Horn Library Content Strategy

Supporting the Economics Division

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Patricia Berens
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Collection Description: Economics

In terms of the print collection, a variety of subjects are covered in a fairly detailed fashion to support the curriculum and faculty research. This includes basic economic principles, measurement and forecasting, market structure, model building, public finance, labor economics, foreign trade practices, currency exchange, central banking systems, political economy, and regulation. Current emphasis is on global trade, international finance, economies of transition and developed countries, emerging markets, and doing business in the European Union.

For courses which require research papers, the collection must be broad and deep enough to do the necessary research. This is increasingly accomplished by making a broad-based e-book collection available.  Most courses require textbook exams, and in those areas the print collection tends to be more general. The library acquires new textbooks, as needed, to serve as reference works for economic methods and theory. 

Economic study is integral to the preparation for the Honors Program (undergraduates), international electives (MBA), and international internships and abroad programs. Country studies combined with economics make up the final exam for one module in the MBA program.  The library subscribes to several subscription-based online resources that provide in-depth country analysis, such as Business Monitor International, Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), and Emerging Markets Information Services (EMIS).

National as well as global labor issues are considered in areas such as: employment and unemployment; wages, costs and prices; labor force (skill levels, aging, retirement, unions, etc.); the demand for labor, participation in the labor force and deployment of human capital; benchmarking. Labor areas can be data intensive, although books and reports are also useful.

Faculty research projects often require statistical time series; we subscribe to several data sources with IHS Global Insight being the most comprehensive and having the most historical depth.

a.   Languages:  generally English except in those instances where a translation of a text from its original Spanish, French, or German cannot be located.

b.   Geographical Guidelines:  emphasis on the American economic system as well as the European Union, Latin America (particularly Brazil), Asia (particularly Japan, China, India, and Pacific Rim), Central and Eastern Europe.  Specific current emphasis on emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, and Africa and the Middle East. 

c.   Chronological Guidelines:  Emphasis is on current economic trends and conditions and historical study limited primarily to the 20th century.  Representative historical surveys are collected.  Statistical time series are available from 1948, world outlooks from 1980.  Statistics from the most recent three years are considered current.

d.   Treatment of Subject: monographs and journals; reference works and indexes; country studies, trade cases and economic surveys; comparative studies and annual reviews of conditions and developments; outlook, risk and other analysis and statistical series from international sources (World Bank, IMF, WTO, UN, OECD, and Economist Intelligence Unit).  Textbooks are not actively collected, however, titles from key authors are retained (see listing of authors in left-hand column).   Increasingly, newer content is made available through subscriptions to online resources.

Key Content

  • Journals:  Academic Search Premier, Business Source Premier, EconLit, JSTOR
  • News & AnalysisEconomist.com, FT.com, WSJ.com
  • Working Papers & Reports:  NBER, SSRN
  • eBooks:  Ebook Central
  • Economic Statistics:  Fitch Connect, Euromonitor, International Trade Centre, FRED
  • Country StudiesFitch Connect, EIU Viewpoint, Emerging Markets Information Service

Research

  • American Economic Review
  • American Journal of Economics & Sociology
  • Econometrica
  • Journal of Economic Growth
  • Journal of Economic Literature
  • Journal of Economic Perspectives
  • Journal of Financial Economics
  • Journal of International Economics
  • Journal of Political Economy
  • Quarterly Journal of Economics
  • Rand Journal of Economics

 

Practitioner

  • Business Economics
  • Challenge: The Magazine of Economic Affairs
  • The Economist
  • OECD Observer

Authors whose works should be retained permanently:

  • George A. Akerlof
  • William Baumol
  • Rudiger Dornbusch
  • Stanley Fischer
  • Milton Friedman
  • Robert Merton
  • Jeffrey Sachs
  • Paul Samuelson
  • Joseph E. Stiglitz

 

While textbooks are not actively collected, titles from the following authors are retained:

  • Economics (HB171.5): Fischer, Dornbusch, Lipsey, McConnell, Reynolds, Samuelson, Steiner, Theil, Wonnacott
  • Microeconomics (HB172): Mansfield, Baumol
  • Macroeconomics (HB172.5): Barro, Begg, Chick, Gordon, Hall, Hatten, Klamer, Okun, Rukstad, Shapiro

 

These authors were identified in Books for College Libraries and Harvard Core Collection for Business Libraries. Textbooks are also retained if they have a unique scope, treatment, or historical coverage.

Current:

  • William Casey
  • Yunwei Gai
  • Kent Jones
  • John Marthinsen
  • Robert E. McAuliffe, Jr.
  • Lidija Polutnik

 

Former:

  • Maria Minnitti
  • Laurence S. Moss 

Print Collection

Emphasis is on current economic trends and conditions and historical study is limited primarily to the 20th century. Representative historical surveys are collected. Statistical time series are available from 1948, world outlooks from 1980. Statistics from the most recent three years are considered current.

In terms of older materials in the collection, we retain

  • Works by key authors in the field of economics
  • Basic reference tools that have not been superseded
  • Classic economics texts, including textbooks
  • Works that provide historical background of economic topics and major events
  • Works that provide in-depth treatment of specific aspects of economic theory and practice
  • Biographies of leading economists and nobel laureates in economics
  • Works by Babson authors

Economics books are located on the Library shelves according to the following call numbers (codes on the spine of the books):

HA     40-9999 Demographic & Economic Statistics
HB Economic Theory
HC Economic History & Conditions
HD         70-88 Econ. Growth, Development, Planning
HD  4801-8943 Labor
HF        1-4055 Commerce & Foreign Trade
HJ Public Finance

 

Courses Supported

The concentration in Economics is comprised of four courses beyond the foundation Micro/Macro sequence. Microeconomics (ECN2312) is taken as part of the MCE curriculum, and Macroeconomics (ECN2300) may be taken any time before students enroll in the capstone “ASM” course.

Students concentrating in Economics will choose either ECN3615 (Money, Banking and the Economy) or ECN3655 (Managerial Economics) as the foundation for the concentration, and then select three more economics electives based on personal or career interests. Within the concentration, students may focus on one of several sub-concentrations including macro-financial, international, and development.

More details at: http://www.babson.edu/Academics/undergraduate/concentrations/Pages/economics.aspx

The Economics section of the undergraduate course catalog is available on the Babson College website

  • ECN2300   Principles of Macroeconomics - required
  • ECN3610   Intermediate Macroeconomics
  • ECN3615   Money, Banking and the Economy
  • ECN3620   Econometrics
  • ECN3625   Business Environment of the New Europe
  • ECN3630   Industrial Organizational & Public Policy
  • ECN3645   Business and Economic Policy in Developing Countries
  • ECN3650   Contemporary Economic Systems
  • ECN3655   Managerial Economics
  • ECN3660   International Trade Theory & Policy
  • ECN3662   Political Economy of Latin American Development & Underdevelopment
  • ECN3665   International Finance
  • ECN3666   Economics of Competitive Strategy
  • ECN3667   Strategic Game Theory
  • ECN3670   Role of Government in Market Economy
  • ECN3671   Economics of Labor Markets
  • ECN3675   Environmental Economics - Policy & Analysis
  • ECN3676   Competitiveness Challenges of the New Europe
  • ECN3677   Regional Economies: Prospects and Tensions in Latin America's Southern Cone

Most of these courses have a Prerequisite: ECN7000 or MBA8520 or completion of one-year or two-year modules.

  • ECN7200   Managerial Economics
  • ECN7201   Managing at the Crossroads: Business, Government, and the International Economy
  • ECN7520   Economic and Financial Forecasting
  • ECN7527   Trade and Globalization
  • ECN7550   Economic Strategy and Game Theory
  • ECN7555   Health Economics

Details at http://www.babson.edu/Academics/graduate/Pages/course-catalog.aspx?Division=Economics