Economics, Business, & Accounting
Chairman and Associate Professor: CHARLES N. STEELE
Professors: SUSAN KING, DAVID PAAS, IVAN PONGRACIC, GARY WOLFRAM
Associate Professors: ROBERT ATRA, DAVID BASTERFIELD, ROGER BUTTERS, MICHAEL J. CLARK, PETER JENNINGS, DOUGLAS R. JOHNSON, CHRISTOPHER MARTIN, RONALD RIVAS, JAMES WEBB, ABEL WINN
Assistant Professor: QIANYING ZHANG
Instructor: DEANNA MACKIE
Lecturers: CHRISTINA MAIER, CARTER SNIDER
The Department of Economics, Business, and Accounting offers majors in accounting, economics, financial and marketing management. The Department offers a distinctly “Hillsdale” approach to economics and business administration, utilizing the methodology and context of a liberal arts college to present the nature, scope, and function of economic exchange and business decision-making within a democratic, free-market society.
In keeping with the Hillsdale College Mission Statement, the Department promotes an understanding of how economic ideas and the peaceful practice of commerce have contributed to the development of our Western heritage. A consistent free enterprise approach to economics and business distinguishes the Department’s faculty, curriculum, and course content from typical college programs.
We emphasize creating well-rounded, literate entrepreneurs, business professionals, and economists. The study of business is strengthened with a broad-based, liberal arts education. Our approach integrates the functional areas of business and links them to the larger economic and social context of a free society. An entrepreneurial focus, emphasizing new ventures and family-owned businesses, permeates much of the required coursework. A moral philosophy of business and economics is regularly presented in the required courses.
The Department offers a major in economics for students interested in careers in research, teaching, business, or public service. The majors in fields of accounting, financial management, and marketing prepare students to embark upon careers in today’s dynamic and global business environment. The Department encourages its students to double major or minor in a foreign language, the sciences, or mathematics. The Department also offers two interdisciplinary majors, one in political economy and one in international business and language. The political economy major combines courses in economics, history, and politics, and is good preparation for law school and careers in public policy. The major in international business and language is offered in cooperation with the Departments of French, German and Spanish, and is well-suited to students seeking careers in the growing global economy, allowing them to combine business coursework with study of their chosen foreign language.
Students at Hillsdale College may take courses in economics or business administration in one of three ways. First, any student at Hillsdale College may take any economics and business course so long as the student meets the prerequisites of the course. These courses may be in accounting, business, economics, or law. Certain courses have no listed prerequisites and may be taken to enrich the student’s curriculum, broaden the base of knowledge in another area of study, or create a fund of knowledge for further study in other areas.
Second, students in other majors may elect a minor in economics, accounting, entrepreneurship, financial management, marketing management, or general business. The requirements for each minor are found in the following pages.
Third, students may elect a major in economics, accounting, financial management, or marketing management. The requirements for each major are found in the following pages. Students may also elect a major in political economy or international business and language.
Degrees
-
Accounting, Major -
Accounting, Minor -
Economics, Major -
Economics, Minor -
Entrepreneurship, Minor -
Financial Management, Major -
Financial Management, Minor -
General Business, Minor -
Marketing Management, Major -
Marketing Management, Minor -
Political Economy, Major
Courses of Instruction
ACC 209: Principles of Accounting I
Credits 3The basics of financial accounting and an appreciation of the content and usefulness of accounting measurements and financial reports. Prerequisite: BUS 201 (may be taken concurrently), sophomore standing, or instructor approval.
ACC 210: Principles of Accounting II
Credits 3A study of accounting systems and controls, including job order cost and process cost systems. The development and application of managerial accounting concepts and principles. Also stressed are the organization and operation from a managerial accounting perspective. Prerequisite: ACC 209 or instructor approval.
ACC 311: Intermediate Accounting I
Credits 3An in-depth and comprehensive study of the financial statements, with special emphasis on valuation of each class of asset. Also reviewed are the concepts and principles underlying accounting and their application in the accounting process. Prerequisite: Completion of all sophomore-year business core courses or permission of instructor.
ACC 312: Intermediate Accounting II
Credits 3A continuation of Intermediate Accounting I, emphasizing liability and stockholders' equity accounts. In addition, such topics as statement of cash flows and financial analysis are included.
ACC 316: Federal Income Tax I
Credits 3A study of the taxation of individuals under the Internal Revenue Code. Emphasis will be placed on concepts of gross income, exclusions, deductions and credits available to individual taxpayers. Business income and deductions of sole proprietors will be addressed. Prerequisite: ACC 210.
ACC 317: Federal Income Tax II
Credits 3A study of the Internal Revenue Code relating to the taxation of corporations, partnerships, trusts, estates and related entities. This course assumes a knowledge of the taxation of individuals, including sole proprietorships, and is a continuation of ACC 316. Prerequisite: ACC 316.
ACC 401: Accounting Information Systems
Credits 3A comprehensive survey of information systems commonly used in modern business, emphasizing the role of computer hardware/ software. Prerequisite: Completion of all sophomore-year business core courses or permission of instructor.
ACC 405: Principles of Auditing
Credits 3The basic principles of auditing, including elements of internal control, statistical sampling, financial statement and audit reports. The auditor's professional responsibilities and legal liability are also explored. Prerequisite: ACC 311 and senior status or concurrent enrollment in ACC 311.
ACC 411: Advanced Accounting
Credits 3An advanced analysis of accounting theory and practice designed to prepare the accounting major for complex problems that arise from partnerships, home office and branch relationships, consolidations and mergers, receiverships and governmental units. Also a study of the theoretical and practical approach of accounting, budgeting, reporting and auditing for governmental units, colleges and universities, hospitals and other not-for-profit organizations. Prerequisites: ACC 312.
ACC 431: Managerial and Cost Accounting
Credits 3The accumulating and reporting of costs of operations, budgets and other tools of management for measuring profitability of a business enterprise are studied. Emphasis is given to the various cost systems-job order, process cost, standard cost and variable costing. Economics and monetary incentives are also considered. Prerequisite: ACC 210.
BUS 201: Enterprise in a Commercial Republic
Credits 2BUS 215: Business Topics for the Non-Business Student
Credits 1BUS 302: Business Written Communication
Credits 3BUS 304: Entrepreneurship
Credits 3BUS 306: Small Business Management
Credits 3BUS 315: Principles of Marketing
Credits 3BUS 320: Quantitative Analysis
Credits 3BUS 325: Management Theory and Practice
Credits 3BUS 326: Leading People and Teams
Credits 3BUS 330: Financial Management
Credits 3BUS 345: Professional Selling
Credits 3BUS 353: International Business
Credits 3BUS 393: Topics in Business
Credits 1 Max Credits 3BUS 401: Advanced Financial Management
Credits 3BUS 410: Investments I
Credits 3BUS 411: Futures and Options Markets
Credits 3BUS 418: Leadership, Power and Responsibility
Credits 3BUS 419: Business Ethics
Credits 3BUS 431: Case Studies in Finance
Credits 3BUS 432: International Finance
Credits 3BUS 433: Investments II
Credits 3BUS 434: Risk Management
Credits 3BUS 435: New Venture Finance
Credits 3BUS 440: Operations Management
Credits 3BUS 441: Strategic Management
Credits 3BUS 442: Project Management
Credits 3BUS 452: Marketing Management
Credits 3BUS 457: Digital Marketing
Credits 3Digital marketing directly applies marketing strategies and concepts to practical commerce-based Internet business. It prepares future business decision makers for the rapidly changing world of Web business practices. Prerequisite: BUS 315; computer and Web literacy.
BUS 459: Advertising
Credits 3BUS 460: New Product Development
Credits 3BUS 499: Business Capstone: Strategic Decision-Making in a Dynamic Economy
Credits 2BUS 516: Marketing Research
Credits 3BUS 597: Summer Intern Program
Credits 1 Max Credits 3BUS 597: How to Start and Manage a Business
Credits 3ECO 105: Introduction to Political Economy
Credits 3ECO 202: Principles of Microeconomics
Credits 3ECO 203: Principles of Macroeconomics
Credits 3ECO 206: Business and Economic Statistics
Credits 3ECO 303: Intermediate Microeconomics
Credits 3An advanced analysis of exchange, production, productive resource use and price theory. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203, MTH 113 or 120 or equivalent.
ECO 304: Intermediate Macroeconomics
Credits 3A thorough exposure to classical, Keynesian and Monetarist macroeconomics. A critique of macro-analysis is provided. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203, MTH 113 or 120 or equivalent.
ECO 323: Industrial Organization
Credits 3ECO 328: Labor Economics
Credits 3A survey of the labor movement, union structures and internal political forces. Union strategies, government labor arbitration and employment contracts and negotiations are also described. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 355: History of Economic Thought I
Credits 3A two-course evaluation of man's ideas about economic matters, including an examination of the relationship of economic theories to the respective historical environments in which those theories were developed. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 356: History of Economic Thought II
Credits 3A two-course evaluation of man's ideas about economic matters, including an examination of the relationship of economic theories to the respective historical environments in which those theories were developed. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 362: Econometrics
Credits 3ECO 375: Game Theory
Credits 3Game theory is the study of the interaction of rational decision makers. This course uses game theory to study incentives and strategic behavior in practical situations of inter-dependent decision making and negotiations. The course will develop basic theoretical concepts in tandem with applications from a variety of areas, including bargaining, competition, and strategic voting. Prerequisite: MTH 310 or MTH 320 (spring, even-numbered years).
ECO 402: Public Finance and Taxation
Credits 3A study of the economics of government spending and taxation. Among the topics covered are budgeting and cost/benefit analysis, effects and incidence of major taxes imposed in the U.S., and issues in state and local government finance. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203; 303 is recommended.
ECO 404: Behavioral Economics
Credits 3A study of the field of behavioral economics, which incorporates insights from psychology into economic theory and models. The course includes directed reading of seminal contributions, and analysis of the arguments and counterarguments for the behavioral approach. The class goal will be to better understand human behavior, the standard economic model, and the pros and cons of behavioral economics as a field. Prerequisite: ECO 303 or consent of instructor.
ECO 412: Austrian Economics I
Credits 3A year-long course which will present, analyze and critically assess the Austrian school of economics from its founder, Carl Menger, to present-day representatives such as Murray Rothbard and Israel Kirzner. The course will emphasize the works of Ludwig von Mises, whose personal library and papers will be utilized. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 413: Austrian Economics II
Credits 3A year-long course which will present, analyze and critically assess the Austrian school of economics from its founder, Carl Menger, to present-day representatives such as Murray Rothbard and Israel Kirzner. The course will emphasize the works of Ludwig von Mises, whose personal library and papers will be utilized. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 415: Public Choice
Credits 3Applications of economic theory in the analysis of collective decisions. Emphasis will be on explanation/ prediction of legislative, bureaucratic and judicial decisions. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 432: Environmental and Resource Economics
Credits 3Economics of the allocation and use of natural resources, and the impact of institutional factors on how decisions are made and implemented. Emphasis on property rights, economic rent, and impact of regulations on resources such as forests, fisheries, minerals, land, and water, as well as pollution control issues. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and MTH 112 or 120.
ECO 440: Money and Banking
Credits 3An analysis of the mechanics and objectives of the Federal Reserve System. A brief history and analysis of money and credit in modern financial markets. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 441: Monetary Theory
Credits 3Studies in the theory of money and credit. Emphasis will be placed on the role of money in a market economy and the impact which changes in the supply of and demand for money have on both the structure and level of economic activity. Prerequisites: ECO 303 and 304.
ECO 460: Theory of International Trade
Credits 3A study of the microeconomics of international trade, with emphasis on the determinants of the direction, volume, terms and gains from international trade. Issues surrounding the impact of trade, tariffs, quotas and other factors affecting the distribution of earnings will be examined. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 461: International Monetary Economics
Credits 3A study of the macroeconomics of international trade. A systematic analysis of the monetary and financial components of economic transactions across international boundaries. Topics covered will include various models of exchange-rate adjustments under fixed, floating and mixed-exchange regimes. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 464: Mathematical Economics
Credits 3A mathematical treatment of the theory of the firm and household behavior, including optimization problems, implicit functions and comparative statistics. This course may be viewed as advanced microeconomics. Prerequisites: ECO 303 and MTH 220 or 310 or equivalent, or special permission from the instructor
ECO 465: Comparative Economic Systems
Credits 3A study of the theoretical and practical differences between highly centralized "command" economies and comparatively decentralized "market" economies. Attention is given to the contrasting ideological and political aspects of these two systems as they relate to economic production and human freedom. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 470: Constitutional Political Economy
Credits 3Conventional microeconomics courses seek to understand individual decisions without regard for the institutional framework under which such decisions are made. In this course, students learn different institutional structures and how they influence incentives, and thus individual decision-making. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.
ECO 472: Law and Economics
Credits 3This course uses rational choice theory to understand legal rule-making and institutions. Efficiency criteria act as a guide for decision-makers in formal legal institutions. This methodology is employed as it applies to torts, property, contract, criminal and antitrust law. Prerequisites: ECO 202 and 203.