FAQs

In this innovative Dual Degree Programme, students will study economics at both CUHK and Tsinghua University. The CUHK Programme offers a comprehensive, all-round training in economics covering many important international economic issues. The Tsinghua Programme offers added variety in several advanced fields of economics. These two Programmes in this DDP will complement each other well and equip students with an international perspective as well as the necessary analytical tools and knowledge to careers requiring sophisticated economic analyses.

The rich variety of required and elective courses will equip students with the necessary numerical/quantitative tools needed for advanced economic research and analysis. The Programme requires students to spend half of the study period in Beijing, enabling them to develop a richer understanding of the various economic issues of the Chinese economy and financial market. This knowledge has become desirable in many of the important high-skill jobs around the world today.

Besides simultaneously studying for two degrees in two of the best universities in Asia, the flexible exchange pattern of this Programme will enable students to enter both the mainland China and Hong Kong job markets, where some of the world’s most exciting jobs are located. The Programme combines the strengths of the economics departments of both CUHK and Tsinghua University, which allows students to choose from a very complete and comprehensive set of economics courses depending on the student’s career aspirations.

The medium of instruction of major courses would be English.

Yes of course, many of our students did not take Economics in high school as well.

In high school, economics teachers will not teach the basic knowledge of mathematics, statistics, etc. But 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 extremely broad, including many topics of social interests, on top of Business and Finance.

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

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

Economics could be applied in all different aspects of society. Our programme includes all kinds of topics in the mainstream Economics while the Business Programmes emphasize in knowledge of business/commercial activities. If CUHK ECON were to be housed in the Business School, many non-business topics might not be taught, which would limit 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. Analyzing the tax system from the theories of accounting 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 on the topic of optimal income taxation which had subsequently affected the tax policies of many countries. Such contribution was later mentioned in their award of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences!