Economics Archives | Adamas University

Why to Enrol in A Master’s in Economics Program with Finance Specialization? – Fascinating Career Path Ahead

An economy cannot be stable without a well-functioning financial sector. Over the years, due to various national and international events including the ongoing pandemic that hit financial sector badly, the working of it has become more complex. To ensure efficient functioning of the financial sector, it needs well-equipped and trained professionals who can handle tricky tasks. Mainly, financial data analysts are now in high demand. These analysts are expected to have sufficient knowledge of the sector along with the overall economy and to be equipped with the skills of understanding as well as building models that would ensure financial securities to be traded at optimal prices and financial transactions to be done in the most efficient way.

These professionals, depending on their job profiles, may also need to create portfolio of profit generating financial assets that also bear lower risk factors. In this data driven world, an analyst needs to make use of a clever combination of mathematical, statistical, and analytical tools to comprehend the task of determining optimal prices of various financial assets, creating optimal investment portfolios, analyzing risk-return trade off of various assets, and so on. The branch of study that makes you efficient in doing this can be a Master’s degree in Economics with specialization in financial economics that covers the areas of corporate finance, investments and/or banking.

What does a master’s program in economics with specialization in finance exactly intend at?

It is a prerequisite to go through appropriate training and guidance to comprehend the changing structure of financial markets and gain proper skills to act as financial analysts. A perfectly structured master’s program in economics that offers specialization in financial economics helps to become an efficient financial analyst. This program makes one learn the application of diverse theoretical models to wide range of data using appropriate analytical tools and analyze those data. For example, a student enrolled in this program is expected to develop the skill of optimal price setting for financial assets, build the efficiency in risk analysis and devising risk management techniques in relation portfolio management for investors. Thus, this program helps in honing the skill of efficient financial decision making by developing a sound understanding of the theories and their applications in this field.

Is this program a right choice for shaping up your career path?

Do you want to be trained in financial economics?
Do you have adequate prior knowledge of economics and basic mathematical skills?

Then, this specialization in Master’s in Economics program is the right choice if you want to have the best advanced education in the area of financial economics.

The students that are the most suitable for this Master’s programme-

Must be ambitious to learn the modern finance.
Must be comfortable with the application of quantitative tools, and be eager to solve real-life financial problems.
Must be interested in discussing business cases and their implications.

A well-structured program makes you ready for jobs in the domain of of risk management, asset-liability management and research and analytics in national and international financial markets.

Career path ahead as a financial analyst:

While a strong financial system is a perquisite for a well-functioning economy, a financial system performs well only when efficient decisions are made and calculative moves are undertaken at every step. Financial analysts play crucial roles in this respect as these professionals possess the skill of applying appropriate analytical tools to the raw data available for making intelligent decisions in businesses.

You can act as a good financial analyst only if you have a strong educational background in this field. Besides, it would not also be tough to say that these professionals having such skills tend to get lucrative remunerations from their jobs. With a Master’s in Economics with specialization in Finance, you develop the skill to build your career in the financial and banking sectors as professionals in the areas of financial research and analytics, financial and bank risk management as quantitative analysts.

The demand for good analysts do not come from the banking industry only, but also from a wide variety of asset management firms, exchanges, regulators and various other firms operating in the financial sector.

One does not need to be very strong in mathematics or statistics if you wish to make your career as a financial analyst, but you can still gain the required expertise to become a good financial analyst if you enrol yourself in a well-structured PG program in Economics with a specialization in Finance.

Expanding Opportunities in International Economics

Economics and international affairs are inextricably linked. As the globe and politics become more complex and intertwined, there is an increasing demand for experts who understand how to navigate these regions. Economics efficiently mixes liberal arts and applied professional training, preparing graduates for a wide range of options and successes in graduate and/or professional education such as law or administration. Students who obtain an economics degree will have a deep understanding of the national as well as the international economy and will be able to think critically about the issues that businesses face. Today’s firms reward economics students with comprehensive analytical training and recognize their success in managerial decision-making. Opportunities exist for economists at the local, state, national, and international levels, as well as in the corporate, non-profit, and public sectors.

International economics, which includes International Trade and International Finance, examines the role of economics in constituting and affecting the interdependent nature of the world, which involves economic growth and productivity, international trade and finance, taxation and public expenditure, and the foreign exchange market, and monetary policy.

Students of international economics develop a strong ability to objectively examine the role of economics on both political and social levels by examining the different institutions – such as markets, firms, and unions – that constantly alter the worldwide arena. They also develop a comprehensive idea about the role of economics in global conflicts and stabilization, based on the notion that economics and world affairs are intimately linked. Students who specialize in international economics are thus prepared to apply their knowledge to a wide range of global concerns, from international policy to regional economies and more.

Adamas University offers international economics courses at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The program’s interdisciplinary approach mixes economics, finance, and international politics.

Career Opportunities in International Trade

International trade is expanding every day, and it takes a variety of expertise to make it work, from the marketing specialist to the international law attorney to the shipping experts who can keep track of what’s arriving and going. Marketers create, stage, and launch campaigns to promote businesses, products, and services, international lawyers stay up to date on international finance law and bilateral trade agreements, and shipping experts handle the logistics of moving products across borders and oceans. Because international trade is a gigantic company with huge risks, but the payoff may be just as large, it demands a team effort.

With the rapid globalization of markets and the dismantling of trade barriers under the new World Trade Organization (WTO) regime, highly rewarding job opportunities are becoming available to professionals trained in export-import or foreign trade management. A career in international trade offers a lot of promise, with job openings in marketing, paperwork, shipping, and packing departments of export-import companies and in commercial corporations’ export divisions.

International trade produces jobs at all levels, be they in shipping, manufacturing, or business management. The list below offers an overview of some specific career paths—

International Business Development

Policy and Planning Analysts
Project Director and Manager
Global Trade Analyst
International Business Development

Global Marketing

Regional Trade Marketing
Export Sales Representative
International Sales Manager
Export Marketing Representative

Supply Chain Management

Logistics and Supply Chain Manager
Procurement Manager for International Company
International Shipping Specialist
Operations Manager
Storage and Distribution Manager

Trade Finance

Trade Finance Officer
Credit Insurance Specialists, etc.

Businesses exchange goods and services across boundaries and regions, which is why international trade is so important in the global market. It’s a fast-paced, dynamic industry that requires a thorough understanding of operations and managerial skills to flourish.

Career opportunities in the field are both lucrative and plentiful, thanks to advances in globalization and international commerce—from analysts to business development professionals, energy brokers to logistic customer service coordinators, and international trade consultants.

Course on International Trade and Finance

The international economics course is a detailed exploration of how international trade. It begins with the basics of price theory to advance the different standard trade theories that evolved. The course also helps the students understand the applications and techniques essential in the field of international trade policy. An introduction to international finance is also to be provided to the students, preparing them for the contemporary debates from the perspective of third-world countries. International finance emerges from transactions in the capital account, which get a place in multi-currency balance sheets and income statements. In this context, students learn the behavior of exchange rates and the risks in fluctuations of the exchange rates.

Students study not just trade theories but also discover trade possibilities, and understand global finance capital, the applications, and procedures in the field of international trade policy, and the international monetary. Because this curriculum places a strong emphasis on putting theory into practice, students can see how the knowledge they have acquired during their studies will be put to the best possible use in the workplace.

Given the changing international environment, a postgraduate degree in international economics provides students with a wealth of opportunities to learn how to trade internationally, how to support the development of international trade personnel, and how to develop the ability to manage, formulate strategic options, and define business winning propositions in an international trade environment. Employers require all these talents to enable them to engage in a dynamic and changing global context.

Bright Career Opportunities with specialization in the field of Economics

In today’s scenario of growing income inequality where technology is already displacing jobs at a fast pace, the shock created post-pandemic on health and the economy ground has put the economies into freefall, and labor markets are very much disrupted. There is huge unemployment created worldwide due to the global recession, and the recession has influenced mainly those communities which are already in a vulnerable position. The speed of technology adoption is expected to even enhance in near future and the adoption of cloud computing, big data, and e-commerce remain high priorities for business leaders, following a trend established in previous years. However, there has also been a significant rise in interest in encryption, non-humanoid robots, and artificial intelligence. In this scenario, this blog discusses career opportunities in the field of economics.

In today’s world of huge competition, it’s the field of specialization studies that are in high demand in all sectors. So, it is very important to opt for a career option where there is the core domain knowledge and subject specialization to fetch a good job in all aspects. Having specialization in the subject of Economics has bright career opportunity options in various sectors (both government and private) and it is expected to grow further in the post-pandemic scenario. A background in economics carries huge weightage and impression on the chances of selection for a bright career option in many sectors. The beauty of studying this subject is that the student can choose from many varied career options after finishing their graduation with economics honours.

Since every moment of our daily life, data is created everywhere, and a proper analysis of data can answer lots of questions. Hence, in the given scenario in the field of economics, there is a huge demand for professionals who are trained in handling Big Data.

Thus, after pursuing a Masters’s in Economics with a specialization in Econometrics where they learn data handling techniques and usages of software like EViews, Stata, and R, there are opportunities to work in MNCs working with handling Big Data. Since the subject of Economics always has a research inclination, there is a huge demand for Economics postgraduates professionals trained in analysing data and preparing reports. They are hired not only by corporates but also by various government agencies and organizations which are engaged in analysing data and publishing reports. It’s a win-win position for the postgraduates who have specialization in financial economics as well since there is a huge demand for profiles such as investment portfolio management which requires knowledge in finance and data handling. Online content development and content writing on the basis of reports and data analysis are in huge demand in the field of economics. Lots of start-ups are engaging people having skills in data analytics. Typically, Data analysts are promoted to higher positions like senior data analysts, data scientists, data analytics managers, business analysts, etc. So if somebody enjoys working with numbers, and thinks analytically the career option as a data analyst is extremely in demand. There is a huge scope in the academic research field also for social scientists like economists. Graduates in economics also have huge opportunities to incorporate MNCs and companies engaged in research-related activities. Many students also pursue MBA after their graduation in Economics, since it adds a feather in the cap of the candidate. They are in high demand in the corporate sector.

Besides the corporate sector, students with Masters in Economics can appear for the examination for various specialist officer posts in Economics which are conducted by various Government Banks and the Reserve Bank of India. These are specialist officer posts that require domain knowledge of economics. There are also examinations conducted by Public Insurance companies like Oriental insurance for specialist officer posts in Economics Those students having a research inclination and wish to come in the field of academics can appear for the NET examination for lecturership and NET-JRF examination for Ph.D. scholarship. There are various government organizations preparing research reports, they also hire Economics postgraduates for research purposes and various other officer posts.

There are career opportunities for students after finishing their graduation in Economics as well. The students can compete for prestigious government services like the Indian Economic services examination which is conducted by UPSC. The syllabus of this examination comprises all the topics which an Economics graduate learns in his/her three years of Economics Honours (BA/ B.Sc) course. They can also appear for various other government examinations like Staff Service Commission and Public Services Commission where a background in Economics is given good preference. There are various NGOs and Research organizations also engaging students of economics in preparing analytical reports on topics of social issues.

The above description gives us a clear picture that there is a huge demand for Economics graduates and post-graduates in many sectors for well-paid and prestigious positions.

Overall, the subject of economics is highly in demand in the world of Big Data especially in the post-pandemic world with data centers in growing demand. So, if students select a program with a specialization in the field of Economics, it will surely give them a competitive advantage in their career growth and opportunities.

Career Opportunities in Economics Research and Development Consulting in Post Pandemic

The career opportunities in economics and development consulting is rather growing in the post-pandemic period. As this pandemic has brought economic slowdown, reduction in sales and consumption expenditures across the regions and nations. This has prompted for wider scale research and market study to assess this phenomena. The development consulting sector was also affected during the pandemic period and this workload needs to be carried further in the post pandemic period. In this blog I am going to enumerate career opportunities in above mentioned sectors in further detail.

The undergraduate courses in Economics and Business Economics discipline provide sufficient training and insights among students to start entry level jobs in market research, data driven analysis and scoping assessment provided by various companies, research wings of manufacturing companies and non-government organizations. The development consulting sectors open the door for entry in Business Development Area, Research Assistant, Assistant Manager Project and Project Associate. Similarly, the post-graduate courses in Economics and Management enable our students to challenges in these sectors as Research Manager, Project Manager, Project Fellow, Project Coordinator, and Research Consultant roles. Master’s in Business Administration students can explore specific research projects in their specialization domains of Human Resource, Marketing and Finance related researches. Policy based research and research think-tanks also provide job opportunities to post-graduate candidates in economics and management. Further, the nature and specifications of these jobs are different from traditional job opportunities.

In an ordinary search of “Market Research Analyst” to popular job portal lists 18,236 job openings across geographical regions and specialization domains. This search is dominated by 6,419 jobs in data science and 4260 in software engineering followed closely by Sales and Business Development (1552), BFSI, Investment (971), Marketing & Marketing Research (642), Consumer Support (522), Finance (516), Project Planning (425), Human Resource Management (378), and Project Management (352). Foreign Multinational Companies like; Accenture, Spice Work, BNY Mellon, IBM and others.

In development consulting sector, career opportunities for economics and business graduates are available at three levels; a) International b) National and c) Regional. There are 2600 live job opportunities are currently available for economics graduate at regional level in north Indian states. Students can start their career right after undergraduate degree as project assistant, Field Investigators, Data Analyst, and Program Manager in various development consulting projects. Post-graduate students can start their career as research assistant, research fellow, project coordinator and Data Manager. Students with Accounting and Finance major can also support project activity in their accounting and audit processes. Companies like KPMG, PWC, Ernst& Young, Boston Consulting Group, Grandthorton and several others are working in the are area of execution, planning and evaluation of development activities financed by respective government agencies along with national and international development financing units. These development finance units could be Asian Development Bank, DFID, USAID, UNDP, UNICEF, World Bank, IMF and similar such organizations.

What are the skills required in Market Research and Development Consulting Projects?

The skill sets required for career in these domains are slightly different from a regular and traditional careers. In almost all the market research projects and development projects persons are required with thorough knowledge of deductive and inductive reasoning as they would be required to apply it quite often at their work place. Let’s understand the inductive and deductive in a much simpler way. Students belonging to Medical Courses require four meals in a day and students belong to Para Medical Courses require only two meals in a day and at the max three meals in a day. If this information is given what logic one can deduct from it? There can be multiple inferences drawn from this information of two sentences. Now the challenge is who would get the most relevant inference out of these two sentences. If you are aspiring a career in market research you brain stimulus should be acting in planning the requirements of two sets of markets these two sets of students belong too. It’s not just about four meals in a day and three meals in a day it is complete different sets of goods they would be consuming given the pattern of food preferences. If someone is looking a career in development she would be deducting the economic class of these two sets of students. Their career choices are not determined by their cognitive abilities but incomes of their respective families. You would also identify the challenges of exceptions of economic class in these sets.

The second most sought after skill in both the career domains are networking skills. These networking skills are different from usual networking skills as one would require to place networked persons according to requirements and upgrade with their utility. Here is an example; most of the dataset required for market research are not easily accessible and even for easily accessible data sets the validity and reliability is a big issue for customised sample based researches. One would like to be networked with right set of people to address such issues.

Besides these skills, writing, comprehension and affinity to detail are must in these career domains.

Preparation for the market research and development consulting

The preparation for such kind of skills begin with school days and it gets consolidated with higher education. Students opting for economics, statistics, social work and business studies are getting better comprehension in these career domains relative to other subjects. Students from Engineering and Medical fields are are also required in Development consultancy as well as market research. This field is challenging as well as exciting for such persons who are looking to upgrade themselves with the changing context. The concept of lifelong learning is appropriate for such career domains as every new project open afresh canvas for learning and growth. Business consulting, Investment consulting are relatively more rewarding than the development consulting however, for the early career students development consulting can act as a Launchpad. Further, advancement in skills can lead to other consulting jobs.

For greater understanding in development consulting one must visit the websites of donor agencies.

School of Business and Economics: Unique Aspects

On 29 July 2020, the Government of India, through its renamed Education Ministry (erstwhile MHRD), launched the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), the first education policy of the 21st century, based on the foundational pillars of access, affordability, equity, quality, and accountability, and aligned to the aspirations of the citizens of the era. For Adamas University, this path-breaking policy presents the perfect setting of its cherished aims and objectives. Since its inception, Adamas University, through the general notion of academic freedom, benchmarking with the best of the world, unshackling the quality framework, has been nurturing all its constituent schools and helping them realize the aspirations of the millennial population they serve as students and scholars.

In spite of the raging pandemic, the School of Business and Economics (SOBE), is well poised with its robust work practices, frameworks, strategies and tools to understand and manage the challenges of building a modern, international, relevant centre of excellence, catering to the unique needs of the students and the corporates that it considers as primary stakeholders. The School rests on three strong unique pillars (USPs, if one may call them):

1. Deep connect with the corporate:

In the most canonical way, business is a practice-driven field, so the deep connectivity with the corporate world is imperative, and a real differentiator in this red-ocean of management or business schools, the vast multitude of institutions operating with essentially no difference, leading to commoditization of business education in India. At SOBE, we believe that business is going to transform the world for the good of all by facilitating more and deeper communication between management professionals, scholars, and students. SOBE with most of the faculty either having substantial corporate experience or having worked as consultants to the corporate world, try to mimic through modern online teaching methodologies how the real world works to ensure employability of its students.

Ever alert to the dichotomy between what is taught and what is needed in the job place, SOBE bridges the perceptual gap between the corporate world and the world of academia collaboratively. A few programs, in cutting-edge sunrise sectors like logistics, analytics, and entrepreneurship, offered by the School are actually conducted in tandem with industry partners. The proverbial parallel worlds of the academics and the practitioners are not only divergent, but also mired in deep mutual suspicions. In these and other programs offered by SOBE, corporates are involved not just delivery of content, but in almost every facet of the scholastic activity – curriculum design, planning of evaluation methods, internship design and execution, student assessment, apart from the usual delivery of content through industry speaker series, guest lectures, best practice or case study discussions by corporate professionals.

2. International curriculum:

One clear area that the prevalent situation has brought to the fore, and compelled humanity to take note of is the fundamental assumptions behind much of our business practices. Business is integrated, supply chains cover the entire globe and borders do not restrict exchange of ideas, products and people, just like they have not been able to do with the virus! Globally, corporates are waking up to the wasteful nature of business processes, a general lack of concern for human values (echoing the maxim of end justifying the means), apathy towards the environmental and climate issues, considering any goal other than profit (and the few other variants of the notion with sugar-coated nomenclatures) as tick-in-the-box items to have to look good, rather than to be good, and many such ways in which business have been running for quite some time now.

SOBE, in tandem with its partner institutions and universities across the globe, notably from Europe, USA and South East Asia, exposes its students to the imperatives and challenges of global business with all its covenant human and world issues.

3.Digitally enabled:

The pandemic time is perhaps an opportunity to once again revisit the question of what we teach, why we teach, who must teach, how we teach, and where we teach the future business and management professionals. But the physical restrictions that it brought about forced academia to shift from the conventional classroom lectures pedagogies to digital online learning systems and processes. SOBE, along with the other constituent schools of Adamas University, made an effective move, which was endorsed and vindicated by none other than QS, and we were awarded the QS e-Lead certification, one among the early few to get it in the entire East and NE India.

Developing a scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of enquiry and reform among students in the digital environment, though challenging, is the mainstay of SOBE faculty. Gravity of the pandemics on people will humanize business schools by bringing society in their cross-hairs when it comes to research agenda, teaching curricula and outreach. With the entire World Wide Web at one’s disposal as teaching-learning tool, creativity and ingenuousness of faculty members enable multi-faceted learning among students. Unique digital pedagogies, like flipped classrooms, are being constantly developed by the faculty members to enhance student engagement and learning.

SOBE believes that education is a transformative process. How to we transform ourselves? Essentially, it is a matter of mindset and courage to buck the trend. While the rest of the business schools keep zigging the way they have been for some time now, few torchbearers need to zag and stand the ground at least for a reasonable amount of time for the business school environment as a whole to go through this transition by unlearning the old way, and relearning the new. SOBE wants to be among the pioneers to shed the image of an also-ran, easy-going, mostly local, average-placement oriented program to a unique, rigorous, global, good placement oriented force to reckon with. The best part of this is that as a nation, we know what needs to be done. It is in execution that we fail. The National Education Policy, NEP 2020, as a whole, urges us to take the plunge into this new world of excellence.