Are you interested in better understanding pressing global challenges such as inequality, climate change, or technological change, and in exploring how these affect society? Do you want to learn how to develop recommendations for firms or create policies to help address these challenges? If so, then this master’s program in Economics could be the perfect fit for you!

This program follows a unique, challenge-driven teaching approach, focusing on societal challenges and teaching economic theory and empirical methods as tools to address these challenges. In this way, you will learn a broad range of theories and methods, ranging from labor economics, growth theory, and industrial organization, to behavioral and experimental economics, applied econometrics, and data science.

Fast facts

• Make well-founded decisions and formulate policy advice
• Develop a career as a policymaker or business manager
• 1-year, full-time master’s, taught in English
• Starts in September
• Weekly: 8 hours classes, 12 hours group work, 20 hours independent study
• Double Degree available
• You’ll get an MSc in Economics

Specialisations

The program allows you to choose one out of our three specializations, based on your preferences. Each specialization focuses on a specific societal challenge and comprises two courses: The first one is a more foundational course, whereas the second one consists of real-life case studies.

After the compulsory foundational courses, you will have to choose one of the following three specializations to gain more detailed knowledge in an area of your interest:

(!) Please note that these specializations will be offered from the academic year 2023-2024 onwards.

Inequality and social inclusion

Rising inequality is one of the key topics we frequently encounter in media and policy debates. Progressing globalization, expanding financial markets and skill-biased technological change are identified as the main drivers of income inequality within and across countries. Rising income inequality is considered a potential threat to the stability of political systems and economic growth due to reduced opportunities and the social exclusion of low-income households. While the public debate usually focuses on income inequality and wealth, many other inequalities arise in societies challenging the policy. For instance, we observe gender inequalities in the labor market, unequal access to education and health systems, and intergenerational and interregional inequality associated with climate change.

This specialization is designed to provide clarity on the topic of inequality by generating a clear understanding of inequality and resulting policy goals. After you have studied this specialization, you will be able to answer the following questions:

• What is inequality and how can it be measured and identified?
• How do we evaluate inequality and what should the goal of distributional policy be?
• What are the causes and consequences of inequality?
• How can we act on inequality?

While we will focus on the economic perspective addressing these questions, we will also incorporate views of other social sciences.

Sustainable and resilient economies

Individual behavior can collectively drive people and systems towards unsustainable and vulnerable states, where common resources are exhausted and collapse, competition erodes redundancies and systemic risks build up. In this specialization, we will identify under what circumstances such dynamics arise, and how public and private risk management could be used to increase resilience and sustainability. Important concepts touched upon in this specialization are asymmetric information, time inconsistency, self-fulfilling prophecies, and contagion. To analyze the causes and consequences of problems of sustainability and resilience, we will focus on three extremely important real-world cases: i) climate change and natural hazards, ii) management of the global commons and iii) financial system fragility.

After you have studied this specialization, you will be able to answer the following questions:

• What dynamics cause the vulnerability and the unsustainability of societies?
• How generalizable are these issues across different applications and fields?
• How can economic theory on the micro/meso/macro level be used to analyze real-life cases of unsustainability and vulnerability?
• How to choose and use the right methodology to analyze a specific case of unsustainability and vulnerability?

Technology, markets, and societal change

New information and communication technologies change existing markets, lead to the generation of new markets, and profoundly affect the actors in these markets. Companies have been able to leverage the availability of big data and new digital technologies to fundamentally change the functioning of existing markets. New technologies have also led to the creation of entirely new markets and labor relations. Many of these impacts of new technologies have the potential to be welfare improving. However, many new technologies pose at the same time grave and unprecedented challenges: Providers of platforms often not only match buyers and sellers but also sell to buyers themselves. Digital ecosystems lock in consumers and foster network externalities on a dramatic scale. In these cases, new technologies give rise to fundamentally new, problematic market dynamics, as evidenced by the dominance of key players such as Amazon or Google.

This specialisation analyses the challenges that arise from new technologies and how this changes society. After you have studied this specialisation, you will be able to answer the following questions:

• How do new technologies affect existing markets?
• How do new technologies lead to the creation of new markets?
• What are potential competition and antitrust issues?
• What is a responsible (governmental) reaction to new technologies?

Why this program?

The MSc Economics program follows a unique teaching approach. Classical, generic economics education focuses heavily on advanced theory and methods but often treats real-world applications as an afterthought. At Maastricht University, we turn this around. We start by identifying important societal challenges and then teach economic theory and empirical methods to equip you with the knowledge and skills to address them.

Strong community

Our program prioritizes community building, organizing social events and study trips regularly. You will also be invited to participate in different research activities, such as seminars or research workshops.

Career Preparation

With our challenge-driven teaching approach, combined with our small-scale education at Maastricht University, you will develop key skills needed to succeed in your professional life. Working on real-life case studies in an international classroom will allow you to sharpen your critical thinking, develop your professional communication skills and prepare you for an international working environment.

We will also work with you on your labor market profile, together with the experts on our advisory board. You will also get the opportunity to interact with and learn about different career opportunities from our alumni, who join classes regularly as guest lecturers.

Problem-Based Learning

As with most UM programs, the School of Business and Economics uses Problem-Based Learning (PBL). In small tutorial groups of no more than 15 students, you seek solutions to ‘problems’ taken from real-world situations. Instructors only give help as needed, allowing you to develop independence and problem-solving skills useful to your career. This dynamic, collaborative system has one of the highest knowledge retention rates of any teaching method.

The International Classroom

UM offers an international environment where our differences become our strengths. From day one, you’ll be challenged with differing viewpoints and experiences as you interact with staff and students from all over the world. These interactions help foster your understanding and ability to navigate our globalized world. The School of Business and Economics is one of the most international faculties at Maastricht University, with international students (60%) and staff (55%) representing roughly 60 different nationalities.

Take your degree anywhere!

The SBE has the ‘Triple Crown’ of accreditations: from the American AASCB, the British AMBA, and the European-wide EQUIS. This means that your degree is recognized in most places throughout the world: perfect for an international career or postgraduate studies abroad.