MIA SPECIALISATIONS

Conflict and violence produce disruptive impacts over the security, economic, and social wellbeing of our interconnected societies. In a time when conflicts are on a rise and growing in complexity, a better understanding of their dynamics and of the means to address and solve them are a paramount necessity for future leaders and policymakers. This course offers the opportunity to develop analytical skills to understand today’s armed conflict and to learn key tools of conflict resolution. Not only it aims to equip students with a better understanding of how to address and solve contemporary armed conflicts and disputes, but also to develop assessment techniques that can be useful throughout their professional career

The course looks at health and human development in the context of a global economy. We will study the large improvements in health that have occurred in the last two centuries due to rising incomes and technological advances in public health and heath care. These health improvements will be linked to human capital and increased worker productivity as well as longer life spans and savings for retirement. The effects of health on population growth and development will also be investigated. We will look at the welfare implications of health improvements, economic growth, and globalization.’

That international politics can be conceived as a game with its own special rules is a truism for most analysts of the subject. World leaders repeatedly invoke “the rules of the game” metaphor in their diplomatic entreaties, suggesting it is one of the most beloved metaphors for the way we think about, and practice, international politics. So what are the rules of the game? No one has specified a coherent and defensible list of the key rules. As such, the instructor will provide a list of ten possible contenders, based on his understanding of what makes international politics tick. The course will examine, debate, and dissect these “rules,” with the aim of arriving at a mutually agreeable and defensible list of the key rules of the international politics game by the end of the semester.

This course will introduce students to international and strategic thought in four Asian countries – China, India, Japan, and Singapore. As world power shifts towards Asia, it is vital to provide students with insights into how key Asian societies have thought about the nature of international life and how to deal with the threats and opportunities to their countries. Students will read key texts and thinkers, will make comparisons across the four sets of thinkers and will critically assess the relevance of the ideas they encounter for contemporary foreign and security policy.

The environment - along with the closely linked issue of natural resource management - is a topic of growing concern throughout the world. Southeast Asia is no exception. The Asia Pacific region contains forest, mineral and petrochemical reserves, the management of which is of great importance to the region and the world. This course deals with the economic principles and political issues involved in protecting the environment and managing natural resources effectively. The module is targeted at students interested in learning more about environmental policy and natural resource management.

Good governance and managing conflicting ethical demands are key skills for policy makers. This course seeks to introduce students to the ethical aspects of some major problems in global governance. Topics include foundations of ethical theory, human rights, intervention, climate change, immigration and trade. Background readings come mostly from moral philosophical, political theory and political science. Each session pays special attention to a particular policy area in the international domain and thereby combines philosophical inquiry with applied questions. The course does not have any formal prerequisites.

The primary goal of this class is to evaluate the theoretical, empirical, and policy issues affecting security relations in the Asia-Pacific region. The course examines the complex and sometimes turbulent inter-state interactions in the region, as well as their evolving political, economic, and security relations. Students will evaluate how existing theories of international politics apply to the region and gain a deeper appreciation of the determinants for conflict and cooperation in the region, as well as assess their policy relevance and implications in the real-world geopolitical context.

This course introduces the political, economic, and security issues in the interstate relations of Southeast Asia since the end of World War II. It studies regionalism and regional cooperation and conflict in Southeast Asia with a focus on ASEAN as the epicentre of Southeast Asian regionalism. It examines how ASEAN member states have coped with various challenges and sought to manage regional order and stability.

The SG Botanic Gardens, chicken rice, and pinisi boats - heritage is part of our lives, emotional attachments, memories, and identities. Because of its ubiquitous significance, heritage is also mobilized to facilitate international dialogue or legitimate shifts in geo-political landscapes. But whose heritage is invoked where international alliances and boundaries are concerned? How to make sense of competing heritage claims? This interdisciplinary, experiential course draws on politics, international affairs, heritage, geography and history in order to interrogate the geopolitical and economic significance of heritage. Combining theory and practice, the course also invites students to conceptualize individual “geopolitics of heritage” projects.

The on-going wave of globalisation has changed the character of threats to human, national and international security. The present security discourse stands in major contrast to the traditional realist understanding of security that prevailed during the Cold War. This interdisciplinary, experiential learning course examines key global challenges, typically described under the umbrella of non-traditional security. The course comprises of three interlinked parts. First, a conceptual/theoretical explication of non- traditional security. Second, in-depth engagement with five non-traditional security topics climate change, migration, technology, gender equality, and food security. Three, hands-on opportunities to design topic- specific interventions.

The course examines why and how governments intervene in the development of urban areas. Students will review debates about what a ‘good city’ should be and examine models of a ‘good city’ which have inspired planners past and present. We will examine the goals and urban interventions typically implemented as part of each model; as well as critiques. Students will be equipped with knowledge and skills to critically assess typical urban policies, plans and projects that contribute positively or otherwise to the many facets of a ‘good city’.

This course critically examines the challenges and opportunities of AI advancement and deployment. Students engage with research, case studies, and theoretical frameworks to understand the interplay between AI, governance, and society. The course explores emerging policy responses, regulatory innovations, and ethical considerations shaping AI governance, focusing on mitigating risks and maximizing benefits. Topics include AI and governance concepts, AI development landscape, benefits and risks, governance challenges, national and international frameworks, trust, algorithmic bias, privacy, data protection, policy tools, social and economic impacts, Big Tech, global AI race, and AI applications in autonomous systems, platforms, and healthcare.

The course deals with key issues in traditional and non-traditional security. It begins by asking two foundational questions: “What is security?” and “What is a national security strategy?” We will then go on to think about the core of traditional security – war and peace. New technologies have always affected the prospects of war and peace, so we will ask what is the impact of new technologies. International security depends on great power and regional conflicts, and so we will deal with these in the next segment. From there, we will round out traditional security by asking why states acquire nuclear weapons and how and why non-state actors turn to violence. We end the course by dealing with four non-traditional security areas – gender, migration, climate, and water. Throughout, we will be concerned with the causes/drivers of insecurity. We will also be concerned with how we can and should handle these challenges which affect the safety and welfare of the international system as a whole (international security), of states (national security), and of individuals and communities (human security).

This course focuses on how states formulate and implement their foreign policies. It is structured based on different levels of analysis: systems, state, leaders, bureaucracies/institutions, and society. The course analyses the various constraints that each of these actors face, how they interact with each other, and the processes and mechanisms through which they resolve their differences and formulate policy. It also examines the conditions in the implementation process that impact policy outcomes. Major themes include the state as rational actor, the role of personalities and their psychology, the impact of ideas and cultures, bureaucratic politics, and the role of interest groups and coalitions.

This course is an introduction to international economic development with applications to/examples from Asia, exploring selected aspects of Asian economic development. The focus is on developing simple analytical tools to understand the main factors associated with sustained economic growth, and macroeconomic, financial and trade policy issues that confront Asia in the world economy. Selected topics include investment in physical and human capital (health and education), technological change, capital flows and foreign direct investment, currency crises, and exchange rate regimes, access to finance and the role of institutions and governance, the interdependence between the growth process and the distribution of its opportunities (poverty and equity), conditional cash transfers, safety nets and social protection.

The Asia-Pacific is the most important region of the world with its economic vibrancy and strategic importance, and presents a plethora of important and puzzling security and economic challenges. In this course we will utilize various theoretical approaches to examine and explain a set of substantive issues in the international relations of the Asia-Pacific: US-China rivalry; territorial disputes; Taiwan issue; North Korean nuclear threat; Japan’s foreign policy; the so-called ‘history problem’ issue; ASEAN; security institutions; economic patterns; human rights; and environmental and aging society problem. In addition, we seek to understand the future trajectory of the Asia-Pacific.

Conflict and violence produce disruptive impacts over the security, economic, and social wellbeing of our interconnected societies. In a time when conflicts are on a rise and growing in complexity, a better understanding of their dynamics and of the means to address and solve them are a paramount necessity for future leaders and policymakers. This course offers the opportunity to develop analytical skills to understand today’s armed conflict and to learn key tools of conflict resolution. Not only it aims to equip students with a better understanding of how to address and solve contemporary armed conflicts and disputes, but also to develop assessment techniques that can be useful throughout their professional career.

That international politics can be conceived as a game with its own special rules is a truism for most analysts of the subject. World leaders repeatedly invoke “the rules of the game” metaphor in their diplomatic entreaties, suggesting it is one of the most beloved metaphors for the way we think about, and practice, international politics. So what are the rules of the game? No one has specified a coherent and defensible list of the key rules. As such, the instructor will provide a list of ten possible contenders, based on his understanding of what makes international politics tick. The course will examine, debate, and dissect these “rules,” with the aim of arriving at a mutually agreeable and defensible list of the key rules of the international politics game by the end of the semester.

This course will introduce students to international and strategic thought in four Asian countries – China, India, Japan, and Singapore. As world power shifts towards Asia, it is vital to provide students with insights into how key Asian societies have thought about the nature of international life and how to deal with the threats and opportunities to their countries. Students will read key texts and thinkers, will make comparisons across the four sets of thinkers and will critically assess the relevance of the ideas they encounter for contemporary foreign and security policy.

The primary goal of this class is to evaluate the theoretical, empirical, and policy issues affecting security relations in the Asia-Pacific region. The course examines the complex and sometimes turbulent inter-state interactions in the region, as well as their evolving political, economic, and security relations. Students will evaluate how existing theories of international politics apply to the region and gain a deeper appreciation of the determinants for conflict and cooperation in the region, as well as assess their policy relevance and implications in the real-world geopolitical context.

This course introduces the political, economic, and security issues in the interstate relations of Southeast Asia since the end of World War II. It studies regionalism and regional cooperation and conflict in Southeast Asia with a focus on ASEAN as the epicentre of Southeast Asian regionalism. It examines how ASEAN member states have coped with various challenges and sought to manage regional order and stability.

The on-going wave of globalisation has changed the character of threats to human, national and international security. The present security discourse stands in major contrast to the traditional realist understanding of security that prevailed during the Cold War. This interdisciplinary, experiential learning course examines key global challenges, typically described under the umbrella of non-traditional security. The course comprises of three interlinked parts. First, a conceptual/theoretical explication of non- traditional security. Second, in-depth engagement with five non-traditional security topics climate change, migration, technology, gender equality, and food security. Three, hands-on opportunities to design topic- specific interventions.

The course deals with key issues in traditional and non-traditional security. It begins by asking two foundational questions: “What is security?” and “What is a national security strategy?” We will then go on to think about the core of traditional security – war and peace. New technologies have always affected the prospects of war and peace, so we will ask what is the impact of new technologies. International security depends on great power and regional conflicts, and so we will deal with these in the next segment. From there, we will round out traditional security by asking why states acquire nuclear weapons and how and why non-state actors turn to violence. We end the course by dealing with four non-traditional security areas – gender, migration, climate, and water. Throughout, we will be concerned with the causes/drivers of insecurity. We will also be concerned with how we can and should handle these challenges which affect the safety and welfare of the international system as a whole (international security), of states (national security), and of individuals and communities (human security).

This course focuses on how states formulate and implement their foreign policies. It is structured based on different levels of analysis: systems, state, leaders, bureaucracies/institutions, and society. The course analyses the various constraints that each of these actors face, how they interact with each other, and the processes and mechanisms through which they resolve their differences and formulate policy. It also examines the conditions in the implementation process that impact policy outcomes. Major themes include the state as rational actor, the role of personalities and their psychology, the impact of ideas and cultures, bureaucratic politics, and the role of interest groups and coalitions.

The Asia-Pacific is the most important region of the world with its economic vibrancy and strategic importance, and presents a plethora of important and puzzling security and economic challenges. In this course we will utilize various theoretical approaches to examine and explain a set of substantive issues in the international relations of the Asia-Pacific: US-China rivalry; territorial disputes; Taiwan issue; North Korean nuclear threat; Japan’s foreign policy; the so-called ‘history problem’ issue; ASEAN; security institutions; economic patterns; human rights; and environmental and aging society problem. In addition, we seek to understand the future trajectory of the Asia-Pacific.

The course focuses on the role of government in enhancing social welfare, social efficiency, and social equity in both developed and developing economies. The course has three learning objectives: 1) develop student analytical skills regarding the role of government in dealing with externalities, public goods, income redistribution, providing social insurance, the effect of higher budget deficits on the economy, and the determinants of debt sustainability. 2) Develop student capacity with applied methods and tools used in public finance such as the estimation of the incidence of the benefits of public spending and social programs in education, health, water and sanitation, the factors determining who bears the burden of taxation in the population, and the methods of cost benefit analysis (CBA) and the marginal value of public funds (MVPF) both used to determine what government expenditures are most effective at improving social well-being. 3) Provide students with a better understanding of how the level and type of public spending and taxation depends on state capacity, (the ability of governments to effectively implement policies).

The course looks at health and human development in the context of a global economy. We will study the large improvements in health that have occurred in the last two centuries due to rising incomes and technological advances in public health and heath care. These health improvements will be linked to human capital and increased worker productivity as well as longer life spans and savings for retirement. The effects of health on population growth and development will also be investigated. We will look at the welfare implications of health improvements, economic growth, and globalization.

This course provides an overview to the study of business and politics. We will examine how politics and politicians affect the business world by analysing topics such as regulation, lobbying, corruption, taxation, and trade. We will draw from comparative and international political economy, governance research, and related disciplines such as management and economics. The course will begin by discussing the role of the state in governing markets and business behaviour. we then move forward to the discussion of the formation of business interests and preferences regarding public policy. Moreover, we will review how businesses can acquire and exert political power.

Education is one of the most fundamental areas of policy, as education impacts many aspects of life and society. This course uses the theoretical and empirical tools of economics to study education and education policy. Major topics include the monetary and non-monetary benefits of education; educational inequality with respect to gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status; and policy issues such as compulsory schooling, girl-friendly schools, and school choice. Examples are drawn internationally. Various teaching methods will be employed, including short lectures, in-class group exercises, peer assessment, presentations, and case discussions.

Traditional economics, which is one of the key theoretical cornerstones of public policy, typically assumes that human behavior is rational, preferences are stable, and individuals are smart and unemotional. However, human behavior often deviates from standard assumptions due to psychological and social factors; analysis based on traditional economics can therefore misinform policies and lead to detrimental consequences. This course discusses behavioral regularities that are of potential importance for public policy. Students will be exposed to behavioral economic theory and its applications to public policy in the areas of savings, investment, healthcare, climate change, taxation, labor supply, and monetary policy.

This course is designed to introduce students to the politics of Southeast Asia. It will focus on six countries—the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Myanmar. The course aims to integrate practical and empirical knowledge of these countries’ political systems with concepts from political science that support a deeper, fundamental understanding of SEA politics. These insights will draw on core substantive concepts and themes in political science, including democratization, liberalism and reformism, ethnic conflict and integration, patronage and clientelism, among others, The course is centered around the following questions: What are the foundational political issues facing the various Southeast Asian countries? How do the tools and insights of political science enhance our understanding of these countries’ politics? How does politics shape governance? The course does not require quantitative training. The focus will be on ideas and their relationship to actual politics.

This course links the fields of macroeconomic and financial policies. It provides coverage of economic principles that underlie the operation of banks and other financial institutions. The role of money in the economy and the impact of the central bank and monetary policy on the macro-economy are emphasized, as is the understanding the foreign exchange market and some basics of monetary theory and international finance. The focus of this course is on analytics.

This course is an introduction to selected aspects of Asian economic development and the region’s interactions with the rest of the world. It will focus on developing simple analytical tools to understand key trends and macroeconomic, financial and trade policy issues that confront Asia in the world economy. Topics covered include sources of growth in the Newly Industrializing Economies (NIEs) in East Asia, the rise of China and India and their impact on the global trading system, foreign direct investment to Asia, currency crisis in Asia, Asia in the global financial system, and issues relating to Asian economic regionalism.

Emerging economies in Asia and elsewhere face multiple challenges in managing their economies in the face of financial globalization. This course examines the various dimensions of financial globalization, their costs and benefits, analytical and policy questions relating to the transmission of financial shocks, and how emerging economies can safeguard against sharp booms and busts in capital flows. Specific attention will be paid to the role of US dollar as a global currency and its outsized impact on emerging economies and how it affects their macroeconomic policy choices. Other topics that will be considered include impact and determinants of the composition of capital flows, definitions, impact of currency manipulation, and growing financial stability concerns of climate change. The focus will be on real-world examples, with the course being applied and topical in nature.

The main objective of this module is to provide students with a deeper understanding of the reasons for and patterns of rapid growth in incomes in Asian countries. To accomplish this objective, the course will employ analytical frameworks and methods, based mainly on economic theory and through a poverty and equity lens. The interdependence between the growth process and the distribution of its opportunities (poverty and equity) will also be examined along with the role of social protection and safety nets in protecting welfare from the negative impacts of shocks, alleviating poverty and promoting productive inclusion through transfer programs. We will examine the determinants of accumulation of physical and human capital by individuals, firms, and communities, and productivity and efficiency of resource allocation across activities and time.

This course covers policy issues of modern ageing societies, with special emphases on social policy, families, and comparisons between Asian countries and Western countries. To tackle the complex issues, we discuss both relevant theories and empirical evidence from various disciplines including sociology, economics, public health, and human biology. The first section investigates the underlying causes of population ageing and presents trends in population age distributions around the globe. In the second section, we review old-age support provided by the government, the family, and the elderly themselves, and discuss challenges of providing the support. Lastly, the third section describes policy options to mitigate the consequences of population ageing and evaluates the policies.

This course deals with social policy issues with special reference to Southeast Asian countries. The policies analysed include those relating to ethnicity, urbanisation, housing, migration, labour, poverty and its alleviation, education and health. The ideas of state responsibility to provide for basic needs and of a social safety net are considered.

This course aims to provide students with an understanding of some of the challenges and solutions to problems faced by developing countries across four key themes: public health, education, finance and financial technologies, and labour markets. The course will draw on recent advances in development economics and focus on new challenges faced by developing countries post-COVID-19. Students will develop a set of empirical tools that can be applied to the analysis of development related policy problems. This course will focus on empirical microeconomic development economics.

This module is based on the premise that the sustainability of the natural environment is a necessity for the sustainability of the economic system. Hence the module commences with how specific definitions and models in economics need to be modified in cognizance of certain laws of thermodynamics. The module is divided into four blocks. The first block concerns the introduction of pertinent concepts in economics and their adaptation in the context of the relevant laws of thermodynamics The second and third blocks deal with the application of the adaptations to policy issues respectively at the microeconomic level and the macroeconomic level. The fourth block deals with the synthesis between microeconomic and macroeconomic analyses and the synergy between policies at the different levels.

This course provides an overview of the economic theories and concepts most relevant to health and healthcare. It introduces students to the theories of consumer and producer behavior, the interaction of economic agents in competitive markets, and market failures, with a focus on their implications for health policy. Topics include demand for health and health care, health insurance, physician and hospital behavior, pharmaceutical markets, and other related topics. This course seeks to help students develop intuition for thinking about challenges facing health care systems in an economic framework by connecting theories to contemporary health policy issues and empirical work.

This module aims to introduce students to various issues confronting workers, employers, and institutions in the labour market. By familiarizing ourselves with the canonical theories in labour economics and econometrics, we will improve our capacity to understand the modern-day challenges to the labour market, including labor force participation, changing returns to education and job training, technological changes, mobility and migration, productivity and wage, discrimination, signaling in job search, and challenges entailing globalization. We will continue with an analysis of policy interventions implemented to resolve the issues, such as social welfare programs, anti-discrimination laws, immigration reform, minimum wage, and on-the-job training.

This course examines the fiscal role of government in contemporary public administration. It introduces students to key theories and practices in public finance, with a focus on budgeting, taxation, intergovernmental fiscal relations, and financial management in the public sector. Case studies from various governance systems, including Singapore, Hong Kong, and broader Asian and international contexts, will provide practical insights into the challenges and strategies of public finance management.

The objective of the course is to develop a thorough understanding of basic terms, concepts, and methods in public budgeting. In this course students will learn the fundamentals of budgeting and accounting for public and not-for-profit organisations. Students will gain an understanding of how to use financial information in organisational planning, implementation, control, reporting, and analysis.

This course looks at retirement income provision and pension systems design in Singapore and globally. It provides students with an understanding of different models of social security systems, governments’ role in retirement income provision, pension economics and finance, as well as reform directions for pension and retirement policies. Topics covered include: rationale for state involvement; World Bank pension taxonomy; social security design and policy choices; Singapore’s Central Provident Fund; population aging and longevity risk; pension reforms and fiscal sustainability; and international comparisons. A special focus is given to the global transition to defined-contribution pensions, and also the growing importance of financial literacy on retirement decision-making.

We seek to understand institutional changes in a Leninist, single-party authoritarian state. Our overarching goal is to explain how politics and the evolution of political institutions help explain the patterns and outcomes of major socioeconomic reforms. A number of questions run through the course: Who were the important actors driving China’s rapid economic transformation? What incentivized them to pursue change? What was the role of the central state and its local agents? How did property rights emerge and evolve in an authoritarian state? Why some reforms succeeded others not (yet)? What explains the sequence of reform? Who are the winners and losers, and why? What are some of the unintended consequences of reform? While the focus is on China, important themes in political economy will be drawn and discussed so as to frame discussions in a broader comparative, theoretical setting.

The module brings students up to date on the state of the field of international trade – both theory and empirics, without relying on overly technical models. The first part provides an overall understanding of international trade theory – comparative advantage, gains and losses, scale and scope, exporting vs non-exporting firms, offshoring and outsourcing; the second part resolves some common misconceptions about trade often seen in the media, and highlights key lessons from the latest empirical research; the third part focuses exclusively on trade policy in Asia, with episodes from Japan, China, India, South Korea, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and others.

This course aims to broaden one's perspective on markets and marketplaces. We learn how to design markets, institutions, and organizations in practice, and analyze their allocative properties, induced incentives, and limitations, to help formulate regulatory policy. The course underscores practical takeaways in designing a wide range of markets, e.g., auctions for procurement and spectrum allocation, matching markets to assign students to schools, doctors to hospitals, and resettle refugees, centralized versus decentralized labor markets for civil servants, online market platforms... We cover issues like fairness, efficiency, simplicity, transparency, externalities, strategyproofness, collusion, corruption, and affirmative action. Roughly half our time is focused on designing auction markets while the other half is focused on designing matching markets.

Will technological change lead to mass unemployment and civil unrest? This module aims to introduce students to the implications of technological changes in the labour market, through the lens of economics, sociology, demography, and other subfields of social science. One of the central themes of the module is the notion that technology holds heterogenous effects on the labour market constituents. In this course, we will delve into the sources of the heterogeneity. We will also examine and evaluate the current individual- and firm- level efforts as well as policy efforts to regulate the nature and the pace of workplace technologies.

Increasing longevity and declining fertility rates have shifted the age distribution of populations around the globe. Economics of Ageing as a field has become increasingly important as many countries are facing rapid population ageing. This course will serve as a graduate-level seminar course that will examine the economic challenges and opportunities associated with an ageing population. The course examines how the demographic shift affects labor supply and productivity, retirement saving and wealth, intergenerational transfers, social security and pension design, healthcare financing, long-term care. The course also explores how individuals and households make decisions over the life cycle, including saving and retirement behaviour, investment in human capital, health and disability, and intergenerational transfers of resources. Students will gain an understanding of how demographic changes shape the economy, as well as policy responses to address the challenges of an ageing population.

This is a graduate-level elective, appropriate for masters and doctoral students in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and other departments with permission of the instructor.

The course examines why and how governments intervene in the development of urban areas. Students will review debates about what a ‘good city’ should be and examine models of a ‘good city’ which have inspired planners past and present. We will examine the goals and urban interventions typically implemented as part of each model; as well as critiques. Students will be equipped with knowledge and skills to critically assess typical urban policies, plans and projects that contribute positively or otherwise to the many facets of a ‘good city’.

This is a course on intermediate macroeconomics that introduces students to important concepts and analytical tools frequently used by economists to tackle a range of macroeconomic issues that are relevant to businesses, governments and households. It examines issues relating to long-term growth as well as business cycles. Significant attention is paid to macroeconomic stabilisation (fiscal and monetary policy). The course also introduces some basic open macro economy issues such as balance of payments, exchange rates and currency crises. The aim will be to provide coherent analytical frameworks and theoretical foundations to understanding contemporary global macroeconomic policy challenges.

This course critically examines the challenges and opportunities of AI advancement and deployment. Students engage with research, case studies, and theoretical frameworks to understand the interplay between AI, governance, and society. The course explores emerging policy responses, regulatory innovations, and ethical considerations shaping AI governance, focusing on mitigating risks and maximizing benefits. Topics include AI and governance concepts, AI development landscape, benefits and risks, governance challenges, national and international frameworks, trust, algorithmic bias, privacy, data protection, policy tools, social and economic impacts, Big Tech, global AI race, and AI applications in autonomous systems, platforms, and healthcare.

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of macroeconomic theory and policy from both national and global perspectives. Through case studies of advanced and emerging/developing economies, with a particular focus on China, and India. Students will examine the institutional similarities and differences that shape these countries' economic landscapes.

This course explores how public policy affects jobs, carbon emissions and prices in the global economy. It draws on insights from international trade and environmental economics to describe the complex interaction of global production and transport networks and illustrates how policy interventions such as tariffs and carbon taxes propagate through global supply chains. As policy moves through the network, it can have many unintended consequences and create complicated trade-offs. The goal of the class is to understand these trade-offs and to design policies that account for the complexities of our global economy.

This course is an introduction to international economic development with applications to/examples from Asia, exploring selected aspects of Asian economic development. The focus is on developing simple analytical tools to understand the main factors associated with sustained economic growth, and macroeconomic, financial and trade policy issues that confront Asia in the world economy. Selected topics include investment in physical and human capital (health and education), technological change, capital flows and foreign direct investment, currency crises, and exchange rate regimes, access to finance and the role of institutions and governance, the interdependence between the growth process and the distribution of its opportunities (poverty and equity), conditional cash transfers, safety nets and social protection.

This course will introduce students to international and strategic thought in four Asian countries – China, India, Japan, and Singapore. As world power shifts towards Asia, it is vital to provide students with insights into how key Asian societies have thought about the nature of international life and how to deal with the threats and opportunities to their countries. Students will read key texts and thinkers, will make comparisons across the four sets of thinkers and will critically assess the relevance of the ideas they encounter for contemporary foreign and security policy.

This course is designed to introduce students to the politics of Southeast Asia. It will focus on six countries—the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Myanmar. The course aims to integrate practical and empirical knowledge of these countries’ political systems with concepts from political science that support a deeper, fundamental understanding of SEA politics. These insights will draw on core substantive concepts and themes in political science, including democratization, liberalism and reformism, ethnic conflict and integration, patronage and clientelism, among others, The course is centered around the following questions: What are the foundational political issues facing the various Southeast Asian countries? How do the tools and insights of political science enhance our understanding of these countries’ politics? How does politics shape governance? The course does not require quantitative training. The focus will be on ideas and their relationship to actual politics.

This course is an introduction to selected aspects of Asian economic development and the region’s interactions with the rest of the world. It will focus on developing simple analytical tools to understand key trends and macroeconomic, financial and trade policy issues that confront Asia in the world economy. Topics covered include sources of growth in the Newly Industrializing Economies (NIEs) in East Asia, the rise of China and India and their impact on the global trading system, foreign direct investment to Asia, currency crisis in Asia, Asia in the global financial system, and issues relating to Asian economic regionalism.

The main objective of this module is to provide students with a deeper understanding of the reasons for and patterns of rapid growth in incomes in Asian countries. To accomplish this objective, the course will employ analytical frameworks and methods, based mainly on economic theory and through a poverty and equity lens. The interdependence between the growth process and the distribution of its opportunities (poverty and equity) will also be examined along with the role of social protection and safety nets in protecting welfare from the negative impacts of shocks, alleviating poverty and promoting productive inclusion through transfer programs. We will examine the determinants of accumulation of physical and human capital by individuals, firms, and communities, and productivity and efficiency of resource allocation across activities and time.

The primary goal of this class is to evaluate the theoretical, empirical, and policy issues affecting security relations in the Asia-Pacific region. The course examines the complex and sometimes turbulent inter-state interactions in the region, as well as their evolving political, economic, and security relations. Students will evaluate how existing theories of international politics apply to the region and gain a deeper appreciation of the determinants for conflict and cooperation in the region, as well as assess their policy relevance and implications in the real-world geopolitical context.

This course introduces the political, economic, and security issues in the interstate relations of Southeast Asia since the end of World War II. It studies regionalism and regional cooperation and conflict in Southeast Asia with a focus on ASEAN as the epicentre of Southeast Asian regionalism. It examines how ASEAN member states have coped with various challenges and sought to manage regional order and stability.

We seek to understand institutional changes in a Leninist, single-party authoritarian state. Our overarching goal is to explain how politics and the evolution of political institutions help explain the patterns and outcomes of major socioeconomic reforms. A number of questions run through the course: Who were the important actors driving China’s rapid economic transformation? What incentivized them to pursue change? What was the role of the central state and its local agents? How did property rights emerge and evolve in an authoritarian state? Why some reforms succeeded others not (yet)? What explains the sequence of reform? Who are the winners and losers, and why? What are some of the unintended consequences of reform? While the focus is on China, important themes in political economy will be drawn and discussed so as to frame discussions in a broader comparative, theoretical setting.

The module brings students up to date on the state of the field of international trade – both theory and empirics, without relying on overly technical models. The first part provides an overall understanding of international trade theory – comparative advantage, gains and losses, scale and scope, exporting vs non-exporting firms, offshoring and outsourcing; the second part resolves some common misconceptions about trade often seen in the media, and highlights key lessons from the latest empirical research; the third part focuses exclusively on trade policy in Asia, with episodes from Japan, China, India, South Korea, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and others.

The SG Botanic Gardens, chicken rice, and pinisi boats - heritage is part of our lives, emotional attachments, memories, and identities. Because of its ubiquitous significance, heritage is also mobilized to facilitate international dialogue or legitimate shifts in geo-political landscapes. But whose heritage is invoked where international alliances and boundaries are concerned? How to make sense of competing heritage claims? This interdisciplinary, experiential course draws on politics, international affairs, heritage, geography and history in order to interrogate the geopolitical and economic significance of heritage. Combining theory and practice, the course also invites students to conceptualize individual “geopolitics of heritage” projects.

The on-going wave of globalisation has changed the character of threats to human, national and international security. The present security discourse stands in major contrast to the traditional realist understanding of security that prevailed during the Cold War. This interdisciplinary, experiential learning course examines key global challenges, typically described under the umbrella of non-traditional security. The course comprises of three interlinked parts. First, a conceptual/theoretical explication of non-traditional security. Second, in-depth engagement with five non-traditional security topics climate change, migration, technology, gender equality, and food security. Three, hands-on opportunities to design topic-specific interventions.

The course examines why and how governments intervene in the development of urban areas. Students will review debates about what a ‘good city’ should be and examine models of a ‘good city’ which have inspired planners past and present. We will examine the goals and urban interventions typically implemented as part of each model; as well as critiques. Students will be equipped with knowledge and skills to critically assess typical urban policies, plans and projects that contribute positively or otherwise to the many facets of a ‘good city’.

This course offers a comprehensive exploration of macroeconomic theory and policy from both national and global perspectives. Through case studies of advanced and emerging/developing economies, with a particular focus on China, and India. Students will examine the institutional similarities and differences that shape these countries' economic landscapes.

This course surveys fundamental components of nation-building—the process of creating a unified national community within the boundaries of the state—in the Global South (i.e. the “developing world”). We examine both state-building, the creation and strengthening of government instutitons to make them work better, and identity-building, the forging of a national political community and the reduction of ethnic conflict. This course will have a global scope, including countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. As such it will emphasize issues common to countries with poorly functioning governments and fragmented national identities. Students will learn how aspects of nation-building can improve or impede ethnic cooperation, corruption reduction, and healthy government institutions.

This course focuses on how states formulate and implement their foreign policies. It is structured based on different levels of analysis: systems, state, leaders, bureaucracies/institutions, and society. The course analyses the various constraints that each of these actors face, how they interact with each other, and the processes and mechanisms through which they resolve their differences and formulate policy. It also examines the conditions in the implementation process that impact policy outcomes. Major themes include the state as rational actor, the role of personalities and their psychology, the impact of ideas and cultures, bureaucratic politics, and the role of interest groups and coalitions.

The Asia-Pacific is the most important region of the world with its economic vibrancy and strategic importance, and presents a plethora of important and puzzling security and economic challenges. In this course we will utilize various theoretical approaches to examine and explain a set of substantive issues in the international relations of the Asia-Pacific: US-China rivalry; territorial disputes; Taiwan issue; North Korean nuclear threat; Japan’s foreign policy; the so-called ‘history problem’ issue; ASEAN; security institutions; economic patterns; human rights; and environmental and aging society problem. In addition, we seek to understand the future trajectory of the Asia-Pacific.

This module will help students to understand the concepts and practice of leadership and develop a better knowledge of public service. Students will be exposed to insights and best practices, with emphasis on the public service and learn the skills to develop into a capable leader. Students will learn to lead, anticipate the future, make decisions, know their bias, build teams, motivate, communicate, understand the public interest and become better leaders.

Good governance and managing conflicting ethical demands are key skills for policy makers. This course seeks to introduce students to the ethical aspects of some major problems in global governance. Topics include foundations of ethical theory, human rights, intervention, climate change, immigration and trade. Background readings come mostly from moral philosophical, political theory and political science. Each session pays special attention to a particular policy area in the international domain and thereby combines philosophical inquiry with applied questions. The course does not have any formal prerequisites.

This course examines the fiscal role of government in contemporary public administration. It introduces students to key theories and practices in public finance, with a focus on budgeting, taxation, intergovernmental fiscal relations, and financial management in the public sector. Case studies from various governance systems, including Singapore, Hong Kong, and broader Asian and international contexts, will provide practical insights into the challenges and strategies of public finance management.

The objective of the course is to develop a thorough understanding of basic terms, concepts, and methods in public budgeting. In this course students will learn the fundamentals of budgeting and accounting for public and not-for-profit organisations. Students will gain an understanding of how to use financial information in organisational planning, implementation, control, reporting, and analysis.

This project-based module allows students to develop innovative solutions to real-world policy problems. Students work in teams with external partners (government, corporate, incubators, non-profit organizations, foundations, etc.) to develop a concrete innovative “product" that addresses a specific public policy issue. Students work with their partner on a project. They participate in workshop-style lectures on key issues related to innovation including diffusion, disruption, and policy application, and on practical skills for policy innovation including design thinking, human-centered design, stakeholder analysis, and problem-solving processes. External partners reserve the right to select the student teams working on their proposed projects.

This course looks at retirement income provision and pension systems design in Singapore and globally. It provides students with an understanding of different models of social security systems, governments’ role in retirement income provision, pension economics and finance, as well as reform directions for pension and retirement policies. Topics covered include: rationale for state involvement; World Bank pension taxonomy; social security design and policy choices; Singapore’s Central Provident Fund; population aging and longevity risk; pension reforms and fiscal sustainability; and international comparisons. A special focus is given to the global transition to defined-contribution pensions, and also the growing importance of financial literacy on retirement decision-making.

Public policy is not just made. It must also be explained. To be effective in positions of authority, public leaders should be able not just to analyse policy, but to talk and write about it as well — to communicate succinctly and persuasively, to frame issues, and to grapple with the worlds of ideas and perceptions, all taking place within a fast-moving digital media environment. This course is designed to help future leaders improve their ability to speak and write in challenging situations, from winning over hostile audiences to giving TED-style talks and writing punchy op-eds suitable for publication in global media outlets. Having taken it, students will emerge with a deeper understanding of differing styles of communication in public life — and the ability to begin to develop their own.

This course teaches students how to systematically analyse complex policy problems and conduct policy design and formulation to address long-term challenges. The skillset students acquire in this course is generic in nature which allows them to apply these tools to different domains (e.g., Transport, Environment, Energy, Health, etc.) to solve policy problems. This makes this course crucial for policy analysts, strategists, strategic planners, programme assessors and evaluators, and professionals with functions that require long-horizon thinking and decision-making such as consultants, managers, engineers and politicians and policymakers. Relevant theories and techniques and their limitations will be covered. Some of the topics covered in the course for analysis of policy problems and designing of policy solutions are: wicked problems, actor analysis, policy networks, system mapping, problem formulation and definition of goals, objectives, and decision making criteria, information gathering, generation of a library of policy measures, analysis and selection of policy measures, multi-criteria decision making, generation of alternative solutions, and analysis of the trade-offs of the alternative policies.

This course aims to broaden one's perspective on markets and marketplaces. We learn how to design markets, institutions, and organizations in practice, and analyze their allocative properties, induced incentives, and limitations, to help formulate regulatory policy. The course underscores practical takeaways in designing a wide range of markets, e.g., auctions for procurement and spectrum allocation, matching markets to assign students to schools, doctors to hospitals, and resettle refugees, centralized versus decentralized labor markets for civil servants, online market platforms... We cover issues like fairness, efficiency, simplicity, transparency, externalities, strategyproofness, collusion, corruption, and affirmative action. Roughly half our time is focused on designing auction markets while the other half is focused on designing matching markets.

Will technological change lead to mass unemployment and civil unrest? This module aims to introduce students to the implications of technological changes in the labour market, through the lens of economics, sociology, demography, and other subfields of social science. One of the central themes of the module is the notion that technology holds heterogenous effects on the labour market constituents. In this course, we will delve into the sources of the heterogeneity. We will also examine and evaluate the current individual- and firm- level efforts as well as policy efforts to regulate the nature and the pace of workplace technologies.

This course is a broad introduction to organisations and management. It consists of lectures and discussions based on weekly reading assignments. Students will combine their practical knowledge with the class readings to gain new perspectives. The topics include data and decision-making, reengineering work, organisational structure, organisational network and institutional theories. Students are expected to keep up with the readings and be prepared to discuss them in class. Understanding organisations is important for public administration and decision making in public policy. Under new public management, we have to understand organisations outside the public sector as well as in the public sector.

The on-going wave of globalisation has changed the character of threats to human, national and international security. The present security discourse stands in major contrast to the traditional realist understanding of security that prevailed during the Cold War. This interdisciplinary, experiential learning course examines key global challenges, typically described under the umbrella of non-traditional security. The course comprises of three interlinked parts. First, a conceptual/theoretical explication of non-traditional security. Second, in-depth engagement with five non-traditional security topics climate change, migration, technology, gender equality, and food security. Three, hands-on opportunities to design topic-specific interventions.

The course will explore the features, applications, benefits and risks of emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Digital Currencies, Cloud, 5G, IoT, 3D Printing and Robots on social policy (education, healthcare, insurance, social safety nets), employment and wages, fiscal policy (taxation and expenditure), transport and smart cities and implications for politics and social cohesion (fake news, deep fake, election manipulation). It will explore policies and regulatory implications in terms of growth, equity, security, privacy, efficiency and risk management for Singapore. The course will be comparative in perspective and will draw from the experience of the US, China, Europe, Japan and Singapore.

This course will provide students with an overview of how the environment affects health outcomes and health behaviors. Students will examine how policies that influence the various dimensions of the environment can affect population health, even if these policies do not directly target health as an outcome. For example, building a new expressway might have unanticipated negative effects on residents nearby due to the noise generated both by construction and car-traffic. Through this course, students will gain insights on how to integrate public health considerations into policy-making and planning, and help achieve better health and health equity in urban environments.

This course critically examines the challenges and opportunities of AI advancement and deployment. Students engage with research, case studies, and theoretical frameworks to understand the interplay between AI, governance, and society. The course explores emerging policy responses, regulatory innovations, and ethical considerations shaping AI governance, focusing on mitigating risks and maximizing benefits. Topics include AI and governance concepts, AI development landscape, benefits and risks, governance challenges, national and international frameworks, trust, algorithmic bias, privacy, data protection, policy tools, social and economic impacts, Big Tech, global AI race, and AI applications in autonomous systems, platforms, and healthcare.

Behavioural Insights (BI) is a leading tool for policy makers in policy formulation, evaluation and public management. Internationally, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are prominent global champions of BI adoption in public policy and communications. This course introduces the BI lifecycle that includes scientific foundations, behavioural measurement, data collection, experimental design and messaging framing for policy communications.

Economic and financial policymaking requires a sound understanding of household finance. This course offers an overview of personal finance topics and issues, covering saving, credit management, investment, insurance and risk management, and retirement planning. Students will learn and apply key concepts in financial management such as time value of money, ratio analysis, and valuation to analyzing personal financial statements, financial instruments, debt, expected returns from personal investment portfolios, and others. How individuals and households can leverage on financial and insurance markets to manage the various types of personal risks that they face over their life course is also discussed.

This course provides participants with a grounding in key pillars for successful leadership. It reflects upon the role of a leader, encouraging participants to think about the role of culture, of a vision, of aligned goals and metrics in enabling scaled execution. It explores building high performing teams and how each individual develops their own style of leadership based on their own strengths. Together with a series of practical implementations which can be put to immediate use, the course provides a framework which participants can refer back to, adding their own experiences and stories to enrich their leadership over time.

Changes in the environment are challenging conventional policy processes and tools for problem solving. This course intends to equip students with the skills needed to understand and analyse the complexity and dynamics of environmental change and tools to design effective policies in response. The course covers both theory as well as practical application of concepts at the core of environmental policy design. Through case discussions, guest lectures, and policy simulation exercises, students will explore a range of policymaking contexts and problem-solving approaches. The course will draw on both historical case studies and contemporary environmental issues.

Financial markets’ meltdown, climate change, and cyber-threats are only some of the global problems that states cannot manage alone. All require cooperation among governments and increasingly with their citizens and the private sector; some need international norms and mechanisms; others call for international and regional organizations. This course provides an introduction to the evolving architecture, processes, and norms of global governance. It then provides an in-depth analysis of the actors, norms, and challenges in the supply of some of today’s critical global public goods, including financial stability, economic development, trade, climate change mitigation, global health, and a secure cyberspace.

The environment - along with the closely linked issue of natural resource management - is a topic of growing concern throughout the world. Southeast Asia is no exception. The Asia Pacific region contains forest, mineral and petrochemical reserves, the management of which is of great importance to the region and the world. This course deals with the economic principles and political issues involved in protecting the environment and managing natural resources effectively. The module is targeted at students interested in learning more about environmental policy and natural resource management.

This module is based on the premise that the sustainability of the natural environment is a necessity for the sustainability of the economic system. Hence the module commences with how specific definitions and models in economics need to be modified in cognizance of certain laws of thermodynamics. The module is divided into four blocks. The first block concerns the introduction of pertinent concepts in economics and their adaptation in the context of the relevant laws of thermodynamics The second and third blocks deal with the application of the adaptations to policy issues respectively at the microeconomic level and the macroeconomic level. The fourth block deals with the synthesis between microeconomic and macroeconomic analyses and the synergy between policies at the different levels.

The on-going wave of globalisation has changed the character of threats to human, national and international security. The present security discourse stands in major contrast to the traditional realist understanding of security that prevailed during the Cold War. This interdisciplinary, experiential learning course examines key global challenges, typically described under the umbrella of non-traditional security. The course comprises of three interlinked parts. First, a conceptual/theoretical explication of non-traditional security. Second, in-depth engagement with five non-traditional security topics climate change, migration, technology, gender equality, and food security. Three, hands-on opportunities to design topic-specific interventions.

The course examines why and how governments intervene in the development of urban areas. Students will review debates about what a ‘good city’ should be and examine models of a ‘good city’ which have inspired planners past and present. We will examine the goals and urban interventions typically implemented as part of each model; as well as critiques. Students will be equipped with knowledge and skills to critically assess typical urban policies, plans and projects that contribute positively or otherwise to the many facets of a ‘good city’.

Changes in the environment are challenging conventional policy processes and tools for problem solving. This course intends to equip students with the skills needed to understand and analyse the complexity and dynamics of environmental change and tools to design effective policies in response. The course covers both theory as well as practical application of concepts at the core of environmental policy design. Through case discussions, guest lectures, and policy simulation exercises, students will explore a range of policymaking contexts and problem-solving approaches. The course will draw on both historical case studies and contemporary environmental issues.