Specializations

International Business

Students interested in an international business specialization must complete three of the following elective courses.

• ECON 822: International Finance
  • Determinants of exchange rates, international payments, and inflation, unemployment, national income, and interest rates in an open economy. International monetary system and capital and financial markets, and of the mechanisms by which a national economy and the rest of the world adjust to external disturbances.
• MNGT 828: International Management
  • US enterprises operating in the global economy. The manner in which cultural, economic, political, and social differences affect the management of business, governmental, military, and other enterprises is considered. Problems of managing in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.
• ECON 996: FROM SINGLE MARKET TO SINGLE CURRENCY: The Political Economy of European Integration Since 1945
  • During the last decade, the completion of the 1992 Single Market and the introduction of the euro have affected not only European Union member states but also global business development. This course aims to provide a full and detailed understanding of the origins, development and future economic strategy of the expanding European Union. Special attention will be paid to customs union theory, the single currency and monetary union, the 1992 Single Market, fiscal policy, and the EU's trade and agricultural policies. The impact of the EU of event in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union will also be stressed, and the process of economic transformation to market economies will be analyzed in detail. Emphasis will also be placed on the role of Germany after reunification, the comparative economic performance of the EEU in relation to NAFTA and Asia - Pacific, the disputes between Britain and the EU, and future potential Eastern enlargement.
• FINA 850: Multinational Financial Analysis
  • International aspects of financial management. Exchange risk analysis and management. Accessing international capital markets. International capital budgeting. Numerical optimization technique.

Agribusiness

Students interested in an agribusiness specialization must complete three of the following elective courses.

• AECN 883: Ecological Economics
  • Increasing pressures on environmental systems and energy resources has resulted in ever more interest in sustainable systems, eco-approaches to business, industry and community. As a case in point, Nestle, a large agribusiness food company, now offers incentives to suppliers to produce raw materials in more sustainable ways. Automobile and other kinds of manufacturers are designing products with the life cycle of the materials in mind, e.g. Ford Motor Company through its Volvo division is now designing and producing cars that are at least 85% recyclable. General Motors has a “Think Green, Go Yellow” campaign to encourage the use of renewable fuels. DuPont (and subsidiaries like Pioneer) and a number of other large firms are now part of the Chicago Climate Exchange, which is dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This tendency to eco-approaches is also emerging in the way communities, urban areas and cities are being designed, in the eco-community idea. This course considers these developments in both business and community as case studies. It works at synthesizing and integrating the main principles and ideas about sustainability and eco-approaches across several academic disciplines, including business, resource and environmental economics, ecology, physics (thermodynamics), and behavioral economics." Visit http://agecon.unl.edu/lynne/ecolecon/ecoleconsyllabus.htm for the syllabus.
• FINA 867: Options, Futures and Derivative Securities
  • Analysis of the properties of derivative securities that are commonly encountered in practice. Examines the theoretical framework within which derivative securities can be valued. Discussion of alternative hedging strategies for financial institutions and portfolio managers.
• ECON 996: FROM SINGLE MARKET TO SINGLE CURRENCY: The Political Economy of European Integration Since 1945
  • During the last decade, the completion of the 1992 Single Market and the introduction of the euro have affected not only European Union member states but also global business development. This course aims to provide a full and detailed understanding of the origins, development and future economic strategy of the expanding European Union. Special attention will be paid to customs union theory, the single currency and monetary union, the 1992 Single Market, fiscal policy, and the EU's trade and agricultural policies. The impact of the EU of event in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union will also be stressed, and the process of economic transformation to market economies will be analyzed in detail. Emphasis will also be placed on the role of Germany after reunification, the comparative economic performance of the EEU in relation to NAFTA and Asia - Pacific, the disputes between Britain and the EU, and future potential Eastern enlargement.

Accounting

Students interested in an accounting specialization must complete three of the following elective courses.

• ACCT 801 - Financial Reporting and Analysis
  • This course prepares students to effectively utilize accounting information presented in financial statements. Specific topics include the analysis of primary financial statements, revenue recognition practices, the financial reporting system, and the effects of accounting method choice on reporting financial data, and firm valuation.
• ACCT 807 – Professional Responsibility and Ethics in Accounting
  • In July 2002, Congress passed Sarbanes-Oxley Act in hoping of “protecting investors by improving the accuracy and reliability of corporate disclosures”. As a result, corporations are making tremendous changes to their governance structure related to financial reporting. In this class, we will examine the detail requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and how these mandatory requirements affect corporate governance functions and financial reporting. Topics include Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, quality of financial reporting, management and the controllership function, internal and external audit functions, accounting fraud and SEC and PCAOB specific governance rules. We will pay special attention to the importance of effective corporate governance structure and quality financial reporting to the U.S. capital market.
• ACCT 817 – The Income Tax and Management Decisions
  • The impact of Federal income tax law on management decisions, more from the viewpoint of recognizing problems than prescribing solutions.
• ACCT 820 – Financial Accounting
  • Basics of financial accounting and reporting including the construction of financial statements and their interpretation for internal and external users of financial information.
• ACCT 840 – Fraud Examination (Prereq: intermediate accounting or ACCT 820)
  • Explains fraud and provides a forum for discussing how fraud differs from other crimes. Includes fraud techniques, schemes, readings and study of actual fraud cases. Prereq: intermediate accounting or ACCT 820

Finance

Students interested in a finance specialization must complete three of the following elective courses.

• FINA 867 - Options, Futures, & Derivative Securities
  • Analysis of the properties of derivative securities that are commonly encountered in practice. Examines the theoretical framework within which derivative securities can be valued. Discussion of alternative hedging strategies for financial institutions and portfolio managers.
• FINA 863 – Portfolio Management
  • Overview of the workings of securities markets and develops the fundamental intuition of the risk-return trade-off along with the role of information in financial markets. All major asset pricing models with emphasis on their practical application to risk management in a portfolio context.
• FINA 850 – Multinational Financial Analysis
  • International aspects of financial management. Exchange risk analysis and management. Accessing international capital markets. International capital budgeting. Numerical optimization technique.