Scottish Graduate Programme in Economics

MSc in Economics MSc in Economics (Finance)

Programme Handbook 2011/2012

Contents 1 2 3 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 3 THE SGPE, THE UNIVERSITY, AND THE SCHOOL ................................ 3 PROGRAMME AIMS AND STRUCTURE................................................... 4 3.2 Programme Learning Outcomes.......................................................... 4 3.3 Programme Structure........................................................................... 5 4 PROGRAMME DIRECTOR, ADMINISTRATOR AND DIRECTORS OF STUDIES ........................................................................................................... 8 5 TEACHING AND LEARNING APPROACH................................................. 9 5.1 Study Groups, Assignments and Tutorials........................................... 9 5.2 Office Hours....................................................................................... 10 5.3 WebCT & Googlesite ......................................................................... 10 5.4 Email.................................................................................................. 10 6 ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS............................................................ 11 6.1 Marking Standards............................................................................. 11 6.2 Final Assessment of the MSc and Diploma ....................................... 12 6.3 Special Circumstances and Exam Boards ......................................... 13 6.4 University rules on re sitting papers ................................................... 13 6.5 Revision of dissertations .................................................................... 13 6.5 University policy on plagiarism........................................................... 14 7 COURSE DETAILS................................................................................... 16 7.1 Pre-Sessional Courses ...................................................................... 16 7.2 Core Courses..................................................................................... 18 7.3 Options Courses ................................................................................ 22 7.4 The Dissertation................................................................................. 32 8 STAFF AND DETAILS OF ECONOMICS DEPARTMENTS ..................... 36 9 PASTORAL AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE.................... 40 9.1 The Role of the Director of Studies .................................................... 40 9.2 Help on Administrative Matters .......................................................... 40 9.3 Visa Information & International Office............................................... 41 9.4 Advice Place ...................................................................................... 41 9.5 Careers Service ................................................................................. 41 9.6 Attendance Confirmation ................................................................... 41 9.7 Bank Letters....................................................................................... 41 9.8 Matriculation letters & Exemption from Council Tax .......................... 41 9.9 TEAM and Additional Help with English Language............................ 42 9.10 Illness and Personal Problems .......................................................... 42 9.11 Students with disabilities.................................................................... 43 9.12 Complaints and Grievances............................................................... 43 10 FACILITIES ........................................................................................... 44 10.1 Library resources ............................................................................... 44 10.2 Computing facilities............................................................................ 44 10.3 Study Rooms ..................................................................................... 45 10.4 Information resources for Economists................................................ 45 11 REPRESENTATION AND FEEDBACK................................................. 47 12 DEGREE REGULATIONS AND PROGRAMMES OF STUDY.............. 49

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INTRODUCTION

This Handbook is a guide to what is expected of you on the MSc in Economics1, and the academic and pastoral support available to you. Please read it carefully. It will help you to make the most of your time on the Programme. Some important general aspects covered in this handbook are amplified in the Universitys Code of Practice for Taught Postgraduate Programmes: http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Codes/CoPTaughtPGProgrammes.pdf Hardcopies of the above should be available at the College of Humanities & Social Science Postgraduate Office (David Hume Tower, first floor). This handbook does not supersede the University Regulations and it should be read in conjunction with the above. We have tried to ensure that the information in this handbook is accurate, but it does not constitute a definitive document. The information contained in this handbook was up to date when it went to press. However, some of the details on courses, staffing etc. are subject to change as the year progresses. It is therefore important that you check the SGPE Googlesite, WebCT, and your email regularly for any important changes.

THE SGPE, THE UNIVERSITY, AND THE SCHOOL

The Scottish Graduate Programme in Economics (SGPE) is a collaborative venture involving the teaching and research strengths of the Economics departments in the following universities2: University of Aberdee University of Dundee University of Edinburgh Heriot-Watt University University of Glasgow University of St Andrews University of Stirling Strathclyde University Heads of Economics of all the Universities mentioned above meet regularly through the year to ensure that the programme provides graduate students with a high quality and thorough training in economics and to furnish them with all the skills of the modern professional economist. The MSc in Economics is hosted by School of Economics, one of eleven Schools that make up the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, which in turn is one of the three colleges of the University of Edinburgh. The Head of School (Dr Simon Clark) has overall responsibility for the academic, administrative and financial management of the School and reports to Head of College. Further information about the School is available on the Schools website (http://www.ed.ac.uk/schoolsdepartments/economics/)

In this handbook, references to the MSc in Economics also covers the MSc in Economics (Finance), unless otherwise specified. 2 Contact information for these departments is given in section 8
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PROGRAMME AIMS AND STRUCTURE

3.1 Programme Overview The MSc in Economics is the first year of the SGPE. When take full time it lasts for one year and leads to the award of either an MSc in Economics, or an MSc in Economics (Finance). At the end of this first year, students sit nine examinations and write a dissertation in order to obtain the MSc degree. The MSc also forms the compulsory year of coursework for the Graduate Programme. All students intending to study for the PhD are required to take the MSc in Economics or the MSc in Economics (Finance) in their first year. In order to proceed to the second and third years of the Graduate Programme, students must obtain a good pass (MSc*) in the MSc examinations The programme aims to provide a modern and comprehensive training in Economics that will equip students to move directly into a career as a professional economist or to undertake research for a PhD. The MSc programme provides: a structured progression from undergraduate work to independent research; a sound basis in economic theory and an understanding of recent theoretical advances in the subject; the range of mathematical and econometric skills required by todays professional economist; the opportunity to acquire a range of transferable skills, including: mathematical and quantitative skills; data extraction and manipulation skills; IT skills; and communication and presentation skills; subject specific training, enabling students to develop specialisms relevant to their intended research or employment; exposure to techniques and issues at the forefront of academic development.

3.2 Programme Learning Outcomes By the end of the programme you should (if you have worked hard!) be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: the core elements of microeconomic theory and selected topics in applied microeconomics; the core theoretical approaches and analytical techniques of macroeconomics, enabling you to derive and manipulate key macro models and to consider their relevance to macroeconomic policy debates. econometric methods for both time-series and cross-sectional data analysis, enabling you to critically assess applied work and utilise standard econometric techniques in your own research applications of core economic theory and analytical and quantitative techniques, together with further specific techniques and ongoing research activity relating to your chosen options.

You will also develop a range of skills:

Intellectual skills:
Critical analysis and assessment Reasoning adaptably and systematically Problem-framing and problem-solving skills Numeracy and quantitative skills Exercising informed independent thought and critical judgement

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Practical skills:
Obtaining and processing information from a variety of sources Presentation and communication skills Computer and IT literacy Decision-taking skills

Transferable skills:
Independent action and initiative Managing tasks and time Coping with stress Interpersonal and group skills

In addition, note that one of the great things about economics is that core economics principles and concepts (e.g. opportunity cost, incentives, strategic thinking, marginal considerations, expectations and surprises, risk management, intertemporal decision-making) are transferable to most decision contexts.

3.3 Programme Structure Students taking the full-time MSc programme must: (i) Take the preliminary courses in Maths and Econometrics (September 2011); (ii) Take six core courses in Microeconomics 1 & 2, Macroeconomics 1 & 2, and Quantitative Methods 1 & 2 (October 2011 to February 2012); (iii) Participate in the two day residential methodology weekend (Early January 2012); (iv) Take three options courses (February 2012 to March/April 2012); (v) Write a dissertation (to be handed in August 2012). Students taking the part-time MSc programme take the preliminary courses, the core courses in microeconomics and macroeconomics and one option course in their first year and the core course in quantitative methods, two further options and the dissertation in their second year. Students taking the MSc in Economics (Finance) programme follow the same curriculum as the MSc in Economics except that they are compelled to take Asset Pricing, Corporate Finance and International Money and Finance as their three option courses. The table on the next page lists the courses, their assessment and weight in the MSc. (See section 6 for details on course content, reading etc.). Full details are given out at the beginning of each course. (20 SCOTCAT points are roughly similar to 10 ECTS)

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PRELIMINARY COURSES Course Formal contact hours

Mathematics Stats/Econometrics 20 20

Assessment method and weighting

Class exam Class exam

SCOTCAT Points*
0 0 0 0

Proportion of final MSc assessment

CORE COURSES Course

Formal contact hours

36 20 36 20 36 20

Assessment method and weighting

Class Exam 25% Degree Exam 75% Degree Exam 100% Class Exam 30% Degree Exam 70% Class Exam 40% Degree Exam 60% Class Exam 20% Degree Exam 80% Project 75% Examination 25%

SCOTCAT Points*
20 10 20 10 20 10
1

Proportion of final MSc assessment

/9 /18 /9 /18 /9 /18
1 1

Microeconomics 1 Microeconomics 2 Macroeconomics 1 Macroeconomics 2 Quantitative Methods 1 Quantitative Methods 2

OPTIONAL COURSES (Three courses to be chosen) Course Formal contact hours

Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics Advanced Topics in Microeconomics Advanced Topics in Quantitative Methods Asset Pricing Corporate Finance Development Economics The Development and Methodology of Economic Thought Economic Policy Topics in Economic History Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Experimental Economics Industrial Organisation
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Assessment method and weighting

Examination Examination Examination Examination Examination Examination Examination

SCOTCAT Points*
10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Proportion of final MSc assessment

1

18 18 18 18 18 18 18

/18 /18

/18

1/18

1/18

1/18

/18

18 18 18

Examination 70% Essay 30% Examination Examination 50% Essay 50% Examination Examination

10 10 10

/18 /18 /18

18 18

10 10

/18 /18

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International Money and Finance International Trade Personnel Economics Health Economics

21 18 18 18

Examination Examination Examination Examination 70% Group work 30%

10 10 10 10

/18 /18 /18 /18

DISSERTATION
Topic to be agreed with supervisor by the last Friday of semester 2 To be handed in by 12noon, Friday 17th August 2012 Word limit: 10,000 Words 60 SCOTCAT Points*
1

/3 of final MSc assessment

OTHER COURSES Course

Methodology IT, software and bibliographic skills.

Formal contact hours

2 -day residential course variable, depending on needs

Assessment method and weighting

No formal assessment No formal assessment

Proportion of final assessment of MSc

0 0

*20 SCOTCAT points are roughly similar to 10 ECTS

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PROGRAMME DIRECTOR, ADMINISTRATOR AND DIRECTORS OF STUDIES

Your Programme Administrator and Assistant can assist you with many Administrative issues such as: Routine enquiries about curricula, regulations and procedures Processing of minor changes (such as Economics to Economics Finance or Options choices and checking accuracy of course and programme data with Registry Maintaining personal (and confidential) record of special circumstances (see item 9.10) which may have affected the student performance or attendance and ensuring that this information is distributed to the relevant staff is such a way that confidentiality is protected Your Programme Administrator is your first point of contact for many issues that may affect you. Your Director of Studies (DoS) is charged with facilitating your orientation and smooth progression through the degree, from initial induction to subsequent course choice, and the transition into the dissertation stage to successful completion. He or she is also available as a first line of pastoral support (see Section 9.1 below). Your DoS should be the first person you speak to if you have queries or difficulties about academic aspects of the Programme. You will need to see them during the following key times: At the beginning of the semester - you MUST meet with them in person in the first few weeks of Semester 1 (this is a vital part of your enrolment) instructions on how to sign up for a group meeting with them will have been emailed to you before induction and will also be given to you at your induction meeting When you need academic guidance, such as after you have received your exam results or need advice choosing your options, or to help you with the transition from the taught programme to the dissertation component If you have a highly sensitive, confidential or ongoing issue which you feel is best discussed with your DoS rather than the programme administrator or the Programme Director

To meet with your DoS after your initial beginning of semester meeting, do not email them for an appointment just visit them during their office hours (see next page) The Programme Director is responsible for the smooth running of the MSc, including responsibility for admission, co-ordination of teaching inputs, examinations, programme evaluation, and curriculum development. You will also need to see him if you withdraw from the programme of wish to request an interruption of studies Contact details and office hours for all the above is found below and on the next page.

Drop by the SGPE office during office hours or by appointment between the hours on 122pm (book your appointment in advance via email or telephone)

Your Programme Administrator is: Marie Craft Your Postgraduate Assistant is: Jill Timmins The Programme Office: Room 1.02, 21 Buccleuch Place Email: sgpe@ed.ac.uk Telephone: 0131 651 1764. Office Hours are: Monday Fridays 10am to 12pm & 2pm -4pm Or by appointment between the hours of 12-2pm
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Your Programme Director is: Prof Jonathan Thomas He is available for consultation on most days in term times between 12.00am and 3pm or by appointment. Simple queries could be handled by phone or email out-with these hours. His Office: Room 1.07, 21 Buccleuch Place. Telephone number is: 0131 650 4515 Email address is: Jonathan.Thomas@ed.ac.uk

You will choose your Director of Studies (DoS) during the first couple of weeks, their contact details are below. They are available for office consultations during term time on Tuesdays mornings from 10:00am to 11:00am, no appointment is necessary. You are strongly advised to visit them in person rather than email.

Professor Jos V. Rodrguez Mora Room 3.01, 21 Buccleuch Place Tel: +44 (0)131 651 1321 Email: Sevi.Rodriguez@ed.ac.uk

Professor Maia Gell Room 3.09, 24 Buccleuch Place Tel: +44 (0)131 650 8351 Email: Maia.Guell@ed.ac.uk

TEACHING AND LEARNING APPROACH

The main method of teaching for the courses (for content see section 6) is via lectures, tutorials and computer laboratory work. The MSc is a rigorous and analytical programme which requires students to read and understand cutting edge research in textbooks and professional journals. As a result, students must undertake a significant amount of private study in addition to attendance at lectures, etc. They are also expected to participate fully in tutorial/class discussions in terms of both listening and oral contribution. All students will also write an applied (empirical) project as part of their core QM course (see section 7.2.6). The dissertation which is written during the summer, involves a considerable amount of independent study under broad guidance from a chosen supervisor. You should note that students rights and responsibilities during the dissertation stage are described in section 7 of the Code of Practice for Taught Postgraduate Programmes (see also section 7.4). There will be a residential methodology conference at a hotel in Scotland in early January. This is an essential part of your postgraduate training and attendance is compulsory. Group study (see 5.1 below), your mutual support for each other and general camaraderie should form a prominent feature of your MSc. It is an efficient way to learn and can provide much reassurance when you discover that you are not alone in the problems you confront. Finally, periodically there may be research workshops held through the year some of which you may be asked to attend and others you may wish to do so voluntarily. Here, SGPE and external staff discuss provisional research ideas in an open, interactive and friendly manner. These occur on an ad hoc basis and further details will be emailed as and when these workshops occur. 5.1 Study Groups, Assignments and Tutorials The MSc cohort will be divided into small study groups by the Programme Director. Regular tutorials based on tutorial assignment work will be held throughout the core courses. Each study group will be expected to submit an answer to the tutor and a single sheet of A4 with each
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contributors signature on it. Each group will receive a mark, written feedback and an outline answer guide for each tutorial assignment and these materials will be distributed at the tutorial itself. Outstanding difficulties can be resolved at the tutorials themselves. Although the group assignments do not count formally towards your degree, completion of them is compulsory. The Board of Examiners is allowed to take into consideration both the submission rate and scores of non assessed tutorial work in the cases of students whose results fall marginally below a pass mark. 5.2 Office Hours In addition to lectures and tutorials, when possible core course lecturers will also be available for consultation either during office hours or after/before the lecture. Students may consult lecturers as individuals or as study groups during this time. 5.3 WebCT & Googlesite The MSc programme makes extensive use of the course materials web page hosted by Google sites. There is a specific Google site for the SGPE. You should make regular and frequent use of this resource and will be expected to do so. It will provide you with easy access to this Handbook, which will be regularly updated; lecture notes, the timetable; class exam results; past papers and much more. The Google site can be accessed at http://www.sgpe.co.uk. Please note that the site has restricted access and you will need to create a Google sites account using your university email accountaccess to the site will be granted only to your school email (further instructions will emailed after induction). This is the first year we are using Googlesite in this way (previously we only used WebCT the Universitys own VLE) and we welcome any feedback you may have on it use. The SGPE also maintains a WebCT page for occasional use such as viewing lecture recordings and submitting papers. WebCT can be accessed through the MyEd Portal at https://www.myed.ed.ac.uk/ where you will be directed to the MyEd portal login screen. You will receive your login and password for MyEd when you register. The WebCT site can be found in the Courses tab. You can also access WebCT directly with this link: https://www.secure.vle.ed.ac.uk/webct/vista. You will still need to log into MyEd but once logged in, using the link above will take you directly to WebCT. 5.4 Email Email is used by the SGPE staff and by course instructors for communicating with students and it is your responsibility to check your email regularly (e.g. at least once a day) for messages. If you do not check your email regularly you may miss some important news. Email is generally the most effective way for you to contact your course instructors. However you are strongly advised to use your University email address when contacting instructors, as email such as googlemail, hotmail or yahoo are often treated as spam by some university servers and may not even reach the intended recipient. University statement on use of e-mail (http://bit.ly/use-of-email) Electronic communication is an essential part of the University and each student is allocated a University email address. It is the formal means of communication by the University with its students When you join the University you will be given a University of Edinburgh (UoE) email account and address which will be used for a variety of essential communications. You must access and manage this account regularly as the University will send you vital information from time to time, for example on exam arrangements or changed class times or locations and will assume that you have opened and acted on these communications. Failure to do so will not be an acceptable excuse or ground for appeal.
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If you already have a web based email account and you think that you are unlikely to check your UoE email account, it is your responsibility to set up a forward on the UoE account to ensure that all official University communications are receive. For instructions on how to do this see: http://bit.ly/EmailForwarding If one or more of your courses use WebCT email, you will need to ensure that you either check both the WebCT email account and the UoE email account in order to be sure to receive urgent and critical items of email, or alternatively you could set up forwards on the WebCT accounts to your UoE email account so that you have only one place to check for important email. Information about forwarding WebCT mail can be found at: http://www.elearn.malts.ed.ac.uk/webct/advanced.phtml#new_mail

ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS

It is a students responsibility to ascertain and meet his or her assessment deadlines, including examination times and locations. As examinations may be scheduled at any time during the semester, it is students responsibility to be available throughout the semester, including the whole of the examination diet. Occasionally assessments may need to be rescheduled with very little notice. For further guidance see Regulation 14 of the Taught Assessment Regulations (http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Regulations/TaughtAssessmentRegulations. pdf) 6.1 Marking Standards All coursework and examinations are marked according to the following standard (the MSc* is the standard required by the rules of the SGPE to proceed to the PhD):

90-100 A1 80-89 A2 70-79 A3

MSc with Distinction MSc with Distinction MSc with Distinction

An excellent performance. Here the student shows a deep mastery and understanding of the subject, and a well developed ability to analyse and apply concepts, models, and techniques. The work is very well organised, and there is a clear awareness of how to bring the material learned to bear on a variety of issues, including those not previously encountered.

60 - 69 B

(SGPE MSc*)

A very good performance. Work in this class displays very good understanding of the material and a sound technical ability. In addition it should also demonstrate potential for research in either very good technical proficiency or a clear awareness of how to use the ideas that have been learned to address previously unencountered theoretical, policy, or empirical issues. 3

50 - 59 C

MSc Pass

A good performance, satisfactory for a Masters degree. Work in this class demonstrates a good knowledge and sound understanding of the material as reflected in an ability to explain the central ideas; however, there may be a heavy reliance on course materials. Work in this class should also demonstrate some basic technical ability, but not any great technical facility and it will be weak in the ability to use ideas, models and, techniques to address previously unencountered theoretical, empirical or policy issues.

40 - 49 D

Diploma Pass

Work in this class demonstrates an adequate knowledge of the material in the programme and an ability to present it in an orderly fashion in answering a question. However the work will Note when applied to the final MSc mark, MSc* is a grade used by the SGPE for the purposes of determining PhD progression only. It is NOT a recognised University grade.
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3

reflect no real understanding or mastery of the subject; it will not display an ability to explain the central ideas and arguments themselves, tending instead to mechanically reproduce diagrams and mathematics etc. with no explanation.

30 - 39 E

Marginal Fail

Work in this class demonstrates some knowledge of the material in the programme relevant to the question being asked. However the work will reflect no real understanding or mastery of the subject; it will not display much ability to explain the central ideas and arguments themselves, tending instead to mechanically reproduce diagrams and mathematics etc. with little or no explanation.

20-29

Clear Fail

Work which shows some limited awareness of the problem or issue central to the question and which shows a limited ability to present clear and rational arguments in answering the question.

10-19

Bad Fail

Work showing only minor evidence of learning or understanding of the issues surrounding the question and an inability to formulate, use and communicate ideas. Answers will be characterised by irrelevance, brevity, rote learning and/or superficiality.

0-9

Bad Fail

Marks in this range are generally given for students who show some knowledge of the course and give some evidence of having attended some lectures but there will be nothing in the answer that is relevant to the question at hand. All significant elements of assessment are either marked double blind or are marked and then moderated by a course coordinator. The Board will consider marks of 48.00-49.99% to be marginal. If a student has an overall average in this range the factors that can work in their favour in terms of progressing to dissertation are:- Positive progression in performance through the year, good (non-assessed) assignment performance, a profile of marks that have a high variance and a relatively good performance in the three core subjects. The external examiner is consulted on marginal papers, as well as being shown a representative sample of exam papers in order to monitor and validate marking standards. He/she is also free to inspect any exam scripts he/she wishes to see.

6.2

Final Assessment of the MSc and Diploma

6.2.1 Examination Diet in April/May After the examination diet an aggregate coursework mark for each candidate is calculated by taking a weighted sum of the final marks (out of 100) for each of the nine courses using the SCOTCAT points as weights. This mark is computed to two decimal places. A candidate with less than 40% aggregate coursework mark fails both the Diploma and the MSc. A candidate with an aggregate coursework mark of at least 40% but less than 50% and who has attained at least 80 credit units with a pass at 40% or more is awarded the Diploma, but will not proceed to the dissertation stage. To be permitted to proceed to the dissertation, candidates must achieve an aggregate coursework mark of at least 50% in the taught courses and must have attained at least 80 credit units with a pass at 50% or more. 6.2.2 Criteria for assessing marginal MSc students Positive criteria that the Exam Board will use when assessing marginal MSc students (i.e. those with a gpa between 48.00 and 49.99%) are:
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A relatively good performance in the core areas of Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Quantitative Methods A mark profile that has a high variance A set of coursework assignments that is more or less complete with reasonably good grades Improvement through the year; in particular a relatively better performance in degree exams than class exams

6.2.3 Submission of the Dissertation Once the dissertation has been submitted, the students work is complete and his/her marks are presented to the final Examination Board in September. There are two MSc grades recognised by the University of Edinburgh MSc pass and Distinction. Candidates who have been permitted to proceed to the dissertation and who achieve 50% or more in the dissertation will be awarded the MSc pass. To be awarded the MSc with Distinction, candidates must: (i) achieve at least 70% in the dissertation; and (ii) achieve an aggregate coursework mark of 70% or very close to, the 70% standard. In addition to these two University grades there is an SGPE MSc * grade or Merit. This does not appear on any University documentation but is recorded by the programme administrator and is recognised by the eight participating SGPE Departments as a necessary minimum entrance requirement for the PhD in Economics within the SGPE. To assess whether or not a student has reached this requirement an aggregate grade equal to 2/3rds the coursework aggregate plus 1/3rd of the dissertation mark is computed. Students achieving an aggregate MSc mark of 60% will be awarded the star/merit grade by the SGPE.

6.3 Special Circumstances and Exam Boards Students wishing for the exam board to take any special circumstances into consideration when reviewing their exam or dissertation MUST email the SGPE Administrator (sgpe@ed.ac.uk). Unless there are exceptional circumstances which justify the delay all evidence and information concerning medical or personal circumstances must be submitted in writing to the SGPE Office at least ONE WEEK before the meeting of the Exam Board. For further guidance please see item 9.10.

6.4 University rules on re sitting papers In order to proceed to the dissertation stage, and hence to be in a position to be awarded the MSc, candidates must meet all assessment requirements in the April/May diet of exams at the first attempt (see Code of Practice for Taught Postgraduate Programmes, Regulation 8.1.1) Therefore it is not possible to improve your performance by re-sitting papers and then to proceed to the dissertation. In short, NO RESITS are allowed. Also course-work such as essays cannot be resubmitted, nor can class exams be retaken.

6.5 Revision of dissertations A dissertation may be revised only if it is judged to be marginally unsatisfactory, i.e. it has received a mark of 48- 49%. Revisions may include: addressing minor presentational flaws, factual inaccuracies, slight misunderstandings or misinterpretations of an argument; or inserting a very short (3-4 pages) new section. Students will be allowed a maximum of 10 days to complete any revisions required by the Examination Board.
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In all other cases resubmissions of revised dissertations are not permitted for postgraduate masters programmes. (Code of Practice for Taught Postgraduate Programmes; Regulation 8.1.1) 6.5 University policy on plagiarism All students who progress to the dissertation component must attend a two hour lecture in early June (date, time and location to be announced several weeks after the final April/May exam diet timetable is released by Registry in Semester 2) which will give explicit guidance on how to avoid plagiarism in particular and on writing the dissertation in general. It is very important that all students understand the Universitys rules about plagiarism. Students sometimes break these rules unintentionally because they do not realise that some of the ways in which they have incorporated other peoples work into their own before they coming to this University, may be against the rules here. Plagiarism is the act of copying or including in one's own work, without adequate acknowledgement, intentionally or unintentionally, the work of another, for one's own benefit. Plagiarism is a serious disciplinary offence and even unintentional plagiarism can be a disciplinary matter. 6.5.1 Use of plagiarism detection software Please note that computers may be used to detect plagiarism, whether by using something as simple as a search engine such as Google (it is as easy for a marker to find online sources as it is for you) or something more complex for specialized comparisons of work. All dissertations will be checked using the JISC plagiarism detection service and students must upload an electronic copy to the JISC website by the deadline. The plagiarism detection service is an online service hosted at www.submit.ac.uk that enables institutions and staff to carry out electronic comparison of students' work against electronic sources including other students' work. The service is managed by The University of Northumbria on behalf of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and is available to all UK tertiary education institutions by subscription. The plagiarism detection service works by executing searches of the World Wide Web and extensive databases of reference material, as well as content previously submitted by other users. Each new submission is compared with all the existing information. The software makes no decisions as to whether a student has plagiarised, it simply highlights sections of text that are duplicated in other sources. All work will continue to be reviewed by the course tutor. As such, the software is simply used as a tool to highlight any instance where there is a possibly case of plagiarism. Passages copied directly or very closely from existing sources will be identified by the software, and both the original and the potential copy will be displayed for the tutor to view. Where any direct quotations are relevant and appropriately referenced, the course tutor will be able to see this and will continue to consider the next highlighted case. Once work has been submitted to the system it becomes part of the ever growing database of material against which subsequent submissions are checked. The copyright in each work submitted remains with the original author, but a non-exclusive, non-transferable, licence is granted to permit use of the material for plagiarism detection purposes. 6.5.2 Guidance The guidance given below is intended to clear up any misunderstandings you may have about plagiarism in relation to Economics. The Universitys general guidance for students about plagiarism can be found at: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/academic-services/students/postgraduatetaught/discipline/plagiarism This includes the Universitys procedures for dealing with different kinds of plagiarism and advice about what to do if you are accused of plagiarism.
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The key to avoiding plagiarism is to make sure that you give correct references for anything that you have taken from other sources to include in your academic work. This might include, for example, any ideas, theories, findings, images, diagrams or direct quotations that you have used. You should signal via citation, within the text of your work, the origins of any material taken from another source, even if you have put it into your own words. If you take any material word for word from another source it is essential that you make it clear to your reader that this is what you have done. If you take material from another source, change a few words and then include the reference you may still have committed a plagiarism offence because you have not made it clear to your reader that you have essentially reproduced part of the original source. You should either express the ideas fully in your own words and give the reference or else use clearly labelled direct quotes. Bear in mind that if you include too many direct quotes in your work this may reduce your grade, as the marker will find it difficult to see evidence of your own understanding of the topic. You must also include a references section at the end of your work that provides the full details of all of the sources cited within the text. You should be aware that, for work done in your other subject areas, you might be expected to use a different referencing system. As referencing is something which students often find confusing, you might want to read online information about referencing using the plagiarism guidance link above. Guidance for students on more subtle forms of plagiarism can be found at http://dissc.tees.ac.uk/Plagiarism/Plag-4.htm http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acint_student.php If this is new to you, this process of referencing may seem rather complicated and arbitrary, but it will make more sense as you progress through your studies here. In order to assess your work and to give you useful feedback your marker needs to have a clear sense of what ideas you have developed for yourself and what comes from elsewhere. To be fair to all of the students on the course it is important that each student is given grades that accurately reflect their own efforts. As you learn to produce work at a university standard, you are developing the skills that will allow you to participate within wider communities of scholars. In these communities new knowledge and understanding is often developed by building on the work of others. By properly acknowledging earlier work you give credit where it is due and help to maintain the integrity and credibility of academic research in this area. Clear referencing also allows readers to learn about the wider literature through your work. It is often the case that understanding the ways in which particular scholars have contributed to the development of the literature makes it much easier to make sense of the current state of play. In Economics there are certain facts which are so well known that it is not necessary to provide references for them in your work. This is what is known as the common knowledge of this subject area. At first it can be difficult to know what is and is not common knowledge and it is better to err on the side of giving references if you are in doubt. Sometimes, even when students know what plagiarism is, they find it hard to know what to do instead. In other words, it can be hard to understand how to develop and express your own ideas in an appropriate manner for your assessed work. You may wonder, for example, what you can add to the debate on a topic when the authors whose work you are reading seem to know much more than you do. This is something you will be learning to do gradually over the course of your studies. One way to learn about this is to pay close attention to the ways in which your lecturers generate arguments or support their points. You might also want to read about current debates in for example the Economic Journals Economic Forum section to see how claims and counter-claims are made. To start you off, here are some questions that you could ask yourself to help to develop your own views about a topic Can I learn anything from comparing and contrasting these rival points of view?
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What do I find particularly convincing about this authors argument? Could the criticism made by author A of the work of author B also be applied to author C? Do I believe the claims made from this study, given the sample with which it was conducted? What is the author's purpose in writing this article? What has the author focused on and what is left out? Does what the author is saying fit with my own experiences? Have any claims or predictions been tested? Is the evidence given to support the arguments convincing? Is the author trying to argue by unfair means, for example, by oversimplifying or misrepresenting an opposing viewpoint? Students sometimes wonder where to draw the line between discussing their ideas with their peers (which can be an excellent learning experience) and unacceptable collusion. The time to be particularly careful is when you are preparing work for assessment. You need to be certain that the work you submit represents your own process of engagement with the task set. You may get into difficulty if, for example, reading another students plan for their work influences you, or if you show them your plan. Assisting another student to plagiarise is a cheating offence. You can read more about this issue in the FAQ at the end of the Universitys general plagiarism guidance http://www.aaps.ed.ac.uk/regulations/Plagiarism/Intro.htm. In addition to giving references for all of the materials that you have actually included within your assignments, it is important to appropriately acknowledge other sources of guidance you have used when preparing your work. Accidental plagiarism is sometimes a result of a student not yet having fully come to terms with how to study effectively at university. For example, the ways in which students take their notes sometimes makes it difficult for them to later distinguish between verbatim quotes, paraphrased material and their own ideas. Finally you may also wish to look at the web site of the Universitys Study Development Adviser which gives details of workshops and resource materials about effective learning at university, some of which are relevant to plagiarism (http://www.ed.ac.uk/schoolsdepartments/institute-academic-development under study skills support for students).

COURSE DETAILS

This section gives details of the dissertation and outlines of individual courses. The course outlines give basic information about each course offered on the programme. This information is provisional, in the sense that the particular course instructors, details of the course content, and the recommended texts and reading, are all subject to potential change. Updated and more detailed course outlines will be given to you at the start of each course by the relevant lecturer. Information on the option courses will be given in December in order that courses can be chosen by the end of January. The code after each course title is that given in the University Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study and is useful for checking exam timetables etc. * denotes Course Organiser 7.1 Pre-Sessional Courses These courses take place during the first two weeks of the first semester and consist of an introductory mathematics course and an introductory statistics and econometrics course. When the teaching is over, each course is concluded by a 2 hour class examination. This assessment does not form a part of your final degree mark for the MSc; its main purpose is to enable us to provide you with feedback on your academic background. In particular, a poor performance will signal the need for extra studying and is an opportunity for students with a poor background to plan and undertake a systematic revision of the relevant materials. Students who badly fail these exams will meet with their DoS to discuss and plan their future studies and may also be asked to consider whether it is in their interests to continue with the MSc itself.
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7.1.1 Introductory Mathematics ECNM11002 Instructor Dr Yu-Fu Chen * Dundee Y.F.Chen@dundee.ac.uk

Objectives The main objectives of the course are to refresh knowledge in mathematical economics, to establish a common basic standard and to facilitate the start to the core courses in macroeconomics and microeconomics. Structure The course comprises 7 three-hour lectures over a period of approximately 2 weeks. Indicative Reading Simon and Blume, Mathematics for Economists, Norton Chiang, Fundamental Methods of Mathematical Economics, 3rd ed., McGraw-Hill Hoy, Livernois, McKenna, Rees and Stengos, Mathematics for economics, 2nd ed., MIT Press Adda and Cooper, Dynamic Economics: Quantitative Methods and Applications, MIT Press The scope of these books is much wider than the course itself and will be a useful tool throughout the MSc program. Additional reading will be recommended in lectures. Syllabus Review of One-Variable Calculus Multivariate Calculus Static Optimisation (1): Unconstrained Static Optimisation (2): Constrained Static Optimisation (3): Inequality Constrained Intertemporal Optimisation: Discrete-time Intertemporal Optimisation: Continuous-time

7.1.2

Introductory Statistics and Econometrics Dundee

ECNM11002 a.z.bhattacharjee@dundee.ac.uk

Instructor

Dr Arnab Bhattacharjee

Objectives To furnish students with the basic skills in probability, statistics and econometrics as well as the use of the Stata software which is the standard software used in the core and option Quantitative Methods modules. Structure The course comprises 7 three-hour lectures over a period of approximately 2 weeks. Indicative Reading Barrow, Statistics for Economics, Accounting and Business Studies, 3rd ed., Prentice Hall Johnston and DiNardo, Econometric Methods, 4th ed., McGraw Hill Thomas, Modern Econometrics: An Introduction, 1st ed., Addison Wesley Wonnacott and Wonnacott, Introductory Statistics for Business and Economics, 4th ed., Wiley Wooldridge, Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, 5th ed., Cengage Learning The scope of these books is much wider than the course itself and will be a useful tool throughout the MSc program. Additional reading will be recommended in lectures.

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Syllabus Elements of matrix algebra Variables and descriptive statistics; basic probability and probability density functions Expectations and moments Bivariate distributions; elementary sampling theory Basic estimation and hypothesis testing; introduction to simple linear regression Simple linear regression model: statistical aspects, Gauss Markov theorem, sampling distributions Basic asymptotic theory with simple applications 7.2 Core Courses There are six core courses; Microeconomics 1, Macroeconomics 1 and Quantitative Methods 1 run over the first semester and Microeconomics 2, Macroeconomics 2 and Quantitative Methods 2 run over the first half of the second semester. An asterisk beside a name indicates the course coordinator.

7.2.1

Microeconomics 1

ECNM11023
Edinburgh Edinburgh christina.napier@ed.ac.uk ahmed.anwar@ed.ac.uk

Instructors Prof John Hardman Moore Dr Ahmed Anwar*

Objectives To give students a command of the main tools of microeconomic analysis, so that they can undertake advanced work in areas such as industrial economics, public economics, labour economics, environmental economics, international economics and finance; and to show how such microeconomic analysis can be applied in making the transition from theoretical models to empirical/policy models. Textbooks The basic textbooks to be used are: - Mas-Colell, A., M.D. Whinston and J.R. Green, Microeconomic Theory (OUP, 1995). - Varian, H.R., Microeconomic Analysis, 3rd ed. (Norton, 1992). - Jehle, G.A. and P.J. Reny, Advanced Microeconomic Theory, 2nd ed. (AWL, 2001). Course Outline 1. Consumption, Production and Equilibrium 2. Uncertainty, Bargaining and Auctions. Semester: Weeks 1:1-5 1:6-9

Assessment Class exam in December counting for 25 per cent of the final mark. Final examination in the in the April/May diet, counting for 75 per cent of the final mark.

7.2.2

Microeconomics 2

ECNM11025
Edinburgh Christina.napier@Ed.ac.uk

Instructor Prof John Hardman Moore Course coordinator: Dr Ahmed Anwar*

Edinburgh

ahmed.anwar@ed.ac.uk

Objectives To give students a command of the main tools of microeconomic analysis, so that they can undertake advanced work in areas such as industrial economics, public economics, labour economics, environmental economics, international economics and finance; and to show how such microeconomic analysis can be applied in making the transition from theoretical models to empirical/policy models. Textbooks The basic textbooks to be used are:
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Mas-Colell, A., M.D. Whinston and J.R. Green, Microeconomic Theory (OUP, 1995). H.R. Varian, Microeconomic Analysis, 3rd ed (Norton, 1992) Course Outline Uncertainty, Information and Incentives Semester: Weeks 2:1-5

Assessment Final examination in the in the April/May diet, counting for 100 per cent of the final mark.

7.2.3

Macroeconomics 1 Richard.Holt@ed.ac.uk h.h.molana@dundee.ac.uk

ECNM11024

Instructors

Ric Holt* Edinburgh Prof Hassan Molana Dundee

Objectives The aim of this module is to introduce you to the theoretical analysis of growth, economic fluctuations and economic policy. By the end of the course you should be able to outline and manipulate a number of popular theoretical models, derive and analyse the relevant policy conclusions implied by them, and refer to the available evidence. Structure The course is delivered through 36 classroom contact hours. Textbooks For a course at this level there is no single core text. The main textbooks used are: Romer, Advanced Macroeconomics, McGraw Hill. Heijdra, Foundations of Modern Macroeconomics, 2nd edition Oxford University Press Walsh, Monetary Theory and Policy, 3rd edition MIT Press For each topic, a detailed reading will be provided by the respective lecturer. Course Outline The course is divided into three sections: -Modelling macroeconomic dynamics. (Ric Holt, 12 hours) -Topics in growth and economic policy (Ric Holt, 12 hours) -Models of real business cycle and macroeconomic fluctuations (Hassan Molana, 12 hours) For each topic, a detailed outline will be provided by the respective lecturer. Assessment The final examination in the April / May diet counts for 70 per cent of the total grade. The remaining 30 per cent of the final grade comes from a three-hour class examination. The class examination paper comprises questions in three sections (one from each topic) all of which should be answered.

Macroeconomics 2 Instructor Sevi Rodrguez Mora Edinburgh

7.2.4

ECNM11022 Sevi.Rodriguez@ed.ac.uk

Course Coordinator Ric Holt* Edinburgh

Richard.Holt@ed.ac.uk

Objectives This module has two aims: (i) to introduce you to the basic micro founded search theories of employment and unemployment and (ii) to familiarise you with the intertemporal models of consumption, asset pricing and investment decisions. By the end of the course you should be

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able to outline and manipulate the basic theoretical models, derive and analyse the relevant policy conclusions implied by them, and refer to the available evidence. Structure The course is delivered through 20 classroom contact hours. Textbooks For a course at this level there is no single core text. The main textbooks used are: -Romer, Advanced Macroeconomics, McGraw Hill. -Pissarides, Equilibrium Unemployment Theory, MIT Press For each topic, detailed reading will be provided by the lecturer. Course Outline 1. Intertemporal consumption, asset pricing and investment decisions. 2. Search, employment and unemployment For each topic, a detailed outline will be provided by the lecturer. Assessment Final examination in the April / May diet counts for 60 per cent of the total grade in which all questions have to be answered. The remaining 40 per cent of the final grade comes from a twohour class test in which all questions have to be answered.

7.2.5

Quantitative Methods 1
Strathclyde Edinburgh Strathclyde Dundee Heriot Watt r.l.alpine@strath.ac.uk sean.brocklebank@ed.ac.uk julia.darby@strath.ac.uk h.h.molana@dundee.ac.uk M.ESchaffer@hw.ac.uk

ECNM11026

Instructors Mr Robin Alpine Sean Brocklebank Prof Julia Darby Prof Hassan Molana* Prof Mark E. Schaffer

Objectives Together with Quantitative Methods 2 module, this module provides a thorough training in basic econometric methods to enable you to critically assess applied work as well as to undertake your own applied work by using appropriate econometric techniques. These modules provide you with the opportunity to acquire a good background required for research at the PhD level or in employment as a professional applied economist. Structure This module consists of approximately 38 hours of lectures which are supported by weekly lab/tutorials sessions (2 hours per week) and a help-desk. Indicative Reading Johnston and DiNardo, Econometric Methods, 4th ed., McGraw Hill Enders, Applied Econometric Time Series 3rd ed., John Wiley and Sons Greene, Econometric Analysis, 5th ed. (or later), Prentice Hall Verbeek, A Guide to Modern Econometrics, 3rd ed., John Wiley and Sons Wooldridge, Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach, 5th ed., Cengage Learning Baum, An Introduction to Modern Econometrics Using Stata, Stata Press The primary recommended textbook is Johnson and DiNardo. Greene is an alternative thorough textbook. Wooldridge is highly recommended as supplementary reading for its coverage of empirical applications and discussion and interpretation of results. The time series lectures will make reference to Enders and Verbeek. Baum provides an excellent combination of econometric methods and their applications using Stata.

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In addition to the above, Kennedy, A Guide to Econometrics, Blackwell, provides a basic and intuitive introduction to many of the topics covered and is highly recommended to you for preliminary reading throughout the course. Those of you who want to take a deeper approach to learning econometrics will enjoy Angrist and Pischke, Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion, Princeton University Press. Lecturers will provide details of recommended reading as the course progresses. Syllabus Section 1 (Robin Alpine): Section 2 (Hassan Molana): Section 3 (Hassan Molana): Section 4 (Hassan Molana): Section 5 (Julia Darby):

General Linear Model Univariate Time Series and Bivariate Dynamic Models Instrumental Variables Estimator Generalised Least Squares Estimator Vector Autoregressions, Cointegration and Error Correction

Assessment The overall assessment consists of a class examination in December after the teaching is over and a final degree examination in the April/May examinations diet. These respectively contribute to 20% and 80% of the final grade.

7.2.6

Quantitative Methods 2
Edinburgh Dundee Dundee Heriot Watt

ECNM11027
sean.brocklebank@ed.ac.uk a.z.bhattacharjee@dundee.ac.uk h.h.molana@dundee.ac.uk M.ESchaffer@hw.ac.uk

Instructors Sean Brocklebank Dr. Arnab Bhattacharjee Prof Hassan Molana* Prof. Mark E. Schaffer

Objectives Together with Quantitative Methods 1 module, this module provides a thorough training in basic econometric methods to enable you to critically assess applied work as well as to undertake your own applied work by using appropriate econometric techniques. These modules provide you with the opportunity to acquire a good background required for research at the PhD level or in employment as a professional applied economist. Structure This module consists of approximately 16 hours of lectures which are supported by weekly lab/tutorials sessions (2 hours per week) and a help-desk. Indicative Reading In addition to those recommended for Quantitative Methods 1, you will benefit from: Baltagi, Econometric Analysis of Panel Data, 4th ed., John Wiley and Sons Wooldridge, Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data, 2nd ed., MIT Press Lecturers will provide details of recommended reading as the course progresses. Syllabus Section 6 (Hassan Molana):

Maximum Likelihood Estimator and its application to Limited Dependent Variable Models Section 7 (Arnab Bhattacherjee): Panel Data Models Assessment The overall assessment consists of coursework (weighted at 75%) and a class examination (weighted at 25%). The coursework is in the form of a group project to be carried out over January-March period and the class examination is held in February, after the teaching is over.

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7.3 Options Courses Students choose three option courses from the list below at the end of September. Although you will have the opportunity to change your choices in January if necessary, you should take your initial option choice decision seriously. Students taking the Economics (Finance) degree must take the Asset Pricing, Corporate Finance and International Money and Finance options. All options consist of six three-hour lectures. These lectures will run weekly from the mid February to early April. The information below is the most up-to-date at the time the handbook went to press but is mostly based on the courses as they were taught in previous year. There may be changes in personnel and course content nearer the time of their commencement. An asterisk beside a name indicates the course coordinator. Please check the Googlesite for updates. NB: We will do our utmost to run all of these options as advertised here. However there may be extenuating circumstances in which one or more option has to be withdrawn. Examples would be an option class with exceptionally low enrolment to whom the relevant teachers are not prepared to teach and unexpected last minute ill health of a key lecturer where no reserve was available. 7.3.1 Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics Instructors Dr. Laurence Lasselle* St. Andrews LL5@st-andrews.ac.uk Prof. Campbell Leith Glasgow c.b.leith@lbss.gla.ac.uk Dr. Ioana Moldovan Glasgow Ioana.Moldovan@glasgow.ac.uk ECNM11005

Objectives The course extends the core macroeconomics course to new developments in intertemporal macroeconomics, economic integration, and real business cycle theory. These are topics of key importance in contemporary macroeconomics, and should be taken by students who plan to do a PhD on mainstream macroeconomic theory or applied macroeconomics. Course Outline The course will be divided into three main components as follows: Component 1: (Dr Lasselle) The main aim of this component is to introduce the students to the most relevant issues and developments of dynamic modern macroeconomics based on a specific model: the Overlapping Generations Model. The key assumption in this model is the heterogeneity of the agents, i.e. at each instant of time there are two generations, the young and the old. This set up is useful for analysing the implications of introducing intergenerational issues into a simple neoclassical general equilibrium model, and for discussing the role of public policy (e.g. social security systems) on the allocation of the economys resources across generations. (6 hours). Component 2: (Professor Leith) This component offers an introduction to the New Keynesian analysis of monetary policy, where monetary policy has real effects due to the assumption of sticky prices. The first lecture will derive both the benchmark New Keynesian model and the quadratic approximation to the utility of the economic agents populating the economy. Utilising this benchmark model, and the micro-founded objective function, the second lecture shall explore a number of issues in optimal monetary policy design namely, the description of policy under discretion and full commitment, and the attendant problems of inflation and stabilisation biases. (6 hours). Component 3: (Dr. Moldovan) This component examines New Keynesian models of the business cycle. The first lecture will provide a detailed derivation of a state-of-the-art medium scale New Keynesian model that accounts for a variety of nominal and real frictions which are important for understanding the business cycle The second lecture will then consider: a) design of monetary policy in a medium-scale model; b) recent developments in the modelling of consumers behaviour (Rule

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of- thumb consumers), that pave the way for introducing unorthodox fiscal stabilisation policies. (6 hours). Textbooks and Reading The course will be mainly structured around a number of advanced graduate textbooks in macroeconomics. These will be supplemented with articles from recent issues of the main US, European and UK academic journals. Assessment One two-hour final examination in April / May.

7.3.2

Advanced Topics in Microeconomics

tatiana.kornienko@ed.ac.uk e.hopkins@ed.ac.uk jozsef.sakovics@ed.ac.uk

ECNM11006

Instructors Dr. Tatiana Kornienko Edinburgh, Prof. Ed Hopkins Edinburgh, Prof Joszef Sakovics* Edinburgh

Objectives The course aims to widen and deepen the acquired knowledge in the core microeconomics course, especially including the vocabulary and tool kit for analysing economic situations involving conflict and interdependency. Course Outline Advanced Theory of Auctions, Contests and Tournaments Repeated Games Behavioural and Evolutionary Game Theory Indicative Reading C. Holt, Markets, Games, & Strategic Behavior, Addison Wesley, 2006. R. Gibbons, A Primer in Game Theory, Harvester/Wheatsheaf, 1992. V. Krishna, Auction Theory, Academic Press, 2002. M. Osborne and A. Rubinstein, A Course in Game Theory, MIT Press, 1995. E. Wolfstetter. Topics in Microeconomics: Industrial Organization, Auctions, and Incentives, CUP, 2002. Assessment One two-hour final examination 7.3.3 Advanced Topics in Quantitative Methods Instructors Prof. Mark E. Schaffer* Heriot-Watt University ECNM11007 M.E.Schaffer@hw.ac.uk

Prof Juergen Bracht

Aberdeen

juergen.bracht@abdn.ac.uk

Objectives This module explores further topics in applied econometrics. Students will be introduced to various tools that are part of the basic econometric training of professional economists. The course is intended for students who want to be professional economists or who want to go on to PhD study, i.e., at aspiring economists rather than aspiring econometricians. Course Outline The first part of the syllabus is devoted to the Generalised Method of Moments or GMM. GMM was introduced by Hansen (1982) and is now a key tool in the applied economists toolbox. GMM has a number of other attractive features: it accommodates problems and data structures that show up frequently in econometrics, such as endogeneity and causal effects, heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation, and time series and panel data; it often provides a way of linking priors from economic theory to specific estimation strategies; and it is flexible and extendable, i.e., various apparently complex estimation problems can be written down as simple GMM estimators. Other topics covered in this part of the course include specification testing in
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the GMM framework and the weak identification problem and weak-identification-robust estimation. The second part of the syllabus is devoted to selected advanced topics in econometrics. These topics vary from year to year. Past topics have included dynamic panel data models; estimators for heterogeneous treatment effects; differences-in-differences estimators; regression discontinuity design; and exact and propensity-score matching estimators. Selected Reading Bruce Hansen, Econometrics (2010). Available at no cost for educational or personal use at http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~bhansen/econometrics/. Fumio Hayashi, Econometrics (Princeton University Press 2000). Angrist, Joshua D. and Jrn-Steffen Pischke, Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion (Princeton University Press, 2009). Assessment Assessment will be by a 2-hour exam in April / May.

7.3.4

Asset Pricing
Dundee Aberdeen

ECNM11014 Y.F.Chen@dundee.ac.uk
o.klinkowska@abdn.ac.uk

Instructors Dr Yu-Fu Chen* Olga Klinkowska TBC

Objectives To help students understand the building blocks of modern financial economics, and the application of economic principles and reasoning to a variety of asset pricing models and financial instruments; to examine the theory and empirical analysis of trading and market making on security exchanges, providing basic theoretical and empirical building blocks; to overview the relationship between behavioural finance and asset pricing, and examine individual portfolio choices and behaviour driven by personal and market psychology. Course Outline 1. Mean-Variance Model, CAPM, Arbitrage Pricing Theory, and Consumption-CAPM 2. Derivatives 3. Behavioural Finance 4. Market Microstructure Indicative Reading Copeland, T. E., Weston, J. F., and Shastri, K., 2005, Financial Theory and Corporate Policy, 4th Edition. Pearson Addison Wesley Elton E. J., Gruber, M. J., Brown, S. J., and Goetzmann, W. N., 2007, Modern Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis, 7th Edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hull, J., 2002, Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives, 5th Edition, Pearson US Imports & PHIPEs. Barberis, N & R. H. Thaler, 2003, A survey of behavioral finance, in Constantinides et al, Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Amsterdam: North-Holland. Gervais S. and T. Odean, 2001, Learning to be Overconfident, Review of Financial Studies, 14, 1-27. De Long, J.B., A. Shleifer, L.H. Summers and R.J. Waldmann, 1990, Noise trader risk in financial markets, Journal of Political Economy, 98, 703-738. Hasbrouck, J., 1988, Trades, quotes, inventories, and information, Journal of Financial Economics, 22, 229-52. Snell A. and I. Tonks, 1995, Determinants of price quote revisions on the London Stock Exchange, Economic Journal, 105, 77-94. Assessment Final examination in the April/May diet
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7.3.5

Corporate Finance
Edinburgh seth.armitage@ed.ac.uk

ECNM11032

Instructors Professor Seth Armitage TBC

Course Objectives The aim of the module is to develop students knowledge and understanding of corporate finance theory and empirical evidence, specifically in the areas of capital structure, payout policy, corporate governance, and new equity issues. Intended Learning Outcomes Knowledge and understanding of: the main theoretical and empirical developments in firm capital structure decisions, payout policy, equity financing, executive compensation, mergers and acquisitions. the main ways in which researchers have analysed these issues theoretically and tested their empirical predictions. Lectures The module consists of 18 lecture hours: Part 1 consists of a three-hour lecture on capital structure; Part 2 consists of a three-hour lecture on new equity issues; Part 3 consists of two three-hour lectures on corporate governance; Part 4 consists of a three-hour lecture on executive compensation; and Part 5 consists of a three-hour lecture on payout policy. Assessment: Final examination in the April/May diet.

7.3.6

Development Economics
Heriot Watt Dundee St Andrews y.x.zhang@dundee.ac.uk gff2@st-andrews.ac.uk

ECNM11030 P.LeMay-Boucher@hw.ac.uk

Instructors Dr Philippe LeMay-Boucher* Dr Yin Zhang Dr Gonzalo Forgues-Puccio

Objectives The course aims at providing students with an introduction to the recent research in development economics. As the following key themes indicate the focus will be on market imperfections, institutions and various governance issues in the context of economic development. Students will be exposed to a blend of theoretical models and empirical applications enabling them to get a better understanding of the obstacles to economic development. Course Outline Key Themes: Underdevelopment and poverty traps Institutions and economic development Corruption, Informal Sector and Development Political Economy of Development Democratisation Selected Development Policy Issues General Readings Bardhan P. and C. Udry, Developments Microeconomics, Oxford University Press, 1999. Bardhan P., Scarcity, Conflicts and Cooperation, MIT Press, 2005. Ray D., Development Economics, Princeton University Press, 1998. Basu, K., Analytical Development Economics, MIT Press, 2002. Assessment Final examination in the April/May diet
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7.3.7

Development and Methodology of Economic Thought

rod.cross@strath.ac.uk robert.mcmaster@glasgow.ac.uk

ECNM11008

Instructors Prof Rod Cross Strathclyde Dr Robert McMaster* Glasgow

Objectives The aim of this course is to promote an understanding of how economic theory has developed, in terms of the questions asked, the types of theory developed to address these questions, and the methodological presuppositions of these theories. The course covers the history of economic thought and its methodology from the pre-Enlightenment period up to the present day, with particular emphasis on important developments. Recommended Initial Reading Milonakis, D. and Fine, B. (2009) From Political Economy to Economics: Method, the Social and the Historical in the Evolution of Economic Theory, Routledge: London Course Outline 1. Introduction to the Philosophy of Science Applied to Economics 2. Smith and Marx: Incompatible Bedfellows? 3. The Shaping of Economics: Two Disputes and the Rise of One Giant Keynes 4. Economics and Method The Last Positivists, or the Re-ascent of Thorstein Veblen? 5. Theory Appraisal and Post-1945 Macroeconomic Theory. 6. Theory Appraisal and Post-1945 Macroeconomic Theory. Assessment Final examination in the April / May diet.

7.3.8

Economic Policy
Edinburgh Stirling Strathclyde Scottish Government Scottish Government Scottish Government

ECNM11016
a.j.snell@ed.ac.uk s.c.dow@stir.ac.uk bernard.fingleton@strath.ac.uk Graeme.Roy@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Instructors Andy Snell* Sheila Dow Bernie Fingleton Graeme Roy Kathy Johnstone Andy Park

Objectives The aim of this course is two-fold. The first is to present the student with a series of topics that are currently policy relevant. The second is to provide the student with an understanding of how economics can be used to enlighten the debate surrounding these topics. The topics of this course will be reviewed annually in order to ensure that the course remains current. This course should be particularly of interest to those students interested in pursuing a career as an economist with the civil service. Topics taught in 2008/09 included UK productivity performance, policy evaluation and the usefulness of social and natural experiments, UK housing and regional policy. Teaching The course consists of six 3 hour lectures each covering a distinct policy area. Each lecture will be delivered by a recognized expert. The lecturers will mainly be from the SGPE teaching staff but may also be from the Government, the Scottish Economic Policy Network, and other academic and research institutions. Background Reading Atkinson, B., P. Baker and B. Milward, (1996), Economic Policy, Basingstoke, PalgraveMacmillan

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Assessment 1) One 3,000 word essay submitted by the last Friday of the second semester. The students should use the essay as a vehicle to explore more deeply and/or more widely the academic literature in one of the six topics covered in the lectures. Weight: 30 per cent of final grade 2) Final examination in the April/May diet. There will be one question from each of the six topics and students must answer any two but must not select the question corresponding to their chosen essay topic. Weight: 70 per cent of final grade 7.3.9 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Instructors Mr. Roger Perman* Strathclyde r.perman@strath.ac.uk Prof David Ulph St Andrews du1@st-andrews.ac.uk Prof Nick Hanley Stirling n.d.hanley@stir.ac.uk ECNM11028

Objectives The course intends to provide students with an introduction to the application of economic theory to the subject area. There is a strong focus on policy issues and policy remedies to identified problems, and the course will be structured around an organising theme of sustainability. Students should have developed a good awareness of the major literature in the area and be able to apply the relevant tools of economic analysis (which in some cases they will have met in other parts of the course) to the identified problems. This extends to an appreciation of the policy implications of issues developed during the course and to the quality of available policy instruments. Assessment The course is assessed through a degree examination of two hours and a coursework essay. Each of these will account for 50% of the final class mark. Essential Reading R. Perman, Y. Ma, J. McGilvray and M. Common, Addison Wesley Longmans, 2003, Natural Resource and Environmental Economics (Third Edition). Hanley N, Shogren J and White B. Palgrave, Environmental economics in theory and practice. (2nd edition). Course Outline 1-2 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: Efficiency and Optimality Sustainability 3 Environmental Pollution 4-5 Environmental Valuation, Cost-Benefit Analysis and Sustainability 6-7 Economics of Climate Change Assessment The course is assessed through a final examination in the April / May diet and a coursework essay. Each of these will account for 50 per cent of the final mark.

7.3.10 Experimental Economics

Instructors Miguel Costa-Gomes* TBC Aberdeen m.costagomes@abdn.ac.uk

ECNM11035

Objectives: The course aims at providing students with an introduction to experimental economics, with an eye toward preparing students to design and run their own experiments. Topics will lie in two primary spheres: some of the major strands of previous experimental research, and experimental methodology.

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Course outline: - Methodology - Double auction markets - Game theory - Bargaining - Forward and spot markets and policy applications - Public goods and charitable fund-raising: voluntary contribution mechanisms - Externalities: effects and corrective policies Textbooks and reading: Camerer, C., Behavioral Game Theory: Experiments in Strategic Interaction, Princeton University Press. Davis, D., and C. Holt, Experimental Economics, Princeton University Press. Friedman, D. and S. Sunder, Experimental Methods: A Primer for Economists, Cambridge University Press. Kagel, J.H. and A.E. Roth, The Handbook of Experimental Economics, Princeton University Press. Additionally, readings will be assigned from journal articles. A reading list for each lecture will be given out in advance of the lecture. Assessment: Final examination in the April/May diet

7.3.11 Health Economics

Instructors Dr Marjon van der Pol* Professor Mandy Ryan TBC Aberdeen Aberdeen m.vanderpol@abdn.ac.uk m.ryan@abdn.ac.uk

ECNM11013

Objectives
Health economics applies economic thinking to the analysis of health and health care. The course covers the core topics of health economics. It is not necessary to have studied health economics previously to benefit from this module and it will complement a broad range of other options. The course emphasises a participative and cooperative approach to learning, and so you will be expected to both present material and contribute to group work.

Course Outline
1 - Introduction to Health Economics, Markets and market failure in health care, Preparation for Group Work (MydP) 2- Economics of health, Health inequalities (MydP) 3 - Incentives on the supply side, Incentives on the demand side (MC) 4 - Reports on Group Work (MyDp) 5- Economic Evaluation: identifying, measuring and valuing Costs and Benefits, Preferences in the provision of health care: the Quality Adjusted Life Year (QALY) approach (MR) 6 - Preferences in the provision of health care: the Contingent Valuation approach, Preferences in the provision of health care: the Discrete Choice Experiment approach (MR) Reading Culyer AJ, Newhouse JP (2000) Introduction: the state and scope of health economics. In Culyer AJ and Newhouse JP (eds), Handbook of Health Economics, p.1-7, Elsevier, Amsterdam. Arrow KJ. (1963) Uncertainty and the welfare economics of medical care. American Economic Review 53(5): 941-973. Chaloupka FJ, Warner KE (2000) The economics of smoking. In Culyer AJ and Newhouse JP (eds), Handbook of Health Economics, p.347-408, Elsevier, Amsterdam. Deaton A. (2003) Health, inequality and economic development. Journal of Economic Literature 41: 113-158
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Chalkley MJ, Malcomson J (2002) Cost sharing in health service provision: an empirical assessment of cost savings. Journal of Public Economics 84: 219-249. Ma CA (1994) Health care payment systems; cost and quality incentives. Journal of Economics and Management Strategy 3(1): 93-112. Manning WG, Newhouse JP, Duan N, Keeler EB, Leibowitz A (1987) Health Insurance and the demand for medical care: evidence from a randomized experiment. The American Economic Review 77: 251-277. Drummond M, Schulpher MJ, Torrance GW, OBrien B, Stoddart G (2005) Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Chapters 16. Donaldson C, Shackley P (1997) Economic evaluation. In Detels R, et al. (eds) Oxford Textbook of Public Health (3rd edition), Oxford, OUP. Brazier J, Roberts T (2006) Methods for developing preference based measures of health. In: Jones AM (ed), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics. Edward Elgar. . Drummond M, Schulpher MJ, Torrance GW, OBrien B, Stoddart G (2005) Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Chapter 7 Donaldson C, Mason H, Shackley P (2006) Contingent Valuation in health care. In: Jones AM (ed), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics. Edward Elgar. Ryan M, Gerard K, Currie G (2006) Using Discrete Choice Experiments in Health Economics. In: Jones AM (ed), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics. Edward Elgar. . Assessment Group work presentation: 30%, Final Examination: 70% in the April / May diet

7.3.12 Industrial Organisation

Instructors Prof David Ulph* Dr Alex Dickson St Andrews Strathclyde du1@st-andrews.ac.uk alex.dickson@strath.ac.uk

ECNM11014

Objectives The aims of the course are threefold: (a) to enable students to make intelligent access to the research literature in Industrial Economics; (b) to provide illustrations of areas of application of both advanced microeconomics and applied econometrics as developed in courses elsewhere on the programme; (c) to facilitate the cultivation of skills in industrial economics to a level which would lay the basis for research work within academia or industry. The focus is primarily on dynamic issues of Industrial Organisation relating to entry, product differentiation innovation etc. Course Outline - Entry: Excess Entry Theorem; - Consumer Models of Product Differentiation, Spatial Models, Variety, Vertical Product Differentiation. - Sequential Entry, Entry Deterrence and Accommodation, Entry Barriers, Capacities and Preemption, Collusive Practices. - Innovation: R&D, impact of patent mechanism on innovation, Research Joint Ventures - Regulation: Natural monopoly, marginal cost pricing, regulation under asymmetric information, privatization, policy considerations. Indicative reading J. Tirole (1988) Industrial Organization. MIT Press. K.Basu (1993) Lectures in Industrial Organization Theory, Basil Blackwell (Paperback). S.Martin (1993) Advanced Industrial Economics, Basil Blackwell (Paperback). O.Shy (1996) Industrial Organization, MIT Press. see also: R.Schmalensee and R.Willig (eds.) (1989) Handbook of Industrial Organization, Vols. I & II, North Holland

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Assessment Final examination in the April/May diet. The paper has two sections, with two questions in each section. Candidates must answer two questions, one from the first section and one from the second section.

7.3.13 International Money and Finance Instructors

David Cobham* Heriot Watt Prof Ronald McDonald Glasgow TBC d.cobham@hw.ac.uk Ronald.MacDonald@glasgow.ac.uk

ECNM11015

Objectives: The course aims to cover the major recent developments in the field of International Money and Finance. The course consists of a blend of theoretical, applied econometric and institutional material. Note that there will be 24 hours of lectures on this course 6 hours more than the standard 18 hour length. Reading: Preliminary and background reading for the course is Hallwood and MacDonald (1995) International Money and Finances, Oxford: (3rd ed.) Blackwell. Most of the reading material recommended by lecturers will take the form of journal articles and will be distributed during lectures Course Outline The course will consider: theoretical and applied aspects of exchange rate determination, such as explaining exchange rate volatility, equilibrium and forecastability issues; the economics of fixed exchange rates in terms of the target zone literature, the speculative attack literature and contagion; some of the so-called puzzles in international finance, such as the Feldstein-Horioka and home bias puzzles and the role of the gravity model in explaining international trade patterns; the evolution of the European Monetary System, from ERM to euro, and the role of the ECB in the operation of monetary policy in the euro area. Teaching is structured as follows: 1. Introduction and overview of international parity conditions and other basic concepts 2. The economics of exchange rates - Professor Ronald MacDonald 3. The gravity model and puzzles in International Finance 4. European monetary integration issues Assessment Final examination in the April/May diet. There is no assessed course work, although students will have the opportunity to write an essay.

7.3.14 International Trade

Instructors Dr Catia Montagna Prof. Ian Wooton * Dundee Strathclyde c.montagna@dundee.ac.uk ian.wooton@strath.ac.uk

ECNM11016

Objectives This course is intended to explain the reasons that countries trade with each other and the benefits that arise from this trade; to demonstrate the role of governments in regulating international trade in order to promote national interests; to give an insight into the nature and causes of trade arising between and within imperfectly competitive industries; to provide an understanding of the determinants of the spatial location of production; to explain why industry may agglomerate; and to examine the economics of regional integration. Course Outline -Trade and comparative advantage -basis for trade, gains from trade, impact on factor earnings -Market structure and trade
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-bilateral monopoly, reciprocal dumping, monopolistic competition -Trade policy and negotiations -effects of tariffs, incentives for trade liberalisation, institutional arrangements -Strategic trade policy -Trade, FDI and the organisation of firms -Economic geography Reading: Markusen, J R., J R. Melvin, W H. Kaempfer, and K E. Maskus, International Trade: Theory and Evidence, McGraw-Hill International Edition, New York 1995, Paul Krugman: Geography and Trade, MIT Press, 1991, ISBN 0-262-61086-8. Grossman, Gene M., (ed), Imperfect Competition and International Trade, MIT Press, 1992. Assessment

Final examination in the April/May diet 7.3.15 Personnel Economics

Instructors Prof Tim Barmby* Prof Brian Main Aberdeen Edinburgh tim.barmby@abdn.ac.uk Brian.Main@ed.ac.uk

TBC
Course Outline The module will examine the theories and empirical evidence concerning the way incentives are structured within organisations. This is an active area of current research, and will be of interest to students interested in the application of incentive theory in the real world. Personnel Economics: an Introduction to the Issues Labour Supply and Incentives The Structure of Contracts Competition within Organisations: Tournaments CEO pay and other Corporate Issues Teams, Profit Sharing and Partnerships Reading: Ed Lazear Personnel Economics MIT Press 1995 William Neilson Personnel Economics Prentice Hall 2006 and relevant journal articles Assessment Final examination in the April/May diet

7.3.16 Topics in Economic History

Instructors Prof. Duncan Ross Prof. Mark Schaffer* Prof. Catherine Schenk Dr. Gary Shea Glasgow University Heriot-Watt University Glasgow University St. Andrews University

ECNM11041
dro@arts.gla.ac.uk m.e.schaffer@hw.ac.uk c.schenk@lbss.gla.ac.uk gss2@st-andrews.ac.uk

Objectives This course explores selected topics in economic history. The specific mix of topics will vary from year to year, but will be drawn from a wide range of eras and subjects: pre-industrial revolution economies; the industrial and financial revolutions of the 17th-19th centuries; the economics of slavery in the US; financial and economic crises of the 20th century, including the Great Depression; and the experience of central planning and its collapse in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Course outline and indicative selected readings:
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General: Goldin, Claudia (1995), Cliometrics and the Nobel, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 9, No. 2, Spring, pp. 191-208. Gregory Clark (2007), A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World, Princeton University Press. C.M. Reinhart and K. Rogoff (2009), This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (Princeton University Press). Pre-industrial revolution/Malthusian economies: Clark (2007), op. cit., chapters 2-3. Jared Diamond (1987), The Invention of Agriculture: The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race, Discover. M.I. Finley (1965), Technical Innovation and Economic Progress in the Ancient World, Economic History Review, New Series, 18:1, pp. 29-45. The industrial and financial revolutions: N.F.R. Crafts and C.K. Harley (1992), Output Growth and the British Industrial Revolution: A Restatement of the Crafts-Harley View, Economic History Review, XLV, 4, pp. 703-730. Phyllis Deane (1988), The First Industrial Revolution, 2nd Edition, Cambridge. Henry Roseveare (1991), The Financial Revolution, 1660-1760, Longman. The economics of American slavery: Alfred H. Conrad and John R. Meyer (1964), The Economics of Slavery and Other Studies in Econometric History, Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago. Robert W. Fogel (1989), Without Consent or Contract: The Rise and Fall of American Slavery, W. W. Norton & Co., 1989. Robert W. Fogel and Stanley L. Engermann (1989), Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery, W.W. Norton & Co. 20th century financial crises: Reinhart and Rogoff (2009), op. cit. H. James (2001), The End of Globalization: Lessons from the Great Depression, Harvard University Press. H. James (2009), The Creation and Destruction of Value: The Globalization Cycle, Harvard University Press. M. Obstfeld and A. Taylor (2004), Global Capital Markets: Integration, Crisis, and Growth, Cambridge University Press. Central planning in the USSR and Eastern Europe: Alec Nove (1993), An Economic History of the USSR 1971-91, Penguin. Janos Kornai (1992), The Socialist System: The Political Economy of Communism, Princeton University Press. Daniel Gros and Alfred Steinherr (2004), Economic Transition in Central and Eastern Europe: Planting the Seeds, Cambridge University Press. Assessment Assessment will be by a 2-hour exam in May.

7.4 The Dissertation The dissertation is an extended piece of scholarship in which students have the opportunity to study in depth a topic largely of their own choosing. It is the component of a masters programme which most clearly differentiates it as an advanced degree programme, and is the point at which the student progresses from structured coursework to independent study. General guidance and advice about dissertations can be found in Section 7 of the Code of Practice for Taught Postgraduate Programmes: http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Codes/CoPTaughtPGProgrammes.pdf The remainder of this section gives more specific guidance and advice for SGPE students.

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7.4.1

Length and deadlines

Guidelines and deadline for Submission of Topic, Supervisor, and bibliography You must identify a topic and a supervisor who is both suitable and willing to supervise your dissertation over the summer (see item.8 for a list of participating staff). This information together with a title and a short bibliography of indicative reading must be submitted to the Programme Administrator by 12pm on the last Friday of the spring options teaching (6st April 2012). This deadline is very important. A penalty of 1% of your dissertation mark per working day late may be applied to those students who submit their outlines after the deadline. A change of topic from that submitted may be possible but the change must be discussed with and approved by the Programme Director. You should also have agreed by this time a rough timetable of either face to face meetings or email consultations (or both) with your supervisor that will take place over the summer. Be aware that supervisors are often away at conferences etc during the summer months. Pre-arranging modes of contact before the beginning of the summer, particularly email contact is therefore essential. (see below for further guidance on the role of the Dissertation Supervisor) Dissertation Deadline The dissertation is to be handed in and a copy emailed to the SGPE office by the 12pm on Friday 17th August 2012. The dissertation must be between 8,000 and 10,000 words in length. Students are asked to submit two hard copies of their dissertation, one for each of the first and second markers, one electronic copy via email to sgpe@ed.ac.uk and must also upload an electronic copy to JISC for plagiarism detection (see 7.5). As with the outline deadline the penalty for late submission of dissertations is 1% of your dissertation mark per working day late.

7.4.2

Presentation

The dissertation must be neatly typed or printed on a single side of A4 paper. It should be double spaced and using a 12 point font on a single side of A4. It should be accompanied by a cover sheet (which will be available on the Googlesite) should contain the following information: the Degree programme, the students name and matriculation number, the dissertation title and supervisor and a signed disclaimer stating that the dissertation is all the students own work and that all other works discussed or referred to have been cited. It does not need to be bound but it must be held firmly together by some means. It should also be word-processed. If this presents significant difficulties, then in the first instance, have a word with the Programme Organiser or your Director of Studies. The presentation of dissertations for taught masters programmes is governed by regulations the General Postgraduate Regulations, University of Edinburgh Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study (DRPS) (http://www.drps.ed.ac.uk/11-12/regulations/postgrad.php) and further information may be found in: (http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Codes/CoPTaughtPGProgrammes.pdf)

7.4.3

Role of Dissertation Supervisor

Having obtained his/her agreement to supervise you, you should have three kinds of meeting or email consultation sessions with your dissertation supervisor. (i) The first contact, which would typically be face to face rather than via email, should cover the dissertation subject. The subject should be closely related to the proposed topic for your PhD, if it is your intention to proceed to the PhD. You should agree the proposed scope and structure of the dissertation, and set out a general timetable for work over the summer, including dates for future meetings with your supervisor. The
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initial meeting should be set up as soon as possible after your exam results are known. At the end of this meeting, the student should be able to set out a formal planned structure for the dissertation, preferably in the form of a table of contents. (ii) The next series of contacts will typically be email and will enable the dissertation supervisor to monitor the progress of the student and will also address problems as they arise in the dissertation. In addition, some written work may be submitted either physically or via email attachment. The precise number of such meetings/contacts is a matter to be agreed between the student and the supervisor. The supervisor may give feedback on one completed chapter of the dissertation. He/she is forbidden from reading and giving feedback on a final draft of the whole piece. In nearly all cases the supervisor will not be available for the entire period over which the dissertation will be written, i.e. in June, July and August. It is the students responsibility to ensure that they know when their supervisor is available and make arrangements to contact him/her.

(iii)

Objectives of the dissertation

A principal role of the dissertation is to give the student the opportunity to write extensively on a subject cognate with the proposed topic for his/her PhD, or to explore in greater depth an issue cognate with the material covered in one of the option papers. Exceptionally students may investigate areas not covered in one of their options but should consult the Programme organiser first before embarking on such a course of action. The dissertation will assist the examiners to assess the students ability to carry out economic research at the postgraduate level. The precise subject is a matter to be discussed with your supervisor, and the appropriate approach will depend on the subject chosen. However, you may find the following observations helpful. The dissertation should not simply be a broad survey of a large existing literature. Rather it should focus on a specific hypothesis or problem, and the relevant literature should not simply be replicated. The examiners will be looking for signs that the student can use the existing literature as part of a particular argument. The notion of originality is one of degree rather than one of kind, and frequently interesting results emerge from applying sound analytical reasoning to seemingly well-covered areas in the literature. A good dissertation is one that combines description with an analysis that is driven by a defined theoretical framework. The examiners will be looking for an ability to use, critically, the work already published in the field in question to draw some conclusions about the hypothesis or problem which your dissertation is confronting. These conclusions might include some (more or less) detailed suggestions about what further work might be done in the area, discussing both problems and relevance of such work. The dissertation should show progression in the sense that it should use and draw on MSc level materials. In particular, when assessing the dissertation, examiners ask themselves the key question could this dissertation have been written by someone who had not studied the MSc or its cognate literature? If the answer to this question is yes then the dissertation will not be awarded an MSc pass mark of 50%. Of the pitfalls the student could fall into the worse one of all is writing about something which, although tremendously interesting and important in some sense, does not involve displaying the skills or knowledge acquired during the MSc coursework to any great degree. If you have any doubts at all about the proposed subject matter of your dissertation you should consult the Programme Director for advice prior to getting started. Modern Economic investigation usually involves developing analytically well defined theories and/or testing such theories.4 The dissertation may therefore contain empirical work but it is
Some exceptions may occur in the area of economic methodology and economic thought where various modes of economic investigation are scrutinised at a philosophical and reflective level.
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4

not essential. If empirical work is undertaken it is important to consult first with the supervisor or Programme Director to confirm that the ambition and scope of such work is not beyond normal time and work input constraints. Alternatively the dissertation could focus purely on theoretical work. In this case students should be careful to synthesise the models and theories they find in the literature in an original and concise way. In particular, writing something that appears to be a shopping list of theories should be avoided. You should also view the existing literature in a critical way pointing out what you believe to be its weaknesses and strengths and possibly making suggestions for improvements or new directions for future work. One further type of dissertation would focus on a topical economic issue or controversy that has been debated in the popular press and analyse this issue rigorously using the tools and knowledge acquired during the MSc programme. There could be no better way of displaying a deep understanding of what you have learnt than to apply it (correctly!) to solve or analyse the burning economic issues of the day. The pitfalls of writing journalese i.e. falling into the trap of failing to display the knowledge and skills you acquired on the MSc, referred to above, are even more dangerous for students attempting to write this type of dissertation.

MEETING There will be a compulsory two hour lecture given by Prof. Jonathan Thomas after the June exam Board in LT175 during which he will give advice on the writing of a dissertation and how to avoid plagiarism. Please read the advice above as well as the previous section on plagiarism and come prepared with any questions you may have.

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STAFF AND DETAILS OF ECONOMICS DEPARTMENTS

This section gives details of participating staff and universities. It should be your first point of reference when arranging a dissertation supervisor. You should read the staff members web page for full details of their research, etc. which may be accessed by selecting the appropriate link on the relevant Departments home page given in section below. Other members of staff in participating Departments not on this list may be approached about supervising your dissertation provided that such an approach is approved in advance by the Programme Director (contact the SGPE Office to request this, in the first instance.)

Participating Economics Departments:- Addresses and Contact Information

University of Aberdeen Department of Economics Edward Wright Building Dunbar Street Old Aberdeen AB24 3QY Telephone: 01224 272167 http://www.abdn.ac.uk/economics/ University of Dundee Department of Economic Studies Nethergate Dundee DD1 4HN Telephone : 01382 344339 http://www.dundee.ac.uk/econman/ University of Edinburgh School of Economics 31 Buccleuch Place Edinburgh EH8 9JT Telephone 0131 650 3863 http://www.econ.ed.ac.uk/ University of Glasgow Department of Economics Adam Smith Building Glasgow G12 8RT Telephone: 0141 330 4618 http://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/business/ Heriot-Watt University School of Management and Languages Economics Department Edinburgh EH14 4AS Telephone: 0131 451 3557 http://www.sml.hw.ac.uk/ University of St. Andrews Department of Economics St. Salvator's College St. Andrews Fife KY16 9AL Telephone: 01334 462420 http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/academic/economics University of Stirling Department of Economics Stirling FK9 4LA Telephone: 01786 467470 http://www.stir.ac.uk/Departments/Management/Ec onomics University of Strathclyde Department of Economics Sir William Duncan Building 130 Rottenrow Glasgow G4 0GE Telephone: 0141 548 3842 http://www.economics.strath.ac.uk/

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Participating Staff :- Research Interests and Contact Information

Below are details of supervisors and teachers on the SGPE. This list may change throughout the year and you are also encouraged to check the respective websites of participating Universities.
Title Dr Dr Surname, Name P Allanson R Alpine K Angelopoulos Uni Dundee Strathclyde Glasgow Tel 01382 344 377 0141 548 3849 0141 330 5273 Email p.f.allanson@dundee.ac.uk r.l.alpine@strath.ac.uk Konstantinos.Angelopoulos @glasgow.ac.uk Research Expertise (Main area) Applied microeconomics Applied econometrics Dynamic General Equilibrium Models, Economic Fluctuations, Fiscal and Environmental Policies, Political Economy, Robust Decision Making Game theory:-auctions,industrial corporate finance Ecosystem Services, Markets and Institutions, Experimental Economics, Game Theory and Network Theory Applied Personnel and Labour Economics, Labour and regional economics. Micro, game theory:-tax, R&D ,industrial Economics of social care, subjective well-being, the Scottish economy, economics of education Applied and theoretical microeconometrics, industrial economics, corporate finance, macroeconomics. Development economics ; Macroeconomics; Financial economics; Economic demography ; Economic history experimental economics, econometrics, game theory International finance; Financial markets; Financial econometrics; Behaviour of institutional and private investors ; ARCH models and trading strategies; Hedge funds and hedge funds strategies; Financial markets microstructure; Predictability of assets returns ; Financial markets in emerging economies International Macroeconomics, Financial Economics, Applied Econometrics Health economics:- contracting Economics of human resources and in economic development; economics of education and training, trade unions and labour contracts, political economy of India and world development. macro/ labour economics,uncertainty/extreme events modelling. Transition economics Wage Bargaining and Strike Behaviour Economic Analysis of Marriage and Divorce Monetary policy (UK and European), financial systems Game theory as part of empirical economics. Macro:- unemployment methodology Page 37

Dr Prof

A Anwar S Armitage S Banerjee

Edinburgh Edinburgh Stirling

0131 650 8355 0131 650 3794 (0) 1786 467277

ahmed.anwar@ed.ac.uk seth.armitage@ed.ac.uk simanti.banerjee@stir.ac.uk

T Barmby Dr H Battu J Beath D Bell

Aberdeen Aberdeen St. Andrews Stirling

01224 272 158 01224 272718 01334 462 421 01786 467486

tim.barmby@abdn.ac.uk h.battu@abdn.ac.uk jab@st-andrews.ac.uk d.n.f.bell@stir.ac.uk

Prof

A Bhattacharjee

Dundee

01382 384382

a.z.bhattacharjee@dundee.ac .uk

Dr

P Bhattacharya

HeriotWatt

el

p.c.bhattacharya@hw.ac.uk

Dr Dr

J Bracht J Brzeszczynski

Aberdeen HeriotWatt

01224 272198 (0) 131 451 3294

juergen.bracht@abdn.ac.uk j.brzeszczynski@hw.ac.uk

Dr

J Byrne

Glasgow

0141 330 4617

Joseph.Byrne@glasgow.ac.u k m.j.chalkley@dundee.ac.uk m.chatterji@dundee.ac.uk

Prof Prof

M Chalkley M Chatterji

Dundee Dundee

01382 344 378 (0)1382 384867

Y Chen

Dundee

01382 344 383

Y.F.Chen@dundee.ac.uk

Dr Dr

A Christev S Clark

HeriotWatt Edinburgh

0131 451 3967 0131 650 3850

A.Christev@hw.ac.uk Simon.Clark@ed.ac.uk

Prof Prof Prof

D Cobham M Costa-Gomes R Cross 13/12/2011

HeriotWatt Aberdeen Strathclyde

0131 451 3495 01224 272178 0141 548 3855

D.Cobham@hw.ac.uk m.costagomes@abdn.ac.uk rod.cross@strath.ac.uk

Prof Dr Prof Dr Prof Prof Dr Prof Prof Dr Dr

J Darby F De Vries J Dewhurst A Dickson S Dow B Elliot J Fennema B Fingleton F Fitzroy J Forbes G ForguesPuccio S Gao M Guell N Hanley

Strathclyde Stirling Dundee Strathclyde Stirling Aberdeen HeriotWatt Strathclyde St Andrews Edinburgh St. Andrews HeriotWatt Edinburgh Stirling

0141 548 3859 01786 467485 01382 384376 0141 5483849 01786 467 470 01224 272 173 0131 451 3492 0141 548 3857 01334 462 437 0131 650 3214 01334 462442

Julia.darby@strath.ac.uk f.p.devries@stir.ac.uk j.h.l.dewhurst@dundee.ac.uk alex.dickson@strath.ac.uk s.c.dow@stir.ac.uk r.elliott@abdn.ac.uk j.a.fennema@hw.ac.uk bernard.fingleton@strath.ac. uk frf@st-and.ac.uk j.f.forbes@ed.ac.uk gff2@st-andrews.ac.uk

Applied macro, macro-econometrics Advanced Microeconomics, Industrial Economics Economic Statistics; Regional Economics Microeconomic theory, game theory Economic thought and methodology Labour economics Transition economics and finance

Micro:-industrial, labour, environmental Health economics Economic Growth and Development; Governance and Corruption; Inequality and Income Distribution.

Dr Prof Prof

(0) 131 451 3480 0131 650 8351 01786 466 410

S.Gao@hw.ac.uk Maia.Guell@ed.ac.uk n.d.hanley@stir.ac.uk Applied econometrics Environmental evaluation ; costbenefit analysis, agricultural economics Game theory (contracts),monetary theory Transition economics:-eastern Europe Micro-analysis of firm/plant level productivity; regional performance; evaluation of government industrial policy; and, relative performance of UK SMEs. Labour:-hours worked, human capital Regional and urban economics, innovation and growth, entrepreneurship, economic history. Macro:-irreversible investment Evolutionary game theory Competition and regulation issues in energy sector reforms ; Comparative performance analysis ; Energy in developing countries; Energy R&D and energy-environment issues Mergers & acquisitions, Diversification,Corporate governance/strategy Decision theory and experimental economics; biases in learning and ambiguity; cultural determinants of behaviour in the Ultimatum Game experiment; experimentation with particular interest in the issue of understanding and the autonomy of experiments from theoretical investigation. Contract Theory, Industrial Organization, Game Theory, Labour Economics, Corporate Governance Finance Macroeconomic Modelling, Financial Economics, Monetary Policy, Applied Econometrics Applied game theory, micro theory Game Theory, Economies with Clubs, Theory of Incentives, Page 38

Prof Prof Prof

J Hardman Moore P Hare R Harris

Edinburgh HeriotWatt Glasgow

0131 650 4466 0131 451 3483 0141 330 4672

john.hardman.moore@ed.ac. uk p.g.hare@hw.ac.uk Richard.Harris@glasgow.ac. uk

Prof Dr

B Hart S Heblich

Stirling Stirling

01786 467 471 (0)1786 467481

r.a.hart@stir.ac.uk stephan.heblich@stir.ac.uk

Dr Prof Prof

R Holt E Hopkins T Jamasb

Edinburgh Edinburgh HeriotWatt

0131 650 8350 0131 650 3061 (0) 131 451 3482

richard.holt@ed.ac.uk e.hopkins@ed.ac.uk T.Jamasb@hw.ac.uk

Dr

E Jones

HeriotWatt Dundee

0131 451 3297

e.jones@hw.ac.uk

M Jones

(0)1382 385164

m.k.jones@dundee.ac.uk

Dr

K Kawamura

Edinburgh

0131 651 3759

Kohei.Kawamura@ed.ac.uk

Dr Dr

O Klinkowska A Kontonikas

Aberdeen Glasgow

01224 272181 0141 330 6866

o.klinkowska@abdn.ac.uk Alexandros.Kontonikas@gla sgow.ac.uk tatiana.kornienko@ed.ac.uk Alexander.Kovalenkov@gla sgow.ac.uk

Dr Dr

T Kornienko A Kovalenkov

Edinburgh Glasgow

0131 650 8338 0141 330 5799

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M La Manna Dr Dr Prof Dr Prof Prof Prof Dr I Lange L Lasselle C Leith P LeMayBoucher R Macdonal B Main J Malley D McCausland

St. Andrews Stirling St. Andrews Glasgow HeriotWatt Glasgow Edinburgh Glasgow Aberdeen

01334 462 434 01786467276 01334 462 451 0141 330 3702 0131 451 8207 0141 330 1988 0131 650 8360 01786 466 407 01224 272180

mlm@st-andrews.ac.uk i.a.lange@stir.ac.uk ll5@st-andrews.ac.uk Campbell.Leith@glasgow.ac .uk p.lemay-boucher@hw.ac.uk r.macdonald@lbss.gla.ac.uk brian.main@ed.ac.uk Jim.Malley@glasgow.ac.uk d.mccausland@abdn.ac.uk

Industrial organisation, micro/game theory Energy and environmental economics, industrial organization, property rights. GE macro models with imperfect competition. Open economy macro Macro:- monetary and fiscal policy Development Economics Exchange rates ,international finance Labour economics, applied econometrics Macro:- growth theory, business cycles Principal research interests are in the areas of health economics and wellbeing, labour economics transport economics and open economy macroeconomic modelling. Econometric Theory, Applied Macroeconometrics and Time Series Analysis Instutional/social/political economy, health care reform Health economics Energy Economics ;Applied Econometrics ;Economic Policy; Industrial Economics; Economic Regulation ; Subjective Well Being. Macroeconomics, Monetary Economics. Transition economics International Trade and Development; Trade in agricultural and primary commodities; Economic Development and Public Policy; Fair Trade and international development; Public Health Management and Financing Macro:-consumption, applied econometrics Macroeconomics, Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy International trade theory, globalisation Monetary policy, financial stability, central banking, credits International money and finance Applied economics, well-being and health, valuation of non-market goods, sustainability, green accounting Natural resources, environmental Agricultural policy and farm household behaviour, Energy Economics. Economics of Rural and Regional Labour Markets. Ind. organisation/small entrepreneurial firms Macroeconomics Economic History in the 20th Century Health economics Game theory:-financial markets,contracts

Prof

R McCrorie

St. Andrews Glasgow Aberdeen HeriotWatt 0141 330 3993 01224 441 893 (0) 131 451 3493

mccrorie@st-andrews.ac.uk

Dr Dr Dr

R McMaster P McNamee H Meier

Robert.mcmaster@glasgow. ac.uk P.McNamee@abdn.ac.uk H.Meier@hw.ac.uk

Prof Dr

K Mitra R Mochrie S Mohan

St. Andrews HeriotWatt Dundee

(0) 1334 461951 0131 451 3481 (0)1382 384381

km91@st-andrews.ac.uk R.I.Mochrie@hw.ac.uk s.mohan@dundee.ac.uk

Prof Dr Prof Dr

H Molana I Moldovan C Montagna A Montagnoli T Moody M Moro

Dundee Glasgow Dundee Stirling Glasgow Stirling

01382 344 375 0141 330 8465 01382 384 845 01786 467 476 0141 330 5066 (0)1786 467479

h.h.molana@dundee.ac.uk Ioana.Moldovan@glasgow.a c.uk c.montagna@dundee.ac.uk alberto.montagnoli@stir.ac.u k T.Moody@lbss.gla.ac.uk mirko.moro@stir.ac.uk

Dr

Prof

R Perman D Petrie E Phimister

Strathclyde Dundee Aberdeen

0141 548 3845 01224 273855

r.perman@strath.ac.uk D.J.Petrie@dundee.ac.uk e.phimister@abdn.ac.uk

Prof Prof

G Reid S RodriguezMora D Ross M Ryan J Sakovics

St. Andrews Edinburgh Glasgow Aberdeen Edinburgh

01334 462 431 0131 651 1321 0141 330 3586 01224 554 965 0131 650 3840

gcr@st-andrews.ac.uk sevi.rodriguez@ed.ac.uk Duncan.Ross@glasgow.ac.u k m.ryan@abdn.ac.uk Jozsef.sakovics@ed.ac.uk

Prof Prof

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Prof Prof Dr

J Sawkins M Schaffer R Schulz

HeriotWatt HeriotWatt Aberdeen

0131 451 3611 0131 451 3494 01224 273 126

j.w.sawkins@hw.ac.uk M.E.schaffer@hw.ac.uk R.Schulz@abdn.ac.uk

Privatisation; public finance and Scottish economic policy Transition economics:-eastern Europe Empirical models of real estate valuation and prices, real options, time series models Labour economics; The economics of education; The economics of welfare reform; Regional economics and UK devolution Finance, macroeconomics, applied econometrics, Japanese economy, economic history. Recent Economic Histroy Theoretical labour economics Econometrics and finance:theory/applied regional economics, regional modelling and regional policy Natural resource and environmental economics, experimental economics; Wage Determination, Unemployment, Statistical Analysis Real Business Cycles (RBC) Wage Determination, Unemployment, Statistical Analysis Macro and micro theory, game theory Accounting and modelling energyeconomy-environment interaction using input-output and computable general equilibrium (CGE) techniques economics of innovation, knowledge and information sharing; taxation, environmental economics, economics of third sector/civil society. Health economics International trade theory Applied econometrics, labour economics applied macroeconomics, economic development, Asian economies

P Seaman

Dundee

(0)1382 384693

p.t.seaman@dundee.ac.uk

Dr

G Shea

St. Andrews Glasgow Aberdeen Edinburgh Strathclyde Aberdeen

01334 462441

gss2@st-andrews.ac.uk

Prof Dr Prof Prof Prof

C Shenk J Skatun A Snell K Swales J Swiezerbinski

0141 330 6616 01224 272 176 0131 650 3848 (0)141 548 3966 01224 272 151

c.schenk@lbss.gla.ac.uk J.Skatun@abdn.ac.uk a.j.snell@ed.ac.uk j.k.swales@strath.ac.uk j.swierzbinski@abdn.ac.uk

Prof Prof Prof Dr

G Talmain I Theodossiou J Thomas K Turner

Glasgow Aberdeen Edinburgh Stirling

(0)141 330 5062 01224 272 183 0131 6504515 (0)1786 467474

Gabriel.Talmain@glasgow.a c.uk theod@abdn.ac.uk jonathan.thomas@ed.ac.uk karen.turner@stir.ac.uk

Prof

D Ulph

St. Andrews

01334 462440

du1@st-andrews.ac.uk

Dr Prof Prof

M Van der Pol I Wooton R Wright Y Zhang

Aberdeen Strathclyde Strathclyde Dundee

01224 553 269 0141 548 3580 (0)141 548 3861 01382 384373

M.Vanderpol@abdn.ac.uk ian.wooton@strath.ac.uk r.e.wright@strath.ac.uk y.x.zhang@dundee.ac.uk

9 9.1

PASTORAL AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT AND GUIDANCE The Role of the Director of Studies

As noted in Section 4 above, the Director of Studies is available as a first line of pastoral

support and advice for any scholarly or personal issues which may arise whilst you are on the Programme. It is your responsibility to inform him/her immediately of any problems that are interfering with your coursework or progress through the Programme, including any religious or medical requirements that might affect your participation in any aspect of the Programme. Further information about support services provided by the University is given in Appendix IV of The Code of Practice for Taught Postgraduate Programmes (http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Codes/CoPTaughtPGProgrammes.pdf)

9.2 Help on Administrative Matters As noted previously queries of an administrative nature should be directed in the first instance to the Programme Administrator or Programme Assistant (see item 4)
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9.3 Visa Information & International Office The International Office offers advice to applicants, as well as new and current students who are from outwith the UK. They also advise on all visa related queries. All students who are applying for a visa must seek advice from the International Office in advance of making their application and should not apply for a visa without their guidance. Their contact information and office hours are found on their website: www.ed.ac.uk/international-office 9.4 Advice Place The Advice Place (http://www.eusa.ed.ac.uk/advice/) is an impartial, accessible, free, confidential advisory service for all University of Edinburgh students irrespective of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief or age. They act on behalf of students and their interests, advising independently of the University of Edinburgh or any other organisation or authority. Advice is offered on a walk-in basis at either of our offices or, by appointment for more specialist areas such as welfare benefits and academic issues. The service is delivered by professional advisory staff, trained to provide both generalist advice and advice in individual specialist areas of expertise. They are also assisted by student volunteers who have successfully completed an appropriate training programme. 9.5 Careers Service The University Careers Service (http://www.careers.ed.ac.uk/) offers a full range of support from job vacancies and employer database to career planning programme, career contacts, to career advice and guidance. A Duty Adviser is available at daily drop-in sessions to help with quick queries, while a Careers Adviser, a specialist in providing support to your School, can offer longer guidance interviews by appointment. The careers service is open throughout the academic year for any matriculated student and graduates of the University of Edinburgh can use the resources for up to 2 years after graduation. 9.6 Attendance Confirmation All students attendance must be recorded, this is particularly important with regard to overseas students who must comply with the UK Governments Points-Based Immigration rules. It has been agreed that any student within the College of Humanities & Social Sciences must have their attendance confirmed through various contact points throughout the year including coursework submission, exams, induction, conference and other compulsory meetings to be notified. 9.7 Bank Letters Information on how to apply for a Bank letters is available on the University website: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/finance/students/bank-accounts To assist you to open an account, by providing proof of your accommodation in Edinburgh, the University can provide you with a Bank Introduction letter. If you are using University accommodation - after you have fully checked in to your University accommodation you can download and print a copy of the letter from MyEd. Look in MyEd for the Print Bank Letter facility. If you are not staying in University accommodation and are an international student you can request a letter here: http://www.international.ed.ac.uk/forms/banking/ 9.8 Matriculation letters & Exemption from Council Tax A Certificate of Matriculation provides proof that a student is matriculated for a particular academic session. You must be fully matriculated before the registry will process a letter request. Registry can also provide information and any certificates needed for exemption from Council Tax. For more details see the registry website: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/registry/order-documents

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The registry can also provide certificates to International students, who wish to have a relative attend the graduation. However, you must first confirm your intention to attend the ceremony before any certificates can be issued. The earliest you can request this certificate will be September (after the final exam board has met). All certificates will be posted to eligible students within 14 working days of the request being received (21 days during September). 9.9 TEAM and Additional Help with English Language Some international students will take the Test of English at Matriculation (TEAM test) and will therefore be eligible for free English language classes as part of the English Language Testing and Tuition (ELTT) programme. We strongly recommend that students with English as a second language take advantage of this Assessment. It will have no impact on their matriculation or assessment of their MSc, and only serves to help the student identify his or language weakness. You can find more information on TEAM here: http://www.ials.ed.ac.uk/EL/English-Academic/Testing(TEAM).html One of the courses offered through ELTT is Writing Exam Answers and we would strongly advise students given the opportunity to take this course to do so. You will find this course, and the others offered by ELTT, very useful to your studies in general and specifically to your understanding of exam questions and what is required from you in an examination answer. Those of you who do not take the TEAM test and are therefore not offered any ELTT courses can access the course materials for the Writing Exam Answers course from the website (http://www.ials.ed.ac.uk/eltt/eltt3.html) free of charge to use on a self study basis. Again, we would strongly advise those international students who feel they could benefit from help with interpreting exam questions and composing answers to look at these materials. 9.10 Illness and Personal Problems If illness or personal problems/circumstances interfere with your studies, class attendance, assignment deadlines or exams, you should make sure you inform the Programme Director and the Programme Administrator as soon as possible in writing (email is fine). You report these circumstances as they occur and are strongly encouraged to submit relevant evidence and information as early as possible. This helps the administration of the Exam Board meetings as well as allowing time for us to advise you if further documentation is required. Again we strongly advise that you do not delay in informing us by contacting us as any difficulties arise. You should also arrange to discuss the situation with the Programme Director. You should also ensure that the relevant course instructors are informed (either directly by you, the Programme Director, or the Programme Administrator) if coursework or class attendance is affected. For illness (or other medical condition), a medical certificate is required if: you suffer from a medical condition which significantly affects your performance during the course of the year (e.g. a broken arm) you are absent through illness for more than seven consecutive days you are ill close to or during the examination diet, which results either in missing one or more exam or adversely affects your performance illness delays the submission of your dissertation or of your dissertation outline illness delays the submission of an assessed assignment (e.g. a course essay, or project report) for more than seven days beyond the due date. any other illness or medical condition which you consider to have significantly affected your performance and wish to draw to the attention of the Exam Board. For personal problems/circumstances, certification may not always be appropriate or possible. Where possible, objective external certification should be provided for circumstances similar to those listed for illness above. Again we strongly advise that you do not delay in informing us by contacting us as any difficulties arise. College Guidance for reporting Special Circumstances (including the form required) is at (under S): http://bit.ly/HssAdmin
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9.11 Students with disabilities The University of Edinburgh is committed to a policy of equal opportunities for disabled staff and students and aims to create an environment which enables people with disabilities to participate fully in the mainstream of University life. The School of Economics welcomes disabled students (including those with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia) and is working to make all our courses accessible. Although teaching practice within the School reflects a variety of approached adopted by individual staff members, meeting the particular needs of disabled students is prioritised within this diversity of approach. This process will involve meeting an Advisor from Universitys Disability Office, which can be arranged at any time by direct contact with the Disability Office. An Advisor will be happy to meet you and can discuss possible adjustments and specific examination arrangements with you, assist you with an application for Disabled Students' Allowance, give you information about available technology and personal assistance such as note takers, proof readers or dyslexia tutors, and prepare a Learning Profile for your School which outlines recommended adjustments. You will be expected to provide the Disability Office with evidence of disability either a letter from your GP or specialist, or evidence of specific learning difficulty. For dyslexia or dyspraxia this evidence must be a recent Chartered Educational Psychologist's assessment. If you do not have this, the Disability Office can put you in touch with an independent Educational Psychologist. Please note that once your Learning Profile has been prepared by the Disability Office it will be used by the School to determine the adjustments applied to each course that you have registered for. This allows adjustments to be communicated directly to Course Organisers and eliminates the need for you to discuss the same issues with multiple members of staff. The School of Economics will keep the needs of disabled students under regular review, and welcomes feedback from students as to the suitability of our provision of teaching and learning services to meet their particular needs. Please see below for contact details of the Disability office. For general information on the Universitys support for disabled students and preparation of a Learning Profile please contact the Disability Office: Disability Office 2 South College Street Telephone/voice: 0131 650 6828 Telephone/text: 0131 6509371 Email: Disability.Office@ed.ac.uk Fax: 0131 650 6677 Website: http://www.disability-office.ed.ac.uk Kohei Kawamura Coordinator of Adjustments School of Economics 31 Buccleuch Place Telephone: 0131 651 3759 Email: kohei.kawamura@ed.ac.uk 9.12 Complaints and Grievances While we would hope that you never have cause to put the information contained in this section into use, you should be aware that there are standard procedures for dealing with complaints or grievances. The Schools procedures follow the recently established Edinburgh University Student Complaints Procedure. Documentation on the Universitys procedure is available on the Registry website at http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/academicservices/students/postgraduate-taught/student-complaints, or can be obtained in print from the various offices of The Advice Place.
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In summary terms, if you have a complaint or grievance, then, if you feel able to do so, you should start by approaching the individual concerned (e.g. a tutor, class instructor, or lecturer) directly. If you feel unable to do this, or you are dissatisfied with the response obtained, the next stage is to contact the Programme Director. If your complaint remains unresolved, you should then contact the Head of the School of Economics. After this stage the procedure becomes more formal, and you should consult the documentation referred to above. You should note that the University has some separate procedures to deal with particular types of complaint such as harassment, examination appeals and disciplinary matters. Documentation on these procedures can be obtained on the Registry website or from the Advice Place. 10

FACILITIES

10.1 Library resources Founded in 1580, Edinburgh University Library (EUL) is one of the largest academic libraries in the UK. The main university library is on the south side of George Square. It contains collections in all subjects except science, medicine and law. It also houses a large number of PCs for use by students, and a room with several photocopiers. Your matriculation card is a multipurpose card and will act as the card you need to enter the library and the card you need to borrow books. Especially useful is the librarys e-journal collection, including JSTOR for articles published in most economics journals more than four years ago, as well as the latest years of a more reduced set of journals. The Main Library at George Square holds the main collection of Economics books and journals. The main collection of Economics books and journals are shelved on the 4th floor. The one week loan Economics collection is located separately on the fourth floor. The high use 3 hour loan collection is located in Reserve at RR (Economics) on the ground floor. Multiple copies of heavily used journal articles and book chapters (where copyright regulations allow) are held in the offprint collection in the Reading Room. Current journals are located in the Current Periodicals room on the first floor. In most cases journals remain current until a years worth of issues builds up; they are then removed for binding and relocation on the fourth floor. If you need to consult an issue of a journal that has been removed for binding you should enquire in the Serials Office, located in the Current Periodicals room. One service to bear in mind is interlibrary loans (ILL). If a book or journal article is not held by the Main Library or elsewhere in the University it can be ordered by completing a form available from Information Services on the second floor of the Main Library. You will also require a letter from the course instructor or supervisor stating that you need to use this facility. It is important to make sure that you check that the item is not available in Edinburgh (using the library catalogue and SALSER). The cost to the reader per ILL request is currently 3.00. The book or a copy of the article usually arrives within two or three weeks. The library catalogue is available online at http://catalogue.lib.ed.ac.uk/. Information Services also houses an extensive collection of reference materials in print and electronic form. Students may also use the National Library of Scotland. This is a reference library (no borrowing) and is supposed to take all books and journals published in the UK. The main building is located on George IV Bridge. This library provides a major alternative source of information on some topics. Student use of the National Library is restricted; if you think you need to use the National Library your first step should be to make enquiries at the service desk in the Main Library. 10.2 Computing facilities Students on the MSc in Economics have access to a wide range of computing facilities. Please note that there is strictly no food or water allowed in the computer lab. All rubbish must be placed in the bin or taken away with you.

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Computer Labs: 1. The main School of Economics postgraduate computer lab is located in room 1.18 in the David Hume Tower. The lab contains 18 PCs, with internet access. In addition to MSOffice there is a wide range of statistical/econometric software available for use in this lab. For out of hours access, students can pick up a key to the back door of the DHT building from the SGPE Office. A deposit of 5 per key (one key per person) is required. 2. Lab sessions will take place in the Teaching Suite, based on the Mezzanine floor at Appleton Tower (opposite LT 4&5). 3. Also available are open access labs with a range of applications run by Edinburgh University Computing Services at various locations (including Halls of Residence) throughout the Universities see: http://bit.ly/open-access for more information (or type Open access computers into the University Search window) To use the computer labs, you need a central account, which is only activated after you have matriculated so it is imperative that you register as soon as possible. All facilities are free, except printing. The SGPE provides an initial print credit of 10 to all MSc students, and you can also top up your card at the computer services desk in the library. It will also be possible to earn additional print credit through the year. Edinburgh University Computing Service (EUCS): In addition to running the open access labs, EUCS provides computing support services for staff and students. Basic help and advice can often be obtained directly from the supervisors in computer labs. The main EUCS reception centre can be found in the Main Library. There are some facilities within the School and the University to support the use of your own PC (though not other platforms like Macs) and Wireless Access is also available. For more information about using your own or the Universitys computers please see: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/computing 10.3 Study Rooms Economics MSc students have 24 hours access to the computer lab in David Hume Tower (DHT), room 1.18. For out of hours access students can pick up a key to the back door of DHT from the Programme Administrators. A returnable deposit of 5 per key is required and the key must be returned at the end of the programme. If rooms are not needed for teaching they are available for student to use for study space and can be booked via my ED. For more information click this link (http://bit.ly/StudySpace) or search for student study space on the main University website. The School of Economics may have some study spaces available later in Semester 2 and the SGPE Office will inform you when and if additional study space is available. Please note that there is strictly no food allowed in any of the rooms. Water is allowed in the study room only, but not in the computer lab. All rubbish must be placed in the bin or taken away with you. 10.4

Information resources for Economists

It is well beyond the scope of this handbook to provide anything like a comprehensive guide to the vast and rapidly changing electronic information resources for economists. You may wish to use a search engine to find the following sites which have been useful in the past: The UK Treasury: includes daily news releases, budget information (including the Red Book), economic forecasts, consultation documents, the tax ready reckoner, and ministers speeches).
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The Bank of England: provides access to full electronic versions of Bank of England publications and press releases as well as time series data on monetary aggregates and other financial statistics. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis: Access to electronic versions of FRB Minneapolis reports and working papers; useful links to US data sources and other Feds. Economic and Financial Resources and Data: this website at the Economics and Finance Department, University of Durham, has links to economic country data services and associated pages. (A useful source of data for dissertations) International Monetary Fund: Complete texts of key IMF documents and publications. National Bureau of Economic Research: Information on NBER working papers, abstracts are available free, full text for a fee. The Penn World tables (country level comparative economic indicators 1950-92) along with other mostly US data bases can also be accessed here. Resources for Economists on the Internet: An annotated and extensive set of links to over 700 sites.

Selected electronic data sources available from the University Data Library: The Data Library purchases several economic datasets for use in research, teaching and learning. Valuable networked CD-Rom datasets include: International Financial Statistics an IMF database OECD Statistical Compendium World Development Indicators - published by the World Bank Datastream Advance company and financial data Access to other useful data sources is also available via the Data Library. For example Eurostat (European time series data) Family Expenditure Survey 1996-97 OECD Economic Indicators ONS Databank (UK Economic Time Series) For information on access see the Data Librarys website (http://bit.ly/data-library) or visit the Data Library in person (contact details are on their website). Bibliographic information: EconLit (an invaluable resource for essay and dissertation preparation) can be accessed on-line via the search function on the University of Edinburgh website. It also contains various other useful bibliographic data bases. Information on access and use of these (and other data bases such as BIDS and EDINA) can be obtained from the Library website via telephone or email (contact details are on their website). The Library catalogue and Blackwells stock list are also accessible on-line, enabling you to check on the availability of books and journals to borrow or buy. Selected Electronic Journals: Recent (in most cases 1997 onwards) editions of a number of leading economic journals are accessible on-line. For further information and a comprehensive list, see the Librarys website. Examples include: The Economic Journal Economic Policy Economica Journal of Economic Surveys Journal of Economic Theory Oxford Economic Papers Oxford Review of Economic Policy Scottish Journal of Political Economy Electronic Newspapers: easily searchable CD-ROM versions of a number of major newspapers are available in the Reference section of the Main Library. Most major newspapers

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also have electronic versions that are accessible free on-line. CD-ROM versions that may be available include: The Financial Times The Economist The Times The Independent The Guardian The Scotsman Le Monde The New York Times

11

REPRESENTATION AND FEEDBACK

Feedback is defined as information to students which can enable them to review what they know, understand and can do in their studies, and to identify areas for improvement. Opportunities for feedback arise within timetabled classes (tutorials, practicals, lectures) as well as more informally. And feedback can be provided not only on coursework assignments, tests and exam answers, but also on activities that are not formally assessed such as class discussions, group exercises, problemsolving, and developing project plans and proposals. The Universitys statement on feedback is available online at: http://www.docs.sasg.ed.ac.uk/AcademicServices/Policies/Feedback_Standards_Guiding_Princ iples.pdf

Feedback its Purpose and Context

The main purpose of the collection of evaluative feedback is in relation to quality control. Within the programme we are concerned to reassure ourselves, and external assessors, that our programme is satisfactory and working well, and where problems are identified to find a feasible solution. We hope that students will familiarise themselves with when, where and how feedback is provided; develop their understanding of our assessment expectations, criteria and standards and take the opportunity to reflect on the feedback provided and put it to good use.

Feedback Mechanisms from Students

Informal mechanisms: (a) Observation by instructors - class attendance, alertness, participation, preparedness; (b) Most instructors welcome comments and feedback immediately after class; (c) Using email or office hours to comment on or discuss an aspect of the course with the instructor; (d) Class discussions - instructors will often ask for feedback in smaller option classes, if they dont, you can always raise an issue yourself. Informal feedback can be provided at any time during a course, avoiding the more rigid timetable of formal course evaluations, which tend to take place near the end of a course. Semi-formal mechanisms: (a) Channelling views on courses (both positive and negative) to student representatives ; (b) Sometimes instructors may issue interim questionnaires during a course to obtain feedback on a specific aspect of a course (e.g. a new topic or teaching format). Formal mechanisms: (a) Complaints or grievances relating to any aspect of teaching or assessment (or other university services) should follow the complaints and grievances procedures (see Section 8.4); (b) Staff-Student Liaison Committee (SSLC); (c) Course evaluation questionnaires (see below); (d) Academic Audit Committee;

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(e) Student performance in assessment (exams, essays) provides a different source of formal feedback on a course. Use of Exam scripts for feedback and assistance with formative learning Class examinations (held in September, December, and February and not organized centrally by Registry) are considered to be formative. Student are permitted review these class examination scripts (their written exam papers) to assist with their self reflective learning. Instructions on how to do this will be sent out by the SGPE office once the exam have been marked and returned to the office. Please note: Class exam results are released to students through the year, but all marks are provisional until after the Exam Board has met in May/June. Degree examinations (held in May and organized centrally by registry) are summative and as such students will not be invited to review their scripts as these are final exams and any review would not assist in improving their studies or final degree results. Examination scripts, or copies of such scripts whether class or degree are not returned to students under any circumstances as per University regulations. Course and programme questionnaires: Standard course questionnaires are administered via WebCT near the end of all courses. The questionnaire itself has a multiple choice format, but additional written comments are strongly encouraged. The questionnaire responses (together with comments from instructors) are reviewed in detail by the SGPE Executive, the Academic Audit Committee of Economics at Edinburgh, and the Staff-Student Liaison Committee. All this feeds into the ongoing programme review process.

Feedback Mechanisms from Other Stakeholders

A comprehensive review of the Audit and Quality Assurance process is beyond the scope of this Handbook. A few key features are highlighted below to give a flavour of the mechanisms involved.

Informal mechanisms: These are many, varied and important. They include informal
discussions with academic colleagues, both in the eight contributing School of Economics and throughout the remainder of the university and beyond, and discussions with graduates from the programme and their employers (as well as the Careers Service).

Formal mechanisms: (a) Course monitoring forms: completed annually by instructors, these identify strengths and weaknesses of a course and changes proposed. (b) Course and programme reviews: these are both time and state contingent; taught postgraduate programmes are given a full review every five years, with an earlier review occurring where the need arises. Courses are reviewed by an external expert every 3 years. (c) The external examiner plays a key role in external accreditation, is involved in programme reviews, and regularly reports on the teaching and assessment of the School. (d) Exam Board meetings, in conjunction with double-marking, and reviews of mark distributions provide an annual check on courses. (e) College and University Committees: the school reports (directly and indirectly) to a wide range of College and University Committees involved in monitoring teaching and assessment. (f) Academic Review: many Economics departments in the UK submit heir research for assessment by the Scottish RAE Panel, (g) ESRC: The MSc has been recognised by the ESRC as an advanced course for the purposes of research training.

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12

DEGREE REGULATIONS AND PROGRAMMES OF STUDY

ENTRY COVERING THE MSc PROGRAMME

The University of Edinburgh Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study (DRPS) 2010/11, are available online at http://www.ed.ac.uk/drps/. For your information an extract from the tables follows, however, the definitive and official version of the DRPS, is updated periodically, in the online version, and it is vital, in order to maintain consistency and upto-date authority, that that is the version to which students and staff refer.

Economics (MSc) 6.3.5 Year 1, Academic year 2011/12, Starting month: September
COMPULSORY COURSES - This Degree Programme (DPT) has 8 compulsory course(s). Code EUCLID code Course Name Period EC0054 (ECNM11002) Mathematics, Statistics and Block 1 (Sem 1) Econometrics P01216 (ECNM11024) Macroeconomics 1 Semester 1 P01214 (ECNM11023) Microeconomics 1 Semester 1 P01218 (ECNM11026) Quantitative Methods 1 Semester 1 P01212 (ECNM11022) Macroeconomics 2 Block 3 (Sem 2) P01217 (ECNM11025) Microeconomics 2 Block 3 (Sem 2) P01219 (ECNM11027) Quantitative Methods 2 Block 3 (Sem 2) P00320 (ECNM11018) Dissertation (MSc As available Economics/Economics(Finance)) COURSE OPTIONS This DPT has 1 set(s) of course options with the following rules. Select exactly 30 credits from the following list of courses for the Programme Collection: 'Courses from School of Economics- Economics (MSc)-Level 11' (ROU_H_PTMSCECNSG1F_11) , as available Code EC0057 EC0058 EC0059 P02122 P02123 EC0060 P01504 P00317 P01300 P03603 P02701 EC0065 EC0066 EC0067 EC0068 P01211 EUCLID code (ECNM11005) (ECNM11006) (ECNM11007) (ECNM11031) (ECNM11032) (ECNM11008) (ECNM11030) (ECNM11017) (ECNM11028) (ECNM11941) (ECNM11035) (ECNM11013) (ECNM11014) (ECNM11015) (ECNM11016) (ECNM11021) Course Name Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics Advanced Topics in Microeconomics Advanced Topics in Quantitative Methods Asset Pricing Corporate Finance Development and Methodology of Economic Thought Development Economics Economic Policy Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Topics in Economic History Experimental Economics Health Economics Industrial Organisation International Money and Finance International Trade Personnel Economics Credits 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Credits 0 20 20 20 10 10 10 60

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Economics (Finance) (MSc)

Year 1, Academic year 2011/12, Starting month: September COMPULSORY COURSES This DPT has 11 compulsory course(s). Code EC0054 P01216 P01214 P01218 P01212 P01217 P01219 P02122 EC0067 P02139 P00320 EUCLID code (ECNM11002) (ECNM11024) (ECNM11023) (ECNM11026) (ECNM11022) (ECNM11025) (ECNM11027) (ECNM11031) (ECNM11015) (BUST11137) (ECNM11018) Course Name Mathematics, Statistics and Econometrics Macroeconomics 1 Microeconomics 1 Quantitative Methods 1 Macroeconomics 2 Microeconomics 2 Quantitative Methods 2 Asset Pricing International Money and Finance Corporate Finance Dissertation (MSc Economics/Economics(Finance)) Period Credits Block 1 (Sem 1) 0 Semester 1 Semester 1 Semester 1 Block 3 (Sem 2) Block 3 (Sem 2) Block 3 (Sem 2) Block 4 (Sem 2) Block 4 (Sem 2) Block 4 (Sem 2) As available 20 20 20 10 10 10 10 10 10 60

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