ECN115

Mathematical Methods for Economics and Finance

Autumn 2019/20
Value: 15 credits.
Level 4
Contact Time: One 2-hour lecture and one 1-hour class per week

Module Organiser/Lecturer
Name: Yioryos George Makedonis
Office Location: GC4.01
Office hours: Tuesdays 1-3pm
Email: y.makedonis@qmul.ac.uk

Web
All relevant information for this module will be available through QMplus.
https://qmplus.qmul.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=12578&notifyeditingon=1

Lecture
Friday, 1-3pm, Bancroft:Mason-LT

Classes
Compulsory one hour seminar will start the 2nd week of the semester. For each lecture students will be given a set
of lecture notes and a problem set. It is essential that students work on each problem set at home before it is solved
in the seminar class.

In addition, the School organises support classes for those students who need extra help in maths; these classes will
start the 2nd week of the semester. For Semester A these classes will be offered on Mondays from 9 till 11am at the
Queens Building, room LG3.

Details of your class allocation can be found in MyTimetable on QMplus.

Class attendance is compulsory, and it is your responsibility to be on time.

Main Aim of Module

This module introduces the basic mathematical methods that will be used throughout your degree. The aim is to
familiarise students with mathematical methods needed to study modern economics. Your math knowledge will be
refreshed and expanded. Even more importantly students will develop the skills necessary to apply this knowledge to
the economic models that they will start to build and explore.

Learning Outcomes
On successful completion, students should acquire a solid background in elements of mathematics that include
integration, matrix algebra, constrained optimisation, difference equations and differential equations.
Module Outline
Lecture Schedule (indicative, NOT exhaustive)

Week 1. Optimization with one independent variable

Week 2. Optimization with two or more independent variables

Week 3. Constrained Optimization

Week 4. Mathematics of finance i: Compound growth

Week 5. Mid-Term Test - Mathematics of finance ii: - Continuous growth

Week 6. Returns to scale and homogeneous functions; partial elasticities; growth accounting; logarithmic scales

Week 7. Reading Week

Week 8. Anti-derivatives and integration by substitution and by parts

Week 9. Input-output analysis, vectors and matrices

Week 10. Matrix Inversion, Gaussian elimination and Cramer’s rule

Week 11. Dynamic Optimisation & Difference Equations

Week 12. Dynamic Optimisation & Differential Equations

Module Material
Recommended textbooks

1. G. Renshaw, Maths for Economics, Oxford. (GR)

2. K. Sydsaeter & P. Hammond, Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis, Pearson. (KS1)
3. K. Sydsaeter & P. Hammond, Further Mathematics for Economic Analysis, Pearson. (KS2)
4. T. Bradley, Essential Mathematics for Economics & Business, Wiley. (TB)

Assessments
There will be a compulsory in-class test, on the 25nthof October that will count 15% towards the course unit mark
and a team based project that will also weight 15%. In May, students will sit a two hour formal examination which will
count for the remaining 70% of the course unit mark.

Associate / Erasmus students

If you are only studying at QMUL only during the autumn semester, you will take a version of the examination for this
module in the last week of term in December. It may be that you will take other assessments for the module in the
same week as the exam, in which case you do need to take all of them – the examination is the equivalent to the exam
the ‘regular’ students take in May. You will be informed of the date of the examination by the end of Reading Week

Feedback
Students will be provided with both formative and summative feedback. That will be in the form of weekly problem
sets, homework solutions available online and email, written coursework as well as in-class test feedback. Most
importantly however students are encouraged for a one-to-one or a small-group feedback during my office hours

Discipline policy

For details of the School's discipline policy please check the Undergraduate Handbook.