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The University of Tennessee | Institute of Agriculture

Department of Agricultural Economics

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Graduate Courses

412 Agricultural Finance (3) Macro-finance, financial objectives, acquisition of debt and equity funds, capital investments, capital allocation, debt repayment, credit analysis, borrower and lender loan application analysis, insurance strategies, computer applications, kinds and sources of agricultural credit, and financial intermediation.

420 International Agricultural Trade and Marketing (3) Introduction to real and monetary aspects of international trade effect on agricultural commodity flows; partial equilibrium analysis of international trade in agricultural products; institutional aspects of international marketing of agricultural products.

430 Food and Agricultural Policy (3) Values, goals and policy process. Economic rationale and effects of policy. Historical development and current characteristics of commodity, credit, food, and trade policy.

442 Agribusiness management (3) Advanced concepts in developing business and marketing plans and in applied management principles such as inventory control and pricing techniques. Discussion of management issues including going international, employee supervision, management succession and guerilla marketing. Teamwork emphasized in managing an agribusiness firm through game simulation. Written an oral presentation required.

470 Natural Resource Economics (3) Economic analysis of natural resource use and conservation with emphasis on land, water and other renewable resources. Principles for benefit-cost analyses of natural resource projects and policies. Methods for valuation of non-market impacts associated with natural resource use. Tools for analysis of spatial referenced data.

500 Thesis (1-15)
Grading Restriction: P/NP only.
Repeatability: May be repeated.
Registration Restriction: Master of Science-agricultural economics major.

502 Registration for Use of Facilities (1-15) Required for the student not otherwise registered during any semester when student uses university facilities and/or faculty time before degree is completed. Grading Restriction: Satisfactory/No Credit grading only.
Repeatability: May be repeated.
Credit Restriction: May not be used toward degree requirements.

505 Microeconomic Analysis (3) Theory of utility maximization and demand, production, cost, firm behavior, and supply; price in product and factor markets; efficiency and welfare.
Recommended Background: Calculus and intermediate microeconomics courses.

512 Advanced Agribusiness Finance (3) Financial and investment analysis tools and concepts and their application to decisions faced by agribusiness. Emphasis on financial analysis and planning principles, capital budgeting, debt structure and financing, options, present value concepts, and risk analysis.
Recommended Background: Senior-level finance course.

520 Research Methodology in Agricultural Economics (1) An overview of the logic and process of economic inquiry. Topics covered include the relationship between theory and applied research, problem formulation, definition of research problems, development of research problem statements with goals and objectives, and presentation and interpretation of results.

524 Econometric Methods in Agricultural Economics (3) Application of statistical methods to agricultural economic models; estimation of supply, demand and production functions; microeconomic forecasting models; interpretation of results.
Recommended Background: Calculus and statistics courses.

525 Agribusiness Operations Research Methods (3) Applications of operations research methods and concepts for agribusiness. Theoretical background and applied considerations of each technique with emphasis on applications. Computer and other applications of each technique for relevant agribusiness problems.
Recommended Background: Calculus and intermediate microeconomics courses.

530 Agricultural Policy Analysis (3) Evaluation of public policy as related to agricultural industry and rural areas.

542 Advanced Agribusiness Production Decisions (3) Decision theory concepts and tools for analyzing agribusiness decision problems; modeling choices using decision trees and sensitivity analysis; incorporating uncertainty into decision models using probability theory and simulation; modeling preferences using utility theory and risk attitudes.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 505 or 503.

550 Advanced Agribusiness Marketing (3) Use of economic concepts in agribusiness marketing decisions. Analysis of agricultural markets; buyer behavior in food and fiber markets; competitive environment. Profitability analysis of marketing and distribution decisions; market planning and strategy; product evaluation and new product introduction; pricing decisions.
(RE) Prerequisite(s): 505 or 503.

552 Advanced Agribusiness Seminar (3) A capstone course for students in the Master of Science non-thesis agribusiness concentration. The course centers on discussion and analysis of real-world management case studies. Students are responsible for the development of a comprehensive written case study analyzing a real-world agribusiness management problem. Major writing and oral presentation emphasis.
Recommended Background: 2 completed semesters of the agricultural economics MS program.

570 Advanced Natural Resource Economics (3) Analysis of natural resource allocation issues; applied welfare economics, external effects and evaluation of public policy.

593 Special Topics in Agricultural Economics (1-3) Topics to be assigned.
Grading Restriction: Satisfactory/No Credit grading only.
Repeatability: May be repeated. Maximum 9 hours.

595 Professional Internship (3) Supervised internship experience with appropriate agribusiness firm.

670 Advanced Topics in Natural Resource Economics (3) Applications of microeconomic theory to the use, allocation and control of scarce, exhaustible, and renewable natural resources, including soil, water, minerals, forests, and fish, in both static and dynamic contexts. Optimal control theory, dynamic programming, supply of, and demand for, natural resources, social versus private decisions, market and nonmarket considerations, regulation, uncertainty, property rights, equity considerations, and landscape pattern and change.
Recommended Background: Advanced microeconomics course.