Economics and the Economist

Economics is a social science that studies how individuals, organizations and society use the resources at their disposal to achieve their objectives. So it is the job of the economist to understand and explain how to use these resources and to propose alternative allocations in light of the institutional and behavioral structure of society in order to maximize the value they create.

To achieve this objective, the economist must have a rigorous theoretical and analytical foundation, as well as an understanding of the historical evolution of organizations and society, of their institutional framework and of the motivations and behaviors of the individuals that form them, in particular how these individuals respond to incentive of a material, social or moral nature, when taking decisions on how to use the resources available.

Why choose Insper for my undergraduate studies?

The Insper experience gives students an integrated academic, professional and humanistic vision, which means the curricular and extracurricular activities they perform are designed to develop their intellectual curiosity and investigative capacity.

These are full-time programs with classes in the morning and afternoon until the sixth academic semester, when students are ready to participate in regular internship programs. This intensive study format gives Insper students a unique experience, given the level of educational excellence and the depth of knowledge to which they are exposed, which prepares them to capture top positions in a diversified job market.

Insper’s learning process develops professionals who are capable of solving real problems in the world of business and economics

The program structure includes:

• classes
• tutoring
• and windows for:
  • individual or group study;
  • participation in extracurricular activities;
  • carreer guidance, and more.

At Insper, students help professors develop the content and focus of classes by actively participating in their own learning process. Over the course of the undergraduate program, professors encourage students to share their knowledge (repertoire and reflections resulting from class preparation), which encourages the exercise of proactivity.

As such, the acquisition of behavioral competencies and the retention of theoretical knowledge (which is the foundation of the functional competencies of an economist that add value) are facilitated by a dynamic and curriculum design that encourage students to participate actively in activities and solve real-world problems typical to organizations and companies, while interacting with colleagues and debating and reflecting on ideas.\

Upon concluding the program, the economists developed by Insper have recognized competence in:

• Problem solving
• Critical thinking and analyzing situations systemically
• Working on teams
• Communicating clearly when expressing positions and rationales
• Working with a results orientation (previously defined targets)

Effective Problem Solving

An important advantage of Insper’s undergraduate programs

Aware of the needs and demands of professionals working in the real world, Insper offers a program to promote the development of undergraduate students in competencies such as critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork, which is called “Effective Problem Solving.”

The program effectively innovates the statistics teaching model by conferring an applied character to courses in the field by tackling real-world problems and adopting a problem‑solving methodology. Over the course of the statistics courses, students participate in diagnostic evaluations of the use of this methodology. With results in hand, the students identify, at the end of the course, their main strengths as well as the areas in which they must develop when taking the course Problems in Economics in their sixth academic semester.

The course Problems in Economics is based on a learning design centered on typical problems in the field of economics: students divided into teams are presented weekly with a problem in the area of micro or macroeconomics that they must analyze and present in the next class.

The problems proposed are taken from the context faced by economists working at banks, economic departments of companies, economic consulting firms, etc.

At the end of the course, students present their analyses and solutions to a panel of prominent economists.

The central problem addressed in the Economic Sciences program is: How to optimally allocate scarce resources in a diverse society, taking into account how people respond to economic and social incentives?

Integrated curriculum

To ensure a strong foundation for structuring and solving problems, during the first few semesters, the basic-development courses are the same for both the Economics and Business Administration programs. As of the fourth semester, the two programs split off into different directions and, in the last year, students select the courses they will take from among a broad spectrum of elective courses offered.

Double Certification in Business Administration and Economics

With the Double Certification, you may achieve an additional degree in Business Administration or Economics program, once the curriculums for both programs are integrated.

In order to achieve the Double Certification, you must undergo a Selection Progress. The number of openings is defined twice a year by the Academic Coordination.

Once you are accepted, by the senior year of your original program, you may already start to attend the classes of another program. This way, you graduate in the original program and, within one extra year, you achieve a Double Certification.