Economics

The dissertation is a substantial piece of independent work where you can apply research techniques and relevant economic theory to a research topic. This can be an area which has attracted your attention in the course of your studies, or may be linked to an aspect of your professional working experience. You choose your topic during the second term, in consultation with the MSc Director. You are then assigned to an appropriate member of teaching staff who acts as a supervisor and gives you guidance on the structure and content of the research.

This module introduces you to the main techniques that are used for empirical analysis in fields ranging from microeconomics to macroeconomics and finance. The main goal is to teach you how to become both a producer and a critical consumer of empirical research. This is achieved by focusing on the practical implementation of econometric techniques.

The aim of this course is to provide students with an overview of the methods and models used in modern macroeconomics. The course introduces students to intertemporal decisions and presents workhorse models in modern quantitative macroeconomics, including the overlapping-generations model, economic growth theory in closed and open economies, the Real-Business-Cycle approach, and the Classical Monetary and New-Keynesian models.

The course will put emphasis on the link between the theory and data, and how to solve the model analytically and/or numerically (by using Matlab and Dynare software). By the end of this course, students should be able to choose the appropriate model and solve it to address a macroeconomic question. Within the course, we tackle some key macroeconomic questions such as the size of the fiscal multiplier in modern macroeconomics, the impact of technological change on labour, the cause of international differences in hours worked, and the impact of monetary policy, among others.

This module builds on the basic concepts and principles covered in an undergraduate microeconomics course to delve deeper into specific areas of study and provide you with valuable skills for further studies or to widen your career opportunities. You will further analyse the behaviour of consumers and firms, as well as gain a solid background in game theory that will help you analyse different applications of strategic interaction. Finally, you will analyse several situations of asymmetric information in different areas of economic activity.

This module is made up of two subjects: quantitative tools and empirical tools. The objective of the first subject - quantitative tools - is to refresh your knowledge in mathematical methods before the start of quantitative modules and to teach you advanced optimization methods. The objective of the second subject - empirical tools - is to teach you how to apply different econometric techniques to investigate research topics in economics by using the Stata software.

This module will show you how to process datasets, to visualize data, and how to design an empirical strategy. You will also receive some help and feedback for the preparation of your research proposal for the MSc Economics dissertation. This module ensures a smooth progression toward the dissertation which is the cornerstone of your training.

This module looks at what can happen to asset pricing in situations where market imperfections coincide with imperfections in investor rationality. It, therefore, explores the boundary between mispricing which can be exploited and that which cannot be exploited profitably.

The module lays the foundations for arbitrage, investment and wealth management, investment banking, and corporate finance. The material covered is at the frontier of academic and industry research, forming a conceptually advanced body of knowledge (CFA level III) which is of relevance for theory, research and practice.

Topics covered include:

• The efficient markets hypothesis and competing theories
• Limits to arbitrage
• Heuristics, biases and prospect theory: mental accounts and evidence in market prices
• Myopic loss aversion, disposition effect and overtrading
• Professional investors and analysts: over- and under-reaction
• Bubbles: observational and experimental, rational and non-rational
• Closed-end fund discounts, co-movement and sentiment
• The equity premium puzzle and the volatility puzzle
• Herding
• Behavioural portfolio theory

This course provides an introduction to key concepts, tools, and methods in environmental economics, as well as to several key policy applications of these concepts, tools, and methods. You will learn the foundations that cut across environmental issues but you will also be exposed to some in-depth assessments of specific sectors where governments deal with complex decisions to address the market failures at the origin of environmental concerns.

Many policy discussions about the environment are plagued by conceptual shortcuts, lack of data or appropriate data analysis. The course will help you master the tools and methods that are relevant for solving market failures in environmental contexts and apply them to provide rigorous foundations to ground your views on current environmental issues. While the course emphasises public interventions (as is traditional in environmental economics), it also discusses the potential contributions of the private sector and individuals.

This module equips you with the latest skills in data science, financial econometrics and quantitative finance to analyse and model asset price dynamics using techniques at the research frontier in these areas, including the work with high-frequency data, relevant for the job market (especially in Quants) and the MSc dissertation streams.

It will teach you important features of financial time series, key modelling approaches in the field, how to use high-frequency data to construct the latest volatility estimators and the most appropriate methods for forecasting price volatility and risk. It will also give you practical experience of analysing market prices, constructing volatility estimators and designing forecasting analyses through empirical projects implemented with MatLab.

The module focuses on the microeconomics of health and healthcare, covering a range of theoretical and empirical topics. The objective of the module is to provide you with a comprehensive set of economic tools to critically appraise fundamental issues in the economics of health and global health systems. Topics covered include the demand and supply of health and healthcare, the economics of infectious diseases and addiction, health inequalities, the organisation of the healthcare industry, and the role of public policy in improving the demand and supply of health over the life cycle.

The module will cover evidence from both developed and developing countries. The emphasis will be on key economic concepts that health economists use to analyse health and healthcare markets. We do not assume any prior knowledge - apart from undergraduate-level microeconomics and econometrics. By the end of the module, you will be able to understand the economic principles behind the supply and demand of medical care, the components of the main healthcare systems around the world, and the challenges faced by healthcare policies. You will also be able to understand the main findings and basic methodology of research papers in health economics.

This course examines major topics in the field of Industrial Organisation. The course focuses mainly on the theory of the firm and the industry, with an emphasis on oligopoly theory, complemented with empirical applications of the theory. While it emphasises oligopolies, competitive and monopolistic markets will be considered. The latter market structures are useful as benchmarks against which to compare the predicted outcome of oligopoly markets.

We focus on areas related to the structure, behaviour, and performance of firms and markets, with a special interest in firms' strategic behaviour in price and non-price competition. The types of behaviour or conduct include oligopoly pricing and production, strategic entry deterrence, location strategies, product differentiation, networks, auctions, bond markets, and research and development. The effects of firms' conduct on economic welfare and feedback effects on market structure are examined.

The knowledge you will derive from the course is useful for further study of firms and markets as well as the effects of regulatory and legal systems (such as antitrust law or competitive policies) upon firms, and how firms operate under regulatory and legal regimes. The knowledge is also useful in further study of the internal operation of firms. All these topics are generally covered in the field of Industrial Organisation. Topics covered in this field are useful not only for academic consideration but also in private enterprises, including financial and legal institutions, Federal and state regulatory agencies, and in international trade.

This course studies the practical operation of banking institutions. The aim is a thorough understanding of the financial environment in which we all live, including the banks’ role in the payments system and in transmitting monetary and fiscal policy. These matters are of particular relevance today given the current problems of poor economic growth, higher inflation, interest rates and government debt following the Covid pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine.

The course starts with an analysis of banks' behaviour and their balance sheets, including capital structure, lending decisions and attitudes to risk, as guided by the central bank’s choice of official interest rates and ‘quantitative easing’. This is followed by a discussion of the origins and nature of the financial crisis of 2008 and the major developments in banking regulation that have resulted.

The final part studies banking and monetary policy in the international context, including the balance of payments and exchange rates. There is a particular focus on problems in the eurozone and the operation of the Eurosystem of central banks.

Throughout this course, the treatment will generally be non-technical and will be based on the observation of institutional practices and their implications.

Modern labour markets are considerably affected by large-scale shocks such as natural disasters, conflicts within and between nations and criminal behaviour. Labour markets are also affected by Government policies such as family policies and policies to support low-paid and unemployed workers. This module explores these themes in the context of imperfect labour markets where firms have product market power. Relevant theories and empirical evidence are brought to bear to examine selected issues in the operations of labour markets.

In the first part of the module, we examine the effects of various Government policies on modern labour markets. Policies studied might include childcare subsidies and the setting of minimum wage levels. We draw on relevant theory to generate testable predictions. We then show how empirical studies from various country settings deliver results about policy effects. We reflect on how these results might help policymakers improve their policy designs. We also examine the effects of organisational policies to improve worker productivity, especially performance-pay incentive schemes.

In the second part of the module, we show how natural disasters, crime, and conflicts each affect particular labour markets. We also show how in several cases crime and conflict are rooted in labour market problems. Again, we draw on contemporary evidence with particular emphasis on natural experiments.

Government interventions in the economy are ubiquitous, ranging from direct and indirect provision of goods and services to regulations and standards. In this module, we explore two key questions.

The first question concerns how and when should governments intervene. The most obvious reason is that governments enter the economy to correct market failures and restore efficiency. This is particularly relevant in cases where goods generate positive externalities, such as education or culture, or negative externalities, such as pollution. However, restoring efficiency in the market often results in creating new distortions by taxing individuals and companies. Optimal policies need to take both costs into account, as well as problems such as tax evasion and tax avoidance. Another reason for government intervention is to address perceived economic inequalities resulting from free market outcomes. To look at this question, we need to understand how to formalize and measure preference for redistribution.

The second question we explore is where government decisions originate from in practice and what limitations exist on the implementation of optimal policies. This requires an examination of the incentives of voters and politicians. We also investigate the influence of media, special interests, and lobbying in politics.

Overall, this module combines classic economic models and contemporary empirical techniques to offer a comprehensive view of different economic approaches to the role of collective action. It is an essential resource for anyone interested in studying public policy and working in government, academia, international organisations, or regulated industries.