Introduction

The Double Degree Program offered by the MSc in Economics and Development of the University of Florence and the International Master in Public Policies of the University of Rennes (France) is a high-quality two-year program specialising in economics and in public economics, which allows students to earn both master degrees. Students with home university Florence spend the first academic year at the University of Florence and the second academic year at the University of Rennes -- webpage of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Rennes.

Structure of the program and educational objectives

The program provides students with advanced quantitative methods and techniques in order to use both theoretical and empirical tools to analyze major current economic issues and policies, with a specialization in the activities of governments in the economy, in an evolutionary, comparative, international perspective. Key competences provided include the capacity to conduct both theoretical and applied research in the fields of economics, tools for economic and econometric methods to analyze data and formulate or evaluate economics policies by governments.

At the University of Florence, the program starts in September and students take courses in the curriculum Economics of the MSc Economics and Development. Shortly before the beginning of the second semester, first-year students of the curriculum Economics can apply to enter the double degree program, and up to 5 students are selected to spend their entire second year at the University of Rennes, attending courses, taking exams, and writing a Master thesis at the International Master in Public Policies, according to the latter's regulations. These activities count toward earning the degree in Economics and Development from the University of Florence. At the International Master in Public Policies, students earn a deep understanding of the activities of governments in the economy, from several perspectives.

The program will provide a sound background in theoretical and empirical methodologies, with a specialization in public economics. At the end of the program, graduates will be able to:

• collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative data from local, national, and international data sets;
• understand micro and macro phenomena from an economic point of view;
• use theoretical and applied (including econometric) tools to analyse economic systems;
• evaluate and formulate economic policies;
• play a role in the processes of management and reform of public sector activities and agencies, in a plurality of institutional contexts;
• acquire an international and interdisciplinary economics profile.

The program requires the student to earn 120 ECTS, according to the regulations described below.

Students with home university Florence, please click here

Students with home university Rennes, please click here

Career perspectives

The job opportunities for graduates from this program include employment as a professional economist in a wide range of positions in private economic consultancy agencies (in particular if dealing with public sector agencies), international organizations like EU, IMF, OECD, national administrations at the central and local levels, banks and financial institutions (especially in the assessment of country specific risks and policy evaluations), nonprofit organizations and think-tanks, and enrolment in a PhD program in Economics and related topics at leading universities around the world.