ECONOMICS

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr R McMaster

Pre-requisites

None.

Overview

Microeconomics studies the behaviour of consumers, employees and company managers as they interact while allocating resources among different possible uses. The course is divided into three. First, we will study the workings of markets in bringing together and coordinating the actions and decisions of different economic agents, usually through prices being established in markets. Second, we will focus on decision-making within companies as managers decide what to produce, in which quantities, and by which methods. We will also look at the role of governments in regulating competition among companies. Third, we will examine how market economics affect the welfare of society. We will look at the role of government, and also provide critical perspectives on how economic theories shape our understandings of how economics work, presenting a range of different perspectives. The course provides a critical introduction to the discipline, and a grounding for further study in economics.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures per week, 5 tutorials and 3 workshops.

Assessment

1 two-hour examination paper (70%) and continuous assessment (30%).

Credit Points

20

Course Coordinator

Dr H Battu

Pre-requisites

None

Overview

Why is that certain countries have experienced rapid growth in incomes over the past century whereas others are stuck in severe poverty? Why do some nations have high rates of inflation and others stable prices or deflation? Why is unemployment low in some countries but very high in others? Why do all countries experience periods of recession and depression and how can government reduce the size of the associated fluctuations in incomes and employment? Macroeconomics, which looks at the behaviour of the economy as a whole, tries to answer these and other questions. This course introduces students to understand the determinants of the level of output, the overall growth rate of the economy, unemployment and the rate of inflation as well as the role of government in influencing these variables.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures per week, 5 tutorials and 2 workshops.

Assessment

1 two-hour examination paper (70%) and continuous assessment (30%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr J D F Skåtun

Pre-requisites

EC 1003

Overview

This course is designed both for those who, after completion of Microeconomics 1, wish to take a further course in Microeconomics for the MA without Honours, and for those who wish to proceed to Honours. The course examines a number of key areas in microeconomics including demand theory, production and cost, factor markets, market structures, externalities and public goods, and the application of microeconomics principles to important spheres of economic policy such as the regulation of merger activity and the operation of investor-owned utility monopolies.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 two-hour examination paper (70%) and continuous assessment (30%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr W D McCausland

Pre-requisites

EC 1503.

Overview

This course is designed both for those who, after completion of Macroeconomics 1, wish to take a further course in Macroeconomics for the MA without Honours, and for those who wish to proceed to Honours. The course examines a number of important topics in macroeconomics including the Classical and Keynesian ISLM models of the economy, theories of the open economy, the concept and theoretical use of the notion of “rational expectations”, theories of consumption behaviour and the demand for money, and the application of modern macroeconomic theory to areas of government decision making such as fiscal and monetary policy.

Structure

Three hours of lectures per week, 5 tutorials and 3 computer workshops.

Assessment

1 two-hour examination paper (70%) and continuous assessment (30%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor M P Kidd

Pre-requisites

EC 2002 and EC 2502

Overview

This course provides an introduction to the basic mathematical and statistical techniques needed by economists. The mathematical component includes differential and integral calculus, maximisation subject to constraints and matrix algebra. The second part of the course comprises an introduction to econometrics, the principal means of statistical analysis in applied economics. This part of the course also includes the use of computer programmes for econometric estimation.

Structure

2 two-hour seminars per week plus computing workshops.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr H Battu

Pre-requisites

EC 2002

Notes

This course will be available in 2005/06 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course aims to analyse the problems of less developed countries and to consider the policies which might be adopted to further economic development. The course begins by debating what is meant by “economic development”. Is it the same as economic growth or should we also be concerned with the distribution of the benefits of growth? The determinants of growth and technological change in both the agricultural and industrial sectors of less developed countries are considered at length. The interrelated topics of population growth, rural to urban migration, and unemployment are discussed. There are case studies of India, China and the East Asian ‘tigers’, especially Taiwan and South Korean.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr E Seki

Pre-requisites

EC 2002

Notes

This course will be available in 2004/05 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course uses economic theory to examine the exploitation and management of natural and environmental resources. In the first half of the course, the economic principles appropriate to the analysis of these topics are developed. The main topics examined include: the optimal use of non-renewable resources (such as oil and gas), the economics of sustainability, the optimal use of open access renewable resources (such as fisheries and whaling), the regulation of open access renewable resources, the economics and control of pollution (including international pollution such as global warming), and the valuation of environmental resources. Building on the theory of depletion of non-renewable resources, the second part of the course concentrates on petroleum economics. The main topics examined include explanations of long and short term oil price behaviour, the nature of supply curves in petroleum production, the role of OPEC in the world market, economic rents and their collection by the state, the economics of North Sea Oil and gas exploitation, with special reference to licensing and taxation policies and the economics of gas production, transmission and supply in the United Kingdom in the liberalised market.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment: (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr I D McAvinchey

Pre-requisites

EC 3001

Notes

This course will be available in 2004/05 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

Econometrics is concerned with testing the compatibility of economic theories with actual day to day economic events. Its development has influenced the recent changes that have taken place in Economics to such an extent that some knowledge of econometrics is essential if much of the modern literature is to be understood. Economic theories are seen as hypotheses on the nature of the world, and are expressed as an equation or a system of equations. These equations are then estimated using one or more of the methods of econometrics. The acceptability or otherwise of the theory can then be decided upon, or the theory itself modified and re-tested. It is essentially the scientific empirical method applied to Economics.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (60%), and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr H Dickey

Pre-requisites

Available only to students in Programme Year 3 or above who have passed EC 2002.

Notes

This course will be available in 2005/06 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course aims to develop an understanding of the level and structure of wages and employment in advanced industrial nations. Distinguishing the nature and determinants of the supply of and the demand for labour, the course analyses the behaviour of labour markets and offers explanations of the major policy issues of wage inflation and unemployment. Current policy issues such as the impact of welfare benefits on labour supply, the minimum wage, the contrast between ‘Anglo-Saxon’ and ‘European’ models of the labour market are explored. The institutional and regulatory framework within which labour markets operate is detailed and analysed. Attention is given to the analysis of wage structure, wage inequality, labour market flexibility and unemployment.

Structure

2 two-hour seminars per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

To be confirmed.

Pre-requisites

EC 2002 and EC 2502

Notes

This course will be available in 2005/06 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course seeks to provide an explanation of the behaviour and operation of the public economy, especially in the United Kingdom. This involves both theoretical and empirical investigation of the reasons for the existence of the public sector, the great growth in public expenditure throughout the world in the twentieth century, and the controversy that has surrounded these developments. Growth of expenditure obviously imposes a need to raise taxation to pay for it. The course examines the main taxation instruments available to governments and their effects on the behaviour of workers, investors and consumers.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Mr D Newlands

Pre-requisites

EC 2002

Notes

This course will be available in 2004/05 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

The various regions and cities of Britain have had different economic experiences. This course seeks to explain why this is so and examines the policies which have been formulated to deal with regional and urban problems. Theories that explain differences in the rates of economic growth and levels of unemployment are examined, together with inter-regional migration and the North-South divide. The objectives, instruments and achievements of regional policy are considered. Other current issues that are examined include the role of regional development agencies, devolution to the regions, and the regional policy of the European Union. The course also focuses on the processes of urban change, the redistribution of population away from cities to large towns and rural areas, and the nature and causes of inner city decline. The most recent policy instruments are examined, including enterprise zones, urban development corporations and iniatives to deal with the problems of peripheral housing estates.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorials per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr E Phimister

Pre-requisites

EC 3001

Notes

This course will be available in 2005/06 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

Operational research is a systematic way of dealing with decision making. Complex organisations generate complex decision problems and a systematic method of decision making is therefore desirable if not essential in an industrial society. This course is concerned with linear programming and related models, which are applicable to optimal decision making in firms and industries. While the models covered in the course are small, the methods are applicable to much larger problems, such as found in real life situations. Under certain conditions different methods of reaching a decision may be used (ie a different algorithm may be applied). The course includes a study of the theory behind such decision models with applications, and also introduces game theory and duality theory. The topics included are a useful introduction to management science, and are treated with theoretical and practical orientation. Operational research is widely used in government, industry and international agencies.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Mr D Newlands

Pre-requisites

EC 2002 and EC 2502

Notes

This course will be available in 2004/05 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course discusses some of the principal themes in health economics. The relationship between health and health care is considered. The distinctive characteristics of health care as an economic good are explained. The course examines the demand for health care, the supply of health care and the economics of the hospital. The role and application of economic evaluation in health care are discussed. Most of the course relates to the UK but there are international comparisons.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr S Gazioglu

Pre-requisites

EC 2502

Notes

This course will be available in 2005/06 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course concentrates on the range of economic models which seek to explain the balance of payments, exchange rate determination, the current and capital accounts, currency substitution and the efficiency market hypothesis. Particular attention is paid to Mundell-Fleming and Dornbusch type models and to the portfolio approach. The Bretton Woods system is examined, together with the dollar standard, floating exchange rate regimes, the European Monetary System, the Eurodollar market and Eurobanking. Major international issues, which are considered, include the relations between the IMF and the Third World, international liquidity and debt, and international monetary reform.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Mr D Newlands

Pre-requisites

Available only to Senior Honours candidates for Honours in Economics (Economic Science) or Economics (Political Economy).

Notes

This course will be available in both the first and second semester in the fourth year of study, under codes EC 4001 and EC 4501. No student will be allowed to offer both EC 4001 and EC 4501 as part of a degree programme.

Overview

The dissertation must be submitted by the examination period at the end of the first semester in the Senior Honours year. There are no explicit rules regarding the subject matter of the dissertation, but the topic must be approved by the Co-ordinator and by the Head of School. Dissertations must be typed and must not exceed 10,000 words.

Assessment

Dissertation (100%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr R McMaster

Pre-requisites

EC 2002 and EC 2502

Overview

Initially the course highlights the importance of methodology as a study of what economists do and how they do it. Following this, notions such as deductivism and inductivism are discussed. The Popperian positivism of much standard economics will be critically appraised. In this respect particular attention is paid to Milton Friedman’s contribution. The course then will note the debate over the progress of economics as a science, drawing on the works of Kuhn and Lakatos. Finally, some contemporary contributions are outlined ranging from Austrian apriorism and hermeneutics, to Feyereband’s “Against Method” and Lawson’s realism.

Structure

2 two-hour seminar per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr E C Phimister

Pre-requisites

EC 3001

Notes

This course will be available in 2005/06 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course examines a number of important topics in microeconomics in greater depth than the microeconomics course at level two. In the first part of the course both the consumer’s and producer’s problem is examined using a number of analytical tools developed in EC 3001. The second part of the course considers market structure and general equilibrium theory in more detail. The third section focuses on the economics of uncertainity and asymmetric information.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (60%) and continuous assessment (40%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Professor C H Lee

Pre-requisites

EC 2002 and EC 2502

Notes

This course will be available in 2004/05 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course examines the history of economic ideas and the evolution of the main schools of economic thought from the eighteenth century to the present day. The aims of the course are to trace the origins of modern economic thought, and to explore the development of the main traditions and the differences between them. It examines the main controversies stimulated by the differences between the main Schools of thought with regard to their contemporary relevance, and demonstrates that the subject is rather more substantive and interesting than the definition once offered that it was ‘the wrong opinions of dead men’. The main objective is to enable the student both to appreciate the diversity of schools of thought in Economics and to identify his/her position within this spectrum of opinion.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (80%) and continuous assessment (20%).

Credit Points

30

Course Coordinator

Dr W D McCausland

Pre-requisites

EC 3001

Notes

This course will be available in 2004/05 and in alternate sessions thereafter.

Overview

This course treats the economy as an interactive system which can produce unemployment, changes in investment portfolios and revised expectations. The relationship between the private and public sector is also examined with reference to stability and uniqueness. Fundamental constraints on policy, conditions for effectiveness, and means of policy implementation and assessment are then considered. Subsequent topics include the techniques of fiscal and monetary control; optimal policy rules in stochastic and dynamic environments; rational expectations and the credibility of policy; exchange rate determination/intervention; forecasting models; and international interdependence and policy co-ordination.

Structure

3 one-hour lectures and 1 one-hour tutorial per week.

Assessment

1 three-hour examination (60%), and continuous assessment (40%).