FAQs

Yes, many of our students did not take Economics in high school either.

In high school, economics teachers will not teach the basic knowledge of mathematics, statistics, etc. However, in university, we focus on building a strong foundation in mathematics, statistics, theories, and quantitative analysis. So, students can link up all the knowledge they have learnt and study various economics topics thoroughly.

The application of economics is comprehensive, including many topics of social interest, on top of Business and Finance.

Almost all of the top economics departments in the US are housed in their Faculties of Social Science. Examples include Yale University, Princeton University, and the University of Chicago. This is because economics is an integral part of Social Science.

The essential parts and knowledge of economics can be linked together. But for other subjects in social science, they may have different schools of thought and less common ground.

Economics could be applied to all aspects of society. Our program includes all topics in the mainstream of Economics, while the Business Programs emphasise knowledge of business/commercial activities. If CUHK ECON were to be housed in the Business School, many non-business topics might not be taught, limiting students’ access to a comprehensive education in economics.

For example, economics examines how to design an effective taxation system. Professor Sir James Mirrlees, Former Distinguished Professor-at-Large of the CUHK Economics Department, has pointed out that taxpayers would have more private information about themselves than the government, and would change their behaviours according to the prevailing tax system. Analysing the tax system from accounting theories alone may not incorporate the importance of economic concepts such as asymmetric information. Professor Sir James Mirrlees and Professor Peter Diamond co-authored a series of pathbreaking research papers on optimal income taxation, which subsequently affected the tax policies of many countries. Such a contribution was later mentioned in their Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences award!