ECONOMICS www.stir.ac.uk/management/about/economics/ Overseas Advisor: Dr Robin Ruffell Email: economics@stir.ac.

uk Code ECN111 Title Availability Prerequisite SCQF Credit 22 SCQF Level 8

Introductory Autumn Basic high school Microeconomics maths The economic problem of scarcity; the concept of opportunity cost; the production possibility frontier; how prices are determined by supply and demand; the concept of market equilibrium; the causes and effects of changes in supply and demand; the elasticities of supply and demand; government intervention in markets; the different categories of costs; the short-run pricing and output decisions of firms in perfect competition, monopolistic competition and monopoly; labour markets and the reasons why wage rates vary for different types of occupation; the distribution of income; the theory of comparative advantage. *This is a first year module. Please note that students can only register for one of these modules as part of their overall courseload each semester.

ECN211

Intermediate Autumn ECN111 22 8 Microeconomics The assumptions of consumer choice theory relating to preferences and constraints on choice; derivation of the main results about demand; the application of consumer choice theory to payments in kind, subsidies and lump-sum benefits; consumer welfare measures of welfare and cost-benefit analysis; labour supply; capital supply; the theory of costs and production; the long-run theory of perfect competition, monopolistic competition and monopoly; the behaviour of oligopolistic markets. Intermediate Spring ECN112 22 9 Macroeconomics Stylized macroeconomic facts and how they relate to theory and policy; income and wealth accounting; aggregate data analysis trends versus cycles; historical evolution of macroeconomic theory; the classical approach to aggregate demand and supply; the determinants of savings and investment; new-Keynesian theory of aggregate supply; the IS-LM model of income and interest rate determination; efficiency versus sticky wages and unemployment; the trade off between inflation and unemployment; demand and supply of money; static macroeconomic policy analysis. Introduction to Quantitative Spring ECN112 AND ECN 211 22 9 Techniques for Economics The mathematical treatment of the economic problem of optimisation subject to a constraint - elementary algebra; the concept of a derivative and a partial derivative; rules for calculating derivatives; simple optimisation and constrained optimisation; the economic application of the mathematical techniques covered. The econometric estimation of a relationship between two economic variables - the principles and difficulties of collecting data by sample surveys; methods of summarising and representing data, including frequency distributions, measures of location and dispersion and index numbers; the basic concepts of probability theory; the key concepts of statistical inference - point estimation, interval estimation and hypothesis testing; the method of least squares; the economic application of the statistical techniques covered.

ECN212

ECN213

ECN311 Advanced Microeconomics Autumn ECN211 22 10 Choice and rationality; individual welfare changes; the pure exchange model; trading at false prices; Pareto optimality; social welfare functions and compensation tests; market failure, property rights and public goods; expected utility and the insurance market; games and oligopoly; adverse selection, moral hazard and principal-agent theory.

ECN313 Using Economic Data Autumn ECN213 22 10 Extension of the method of least squares introduced in ECN213 to handle estimation of relationships between many variables. the problems of econometric estimation, their causes, diagnosis and solutions. the use of computers for least-squares estimation. The second half will develop skills in two sorts of work: the critical appraisal of applied econometric results and original applied work involving formulation of an economic model, data gathering and statistical estimation. ECN 414 Economic Policy in Britain Autumn ECN311 AND ECN 312 22 10 and Europe This module uses the theory discussed in Advanced Microeconomics and Advanced Macroeconomics to examine major topical policy issues: the current state of the British economy; fiscal and monetary issues of current concern in the UK, including pension funding and inflation targeting; problems associated with unemployment in the UK and Europe and policy objectives in the fields of employment, unemployment and part-time employment; major economic issues of the European Community agriculture, fiscal criteria, monetary union, central bank independence; the relationship between the UK and the European Monetary Union.

ECN3BK

Domestic and International Autumn ECN212 22 10 Banking The core principles of money and the financial system; the role of financial institutions, financial instruments and financial markets; risk, return and diversification; the capital asset pricing model; the interest rate and its determinants; the interest rate and its determinants; the main economi c fundamental of banks activities; onbalance-sheet and off-balance-sheet activities of banks; demand for money; the supply of money; central banking: monetary policy instruments; inflation targeting; central bank independence and accountability; issues in banking: after the crisis. ECN3EE Energy Economics Autumn ECN211 22 10 This module examines the function of the major markets for energy: oil, coal, natural gas, electric power, and alternative/renewable energy in a national and international context. It discusses the technologic structure and parameters of energy supply and use; the principal drivers of supply and demand for energy; basic econometric forecasting of supply or demand for energy; the environmental issues related to energy use and consumption. ECN3AX Applied Economics I Autumn ECN 211 AND ECN212 22 10

This module will cover a selection of topical issues in applied economics. ECN3BN Modern Banking Spring ECN212 AND ECN311 22 10 An introduction to modern banking theory and practice from a predominantly microeconomic perspective, including structure, performance, risks, technology and regulation. ECN3BP Behavioural Economics and Public Policy Spring ECN211 22 10

The overall aim is to provide an overview of the key areas of intersection between economics and psychology. This area is an exciting field with increasing academic prominence and real-world applications. Students will be introduced to core areas of economics and psychology such as judgment, rational choice, intertemporal decision making and emotion-based decision making. The module will also cover emerging areas of economics and psychology such as neuroeconomics which seeks to examine the biological foundations of economic decision making. ECN3IN Industrial Economics Spring ECN311 22 10

The structure-conduct-performance model of economic performance; the relevance of non-co-operative game theory to oligopoly pricing behaviour; the relationships between concentration, mergers, potential competition, dynamic competition and technical change, entry barriers and strategic deterrence; the economics of marketing strategies including search theory, optimal advertising, the market for lemons and quality signalling games and pricing tactics; the economics of global competition and e-commerce.