Economics BSc (Hons) module details

Year one

Block 1: Applied Microeconomics

This module will introduce students to the fundamentals of the economic approach to problem-solving and analysis. Economic issues of scarcity, exchange and trade-offs will be used to explore a variety of contemporary issues in the modern economy relating to choices by individual consumers, firms and government policy-makers.

Block 2: Maths and Statistics for Economics and Finance

This module is designed to avail students with the key mathematical and statistical techniques that will enable them to understand the models and arguments used within economic and finance theory and applications.

Block 3: Applied Macroeconomics

This module introduces students to mainstream macroeconomics from a quantitative perspective, including its core principles. The content facilitates understanding how economists practically approach and analyse societal problems at the national and regional levels.

Block 4: Data Management and Visualisation

A career in Economics or in the private sector requires technical experience in using spreadsheets, data visualisation, economic and business models. This module offers a deep insight into the realm of data science and visualisation, exploring a wide range of tools in MS Excel and complementary software packages.

Year two

Block 1: Microeconomics and Game Theory

This module develops the understanding of microeconomics established in the first-year module. Both consumer and producer behaviour will be analysed using fundamental tools of economic analysis. Students will be introduced to the programming of economics problems and will develop their communication skills.

Block 2: Econometrics and Data Analytics

Econometrics introduces quantitative methods for both qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The focus includes a variety of estimation methods for economic data with diverse structures and uses applied applications of these econometric methods to estimate empirical models. These techniques provide a foundation for the final year dissertation project.

Block 3: Global Financial Markets and Institutions

This module uses economic theory to build asset models in order to analyse how the prices of financial securities are determined and how asset prices may reflect time preferences, uncertainty and risk.

Block 4: Contemporary Macroeconomics: Policy and Practice

The module will emphasise the analytical skills developed by examining macroeconomic theory in a theoretical and applied context. It will equip participants to think conceptually and holistically about how to approach macroeconomic policy making at an institutional level.

Year three

Block 1: Advanced Microeconomics: Theory and Application

The module will review recent developments in microeconomic theory and their applications. Institutions will be examined using recent advances in game theory, contract theory and mechanism design. The digital economy will be analysed from a microeconomic perspective.

Block 1: Advanced Macroeconomics: Theory and Application

The module will equip participants to understand how to approach macroeconomic modelling in a critical manner, and apply this understanding to analyse contemporary debates in macroeconomic policy.

Block 2: Industrial Economics

This module will provide students with an introduction to the implications of competition, investment, mergers, innovation, and R&D on the performance, survivability and growth of firms in today’s dynamic and competitive economic environment.

Block 2: Behavioural Economics and Finance

The purpose of the module is to examine behavioural concepts and their application to both theoretical and empirical challenges in economics and financial markets, which are difficult to explain with a traditional economics approach.

Block 3: Digital Economics and Artificial Intelligence

This module focuses on the Economics of digital change and Artificial Intelligence (AI), their implications, and how crucial they have become to comprehend real-world situations.

Block 3: Global Trade and Development Economics

This module has been designed to equip students with critical knowledge of the different theories of trade and development including the links between trade, development and the environment.

Block 4: Applied Economics Dissertation

The module provides an opportunity for students to undertake independent empirical or theoretical research study in an area of special interest within selected subject areas of economics. Students will be able to communicate their ideas visually, verbally and in written format.

The research work should use econometric analysis or experimental methods in the solution of economic problems or in answering research questions of interest in economics. Students may also complete a dissertation that includes mathematical modelling or computational simulations when the appropriate requirements are met.

Initial thinking about topics and methods for this project will be done at level 5 in the module ‘Econometrics and Data Analytics’.