Course Details in 2021/22 Session

Module Title	LI Mathematical Methods for Economics
School	Birmingham Business School
Department	Economics
Module Code	07 33189
Module Lead	Ralph Bailey/ Kamilya Suleymenova
Level	Intermediate Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 2
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-40 hours Seminar-8 hours Guided independent study-152 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	Students will build on the mathematical knowledge and experience gained in certificate-level mathematics modules, especially vector and matrix methods, to gain a wider and deeper understanding of intermediate economics and intermediate econometrics. We will try to understand the results algebraically, geometrically, and economically. The subjects discussed are not just isolated topics, but have a unity deriving from their common relationship with the broad subject of optimization, which is a dominant theme in both economics and econometrics. The main areas to be covered are unconstrained optimization and constrained optimization. In unconstrained optimization we shall achieve a widening of scope from one or two choice variables to many variables, starting from quadratic functions and gradually generalizing both results and methods. We shall discuss the application of these methods to econometric estimation. Under constrained optimization we will consider several topics important in economics, for instance problems with equality constraints, inequality constraints, problems involving time (the subject of dynamic optimization) and methods of resource allocation (such as Linear Programming). There are likely to be other topics of importance in their own right to economics and econometrics, such as comparative statics, the broad phenomenon of convexity, and the Envelope Theorem, which discusses how an optimal choice changes, when the parameters change. We shall develop the skill of communication in mathematical writing, the criterion being that you should write in a way that would be clear and helpful if you were teaching the subject to a fellow student.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the most fruitful mathematical methods of economics; identify and apply these methods logically and accurately; solve mathematical problems arising in intermediate-level economics and econometrics; write and organise solutions to mathematics problems in a clear and structured manner.
Assessment	33189-01 : Problem Sheet : Coursework (50%) 33189-02 : Exam : Exam (Centrally Timetabled) - Written Unseen (50%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessments: take-home problem sheet (50%), 2 hour final exam (50%) Reassessment: by failed element
Other
Reading List