Economics (Study Abroad) BSc Hons - 2020 Entry

Course Overview

What makes some countries richer than others? How does society fund social care? Why are footballers paid so much? An understanding of economics gets to the heart of how the world works. It’s also highly prized by employers in the private and public sectors.

We build on first principles, and weave theory and evidence into policy analysis along with a valuable year studying overseas. This allows you to under-stand fundamental issues and topical concerns whilst developing an international perspective.

You don’t need an Economics A level as all first years study the Principles of Economics and Quantitative Methods for Economics, covering mathematics and statistics. You’ll also be able to choose another subject such as Accounting and Finance, International Relations or Marketing. If you wish, you can continue with this minor subject throughout your degree.

In the second year, you’ll study at a partner university in North America or Australasia. There are many advantages to studying abroad, including personal and educational development, experiencing a new culture, and enhanced employability. If you’re considering further study, graduate programmes welcome study abroad candidates.

When you return to Lancaster, your final year sees you choosing up to eight modules taught by researchers active in that field. From Public Economics to International Trade, Health Economics to Sports Economics you can tailor your studies to suit your aspirations. High-performing students also have the chance to write a dissertation. In fact, a large number of our students go on to study a Masters degree.

Throughout your degree, we’ll supply training in CV writing, interview assessment centres and telephone interviews. We are proud of our aspiring economists and aim to nurture the potential in every one of them.

Entry Requirements

Grade Requirements

A Level AAB

Required Subjects A level Mathematics or Further Mathematics grade A

GCSE Mathematics grade B or 6, English Language grade C or 4

IELTS 6.5 overall with at least 5.5 in each component. For other English language qualifications we accept, please see our English language requirements webpages.

Other Qualifications

International Baccalaureate 35 points overall with 16 points from the best 3 Higher Level subjects including 6 in HL Mathematics

BTEC May be considered alongside A level Mathematics and Further Mathematics with at least one at grade A

We welcome applications from students with a range of alternative UK and international qualifications, including combinations of qualification. Further guidance on admission to the University, including other qualifications that we accept, frequently asked questions and information on applying, can be found on our general admissions webpages.

Contact Admissions Team + 44 (0) 1524 592028 or via ugadmissions@lancaster.ac.uk

Course Structure

Many of Lancaster's degree programmes are flexible, offering students the opportunity to cover a wide selection of subject areas to complement their main specialism. You will be able to study a range of modules, some examples of which are listed below.

Year 1

Core

• Career and Employability I

  Each year students receive specific training by the Management School Career Team, to prepare them for the graduate labour market. In the first year the focus is on growing the student’s awareness of labour market dynamics and his or her professional aspirations and inclinations. The second year focuses on goal setting, action planning, and the development of a personalised career plan. The third year focuses on one-to-one sessions with career advisors. The Career Team is based in the Management School, organises events with employers and alumni, and coaches students on how to best perform in the graduate job market through seminars, surgeries, mock interviews and one-to-one advice.

• Principles of Economics A

  Providing a thorough introduction to the discipline of Economics, this module is divided into two parts. The first part covers microeconomic analysis, including the theory of demand, costs and pricing under various forms of industrial organisation, and welfare economics. Many applications of theoretical models are examined. The second part focuses on macroeconomic analysis, including national income analysis, monetary theory, business cycles, inflation, unemployment, and the great macroeconomic debates.

• Quantitative Methods for Economics

  This module integrates elementary economic theory, mathematical and statistical methods and the interpretation of data in order to analyse economic issues of current policy importance. You will therefore be introduced to the basic tools of mathematics essential for a proper understanding of economics and business. Teaching on quantitative methods is combined with numerous practical applications to economics, enabling you to practise applying your analytical and quantitative skills to the topics developed and analysed in depth over the course of the module.

Year 2

Core

• Management School UG Study Abroad Year

  The second year of this degree programme will be spent studying abroad at one of our partner universities. We have exchange agreements with prestigious universities all over the world and many of our undergraduate degree programmes include an integral year spent studying at a top university in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia or Australasia. Progression to the study abroad year will be dependent upon performance in the first year of the degree programme. Some students may also have to complete a Study Abroad Maths examination. Studying abroad in the second year of your degree means that you gain international experience without having to extend your studies. You can find out more about our study abroad programmes on our LUMS Study Abroad web pages.

Year 3

Core

• Career and Employability III

  Each year students receive specific training by the Management School Career Team, to prepare them for the graduate labour market. In the first year the focus is on growing the student’s awareness of labour market dynamics and his or her professional aspirations and inclinations. The second year focuses on goal setting, action planning, and the development of a personalised career plan. The third year focuses on one-to-one sessions with career advisors. The Career Team is based in the Management School, organises events with employers and alumni, and coaches students on how to best perform in the graduate job market through seminars, surgeries, mock interviews and one-to-one advice.

Optional

• Advanced Macroeconomics

  This module gives an overview of important topics in macroeconomics. Topics covered include the stabilisation policy under rational expectations, the Lucas critique of policy evaluation, and the implications of asset market efficiency for macroeconomic behaviour. The relevance of theory to these issues is emphasised throughout the module.

• Advanced Microeconomics

  This module develops advanced topics in the field of microeconomic analysis, with an emphasis on formal mastery as well as intuitive interpretation and understanding.

  Topics include:

  • duality and the envelope theorem
  • the Robinson Crusoe economy
  • prices and decentralisation
  • general equilibrium
  • the core decision-making under risk and uncertainty
  • game theory (correlated equilibrium)
  • information and mechanism design
  • the equilibrium price of time
• Applied Macroeconomics

  This module develops your understanding of the application of macroeconomic theory and quantitative methods to the analysis of international economics and the economic history of the UK, and the pound sterling in particular. It also helps you to understand the role of international economics and finance in the world economy.

  The module integrates intermediate macroeconomic theory, statistical methods, the interpretation of data, and empirical results. Analysis is applied to macroeconomic issues important to businesses and policymakers – including exchange rate regimes, international parity conditions, business cycles, and monetary unions.

• Behavioural and Experimental Economics

  This course aims to introduce students to the field of Behavioural and Experimental economics. The module provides the necessary skills to study how the standard rationality assumptions can be relaxed in order to take into account psychological and cognitive biases, as well as social preferences. In addition, it introduces students to the tool of experimentation in economics as a means of collecting data to test the various economic theories.

• Development Economics

  This module develops your understanding of advanced material in the field of economic growth as well as the problems of economic development. There is particular reference to the application of theoretical material to the development experience and policy-making in developing and emerging economies.

• Dissertation Module

  This module integrates intermediate economic theory, statistical methods and the interpretation of data to analyse applied economic issues of current business or policy importance.

  You will be prepared for your 5,000-word dissertation on an applied topic by attending workshops either individually or in groups. The workshops are supervised by a member of staff.

• Econometrics

  This module equips you with the tools needed to conduct applied econometrics. It emphasises an analytical and intuitive understanding of the classical linear regression model, and also covers newer topics such as:

  • specification tests

  • binary choice models

  • Tobit analysis

  • non-stationary time series

  • unit root tests and basic cointegration

  You will use the Eviews econometrics software.

• Game Theory

  Over the course of this module, you will enhance your knowledge and understanding of how to specify economic problems in the confines of a game-theoretic model and to solve those problems using appropriate mathematical techniques. The module aims to build your capacity for logical and structured problem analysis.

• Health Economics

  This applied module is designed as an introduction to the economics of health and health care, and helps to develop your awareness of the main policy issues in this field. It provides a comprehensive set of economic tools for critically appraising fundamental issues in the economics of health while offering a broad overview of the UK National Health Service and other health care systems around the world. The emphasis is on the use and interpretation of microeconomic models and the latest empirical evidence.

• Industrial Organisation

  This module focuses on firm behaviour and competition, using theoretical (especially game theoretic) and empirical models. It also explores the relationship between industry structure and firm conduct, together with aspects of firm behaviour such as advertising, R&D and mergers.

• International Business

  This module develops your understanding of advanced material in the field of international business. There is particular emphasis on analysing the strategic economic and financial behaviour of multinational firms in the global economy. The module also considers the role and effects of government intervention on firms and multinational firms and how they adapt.

• International Trade

  This module develops your understanding of concepts and theories of international trade and factor flows, with particular reference to the way in which such material can inform policy-making.

  You will gain knowledge and understanding of international trade theory, and learn to apply this theory to the analysis of present-day policy issues in international economics.

• Labour Economics

  Focusing on the microeconomics of labour and personnel, this module covers topics such as the economics of migration, wage determination, job search and labour market discrimination.

  There is a particular emphasis on principal agent problems in human resources and the design of incentives within firms.

  Economics theory is used to analyse the operation of labour markers and assess the empirical evidence. Areas covered include:

  • the firm's demand for labour
  • labour supply at an individual and aggregate level
  • causes of wage rigidity
  • the economic impact of trade unions
  • inflation and unemployment
• Mathematical Economics

  This module trains ambitious economists to use formal mathematical methods used in economic modelling. These techniques are necessary for students interested in pursuing postgraduate studies in economics or working in analytically demanding jobs in the private sector. You will learn to use the Mathematica software package and how to address and solve economic problems by means of abstract models.

  The first part of the module is more micro-oriented and you will learn further methods of integration and what metric spaces and existence theorems are. You will also learn what quasi-concave and quasi-convex functions are and how to optimise with inequality constraints. The second part of the course is more macro-oriented and you will learn how to solve differential equations and perform dynamic optimisation.

• Monetary Macroeconomics

  This module examines the essential characteristics of a money economy, and the topics covered include:

  • Non-neutral money

  • Interest rate determination

  • Monetary and labour market disequilibria

  • The national debt and monetary disequilibrium (fiscal monetarism)

  • Monetary and international payments disequilibria

  • Rational expectations (RE) solutions and applications to stabilisation policy

  • Market efficiency and the application of RE to bubbles and to exchange rates

  • The central bank and inflation bias

• Public Economics

  This module is concerned with understanding the role of government in the economy. Among the topics covered are the characteristics of public goods, basic characteristics of a tax system under both classical and political economy approaches, and the effects of globalisation and its effects on modern tax systems. The module also explores how economic models can be used to understand current affairs.

• Sports Economics

  This module looks at how theoretical and empirical methods can be applied to the growing field of sports economics.

  It helps you to understand the particular characteristics of labour and product markets in professional sports, and what implications these have for economic analysis. You will also learn more about how theoretical and empirical work in the economics of sport can be used to inform policy issues, including competitive structures in sports leagues, free agency and player mobility, and the financing of professional sport. You will also gain insights into how betting markets function and why people gamble on sports.

Lancaster University offers a range of programmes, some of which follow a structured study programme, and others which offer the chance for you to devise a more flexible programme. We divide academic study into two sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). For most programmes Part 1 requires you to study 120 credits spread over at least three modules which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects. A higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster visit our Teaching and Learning section.

Information contained on the website with respect to modules is correct at the time of publication, but changes may be necessary, for example as a result of student feedback, Professional Statutory and Regulatory Bodies' (PSRB) requirements, staff changes, and new research.

Careers

Our degrees are designed to prepare you for a career in industry, business, finance, consultancy or government. Recent Economics graduates have joined banks and financial consultancies such as HSBC and Deloitte, while others have been employed on graduate schemes with major companies, including BAE and the Swire Group.

Many of our Economics students have gained places on postgraduate courses at top institutions and then pursued specialised careers as economists – for example, at the Bank of England, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and in academia.

Lancaster Management School has an award winning careers team to provide a dedicated careers and placement service offering a range of innovative services for management school students. Our high reputation means we attract a wide range of leading global employers to campus offering you the opportunity to interact with graduate recruiters from day 1 of your degree.

Fees and Funding

Fees

We set our fees on an annual basis and the 2020/21 entry fees have not yet been set.

Channel Islands and the Isle of Man

Some science and medicine courses have higher fees for students from the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. You can find more details here: Island Students.

Funding

For full details of the University's financial support packages including eligibility criteria, please visit our fees and funding page

Students may incur travel costs dependant on their placement location.

Students also need to consider further costs which may include books, stationery, printing, photocopying, binding and general subsistence on trips and visits. Following graduation it may be necessary to take out subscriptions to professional bodies and to buy business attire for job interviews.