Quantitative Economics and Finance Specialization

The curriculum of this specialization is jointly organized by Ecole Polytechnique, ENSAE and HEC Paris.

A Flexible and Comprehensive Curriculum

Two options are offered to HEC students.

1. A one-year option

Students may join the program as in the tradition of other majors. Students will earn their HEC Master degree in Management (provided all other graduation requirements are fulfilled and the first year of the master is completed successfully). 

Main courses: microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics.

2. A two-year option

Students willing to pursue a career in research in economics at the highest level may choose to follow the complete curriculum. They will then earn their Master degree in Economics as well as their HEC Master degree in Management.

First year main courses: microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics.

Second year main courses: financial economics, economic theory, markets and organizations, international trade and spatial economics, macroeconomics, public policy, economics of sustainable development.                                                                                                                   

Career Outlook

The one-year option of this specialization will be a valuable asset for a career in investment banking and consulting firms, as quantitative economics is a very popular expertise in these business sectors.

100% of our annual graduates in Economics find employment within 3 months, especially in the financial sector.

The two-year option will be a natural choice for students willing to do a PhD in Economics or Finance after their Master’s degree.

The first year curriculum

The first year of the program emphasizes microeconomics, macroeconomics and econometrics. Students also have access to elective courses. A project work in Applied Econometrics will be completed over the course of the year. Towards the end of the year, students do a research-oriented internship in a laboratory or in the private or public sector. Courses take place mainly on the Ecole Polytechnique campus.

The first year curriculum includes:

Preparatory courses (Ecole Polytechnique)

• Mathematics and Probability
• Introduction to Stata

Mandatory courses (Ecole Polytechnique)
Term 1 (September to December):

• Microeconomics 1 - Individual Decision-making and Market Equilibrium
• Macroeconomics 1 - Economic Growth
• Econometrics 1 - The Linear Regression Model and Extensions

Term 2 (December to March):

• Microeconomics 2 - Strategic Interactions and Information
• Macroeconomics 2 - Business Cycles
• Econometrics 2 - Nonlinear, Qualitative Data and Panel Methods

Elective courses (Ecole Polytechnique)
Term 1 and Term 2 are combined.
Students are required to choose 2 elective courses among:

• History of Economic Thought since 1945
• European Economics
• Microeconomics for Public Economics
• Development Economics
• Energy Economics with a Geography Focus
• Fintech, Blockchain and Crypto-currencies
• Macroeconomic Policy

Project in Applied Economics
Over the whole year, students should apply standard econometrics methods to a dataset using common statistical software (such as STATA, R, or SAS), and present the results in the form of a short dissertation.

Research internship
During the third term, from April onwards, students must complete a research internship of at least 16 weeks exploiting a list of topics proposed by the academic departments. The internship will be concluded with an oral presentation.

The second year curriculum

The second year offers courses for specialization in the following fields: financial economics, economic theory, markets and organizations, international trade and spatial economics, macroeconomics, public policy, economics of sustainable development, econometrics. The curriculum also includes a research dissertation over the whole year. Courses take place mainly at ENSAE and at HEC Paris.

Specialization fields
Each field of specialization proposes core and specialized courses. Students need to choose at least 4 core courses, with no more than 7 courses in the first semester and such that course credits amount to 40 ECTS over the entire year.

1. Financial Economics

Core Courses:

• Asset Pricing (HEC Paris)
• Banking and Financial Intermediation (HEC Paris)
• Corporate Finance Theory (HEC Paris)
• Financial Econometrics (HEC Paris)

Specialized Courses:

• Asset Pricing, Liquidity and Market Imperfections (HEC Paris)
• Digital Currencies and Blockchains (HEC Paris)
• Econometrics of Commodity and Asset Pricing
• Market Microstructure (HEC Paris)

2. Economic Theory, Decision Theory and Games

Core Courses:

• Decision Theory 
• Game Theory
• Experiments in Economics and Social Sciences

Specialized Courses:

• Advanced Decision Sciences 
• Dynamics of Information and Communication in Games 
• Social Choice and Voting 

3. Industrial Economics, Markets and Organizations

Core Courses: 

• Empirical Industrial Organization 
• Theory of Contracts and Incentives 
• Theory of Industrial Organization

 
Specialized Courses:

• Competition Policy in Practice: Cases 
• Consumer Economics and Pricing Strategies 
• Topics in Insurance Economics

4.International Trade and Spatial Economics

Core Courses:

• Economic Geography and Urban Economics 
• International Trade 

Specialized Courses:

• Granularity and Networks in a Global Economy
• Issues in Globalization
• Trade and Development Policies 
• Transportation Economics and Location Theory 

5. Macroeconomics

Core Courses:

• Macro-finance 
• Monetary Economics 
• Recursive Methods and Applications to Macroeconomics 

Specialized Courses:

• Applied Macroeconometrics
• Development Economics
• Firm Dynamics and Input-Ouput Networks in Macroeconomics
• International Macroeconomics
• Intertemporal Choice: Theory and Applications 
• Structural Macroeconomics 

6. Public and Environmental Economics

Core Courses:

• Environmental Economics
• Political Economy
• Public Economics 
• Public Finance 

Specialized Courses:

• Catastrophic Risks and Insurance Markets
• Economics of Energy Markets
• Economics of Sustainable Development
• Topics in Behavioral Political Economy

7. Labor Economics and Public Policy Evaluations

Core Courses:

• Labor Economics 
• Microeconometric Evaluation of Public Policies 

Specialized Courses:

• Behavioral Insurance
• Development Microeconomics
• Economics of Education and Human Capital 
• Randomized Methods and Policy Evaluation
• Urban Labor and Housing Markets
   

8. Econometrics

Core Courses:

• Macroeconometrics
• Semi and Non-Parametric Econometrics 
• Statistical Methods of Econometrics
• Structural Econometrics 

Specialized Courses:

• Dynamic Statistical Models with Hidden Variables 
• Econometrics of Panel and Duration Data
• GARCH and Stochastic Volatility Models
• High-Dimensional Econometrics
• Introduction to Time Series Econometrics

Dissertation

This has to be completed over the course of the year. Students are required to determine a research topic with their supervisor and the bibliographic research and data sources. The dissertation will be concluded with an oral defence.

Academic Team

The courses are taught by academic professors from HEC and from partner institutions involved in the Master program, but also by professionals working in leading firms.

Directors

•    Gaetano GABALLO, Associate professor HEC
•    Laurent DAVEZIES, Professor, ENSAE
•    Jean-Baptiste Michau, Professor, Ecole Polytechnique

Professors

•    Mohammed Abdellaoui, Research Director CNRS, HEC Paris
•    Marie-Laure Allain, Researcher CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Lisa Anoulies, Assistant Professor, Université Paris-Sud
•    Geoffrey Barrows, Researcher CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Pierre-Olivier Beffy, Professor, ENSAE
•    Christian Belzil, Research Director CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique
•    David Benatia, Assistant Professor, ENSAE
•    Jean-Marc Bourgeon, Assistant Professor, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Pierre Boyer, Assistant Professor, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Micael Castanheira, Université Libre de Bruxelles
•    Edouard Challe, Associate Professor, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Claire Chambolle, Researcher INRA, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Philippe Chone, Professor, ENSAE
•    Margherita Comola, Professor, Université Paris-Sud
•    Grégory Corcos, Associate Professor, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Bruno Crepon, Professor, ENSAE
•    Xavier d’Haultfoeuille, Professor, ENSAE
•    Laurent Davezies, INSEE Administrator, ENSAE
•    André de Palma, Professor, ENS Paris-Saclay
•    José de Sousa, Professor, Université Paris-Sud
•    Catherine Doz, Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
•    Allan Drazen, Professor, University of Maryland
•    Nicolas Drouhin, Associate Professor, ENS Paris-Saclay
•    Roxana Fernandez, Assistant Professor, ENSAE
•    Thierry Foucault, Professor, HEC Paris
•    Christian Francq, Professor, ENSAE
•    Christophe Gaillac, INSEE Administrator, CREST-ENSAE
•    Robert Gary-Bobo, Professor, ENSAE
•    Olivier Gossner, Research Director CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Basile Grassi, Bocconi University
•    Guillaume Hollard, Research Director CNRS, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Anett John, Assistant Professor, ENSAE
•    Thierry Kamionka, Research Director CNRS, ENSAE
•    Hubert Kempf, Professor, ENS Paris-Saclay
•    Yukio Koriyama, Associate Professor, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Francis Kramarz, Professor, ENSAE
•    Laurent Linnemer, Professor, ENSAE
•    Olivier Loisel, Assistant Professor, ENSAE
•    Stefano Lovo, Professor, HEC Paris
•    Franck Malherbet, Professor, ENSAE
•    Isabelle Mejean, Associate Professor, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Eric Mengus, Assistant Professor, HEC Paris
•    Tomasz Michalski, Associate Professor, HEC Paris
•    Stefania Minardi, Associate Professor, HEC Paris
•    Alain Monfort, Professor, ENSAE
•    François Pannequin, Associate Professor, ENS Paris-Saclay
•    Marcin Peski, Visiting Professor, HEC Paris
•    Pierre Picard, Professor, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Julien Prat, Researcher CNRS, ENSAE
•    Alessandro Riboni, Associate Professor, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Benoît Schmutz, Professor, Ecole Polytechnique
•    Jean-Noël Senne, Assistant Professor, Université Paris-Sud
•    Anna Simoni, Professor, ENSAE
•    Felipe Starosta de Waldemar, Assistant Professor, Université Paris-Sud
•    Emmanuelle Taugourdeau, Researcher CNRS, ENS Paris-Saclay
•    Tristan Tomala, Professor, HEC Paris
•    Farid Toubal, Professor, ENS Paris-Saclay
•    Anne Uhlendorff, Researcher CNRS, ENSAE
•    Thomas Vendryes, Assistant Professor, ENS Paris-Saclay
•    Thibaud Verge, Professor, ENSAE
•    Caroline Vincensini, Assistant Professor, ENS Paris-Saclay
•    Jean Michel Zakoian, Professor, ENSAE.

Professionals
•    Benoît Campagne, World Bank
•    Hervé Le Bihan, Banque de France