solving

Spring 2025: ECON BC3035
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3035 001/00754 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm
Ll003 Barnard Hall
Lalith Munasinghe 4.00 47/65
Fall 2025: ECON BC3035
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3035 001/00070 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
304 Barnard Hall
Elizabeth Ananat 4.00 0/60
ECON 3035 002/00078 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm
152 Horace Mann Hall
John Park 4.00 0/60

ECON BC3041 THEORETICL FOUNDTNS-POLIT ECON. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: An introductory course in economics or permission of the instructor. Intellectual origins of the main schools of thought in political economy. Study of the founding texts in classical political economy, Marxian economics, neoclassicism, and Keynesianism

Spring 2025: ECON BC3041
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3041 001/00863 M W 4:10pm - 5:25pm
418 Barnard Hall
Kurt Semm 3.00 79/72
ECON 3041 002/00923 T Th 2:40pm - 3:55pm
Ll003 Barnard Hall
Kurt Semm 3.00 79/72
Fall 2025: ECON BC3041
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3041 001/00073 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
418 Barnard Hall
Kurt Semm 3.00 0/65
ECON 3041 002/00074 M W 11:40am - 12:55pm
418 Barnard Hall
Kurt Semm 3.00 0/65

ECON BC3063 SENIOR SEMINAR. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: Permission of the instructor and the completion of all courses (except for the senior requirement) required for the economics track, political economy track, or economics and mathematics majors. Exceptions to these prerequisites may be granted by the chair of the department only. Seminar sections are limited to 15 students. A topic in economic theory or policy of the instructors choice. See department for current topics and for senior requirement preference forms

Spring 2025: ECON BC3063
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3063 001/00864 Th 4:10pm - 6:00pm
214 Milbank Hall
Lalith Munasinghe 4.00 20/20
ECON 3063 002/00764 T 6:10pm - 8:00pm
912 Milstein Center
Elham Saeidinezhad 4.00 19/18
ECON 3063 003/00769 M 6:10pm - 8:00pm
308 Diana Center
Rajiv Sethi 4.00 16/16
Fall 2025: ECON BC3063
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3063 001/00851  
Sharon Harrison 4.00 0/16
ECON 3063 002/00854  
Ashley Timmer 4.00 0/16

Statistics, Computer Science

STAT UN1201 CALC-BASED INTRO TO STATISTICS. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: one semester of calculus. Designed for students who desire a strong grounding in statistical concepts with a greater degree of mathematical rigor than in STAT W1111. Random variables, probability distributions, pdf, cdf, mean, variance, correlation, conditional distribution, conditional mean and conditional variance, law of iterated expectations, normal, chi-square, F and t distributions, law of large numbers, central limit theorem, parameter estimation, unbiasedness, consistency, efficiency, hypothesis testing, p-value, confidence intervals, maximum likelihood estimation. Serves as the pre-requisite for ECON W3412

Spring 2025: STAT UN1201
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
STAT 1201 001/13992 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
717 Hamilton Hall
Hammou El Barmi 3.00 81/86
STAT 1201 002/13993 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
602 Hamilton Hall
Joyce Robbins 3.00 70/85
STAT 1201 003/13994 T Th 10:10am - 11:25am
717 Hamilton Hall
Joyce Robbins 3.00 74/86
STAT 1201 004/13995 M W 6:10pm - 7:25pm
417 International Affairs Bldg
Banu Baydil 3.00 138/180

ECON BC3018 ECONOMETRICS. 4.00 points.

Prerequisites: ECON BC3033 or ECON BC3035, and ECON BC2411 or STAT W1111 or STAT W1211, or permission of the instructor.
Prerequisites: ECON BC3033 or ECON BC3035, and ECON BC2411 or STAT W1111 or STAT W1211, or permission of the instructor. Specification, estimation and evaluation of economic relationships using economic theory, data, and statistical inference; testable implications of economic theories; econometric analysis of topics such as consumption, investment, wages and unemployment, and financial markets

Spring 2025: ECON BC3018
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3018 001/00848 M W 1:10pm - 2:25pm
504 Diana Center
Sinem Sonmez 4.00 16/60
Fall 2025: ECON BC3018
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
ECON 3018 001/00067 M W 10:10am - 11:25am
152 Horace Mann Hall
0. FACULTY 4.00 0/60

STAT UN2102 Applied Statistical Computing. 3.00 points.

Corequisites: An introductory course in statistic (STAT UN1101 is recommended).
Corequisites: An introductory course in statistic (STAT UN1101 is recommended). This course is an introduction to R programming. After learning basic programming component, such as defining variables and vectors, and learning different data structures in R, students will, via project-based assignments, study more advanced topics, such as conditionals, modular programming, and data visualization. Students will also learn the fundamental concepts in computational complexity, and will practice writing reports based on their data analyses

Spring 2025: STAT UN2102
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
STAT 2102 001/13996 T Th 4:10pm - 5:25pm
428 Pupin Laboratories
Alex Pijyan 3.00 97/120

STAT UN2104 APPL CATEGORICAL DATA ANALYSIS. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: STAT UN2103 is strongly recommended. Students without programming experience in R might find STAT UN2102 very helpful.
Prerequisites: STAT UN2103 is strongly recommended. Students without programming experience in R might find STAT UN2102 very helpful. This course covers statistical models amd methods for analyzing and drawing inferences for problems involving categofical data. The goals are familiarity and understanding of a substantial and integrated body of statistical methods that are used for such problems, experience in anlyzing data using these methods, and profficiency in communicating the results of such methods, and the ability to critically evaluate the use of such methods. Topics include binomial proportions, two-way and three-way contingency tables, logistic regression, log-linear models for large multi-way contingency tables, graphical methods. The statistical package R will be used

Spring 2025: STAT UN2104
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
STAT 2104 001/13999 M W 8:40am - 9:55am
717 Hamilton Hall
Ronald Neath 3.00 45/86

STAT UN3105 APPLIED STATISTICAL METHODS. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: At least one, and preferably both, of STAT UN2103 and UN2104 are strongly recommended. Students without programming experience in R might find STAT UN2102 very helpful.
Prerequisites: At least one, and preferably both, of STAT UN2103 and UN2104 are strongly recommended. Students without programming experience in R might find STAT UN2102 very helpful. This course is intended to give students practical experience with statistical methods beyond linear regression and categorical data analysis. The focus will be on understanding the uses and limitations of models, not the mathematical foundations for the methods. Topics that may be covered include random and mixed-effects models, classical non-parametric techniques, the statistical theory causality, sample survey design, multi-level models, generalized linear regression, generalized estimating equations and over-dispersion, survival analysis including the Kaplan-Meier estimator, log-rank statistics, and the Cox proportional hazards regression model. Power calculations and proposal and report writing will be discussed

STAT UN3106 APPLIED MACHINE LEARNING. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: STAT UN2103. Students without programming experience in R might find STAT UN2102 very helpful.
Prerequisites: STAT UN2103. Students without programming experience in R might find STAT UN2102 very helpful. This course is a machine learning class from an application perspective. We will cover topics including data-based prediction, classification, specific classification methods (such as logistic regression and random forests), and basics of neural networks. Programming in homeworks will require R

Spring 2025: STAT UN3106
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
STAT 3106 001/14000 T Th 2:40pm - 3:55pm
602 Hamilton Hall
Wayne Lee 3.00 36/86

STAT GU4203 PROBABILITY THEORY. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: At least one semester, and preferably two, of calculus. An introductory course (STAT UN2101, preferably) is strongly recommended.
Prerequisites: At least one semester, and preferably two, of calculus. An introductory course (STAT UN1201, preferably) is strongly recommended. A calculus-based introduction to probability theory. A quick review of multivariate calculus is provided. Topics covered include random variables, conditional probability, expectation, independence, Bayes’ rule, important distributions, joint distributions, moment generating functions, central limit theorem, laws of large numbers and Markov’s inequality

Spring 2025: STAT GU4203
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
STAT 4203 001/14011 T Th 6:10pm - 7:25pm
312 Mathematics Building
Marco Avella Medina 3.00 82/116
STAT 4203 002/14010 T Th 6:10pm - 7:25pm
517 Hamilton Hall
Gabriel Young 3.00 2/3

STAT GU4204 STATISTICAL INFERENCE. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: STAT GU4203. At least one semester of calculus is required; two or three semesters are strongly recommended. Calculus-based introduction to the theory of statistics. Useful distributions, law of large numbers and central limit theorem, point estimation, hypothesis testing, confidence intervals maximum likelihood, likelihood ratio tests, nonparametric procedures, theory of least squares and analysis of variance

Spring 2025: STAT GU4204
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
STAT 4204 001/14012 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm
503 Hamilton Hall
Banu Baydil 3.00 39/45
STAT 4204 002/14013 T Th 7:10pm - 8:25pm
501 Schermerhorn Hall
Pratyay Datta 3.00 25/35
STAT 4204 003/17906 T Th 7:10pm - 8:25pm
501 Schermerhorn Hall
Pratyay Datta 3.00 22/25

STAT GU4205 LINEAR REGRESSION MODELS. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: STAT GU4204 or the equivalent, and a course in linear algebra. Theory and practice of regression analysis. Simple and multiple regression, testing, estimation, prediction, and confidence procedures, modeling, regression diagnostics and plots, polynomial regression, colinearity and confounding, model selection, geometry of least squares. Extensive use of the computer to analyse data

Spring 2025: STAT GU4205
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
STAT 4205 001/14014 M W 6:10pm - 7:25pm
517 Hamilton Hall
Ronald Neath 3.00 31/50

STAT GU4206 STAT COMP & INTRO DATA SCIENCE. 3.00 points.

Prerequisites: STAT GU4204 and GU4205 or the equivalent.
Prerequisites: STAT GU4204 and GU4205 or the equivalent. Introduction to programming in the R statistical package: functions, objects, data structures, flow control, input and output, debugging, logical design, and abstraction. Writing code for numerical and graphical statistical analyses. Writing maintainable code and testing, stochastic simulations, paralleizing data analyses, and working with large data sets. Examples from data science will be used for demonstration

Spring 2025: STAT GU4206
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
STAT 4206 001/14015 F 10:10am - 12:40pm
329 Pupin Laboratories
Yongchan Kwon 3.00 6/10

COMS W1004 Introduction to Computer Science and Programming in Java. 3 points.

Lect: 3.

A general introduction to computer science for science and engineering students interested in majoring in computer science or engineering. Covers fundamental concepts of computer science, algorithmic problem-solving capabilities, and introductory Java programming skills. Assumes no prior programming background. Columbia University students may receive credit for only one of the following two courses: 1004 or 1005.

Spring 2025: COMS W1004
Course Number Section/Call Number Times/Location Instructor Points Enrollment
COMS 1004 001/11948 T Th 11:40am - 12:55pm
417 International Affairs Bldg
Adam Cannon 3 111/398
COMS 1004 002/11949 T Th 1:10pm - 2:25pm
417 International Affairs Bldg
Adam Cannon 3 87/398

COMS W1005 Introduction to Computer Science and Programming in MATLAB. 3 points.

CC/GS: Partial Fulfillment of Science Requirement

A general introduction to computer science concepts, algorithmic problem-solving capabilities, and programming skills in MATLAB. Assumes no prior programming background. Columbia University students may receive credit for only one of the following two courses: W1004 or W1005.