Economics and International Development Unit Catalogue
ECOI0003: Core skills for economists: introduction to
computing
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW25 OR25 EX50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the course unit is to familiarise students with University computing
facilities and to explore the application of these facilities to economics and
to empirical political data. Students should develop the spreadsheet skills
to simulate the theoretical models they are learning about in economics and
politics. They should also learn how to use the CAL resource WinEcon and how
to use computers for accessing information.
Content:
The Unit reviews University facilities. The main part of the Unit uses an Excel
spreadsheet package to develop skills in building small numerical models and
in summarising and describing economic and political data. Basic skills: word
processing, networking (Word, email, internet); presentation software (Powerpoint);
spreadsheets (Excel); relational databases (Access). Applications: Microeconomic,
Macroeconomic and political analysis using Excel; Data management and analysis.
ECOI0004: Core skills for economists: introductory data
analysis
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW50 PR25 EX25
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide students with experience in the use of real
statistical data in economics and to further develop their computing skills,
including the use of Excel spreadsheets, and graphic representation of data.
The learning objectives are that students should understand: (i) the meaning
and reliability of data (ii) data sources (iii) the ways of summarising data.
Content:
The course unit will look at different sources of data, including national and
international, published in e.g., The Blue Book, Economic Trends and by the
International Monetary Fund; electronic data sources on CD Rom; data sources
such as the Family Expenditure Survey and the British Social Attitudes Data.
Definition and reliability of trade and national income and expenditure data.
Difference between real and nominal data. Index numbers, calculation of and
the inclusion of quality. Graphic representation of data: pie charts, histograms,
time series plots, and scattergraphs. Tabular representation of data. Key texts:
R. Mason, D. Lind and w. Marchal Statisitical Techniques in Business and Economics
C. Johnson and S. Briscoe Measuring the Economy.
ECOI0005: Core skills for economists: Elementary mathematics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX80 CW20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide students without A-level Mathematics with
the knowledge of elementary mathematics that is relevant to economics and to
prepare them for the Core Skills: Mathematics unit (UNIV0036) in semester 2.
Students should be able to: (i) understand elementary mathematical concepts;
(ii) solve simple mathematical problems; (iii) apply mathematics to simple economic
problems.
Content:
The course unit begins with a review of GCSE algebra, and students should read
the book by P. Abbott Teach Yourself Algebra, useful for revision. Topics will
include: variables and functions; coordinates and graphs; powers and indices,
exponential and logarithmic functions; linear equations; quadratic equations;
simultaneous equations; sequences and series; differentiation, maxima and minima;
integration. Key text: T. Bradley and P. Patton Essential Mathematics for Economics
and Business. Other texts: Ian Jacques Mathematics for Economics and Business.
Chris Birchenhall and Paul Grout Mathematics for Modern Economics.
ECOI0006: Introductory microeconomics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES40 EX40 OT20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
Aims: The Unit is designed to provide an introduction to the methods of microeconomic
analysis, including the use of simple economic models and their application.
Students should gain an ability to derive conclusions from simple economic models
and evaluate their realism and usefulness. Learning Objectives: By the end of
the course unit students should be able to understand and apply basic microeconomic
principles to the economic decisions of households and firms under a variety
of market conditions. They should be able to use these principles both to describe
and to appraise these decisions. They should be competent in the verbal, diagrammatic
and basic mathematical concepts and techniques used in introductory microeconomics.
Additional provision is made for those students without A Level Economics. The
Unit is supported by the CAL package WinEcon.
Content:
An introduction to economic methodology; the concept of market equilibrium;
the use of demand and supply curves, and the concept of elasticity; elementary
consumer theory, indifference curves and their relationship to market demands;
elementary theory of production, production possibilities and their relationship
to cost curves; the output decisions of perfectly and imperfectly competitive
firms and industries; supply curves; the idea of general competitive equilibrium;
the efficiency properties of competitive markets; examples of market failure.
Key texts: Richard G. Lipsey and K. Alec Chrystal 'An Introduction to Positive
Economics'. Jean Soper and Phil Hobbs (eds) 'The WinEcon Workbook'. M. L. Katz
and H.S. Rosen 'Microeconomics'. Alan Griffiths and Stuart Wall 'Applied Economics:
An Introductory Course'.
ECOI0007: Introductory macroeconomics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES40 EX40 OT20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
Aims: The Unit is designed to provide an introduction to the methods of macroeconomic
analysis, including the use of simple macroeconomic models and their application
in a UK policy context. Students should gain an ability to derive conclusions
from simple economic models and evaluate their realism and usefulness in policy
making. Learning Objectives: By the end of the course unit students should be
able to understand and apply basic macroeconomic principles to the economic
decisions of the policy-maker. They should be able to use these principles to
both describe and appraise these decisions as well as to understand how macroeconomic
problems arise. They should be competent in the verbal, diagrammatic and basic
mathematical concepts used in introductory macroeconomics, providing a suitable
platform for the more advanced study of this subject in future years. Additional
provision is made for those students without A Level Economics. The Unit is
supported by the CAL package WinEcon.
Content:
The circular flow of income and expenditure; national income accounting; aggregate
demand and supply; the components and determinants of private and public sector
aggregate expenditure in closed and open economies; output and the price level
in the short- and long-run; monetary institutions and policy; inflation and
unemployment; the balance of payments and exchange rates; economic growth, the
Kondratieff. Key texts: Richard G. Lipsey and K. Alec Chrystal 'An Introduction
to Positive Economics'. Jean Soper and Phil Hobbs (eds) 'The WinEcon Workbook'.
M.J. Artis (ed) 'The UK Economy: a Manual of Applied Economics'. Alan Griffiths
and Stuart Wall 'Applied Economics: An Introductory Course'.
ECOI0008: The modern world economy 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX70 OT30
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
Aims: The aim of this Unit is to equip students with an historical, institutional
and descriptive understanding of economic issues and institutions in a global
context. The Unit is appropriate for specialist students of economics and will
support and provide a relevant policy context for first year units in introductory
micro and macroeconomics. The Unit is also appropriate for non-specialist students,
who may wish to take only one or two course units in economics, and will introduce
them to some of the central principles of economics via the policy questions
and institutional arrangements which confront modern economies. Learning objectives:
By the end of the course unit, students should be able to develop an informed
commentary on both academic and more popular arguments on: 1. Patterns of growth
and development at national, regional and global levels. 2. The role of multilateral
corporations in the global economy. 3. The impacts of globalisation on the workforces
of both developed and developing economies. 4. The scope for national economic
policies within the globalised economy.
Content:
Growth and development in the world economy since the Second World War; patterns
of international trade and investment; the role of multi national corporations;
employment and income distribution in the world economy; limitations on national
policy effectiveness; international economic institutions and the regulation
of international trade, investment and finance. Key text: Peter Dicken, 'Global
Shift'.
ECOI0009: The modern world economy 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES30 EX70
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This Unit is a continuation from ECOI0008 The Modern World Economy 1. Its aim
is to provide students with an understanding of the economic issues which have
affected various regions of the world in the post second world war period. It
is designed to be accessible to both specialist and non-specialist students
of economics. Learning objectives: By the end of the course unit students should
be able to understand: 1. The determinants of economic activity in selected
regions of the world economy. 2. The reasons why there are significant differences
in this activity among such regions. 3. The policy issues which confront nations
within these regions.
Content:
The course unit comprises three regional studies: the European Union, Transitional
Economies of East and Central Europe, East Asia. European Union: The development
of economic integration in Europe; static and dynamic effects of economic integration;
trade creation and diversion and the economics of customs unions; factor mobility
and the common market; fiscal and monetary harmonisation; optimum currency areas
and the European Monetary System; the role of the European Central Bank and
the problem of Europe-wide macroeconomic policy. Transitional Economies: Central
planning, operation and failure; the state of transition today; expanding the
European Union to embrace Central and Eastern Europe. East Asia: Interpretations
of the East Asian "miracle" (pre-1997); causes and consequences of the current
crisis; longer term prospects for sustainable development. Key texts: D. Swann
'The Economics of the Common Market'. James Forder, ' Both Sides of the Coin:
The Arguments Against the Euro and EMU'. F. McDonald, 'European Economic Integration'.
D. Dyker (ed), 'The European Economy'. D. Gros and A., 'Steinherr Winds of Change'.
Grahame Thompson (ed), 'Economic Dynamism in the Asia-Pacific World Bank The
East Asian Miracle'.
ECOI0010: Intermediate microeconomics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 OT50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This course unit covers the core concepts and methods of microeconomic analysis,
using some mathematics in modelling and explication, in conformity with modern
intermediate micro texts. It is supported by a course unit in Mathematical Economics,
where single honours Economics students will acquire a more rigorous mathematical
approach. The aim of this unit is to enable students to deepen their analytical
ability in microeconomics so that they can use theory to generate predictions
and explanations with respect to economic phenomena. The learning objectives
are that by the end of the course unit, students should be able to tackle economic
problems with the sustained application of (mainly neo-classical) economic principles
and be familiar with recent contributions to the subject. Manipulation of short
problems under test conditions allows the demonstration of economic insight.
The course unit is essential for anyone wishing to undertake further study of
the economics of industry, labour, environment and other sectoral economic issues.
Content:
The course will cover the theory of consumer behaviour, the theory of the firm
in a competitive situation, industrial organisation and imperfect competition,
the theory of factor markets, the economics of uncertainty and information,
welfare economics and general equilibrium theory. Key texts: H. Varian,'Intermediate
Microeconomics'. D. Laidler and S. Estrin,'Introduction to Microeconomics'.
ECOI0011: Intermediate macroeconomics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 OT50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This course unit covers the core concepts and methods of macroeconomic analysis,
with some use of mathematics where appropriate. Exposition in lectures will
be mainly verbal and diagrammatic; single honours Economics students will acquire
a more rigorous mathematical treatment of some topics in the unit in Mathematical
Economics. The aim is to enable students to deepen their analytical ability
in macroeconomics so that they can analyse more complex theoretical and policy
problems. The learning objectives are that by the end of the course students
should be able to demonstrate an ability to understand, manipulate and use for
policy analysis a series of small general equilibrium models. In addition by
showing an ability to answer problems under test conditions to exhibit an active
problem solving engagement with the material.
Content:
Topics include intertemporal budget constraints; money and the demand for money;
monetary policy, aggregate demand and output; inflation and business cycles;
fiscal policy; labour markets; exchange rates and financial markets; the international
monetary system. Key texts: M. Burda and C. Wyplosz,'Macroeconomics: a European
Text'. R.J. Barro and V. Grilli,'European Macroeconomics'.
ECOI0012: Economic thought & policy 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
Aims of the Unit:
* To familiarise students with a range of primary source texts written by major
economists from the late eighteenth to late nineteenth century.
* To stimulate an interest and knowledge base in the historical development
of economics in Britain.
* To convey the relevance of the economics of earlier writers to an understanding
of present day economic thought and debate. Learning Objectives: Students will
have developed an understanding of the economic models and contributions to
policy of a number of major economists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries
and the context within which these models were relevant. Students will have
acquired "first hand" knowledge through reading primary sources.
Content:
The historical development of economic thought and policy from the beginning
of the industrial revolution in the eighteenth century to the emergence of neoclassical
economics. The main economists considered are Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, J.S.
Mill and Jevons. Key texts: Primary sources Ekelund and Hebert,'A History of
Economic Theory and Method'. R. Heilbroner,'The Worldly Philosophers'.
ECOI0013: Economic thought & policy 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This Unit extends the aims and objectives of Economic Thought and Policy 1 (ECOI0012)
by considering the influence of late nineteenth and early twentieth century
economists on the development of economic ideas and policy.
Content:
The main economists considered are Marshall, Pigou, Pareto, Wicksell, Myrdal
Ohlin, Hayek and Keynes. The course unit is organised around four broad topic
areas: The development of welfare economics from Marshall onwards; The competitive
model and increasing returns to scale; Money, business cycles and effective
demand in the 1920s and 1930s; Keynesian and post-Keynesian macroeconomic policy.
Key texts: G.L.S. Shackle,'The Years of High Theory'. Ekelund and Hebert,'A
History of Economic Theory and Method'. David Laidler,'Fabricating the Keynesian
Revolution'. Primary sources.
ECOI0014: Money & finance
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide an introduction to the analysis of financial
behaviour, and to use this analysis to explain and evaluate recent trends in
UK financial markets, institutions, and policy within the context of European
monetary and financial integration. The learning objective is that, at the end
of the course, students should be able to i) understand the roles of financial
markets and the institutions that participate in them, ii) analyse the effects
of changes in financial market structures on market behaviour, iii) analyse
the effects of government financial policy on the workings of financial markets.
Content:
Risk and return: financial instruments and their pricing; financial intermediation;
money and capital markets; the foreign exchange market; deposit- and non-deposit-taking
financial institutions; government borrowing, the regulatory regime, and the
role of the central bank. Key texts: P.G.A. Howells and K. Bain,'The Economics
of Money, Banking and Finance: a European Text'. C.A.E. Goodhart,'Money, Information
and Uncertainty'. M. Artis and M. Lewis,'Money in Britain'.
ECOI0015: Economics of industry
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 CW20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to examine industry and the policy context within which
it operates, with particular reference to the UK. The emphasis is in part on
providing a descriptive account of the key features of industrial structure
and in part on providing an account of theoretical models which can be used
to explain the behaviour of firms and industries. Learning Objectives: Students
will have acquired familiarity with key topics in industrial economics such
as pricing theory, advertising, innovation and the analysis of market structure
and barriers to entry and be able to apply these concepts to contemporary industrial
developments. Students will have gained an understanding of industrial and competition
policy.
Content:
The Unit provides a descriptive review of contemporary industrial structure
and of the relationship between industry in the UK, Europe and beyond. It reviews
the two main paradigms for analysing industry, namely the Structure-Conduct-Performance
model and the New Industrial Economics. It applies microeconomic theory to explain
why firms exist and how they select price, output and marketing strategies.
It examines the role played by government policy in the operation and regulation
of industry. Key texts: Stead, Curwen and Lawler,'Industrial Economics'. Jacobson
and Andreosso-O'Callaghan,'Industrial Economics and Organisation: A European
Perspective'. George, Joll and Lynk,'Industrial Organisation'.
ECOI0016: Economics of social policy
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to build on students` knowledge of microeconomic principles
and apply and extend it within the context of social policy. Students will acquire
an understanding of what economics has to say about some of the major areas
of social policy. Efficiency and equity issues within this important area will
be stressed. Learning objectives include the possession of a sound grasp of
how economics can illuminate areas of social policy, and the demonstration of
analytical ability by applying economic principles to social policy problems.
Content:
The course unit introduces some of the main issues that economists emphasise
when they discuss social policy. The lectures are divided into two groups. In
the first we look at some of the basic ideas which economists have used to analyse
social policies. We discuss politico-social theories and the role of the state;
the concepts of equity and efficiency; the economic justifications for intervention;
the economics of insurance, and the measurement of economic welfare and poverty.
In the second group we look at some of the main economic issues in six different
areas of social policy: financing the welfare state; education; health; housing;
poverty, and pensions. Key texts: N. Barr,'The Economics of the Welfare State'.
Le Grand, Propper and Robinson,'The Economics of Social Problems'.
ECOI0017: Labour economics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW20 EX80
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this unit is to provide a sustained application and extension of
predominantly intermediate microeconomic theory to the labour market. Learning
objectives are that students should gain a critical appreciation of the impact
of market forces, institutions and regulations within labour markets. The general
desirability of government intervention of various types into this area of the
economy is a key question students should be able to tackle by the end of the
course unit.
Content:
Labour is the most important single factor of production and the analytical
and empirical study of the labour market constitute the content of this course.
Topics covered will include: "New" household economics; labour supply and demand
and the effects of taxation on labour supply; human capital investment; the
distribution of earnings; discrimination and segmentation; economic models of
trade unions; search, vacancy and unemployment analysis; minimum wage legislation.
Key texts: Bosworth, Dawkins and Stromback,'The Economics of the Labour Market'.
J.P. Jacobsen,'The Economics of Gender'.
ECOI0018: Mathematical economics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW20 EX80
Requisites: Pre UNIV0036
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to equip students with an understanding of, and an ability
to use, mathematical methods in economics. Students will learn both the fundamental
quantitative techniques essential to an economist and how to apply these techniques
to a range of economic questions. Learning objectives: By the end of the course
unit students should be able to (1) apply the Lagrangian technique to a wide
variety of constrained optimisation problems; (2) apply linear algebra techniques
to analyse the comparative statics of economic models; (3) analyse the dynamic
processes underlying time-series economics. The unit supports and extends the
course units in intermediate micro and macroeconomics.
Content:
The course unit begins with a detailed analysis of the Lagrangian method and
its applications: constrained optimisation for the household and the firm; the
concept of duality; labour supply choices and optimisation over time; optimisation
under uncertainty; expected utility theory and attitude to risk. It then covers
linear algebra techniques and applications; solving systems of equations; the
quadratic form, second order conditions and the Hessian matrix; comparative
statics. The course unit ends by analysing the use of difference and differential
equations in economic dynamics. Key texts: C. Birchenhall and P. Grout,'Mathematics
for Modern Economics'. A.C. Chiang,'Fundamentals of Mathematical Economics'.
ECOI0019: Introduction to econometrics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 CW50
Requisites: Pre UNIV0037
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to provide a simple introduction to econometric methods
for students who have some knowledge of statistical hypothesis testing and regression.
Students will undertake econometric work of their own using Excel and Microfit
and will be able to perform simple econometric analyses of data.
Content:
Topics covered include: the nature of econometrics, multiple regression, dummy
variables; muticollinearity; heteroskedasticity; autocorrelation, simultaneous
equation models and stationarity. Key texts: D. Gujarati,'Essentials of Econometrics'.
P. Kennedy,'A Guide to Econometrics'.
ECOI0020: Econometrics 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX70 OT30
Requisites: Pre ECOI0019
Aims & learning objectives:
Knowledge of econometrics is an essential part of the toolkit of any economist
and econometric techniques are used in a wide range of disciplines, including
management, statistics and biological sciences. The aim of this Unit is to build
on the second year work in ECOI0019 and present a rigorous account of econometrics.
Learning Objectives: Students should gain an ability to critically evaluate
econometric work done by others, in e.g. journals, as well as increase their
ability to do their own empirical work. By the end of the semester students
will be more confident in their use of matrix algebra, the language of econometrics,
and its application to econometric problems. They will have undertaken empirical
work using computer packages such as RATS and LIMDEP. The emphasis is on both
theory and applications in equal measure.
Content:
The Unit follows Johnston's classic text to a large extent. Specific topics
include: ordinary least squares; measures of goodness of fit; two stage least
squares; serial correlation; heteroscedasticity; lag structures; errors in variables;
measurement errors and Monte Carlo simulation. Key texts: Jack Johnston and
John Dinardo,'Econometrics'. A. Koutsoyiannis,'Econometrics'. Pindyck and Rubinfeld,'Econometric
Models and Economic Forecasts'. Cuthbertson, Hall and Taylor,'Applied Econometric
Techniques'.
ECOI0021: Econometrics 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX70 OT30
Requisites: Pre ECOI0020
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to build on the work done in the first semester course
unit ECOI0020 Econometrics 1 taking the analysis of econometrics to a higher
level. The emphasis is therefore on introducing the students to a wide range
of different techniques currently in use in econometrics, enabling them to critically
evaluate econometric work done by others, as well as increasing their ability
to do their own empirical work. The emphasis is on both theory and applications
in equal measure. Learning Objectives: By the end of the semester students will
understand a wide variety of econometric techniques and be able to undertake
their own econometric analysis making use of those techniques. They will have
undertaken empirical work using RATS and LIMDEP. Students should also have the
capacity to expand their own knowledge and ability under their own initiative
once they have graduated. By the end of the course they will be competent to
pursue a masters in this area, but will also have learnt material which will
be valuable in a commercial environment.
Content:
The Unit follows Johnston's classic text to a large extent, although going beyond
that in significant areas. Specific topics include: maximum likelihood; nonlinear
least squares; Box Jenkins and ARIMA forecasting; stationarity and cointegration;
error correction models; evaluating forecasts; limited dependent variable analysis
- binomial, probit, and logit. Key texts: Jack Johnston and John Dinardo,'Econometrics'.
Koutsoyiannis,'Econometrics'. Pindyck and Rubinfeld,'Econometric Models and
Economic Forecasts'. Cuthbertson, Hall and Taylor,'Applied Econometric Techniques'.
ECOI0023: Social change and development
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre ECOI0077
Aims & learning objectives:
Aim: To introduce students to some of the key concepts and methods used in the
social analysis of change and international development, grounding theoretical
exploration in practical approaches to particular issues. Learning objectives:
Students should learn how the key concerns of sociology (social structure and
social relations) and social anthropology (culture) can be used to extend understanding
of the process involved in social change and international development. By the
end of this course unit students should be equipped critically to discuss the
concepts and practice of social change drawing on the analytical traditions
of sociology and social anthropology and the experience of a range of contexts
in Africa, Asia and Latin America. This course unit builds on the foundations
laid in ECOI0077 Introduction to International Development. It focuses on development
as something that happens: social change. This complements ECOI0043 Governance
and the Policy Process in Developing Countries, which considers development
as something which is done: policy and programme intervention.
Content:
Social change and development as essentially contested: both as concepts and
as forms of practice. A way of ordering the world by contrasts: in time - tradition/modernity;
and space - first/third world; and in time as space - modern=western. Models
of social change and the implication of sociology and anthropology in these.
Interrogating notions of identity, tradition and modernity: in colonialism;
in notions of city and countryside; poverty and progress; health and reasoning;
cultures of production and exchange. The dynamics of social change: in divisions
of labour and within households. Issues around agency, consciousness and social/political
action. The implications of globalization and the post-colonial order. Key text:
Roger Keesing,'Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective'. Nancy Scheper-Hughes,
'Death Without Weeping: The Violence of Everday Life in Urban Brazil'.
ECOI0024: Economics of development 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES40 OR10 EX50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to relate economic theory to debates over the determinants
of global poverty, and over the prospects for economic development and poverty
reduction in low and middle income countries (LMICs), particularly of South
Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. The learning objectives of the course unit are
that students should acquire an improved understanding of:
* the economic performance and prospects of LMICs;
* how the economies of LMICs interact with those of high income countries (HICs);
* the nature and determinants of global poverty, and the prospects for poverty
reduction;
* the relevance of theory to the analysis of the economic problems and prospects
of LMICs;
* the relationship between economics and other social science disciplines relevant
to the analysis of the economic problems and prospects of LMICs - particularly
sociology, anthropology and political science. Students who are interested in
issues of economic development are advised to take the second semester course
unit in Economics of Development 2 (ECOI0025) and/or Economics of Transition
(ECOI0026).
Content:
The following topics will be covered: classical models of agrarian transformation
and industrialisation; the current status of development economics; economic
development, institutions and culture; evaluation of economic liberalisation;
economic development and demography; strategies for poverty reduction. Key texts:
G.M. Meier (ed),'Leading Issues in Economic Development'. A.P Thirlwall,'Growth
and Development'. J.G. Copestake,'Theories of Economic Development'. (on www.bath.ac.uk/deid/j.g.copestake).
ECOI0025: Economics of development 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES40 OR10 EX50
Requisites: Pre ECOI0024
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide an in-depth understanding of selected topics
in the economies of developing countries, beyond that provided by ECOI0024 Economics
of Development 1. The objectives are to show students how to apply economic
theory to the problems of developing countries and how to assess empirical evidence
on these issues.
Content:
The course interleaves lectures with seminars in which students will make presentations
on selected topics. The course covers the following topics: growth theory and
the performance of developing economies; household economics and intra-household
allocation; rural factor markets; stabilisation; liberalisation and structural
adjustment; population. Key texts: D. Ray,'Development Economics'. R. Jha,'Macroeconomics
for Developing Countries'.
ECOI0026: Economics of transition
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES20 EX80
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aims of the Unit are to use economic analysis to understand the changes
which are taking place in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union,
and to develop a critical awareness of the problems which have beset transition,
and an appreciation of their possible solutions. The learning objectives include
the students being able to describe the process of transition; to demonstrate
an awareness of the role played by the legacy of planning in the present state
of transition; and to show the weaknesses in present policies and to outline
how progress might be possible.
Content:
Topics covered will include the planned economy and legacy of planning under
communism; the speed and sequencing of adjustment to market economy; institutional
change; privatisation; financial markets; the labour market; foreign trade;
growth and inflation; public finance issues. Key texts: D. Gros and A. Steinherr,'Winds
of Change'. M. Lavigne,'The Economics of Transition: from Socialist Economy
to Market Economy'. Mark Knell (ed),'The Economics of Transition: Structural
Adjustments and Growth Prospects in Eastern Europe'.
ECOI0027: International monetary economics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES20 EX80
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to present a fairly rigorous account of the material
that relates to monetary aspects of an open economy. Students will gain a critical
appreciation of the theoretical tools used in this important area of economics
and a robust analytical framework for the interpretation of policy. The learning
objective is that, at the end of the course unit, students will understand the
way in which economic theory can be applied to issues such as (i) the use of
fiscal and monetary policies in open economies; (ii) UK balance of payments
policy; (iii) the workings of the foreign exchange market; (iv) the European
monetary system and the issue of UK membership. Although the unit can be studied
as a self-contained module, it forms part of a specialist stream in International
Economics, with ECOI0034 International Trade.
Content:
The course unit emphasises debate mainly at the theoretical level, by generally
contrasting a Keynesian real side approach with a more classically inspired
monetary approach. Specific topics include: the nature and significance of the
balance of payments; parity concepts; the efficient markets hypothesis; devaluation;
open economy macroeconomics; flexible versus fixed exchange rates; the foreign
trade sector, Europe and international policy co-ordination. Key texts: L.S.
Copeland,'Exchange Rates and International Finance'. P. Hallwood and R. MacDonald,'International
Money and Finance'. K. Pilbeam,'International Finance'.
ECOI0028: Economic growth & natural resources
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES20 EX80
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to provide a fairly sophisticated account of theories
of economic growth and of natural resource use, leading on to a discussion of
the concept of sustainable development. Though the course draws on some techniques
of dynamic optimisation, the emphasis is on economic intuition and empirical
relevance rather than rigorous mathematical proof. Learning objectives: By the
end of the course unit students should be able to critically appraise the analytical
models and empirical evidence used by economists relating to: 1. the causes
of differences in long-term comparative growth performance across countries
and regions 2. the determinants over time of the available stocks and prices
of various natural resources, such as fossil fuels, metals, fish and timber
3. the efficiency and equity of various ways of managing natural resources,
including the implications of these for biodiversity 4. the likelihood of economic
growth being sustainable in the long-term taking into account the effects of
population growth, technical progress and natural resource depletion. Although
the unit can be studied as a self-contained module, it forms part of a specialist
stream in the Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment, with ECOI0029
Environmental Economics.
Content:
The course unit covers the following topics: The neo-classical model of growth
and the empirical record; savings and optimal growth; endogenous growth; depletion
of exhaustible resources; management of renewable resources; intergenerational
equity; sustainable development. Key texts: Perman, Ma and McGilvray,'Natural
Resource and Environmental Economics'. Hanley, Shogren and White,'Environmental
Economics'. Charles I. Jones,'Introduction to Economic Growth'.
ECOI0029: Environmental economics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to provide an economic perspective on environmental regulation
and on the management of natural resources. Students will gain an understanding
of the economic framework that is used to identify effective solutions to problems
of environmental resource use and externalities. The unit will also provide
an understanding of the application of environmental economics to important
policy issues. The learning objectives of the unit include knowledge of the
economic tools used to value environmental impacts and natural resource use
and to design cost effective methods of controlling pollution and avoiding misuse
of the natural environment. The need to reconcile the objectives of economic
development with environmental conservation will be explained, as will some
international aspects of environmental protection. This will give students an
understanding of the issues and theory behind environmental policy as well as
an academic grounding appropriate for undertaking more advanced study in the
field of environmental economics. Although the unit can be studied as a self-contained
module, it forms part of a specialist stream in the Economics of Natural Resources
and the Environment, with ECOI0028 Economic Growth and Natural Resources.
Content:
The course unit will discuss the welfare economic basis of environmental economics
and why market systems do not provide adequate environmental protection. It
will go on to study different methods of valuing the environment and on regulating
it in a national context. Finally it will deal with the theme of environment
and development, and the idea of sustainable development. Key texts: Perman,
Ma and McGilvray,'Natural Resource and Environmental Economics'. Hanley, Shogren
and White,'Environmental Economics'.
ECOI0030: Advanced microeconomics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to build on intermediate microeconomics and to introduce
some of the theory that underlies much of the more recent academic research.
Learning objectives: By the end of the course unit students will have acquired:
(i) an understanding of the scope of modern microeconomics and its applications,
(ii) an ability to read and understand current literature in microeconomics
and (iii) an ability to use advanced microeconomic concepts in analysing specific
issues.
Content:
The course unit covers topics that deal with three inter-related issues: decision
making under uncertainty; the strategic behaviour of economic actors; the use
of information. Topics will include: expected utility theory; game theory; asymmetric
information; screening and signalling - theory and applications. Key text: J.
Hirshleifer and J.G. Riley,'The Analytics of Uncertainty and Information'.
ECOI0031: Advanced macroeconomics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to build on second year macroeconomics and to help students
to achieve a critical understanding of recent macroeconomic research on key
issues such as unemployment, inflation and the business cycle. Learning objectives:
By the end of the course unit students should be able to evaluate new contributions
to the macroeconomic literature, including policy research carried out by government
and independent economists.
Content:
Business cycles and unemployment in the main "schools" of macroeconomics; new
classical theory, unemployment and the equilibrium business cycle; the real
business cycle and critiques and modifications of it; multiplier-accelerator
and the treatment of upper and lower turning points; welfare losses due to the
business cycle, empirical evidence; the Layard-Nickell model of unemployment;
nominal wage and price rigidity and unemployment; job search, benefits and unemployment
duration; efficiency wages and unemployment; insiders, outsider, hysteresis,
and the natural rate; modern treatments of the Phillips curve. Key texts: B.
Snowdon and H.R. Vane,'A Macroeconomic Reader'. Hartley, Hoover and Salyer,'Real
Business Cycles: A Reader'. Layard, Nickell and Jackman,'The Unemployment Crisis'.
ECOI0032: Final year research project 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: OR100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
These course units can only be taken together, and form a two semester period
of study on a single topic of the student's choice. The aim of the research
project units is that students will learn how to design and carry out research
on a specific economic question. Students who have taken ECOI0046 69É«ÇéƬ and
Presentation Skills will be building on and developing skills acquired in the
second year. Students on the degree Programme in Economics and Politics may
select a topic which relates to political science, but will be encouraged to
demonstrate skills of economic and political analysis. Learning objectives:
Students should gain insights into the development of sustained analysis, hypothesis
formation and 'testing'. In the first Semester the work will involve independent
study supported by workshops in which students will make presentations of their
research, developing transferable skills valuable in the labour market. In the
second Semester students will work under the guidance of a supervisor.
Content:
The topic will be chosen by the student. Students will be required to make a
15 minute presentation of their work, in early December, which should cover
the rationale for the topic chosen and a critical appraisal of the literature
relating to it. Thereafter, students will work under the guidance of their supervisor,
submitting the finished project by the end of the first week of the summer term.
ECOI0033: Final year research project 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: OT100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
These course units can only be taken together, and form a two semester period
of study on a single topic of the student's choice. The aim of the research
project units is that students will learn how to design and carry out research
on a specific economic question. Students who have taken ECOI0046 69É«ÇéƬ and
Presentation Skills will be building on and developing skills acquired in the
second year. Students on the degree Programme in Economics and Politics may
select a topic which relates to political science, but will be encouraged to
demonstrate skills of economic and political analysis. Learning objectives:
Students should gain insights into the development of sustained analysis, hypothesis
formation and 'testing'. In the first Semester the work will involve independent
study supported by workshops in which students will make presentations of their
research, developing transferable skills valuable in the labour market. In the
second Semester students will work under the guidance of a supervisor.
Content:
The topic will be chosen by the student. Students will be required to make a
15 minute presentation of their work, in early December, which should cover
the rationale for the topic chosen and a critical appraisal of the literature
relating to it. Thereafter, students will work under the guidance of their supervisor,
submitting the finished project by the end of the first week of the summer term.
ECOI0034: International trade
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES20 EX80
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to provide an economic perspective on issues relating
to international trade. The learning objective is that, at the end of the course
unit, students will understand the way in which economic theory can be applied
to issues such as (i) why countries engage in international trade (ii) how the
pattern of trade flow is determined (iii) why countries adopt trade restraints
(iv) why countries join customs unions. Although the unit can be studied as
a self-contained module, it forms part of a specialist stream in International
Economics, with ECOI0027 International Monetary Economics.
Content:
After an introduction to basic concepts, the topics discussed will include:
comparative advantage; the gains from trade; adjustment costs; the Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson
model; the specific factors model; theories of intra-industry trade; the costs
of protection, smuggling, trade taxes as a revenue source; the optimum tariff;
export subsidies; international cartels, quotas and voluntary export restraint;
international integration; multinational enterprises and the welfare effects
of the international movement of factors of production. Key texts: Brenton,
Scott and Sinclair,'International Trade: A European Text'. N. Vousden,'The Economics
of Trade Protection'. Markusen, Melvin, Kaempfer and Maskus,'International Trade:
Theory and Evidence'. B. Sodersten and G. Reed,'International Economics'.
ECOI0035: Public expenditure & public choice
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to provide an economic perspective on decisions which
are made with respect to government expenditure programmes. The learning objective
is that at the end of the course unit students will be able to (i) understand
the theoretical basis of techniques such as cost benefit analysis (ii) be able
to advise on 'shadow pricing' (iii) be able to assess how well any cost benefit
analysis has been carried out (iv) understand how microeconomic theory can be
applied to the process of decision making on public expenditure programmes (v)
be able to assess the importance of new literature concerning the 'public choice'
approach. Although the unit can be studied as a self-contained module, it forms
part of a specialist stream in Public Finance, with ECOI0036 The Economics of
Taxation.
Content:
The course unit begins with a review of welfare economics (public expenditure
analysis is applied welfare economics). Market failure and the rationale for
government intervention is assessed. The impact of alleged 'failings' in the
political process is also assessed. The behaviour of voters, political parties,
bureaucrats and pressure groups is analysed using microeconomic theory. The
growth of the public sector is considered in terms of both market and government
failure. Techniques for public sector appraisal are discussed. Key texts: J.
Cullis and P. Jones,'Public Finance and Public Choice'. D. Mueller,'Public Choice
II'.
ECOI0036: Economics of taxation
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to provide an economic perspective on taxation and an
understanding of the criteria which can be used to assess different taxes. The
learning objective is that, by the end of the course unit, students will be
able to appraise tax reform against a set of criteria (which include efficiency
and equity). For example, students will understand and assess how taxes affect:
(i) resource allocation (ii) incentives to work and save (iii) the allocation
of corporate investment and (iv) the income distribution. Although the unit
can be studied as a self-contained module, it forms part of a specialist stream
in Public Finance, with ECOI0035 Public Expenditure and Public Choice.
Content:
The course unit begins with an analysis of the welfare costs of taxation. Tax
incidence is discussed. The effect of tax on work effort, saving and risk taking
is explored (and, in particular, the claims of 'supply-side economists' are
assessed). Tax expenditures (e.g. tax relief for charitable giving) are appraised.
Tax evasion and policy to deter tax evasion is discussed. International taxation
is considered. The choice between taxation and government borrowing is examined.
Key texts: J. Cullis and P. Jones,'Public Finance and Public Choice'. C.V. Brown
and P.M. Jackson,'Public Sector Economics'. G. Myles,'Public Economics'. R.
Jha,'Modern Public Economics'.
ECOI0037: Macroeconomic modelling
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Economics
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to provide a thorough grounding in the practice, techniques
and limitations of macroeconomic modelling. The course unit will review the
use of simple macroeconomic models and their application in a policy context
as well as the more sophisticated models used by the Treasury, for example.
Learning objectives: By the end of the course unit students should be able to
understand how to build a macroeconomic model and use it in the forecasting/policy
arena. Having gained such knowledge they will then be in a position to understand
the process behind modelling and forecasting which will allow them to critically
evaluate such material within a commercial or policy environment.
Content:
The first part of the Unit will teach the student the principles of model building,
in the following stages: model specification; model simulation; model testing;
forecasting; industry models. The second part of the Unit looks at optimal policy
making using macroeconomic models. The third part of the Unit looks at specific
macroeconomic models, particularly of the UK economy, together with the problems
model builders face and the direction in which they have been moving in recent
years. Finally we will deal with the types of models theoretical economists
build when attempting to model the real world. Key texts: J. Hudson and Dymiotou-Jensen,'Modelling
a Developing Country: A Case Study of Cyprus'. K. Wallis (ed),'Models of the
UK Economy'. Pindyck and Rubinfeld,'Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts'.
ECOI0040: International relations 1: A history of international
relations theory
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide students with an understanding of the main
concepts, theories and perspectives used to study international relations, and
to introduce them to the historical development of those aspects of international
relations theory that are relevant today. By examining how different types of
historical international systems have existed in the past, what caused wars
to occur and what helped to maintain peace, students will have a better idea
of the causes of conflict and cooperation today. Learning objectives: By the
end of this course unit students should be able to do the following:
* identify the main perspectives of international relations
* explain the key Western thinkers and their ideas which contributed to the
main perspectives on international relations
* explain how the key thinkers, ideas and concepts are related to the development
of different historic international systems. Although the unit can be studied
as a self-contained module, it forms part of a specialist stream in international
relations with ECOI0041.
Content:
An historical survey of the main theories of international relations and the
main historical state-systems in which they arose: the Greek-state system, the
middle ages, the Renaissance and the emergence of the modern state system. The
course unit examines a series of important, enduring questions in international
relations theory about international systems: (1) what were the origins of different
international systems; (2) what factors contributed to order and stability;
and (3) what factors promoted not only disorder and instability, but also system-wide
change, the change to to an entirely different type of international system.
Key texts: Michael Doyle,'Ways of War and Peace: Realism, Liberalism, and Socialism'.
Torbjorn Knutsen,'A History of International Relations Theory'. Joseph Nye,'Understanding
International Conflicts: An Introduction to Theory And History'.
ECOI0041: International relations 2: contemporary international
relations
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES40 OR10
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aims of this Unit are to provide students with an understanding of how contemporary
thinkers have contributed to the main perspectives of international relations;
to consider the impact of globalisation on international relations; to show
how international conflict has changed in the twentieth century, particularly
since the end of the Cold War; to provide students with an understanding of
how diplomacy has changed in the twentieth century. Learning objectives: By
the end of the course unit students should be able to:
* critically evaluate the main perspectives of international relations
* explain the impact of the end of the Cold War on global security
* explain what international relations scholars mean by globalisation, and critically
evaluate what impact it has had on international relations
* explain how the changing nature of international conflict has posed new challenges
for humanitarian organisations in developing countries Although the unit can
be studied as a self-contained module, it forms part of a specialist stream
in international relations with ECOI0040.
Content:
Topics include how International Relations has changed since the end of the
Cold War, the State, and non-state actors, the balance of power, problems of
diplomacy, international organisation, war and international conflict, nationalism,
religion and international stability and international political economy. A
set of themes emerge from these topics that are ethical in nature: the relationship
between order and justice, state sovereignty and humanitarian intervention,
the nature and meaning of international obligation in a society of sovereign
states, the idea of universal human rights and cultural relativism, and ways
of maintaining international order: the balance of power, international regimes,
and new approaches to global governance. Key texts: J. Goldstein,'International
Relations'. C. Kegley and E. Wittkopf,'World Politics: Trend and Transformation'.
Gordon Graham,'Ethics and International Relations'.
ECOI0042: Politics of developing countries: ethnicity,
religion and nationalism
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES40 OR10
Requisites: Pre ECOI0078
Aims & learning objectives:
Two of the most important developments at the end of the Twentieth Century are
the global spread of democracy and the resurgence of religion, ethnicity and
nationalism in politics. Therefore the aim of the Unit is to provide students
with an understanding of the ongoing saliency of ethnicity, religion and nationalism
to the politics of selected post-communist and developing countries. The learning
objectives are that by the end of the course unit students should be able to:
* critically evaluate the role of ethnicity, religion and nationalism in the
main perspectives of development
* understand the role of religion and revolution in South Africa, Poland and
Latin America
* understand the role of Islam in different types of Muslim countries
* understand how religion challenges the secular state in India, Turkey, Algeria
and Egypt. Although the unit can be studied as a self-contained module, it forms
part of a specialist stream in the Policy Process and Politics of Development
with ECOI0043 Governance and the Policy Process in Developing Countries and
ECOI0080 Policy and Politics.
Content:
Introduction to the politics of developing countries; the concepts of ethnicity,
religion and nationalism; the transition to democracy; the consolidation of
democracy. Case studies of: Poland, Yugoslavia, South Africa, Turkey, India,
Algeria, Egypt and Latin America. Key texts: J. Esposito and J. Voll,'Islam
and Democracy'. Jeff Haynes,'Religion and Politics in the Third World'. Jeff
Haynes,'Religion in Global Politics'. David Westerlund (ed),'Questioning the
Secular State'.
ECOI0043: Governance and the policy process in developing
countries
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES40 OR10
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide an explanation of the dynamics of governance
and the workings of the policy process in developing countries. The learning
objectives are that students should develop a critical undetstanding of the
policy process in the developing country context, applying and extending their
knowledge of the key concepts of power and the institutions through which it
is expresed. This unit can be studied as a self-contained module, which complements
in particular ECOI0023 Social Change and Development. It also forms part of
a specialist stream in the Policy Process and Politics of Development with ECOI0042
The Politics of Developing Countries: Religion, Ethnicity and Nationalism and
ECOI0080 Policy and Politic.
Content:
Good governance: the genesis of the concept, its practical implication. State,
non-state and civil society actors in development. Policy formulation and implementation
in developing countries; policy networks; the roles of external doners; corruption.
Institutionalizing good governance, promoting inclusionary practice. Key texts:
Grindle and Thomas,'Public Choices and Policy Change: The Political Economy
of Reform in Developing Countries'. Turner and Hulme,'Governance, Administration
and Development'. R. Rhodes,'Understanding Governance'. Wuyts, Marc. Mackintosh,
Maureen and hewitt, Tom (eds),'Development Policy and Public Action. Oxford:
Oxford University Press/Open University. R Grillo and R L Stirrat (eds) 1997.
Discourses of Development. Anthropological Perspectives. Oxford: Berg.
ECOI0045: Placement
Academic Year
Credits: 60
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment:
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The placement period enables the student to gain valuable practical experience.
Content:
Please see the Director or Studies or course tutor for details about individual
placements.
ECOI0046: 69É«ÇéƬ & presentation skills for economists
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: ES40 OR30 RT30
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this course unit is to provide students with an environment within
which they can develop skills of individual and collaborative research, report
preparation, and group presentation of an economic topic using Powerpoint. The
learning objectives are (1) that students will have acquired the capacity to
undertake research on topics of current interest in economic policy which draw
on a range of knowledge acquired in other level 2 course units; (2) that students
will have worked effectively as members of a small team and will have contributed
their fair share; (3) that students will have enhanced their skills in designing
and making presentations which will be transferable to the workplace.
Content:
Topics will be assigned to students who will work in groups of 5 or 6; they
will be policy focused topics, related to one or more of the other units being
studied, for example, in monetary, fiscal, industrial, or environmental economics.
ECOI0077: Introduction to international development
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to introduce students to the major issues in international
development. The learning objectives are that students should: 1. Learn to 'think
sociologically' about international development issues 2. Have some knowledge
of the development of capitalism and the nation-state system and the ways in
which these have interacted to produce problems of poverty, international debt
and violence 3. Appreciate the different contributions to understanding development
made by different social science disciplines 4. Understand the ideological arguments
between the major development paradigms.
Content:
From mercantilism to globalisation; the current structure of the world economy
and polity; the diversity of poor country trajectories; disciplinary approaches
to international development; development paradigms; wealth and poverty; trade,
debt and the international financial institutions; violence; gender relations;
the environment; development and the development industry. Key texts: Peter
Preston,'Development Theory'. Diana Hunt,'Economic Theories of Development'.
Ankie Hoogvelt,'Globalisation and the Postcolonial World'. Katy Gardner & David
Lewis,'Anthropology, Development and the Post-modern Challenge'. Andrew Boyd,'An
Atlas of World Affairs'.
ECOI0078: Developing countries in world politics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to give students an introduction to the main personalities
and events in the international arena since 1945 which have contributed to the
present position of developing countries in the current global order. Learning
objectives: By the end of the course unit students should be able to identify
the main personalities and events in world politics and explain their influence
on the politics and economics of developing countries. They should be able to
explain the role of developing countries in the origins and development of the
Cold War, and have an appreciation of the main debates about the Cold War.
Content:
The emergence of the League of Nations and the United Nations system; Bretton-Woods;
Developing Countries in the Cold War; India and South Asia: Independence and
Partition; Southeast Asia and Peasant Revolutions; African independence and
the South African liberation struggle; the Middle-East: Arab nationalism and
oil wealth; Latin America: revolution and dictatorship. Key texts: Peter Calvocoressi,'World
Politics Since 1945'. Geir Lundestad,'East, West, North, South: Major Developments
in International Politics Since 1945'. J. Dunbabin,'The Post-Imperial Age: The
Great Powers and the Wider World'.
ECOI0079: Economics of politics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 CW20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to apply introductory microeconomic theory to analyse
political behaviour. Students will investigate the extent to which a rational
choice model sheds insight on political behaviour and political institutions.
Thus, the intention is to provide students with an integrative link between
their understanding of economic theory and political science. The learning objective
is that by the end of the course students will be able to apply introductory
microeconomic theory to analyse political behaviour. They will be able to use
microeconomics to explain and predict why governments prefer one policy option
to another. They will be able to assess the costs involved in democratic decision
making processes. They will be able to identify and assess alleged 'failings'
of the political processes and associated prescriptions.
Content:
The course unit begins with a review of microeconomic welfare theory. This is
applied to explain and predict the behaviour of politicians, bureaucrats, voters
and pressure groups. The implications of adopting different collective decision
making rules are investigated. Case studies are used to illustrate theory. Assessment
is offered of the public choice school's assertion that government failure leads
to an excessively large public sector. Key texts: K.A. Shepsle and M.S. Bonchek,'Analyzing
Politics: Rationality, Behavior and Institutions'. J. Cullis and P. Jones,'Public
Finance and Public Choice'.
ECOI0080: Policy & Politics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: ES50 EX50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide an understanding of the concepts and methods
which can be employed in the analysis of economic and international development
policy. The intention is to provide students with an integrative link between
their understanding of economic theory and political science, via a grounding
in the principles of policy analysis. Learning objectives: By the end of this
course unit students should be able to provide an informed analysis of economic
policy processes; understand the role and limitations of rational techniques
in policy formulation and appraisal; understand the main factors likely to affect
policy implementation in a range of contexts. Students may develop a specialist
stream in policy analysis by selecting the second semester unit in Governance
and the Policy Process in Developing Countries ECOI0043.
Content:
Introduction to policy analysis; the analysis of policy in the context of theories
of the state; power and policy; ideology and policy: the case of privatisation;
models of policy decision-making; techniques in the policy process: the case
of cost-benefit analysis; policy and its implementation; analysing policy in
an international context; analysing policy in other cultures. Key texts: M.
Hill,'The Policy Process in the Modern State'. M. Hill (ed),'The Policy Process:
A Reader'. C. Hood,'Explaining Economic Policy Reversals'. B. Hogwood,'Trends
in British Public Policy'.
ECOI0081: Economic organisation of the European Community
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 ES20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this course unit is to apply introductory microeconomic and macroeconomic
principles to a range of European policy areas. The learning objective is that
students will have enhanced their understanding of European economic issues
begun in The Modern World Economy and to demonstrate the value of theoretical
analysis.
Content:
The following topics will be covered: EU trade policy and the economics of customs
unions; Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies of the EU; fiscal harmonisation
and EU budgetary policy; EU environmental policy; EU industrial and competition
policy; European Monetary Union and exchange rate arrangements. Key texts: T.
Hitiris,'European Union Economics'. M.J. Artis and N. Lee (eds),'The Economics
of the European Union'. A. El-Agraa (ed),'The European Union'.
EDUC0001: Exploring effective learning
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This unit is intended for those students who wish to explore their own learning
and to develop strategies for improving it. The unit reviews learning in lectures,
tutorials, seminars etc and assessment as encountered by students in higher
education. Starting from the students own approaches to learning it considers
more effective ways based on experience and research.
Content:
The nature of learning; what is learnt (skills, knowledge, values etc.); learning
styles; learning in groups; autonomy in learning; communication as part of the
learning process; study skills; presentation skills; time management; assessment
and being assessed. This is the recommended unit for those wishing to do one
education unit in the year, outside their degree programme.
EDUC0002: Learning: Theory & context
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This unit will consider more theoretical aspects of learning. It will consider
theories of learning and their application in particular situations including
schools, colleges, universities and lifelong learning. It will also explore
the implications of new technologies for learning and the impact of visual literacy
on learning.
Content:
Learning theories; information processing; experiential learning; metacognition;
reflection; language and learning; memory. Contexts for learning: schools, further
education, higher education, distance and open learning, the workplace, lifelong
learning. It is advisable to have done EDUC0001 before this unit, but it is
not a requirement. However, Natural Science students must have taken EDUC0001
in order to undertake this unit.
ESML0001: French written & spoken language 1A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To stimulate the production of authentic and accurate written and spoken French;
to provide a grounding in French grammatical and syntactic structures; to revise,
broaden and consolidate grasp of lexis and grammatical structures; to extend
awareness of style and linguistic register; to develop skills in translation
from French into English; to practise receptive and communicative skills.
Content:
(a) Translation: varieties of register, written translation from French into
English, introduction to essay writing. (b) Grammar/creative writing: introduction
to résumé, systematic practical grammar course, introduction to
CALL multimedia, development of lexis. (c) Spoken Language: comprehension, text
recreation, controlled oral production, course-related conversation sessions.
ESML0002: French written & spoken language 1B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0001
Aims & learning objectives:
To stimulate the production of authentic and accurate written and spoken French;
to provide a grounding in French grammatical and syntactic structures; to revise,
broaden and consolidate grasp of lexis and grammatical structures; to develop
awareness of style and linguistic register; to develop skills in translation
from French into English; to practise receptive and communicative skills.
Content:
(a) Translation: varieties of register, written translation from French into
English, introduction to essay writing, dictée. (b) Grammar/creative
writing: introduction to résuméé, systematic practical grammar
course, development of lexis, prose translation, text comparison. (c) Spoken
Language: comprehension, text recreation, controlled oral production, course-related
conversation sessions.
ESML0007: French written & spoken language 2A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0002
Aims & learning objectives:
To continue the production of authentic and accurate written and spoken French;
to provide further work in French grammatical and syntactic structures; to revise,
broaden and consolidate grasp of lexis and grammatical structures; to extend
awareness of style and linguistic register; to develop skills in translation
from French into English; to practise receptive and communicative skills.
Content:
(a) Translation: varieties of register, written translation from French into
English, extempore translation, cloze tests. (b) Grammar/creative writing: introduction
to guided essay, systematic practical grammar course, development of lexis.
(c) Spoken Language: comprehension, text recreation, controlled oral production,
course-related conversation sessions.
ESML0008: French written & spoken language 2B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX54 CW20 OR26
Requisites: Pre ESML0007
Aims & learning objectives:
To continue the production of authentic and accurate written and spoken French;
to provide further work in French grammatical and syntactic structures; to revise,
broaden and consolidate grasp of lexis and grammatical structures; to extend
awareness of style and linguistic register; to develop skills in translation
from French into English; to practise receptive and communicative skills.
Content:
(a) Translation: varieties of register, written translation from French into
English, extempore translation, cloze tests, dictée. (b) Grammar/creative
writing: introduction to guided essay, systematic practical grammar course,
development of lexis, text comparison. (c) Spoken Language: comprehension, text
recreation, controlled oral production, course-related conversation sessions.
ESML0013: French written & spoken language 4A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0008
Aims & learning objectives:
To develop advanced skills in the comprehension and production of written French;
To provide a structured but informal context for the development of a variety
of advanced oral skills. To exploit competence in written and oral French developed
during the first two years of the course and, where appropriate, during the
third year placement in France (or equivalent).
Content:
Written Language: translation from French into English; summarization and re-writing
(in French); language commentary (in French); analysis of style and register
(contemporary social, political, literary). Spoken Language: explication and
debate, through lector-led group discussion and individual presentation. Material
covers a wide range of political, social, cultural subjects, within the context
of current French concern.
ESML0014: French written & spoken language 4B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX38 CW17 OR27 OT18
Requisites: Pre ESML0013
Aims & learning objectives:
To develop advanced skills in the comprehension and production of written French.
To provide a structured but informal context for the development of a variety
of advanced oral skills. To exploit competence in written and oral French developed
during the first two years of the course and, where, appropriate, during the
third year placement in France (or equivalent). By the end of the unit, students
should be able to communicate effectively and sensitively with native speakers
of French on social, political and cultural topics, orally and in writing in
a broad range of appropriate registers and in both professional and social contexts.
Content:
Written Language: translation from French into English; summarization and re-writing
(in French); language commentary (in French); analysis of style and register
(contemporary social, political, literary). Spoken Language: explication and
debate, through lector-led group discussion and individual presentation, focusing
on and in preparation for the requirements of the final oral examination. Material
covers a wide range of political, social, cultural subjects, within the context
of current French concern.
ESML0030: German written & spoken language 1A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The unit pursues a dual aim. (1) To refresh and consolidate students knowledge
and understanding of grammatical structures; to enable them to apply the acquired
skills to the production of coherent and fluent written composition; to introduce
them to a variety of German texts dealing with appropriate contemporary issues.
(2) To improve students communicative and listening skills (oral/aural) and
to expand their vocabulary so that they are able to express themselves clearly
in everyday as well as in academic contexts as appropriate; to enable students
to formulate their own ideas and to interact effectively in German and to adjust
flexibly to various situations by using a suitable register.
Content:
(1) In respect of i. the consolidation of German language structures: this unit
focuses on the various classes of words, their declension and their function
within the phrase/ sentence; ii. written communication: a variety of linguistic
skills are developed by means of translation into and from German and essay
writing in German (2) Spoken language classes may consist of free discussions
with the entire group, interactive exercises (e.g. role play, small-group discussions,
one-to-one exchange of ideas). Austrian and German video material and newspaper
articles form the basis for discussion and assessment, whilst improving awareness
of contemporary life in the German-speaking world.
ESML0031: German written & spoken language 1B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0030
Aims & learning objectives:
The unit builds on ESML0030, pursuing the same dual aim. (1) To refresh and
consolidate students knowledge and understanding of grammatical structures;
enable them to apply the acquired skills to the production of coherent and fluent
written composition; to introduce them to a variety of German texts dealing
with appropriate contemporary issues. (2) To improve students communicative
and listening skills (oral/aural) and to expand their vocabulary so that they
are able to express themselves clearly in everyday as well as in academic contexts
as appropriate; to enable students to formulate their own ideas and to interact
effectively in German and to adjust flexibly to various situations by using
a suitable register.
Content:
(1) In respect of i. the consolidation of German language structures: this unit
focuses on complex grammar points and German syntax; ii. written communication:
a variety of linguistic skills are developed by means of translation into and
from German and essay writing in German. (2) Spoken language classes may consist
of free discussions with the entire group, interactive exercises (e.g. role
play, small-group discussions, one-to-one exchange of ideas). Austrian and German
video material and newspaper articles form the basis for discussion and assessment,
whilst improving awareness of contemporary life in the German-speaking world.
ESML0036: German written & spoken language 2A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0031
Aims & learning objectives:
To build on knowledge (grammatical accuracy and range of vocabulary) and writing
skills acquired in Year 1. Having successfully completed this unit, students
should be able, at the appropriate level, to: translate texts (German to English);
summarize English texts into German and write short essays expressing a personal
opinion on a given topic.
Content:
German to English translation, English to German summarisation, German essay-writing
in response to text-based questions.
ESML0037: German written & spoken language 2B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX54 CW20 OR26
Requisites: Pre ESML0036
Aims & learning objectives:
To build on knowledge (grammatical accuracy and range of vocabulary) and writing
skills acquired in Year 2 semester 1. Having successfully completed this unit,
students should be able, at the appropriate level, to: translate texts (German
to English) with an increased awareness of nuance of meaning; summarize English
texts (as wide-ranging in topic and style as time and circumstances permit)
into German and write short essays with good grammatical awareness and fluency
of style, and to translate a dictated English text into German.
Content:
German to English translation, English to German summarisation, German essay-writing
in response to text-based questions; extempore German-to-English translation.
ESML0048: German written & spoken language 4A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0037
Aims & learning objectives:
To refine students' ability to translate competently from German into English
in a variety of contemporary registers. To develop their summarisation skills
so that they are able to produce a précis in sophisticated German of
a complex English text on a subject of broad contemporary interest. To enable
students to write coherent, well-argued and grammatically correct essays in
German in response to issues raised in complex German texts. To enhance students'
knowledge of the spoken language acquired during their year abroad so that they
are able to converse fluently on contemporary issues and deliver sophisticated
oral presentations on topics of their choice.
Content:
Written language: (a) Translation from German into English is the focus of one
of the two weekly hours. The main emphasis in this semester will be placed on
dealing with texts written in more colloquial registers. (b) The second weekly
hour is devoted to the production of German in summarisation and essay-writing
exercises. In this semester particular attention will be devoted to developing
essay-writing skills. Spoken language: The emphasis is on project work carried
out both on a group and an individual basis, with the chosen topics of an appropriately
complex and controversial nature.
ESML0049: German written & spoken language 4B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX38 CW17 OR27 OT18
Requisites: Pre ESML0048
Aims & learning objectives:
To refine students' ability to translate competently from German into English
in a variety of contemporary registers. To develop their summarisation skills
so that they are able to produce a précis in sophisticated German of
a complex English text on a subject of broad contemporary interest. To enable
students to write coherent, well-argued and grammatically correct essays in
German in response to issues raised in complex German texts. To enhance students'
knowledge of the spoken language acquired during their year abroad so that they
are able to converse fluently on contemporary issues and deliver sophisticated
oral presentations on topics of their choice.
Content:
Written language: (a) Translation from German into English is the focus of one
of the two weekly hours. The main emphasis in this semester will be placed on
translating texts written in more formal registers. (b) The second weekly hour
is devoted to the production of German in summarisation and essay-writing exercises.
In this semester particular attention will be paid to developing summarisation
skills. Spoken language: As before, project work will be carried out both on
a group and an individual basis. Additional emphasis will now be placed on developing
students' presentational skills in preparation for their oral examination.
ESML0062: Italian written & spoken language 1A (post
A level)
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To consolidate students' existing knowledge of Italian grammar and syntax, and
to enable them to deploy these structures correctly in written texts and exercises.
Aural comprehension and oral communication skills in practical contexts are
developed through the use of authentic audio-visual material and class contact
with native speakers.
Content:
Written Language: a grammar text is used to revise the fundamentals of the language
and as a basis for regular exercises. Translation texts are used to familiarise
students with contemporary written Italian, in particular the language of the
press and modern narrative. Spoken Language: conversation groups, role-playing,
supervised audio-visual classes provide practice in the spoken language and
are used as a stimulus for creative written work.
ESML0063: Italian written & spoken language 1B (post
A level)
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0062
Aims & learning objectives:
To expand students' knowledge of Italian grammar and syntax and to enable them
to deploy these structures fluently and effectively in the production of written
texts and exercises. Aural comprehension and oral communication skills are further
extended through the use of advanced audio-visual material and class contact
with lectors.
Content:
Written Language: more complex grammatical problems are studied with the aid
of specially prepared handouts and explored through regular exercises. Excerpts
from the Italian press and other authentic sources are used to expand writing
skills in more formal contexts. Spoken Language: the oral activities from Semester
1, such as supervised audio-visual practice and role-playing, will continue
and equip students with more sophisticated communicative skills for more formal
contexts.
ESML0068: Italian written & spoken language 2A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Students must have taken either ESML0061, or ESML0063. Aims & learning objectives:
To broaden students' command of contemporary written Italian with greater emphasis
on resolving complex grammatical points; to build on the communication skills
acquired in the Year 1, and to improve oral proficiency and aural comprehension.
Content:
Written Language: prose and translation exercises from a variety of literary
and non-literary texts; general essays. Spoken Language: role-playing, paired
and group activities, dictation, summarisation of audio-visual texts in Italian,
reading, conversation classes.
ESML0069: Italian written & spoken language 2B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX54 OR26 CW20
Requisites: Pre ESML0068
Aims & learning objectives:
To build on students' linguistic competence as acquired in Semester 1. To expand
students' vocabulary in social and cultural areas and to develop sensitivity
to style and register.
Content:
Written Language: prose and translation exercises from a variety of literary
and non-literary texts; general essays. Spoken Language: role-playing, paired
and group activities, dictation, summarisation of audio-visual texts in Italian,
reading, conversation classes.
ESML0074: Italian written & spoken language 4A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0069
Aims & learning objectives:
To refine students' competence in written and spoken Italian; to extend the
range of terminology and linguistic registers, including the political and economic.
To perfect students' skills in translating texts from and into Italian in a
variety of registers. To develop their summarisation skills and enable them
to express complex ideas and arguments in writing. To draw upon students' periods
of residence in Italy in order to strengthen oral fluency and conversational
skills.
Content:
Written Language: prose, translation, summarisation (in Italian); analysis of
style and register (contemporary social, political and literary). Spoken Language:
précis-writing, presentations, lector-organised discussion and debate
on issues linked to Year 4 Options and Italian current affairs.
ESML0075: Italian written & spoken language 4B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX56 CW17 OR27
Requisites: Pre ESML0074
Aims & learning objectives:
To further develop and consolidate students' skills in translating complex texts
from and into Italian, and in developing a sophisticated argument in the form
of a long essay in Italian. To enable students to converse competently and fluently
and to deliver sophisticated oral presentations in Italian on social, political
and cultural topics.
Content:
Written Language: prose, translation, and essay writing classes based on excerpts
from the press, contemporary writers and specialised journals. Spoken Language:
Oral presentations, lector-organised discussion and debate on political, social
and cultural topics.
ESML0081: Russian written & spoken language 1A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To consolidate knowledge of basic grammar, broaden vocabulary and improve aural
comprehension. To develop fluency in spoken Russian at the level of everyday
conversation.
Content:
Prose and essay composition; translation into English; grammar revision; conversation.
Students must be qualified in Russian to approximately A-level standard.
ESML0084: Russian written & spoken language 1B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0081
Aims & learning objectives:
To further consolidate knowledge of basic grammar, broaden vocabulary and improve
aural comprehension. To further develop fluency in spoken Russian at the level
of everyday conversation.
Content:
Prose and essay composition; translation into English; grammar revision; conversation.
ESML0089: Russian written & spoken language 2A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0084, Pre ESML0085
Students must have taken either ESML0084, or ESML0085. Aims & learning objectives:
To deepen knowledge of Russian grammar, expand lexis and develop translation
skills in several registers. To give students practice in expressing themselves
in writing. To improve aural comprehension and to begin to develop fluency in
spoken Russian at the level of everyday conversation.
Content:
Written Language: systematic review of Russian grammar with exercises and drills
drawn from a variety of sources; translations into Russian and English with
discussion of grammatical points, lexis etc. Essay writing in Russian with discussion
of stylistic points and vocabulary. Spoken Language: small group conversation
on a range of themes; role-playing; task-based use of audio-visual material.
To assist vocabulary acquisition, work in written and spoken language will be
organised around themes of geography & peoples and culture & recreation.
ESML0092: Russian written & spoken language 2B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX54 CW20 OR26
Requisites: Pre ESML0089
Aims & learning objectives:
To deepen knowledge of Russian grammar, expand lexis and develop translation
skills in several registers. To give students practice in expressing themselves
in writing. To improve aural comprehension to the point at which the gist of
a TV news item can be understood and to develop fluency in spoken Russian at
the level of everyday conversation.
Content:
Written Language: systematic review of Russian grammar with exercises and drills
drawn from a variety of sources; translations into Russian and English with
discussion of grammatical points, lexis etc. Essay writing in Russian with discussion
of stylistic points and vocabulary. Spoken Language: small group conversation
on a range of themes; role-playing; task-based use of audio-visual material.
To assist vocabulary acquisition, work in written and spoken language will be
organised around themes of social issues, history and politics.
ESML0095: Russian written & spoken language 4A
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: CW100
Requisites: Pre ESML0092
Aims & learning objectives:
To consolidate knowledge of Russian grammar, further expand lexis and further
develop translation skills. To enable students to translate modern literary
Russian and non-technical academic and journalistic Russian, into English. To
enable students to translate selected English passages into Russian, and to
express ideas and arguments in writing. To improve fluency in spoken Russian.
Content:
Written Language: translation into and from Russian and discussion of grammatical
points, lexis etc. Conversation and audio-visual classes. Spoken Language: discussion
of selected topics on a range of themes (ecology, social issues, feminism etc).
ESML0096: Russian written & spoken language 4B
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX56 CW17 OR27
Requisites: Pre ESML0095
Aims & learning objectives:
To consolidate knowledge of Russian grammar, further expand lexis and further
develop translation skills. To enable students to translate modern literary
Russian and non-technical academic and journalistic Russian, into English with
minimal use of a dictionary. To enable students to translate selected English
passages into idiomatic Russian, and to express complex ideas and arguments
in writing. To develop fluency in spoken Russian.
Content:
Written Language: translation into and from Russian and discussion of grammatical
points, lexis etc. Conversation and audio-visual classes. Spoken Language: discussion
of selected topics on a range of themes (culture, politics in Russia etc).
ESML0101: Russian national option R4: Gorbachev & Perestroika
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites: Pre ESML0094, Pre HASS0005
Students must have taken either ESML0094, or HASS0005. Aims & learning objectives:
To investigate political and social developments in the years 1985-1991 in greater
depth than in ESML0094.
Content:
Origins of perestroika; glasnost and democratization; nationalities issues and
conflicts; the collapse of communism.
ESML0102: Russian national option R5: Politics in post-communist
Russia
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites: Pre ESML0094, Pre HASS0005
Students must have taken either ESML0094, or HASS0005. Aims & learning objectives:
To examine the dilemmas of economic and political reconstruction and of external
relations posed by the collapse of the communist political order in Russia,
and efforts to resolve these problems since August 1991. To develop skills in
political analysis and seminar techniques.
Content:
Political institutions and actors in Russia in August 1991; dimensions of the
crisis surrounding the collapse of Soviet communism; theoretical approaches
to transition; first steps of the political leadership; reform and political
conflict; dilemmas of foreign policy; political elites; civil society; political
culture; 1993 Constitution; elections and party formation; legal order and corruption;
local government; federalism and ethnic politics; gender politics; prospects.
ESML0103: Europe 1A: Introduction to European studies
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To begin an exploration of the historical and cultural identity of Europe; to
introduce basic political concepts (nationalism, imperialism, communism and
fascism) in a European historical context; to introduce cultural studies as
a discipline in the context of European culture in the first half of the twentieth
century.
Content:
Defining Europe - history, languages and culture; nations and empires in 19th
Century Europe; the First World War; communism and fascism in interwar Europe;
the Second World War; studying European culture; images of war in 20th Century
Europe.
ESML0104: Europe 1B: Europe since 1945
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To compare the experience of Eastern and Western Europe since 1945; to introduce
students, in this context, to analysis of the political structure and culture
of liberal democracies and to analysis of the structures and problems of modern
economies; to examine the interaction of culture and politics in post-war Europe.
Content:
Europe in the Cold War era; politics and culture in post-war Europe; economic
and social change in Western Europe; liberal democratic politics in Europe -
elections and party systems; political culture; the rise and fall of European
communist states and command economies; economic and political problems in the
age of globalisation; postmodernism in European culture.
ESML0105: Europe 2A: Politics of the European Union
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To introduce students to key theories of European integration; to trace the
development of the E.C. from the 1950s to the present; to examine issues of
contemporary relevance to European integration. Students will develop an awareness
and understanding of European integration issues and be able to discuss them
on the basis of background knowledge attained during lectures and readings.
Content:
Theories of European integration; the origins of the E.C.; the Rome Treaty and
the Single Act; Britain and the E.C; the road to Maastricht; the institutions
of the E.C. and E.U.; the democratic deficit; the 1996 Inter Governmental Conference;
the E.U. as a world actor; monetary union; citizenship and "the people's Europe";
the E.U., Eastern Europe and enlargement; the future of the E.U.
ESML0294: European option E5: In search of Europe (1)
- Europe divided
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To explore the concept of Europe 1945-1989. To discuss the implications for
both Western and Eastern Europe of Soviet-American rivalries during the Cold
War.
Content:
The Cold War; strengths and weaknesses of the Soviet bloc before 1989; Cold
War and détente in Western Europe (1960s-1980s); 1989 and the collapse of Cold
War era political systems.
ESML0295: European option E6: In search of Europe (2)
- Europe in the 1990s: towards unification?
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES67 CW33
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To explore the concept of Europe since 1989, examining the nature of European,
national and regional identities.
Content:
Immediate consequences of 1989; the resurgence of particularism; forces for
integration.
ESML0385: European political thought
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
Students should acquire a solid understanding of the history and development
of political theory in Europe.
Content:
The course provides a survey of the major European politcal thinkers from Niccolo
Machiavelli to Antonio Gramsci.
ESML0410: Political ideologies
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES50 EX50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide a grounding in the study of political ideologies, namely the thought
which has been central to modern political debate, and to show the importance
of ideas to the study of politics. By the end of the unit students should be
able to demonstrate i) an understanding of the notion of ideology, and of the
key political ideologies discussed, and ii) an ability to engage with and analyse
the main debates and arguments discussed in the course.
Content:
The lectures will focus on the main ideologies which have helped shape the modern
world, together with more methodological debates surrounding the study of ideology.
Lectures will include: what is 'ideology'?; liberalism; conservatism; Marxism;
social democracy; nationalism; feminism; ecologism; and the 'end of ideology'
debate.
ESML0414: American politics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim is to provide students with a knowledge and understanding of central
arguments and debates relating to the American political system, and to equip
them to contribute to these debates, citing relevant evidence.
Content:
The course applies the concepts and theories of political science to the United
states of America, assessing the role played by formal and informal political
entities. Notions of liberal democracy are assessed by reference to debates
on the role of political parties, interest groups, elites and political culture
on political outcomes in America. A number of case studies consider the political
significance from a European perspective of questions of race and poverty, judicial
review, and the American foreign policy process.
ESML0415: Media politics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim is to provide students with a grounding in the theory and practice relating
to the political significance of the mass media, with reference to a number
of case studies. Students should attain an awareness of the significance of
the media in the public sphere and in the democratic process. They should also
attain skills in conceptualising the media's role.
Content:
The course examines alternative theories of the political role of the mass media,
and applies these to case studies. Topics include the Frankfurt School and mass
culture, Marxist and pluralist notions of the media, the 'propaganda model',
notions of public broadcasting, cinema and politics, the global role of the
media, and the media and war.
ESML0416: Totalitarian politics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To further student's knowledge of comparative politics and history by examining
20th century European communist and facist movements and regimes, with particular
attention being paid to the relevance of the concept of 'totalitarianism' to
these. The main focus will be on Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. By the end
of the unit, students should be able to demonstrate: i) an understanding of
the main theories of the rise, nature and failure of communism and fascist regimes;
ii) familiarity with the concept of 'totalitarianism' and debates relating to
its use.
Content:
The concept of 'totalitarianism'; the role of ideas and ideology in the genesis
of fascist and communist movements and regimes; state and leadership in communist
and fascist regimes; coercion and support; the Holocaust; the decay of communism;
the possibility of the revival of fascism and communism in Europe.
ESML0417: British politics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide a grounding in the study of the British political system, including
wider aspects of Britain's relations with the EU. Students will attain a broad
knowledge of British Politics, and the skills of being able to engage with the
main arguments and debates, and analyse major problems in the subject area.
Content:
The lectures will focus on a wide range of specific topics central to beginning
to study politics (parties, institutions, etc.). Lectures will include: conservatism;
social democracy; voting behaviour; the media; electoral systems; parliament;
executive; Britain and the European Union.
ESML0428: Film, politics & society
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide students with a grounding in debates about the social and political
significance and "effects" of film and television drama and documentary, in
various industrial, national and global contexts. Students should attain the
ability to read and interpret film texts and to understand and assess the visual
and other codes of film language; they should also gain a confidence in discussing
and analysing the significance of film in particular political and historical
contexts.
Content:
The course draws on a number of theoretical approaches to film and the mass
media, and draws on theoretical work on the political and social significance
of film. The course deals with questions of the construction and reception of
political meaning in film and television drama, and at issues relating to film
and national identity, film policy, political culture, censorship, propaganda,
and the notion of documentary. Examples are drawn in particular, but not exclusively
from American and European film.
MANG0008: Introduction to the financial management of
the organisation
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: IMML - 50% MANG 50% ESML
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX50 CW50
Requisites: Co MANG0004
Students should already have taken MANG0004 or MANG0077. Aims & learning
objectives:
Students will understand how accounting and financial management serves the
purpose of developing and operating a business. They will acquire a broad knowledge
of the different dimensions of financial management and accounting which they
may study in depth in later years of the course and an introductory working
knowledge of basic tools of financial analysis and practice.
Content:
(a) Financial planning and control; The financial dimension of businesses and
other organisations; Investing in assets to yield a return - including the use
of spreadsheets to calculate investment value and conduct sensitivity tests;
Financing asset acquisition and an introduction to the cost of capital; Estimating
costs for planned activities - fixed and variable costs; direct and indirect
costs; basic elements of product cost; Preparation of cash budgets - including
spreadsheet modelling and sensitivity tests; Annual budgeting, profit planning,
liquidity control and longer term financial projections; Preparation of budgets
and projected Profit and Loss Accounts and Balance Sheets; Controlling operations
and cost control. (b) Reporting results in financial terms; Reporting performance
and financial results to higher levels in the organisation - cost centre reports,
profit centre reports, investment centre reports; Reporting the results to shareholders
and other outside parties - preparation of final accounts, structure and interpretation
of final accounts, underlying concepts (going concern, prudence, materiality,
etc.); Measures of performance in the financial press - share prices, earnings
per share, p/e ratios, assessing the quality of earnings announcements, etc.;
Outline of the role of company law, the accounting profession and Accounting
Standards in controlling the content of published information; Outline of complications
created by going international/ global for investment analysis, financing the
business, financial control and financial reporting.
MANG0009: Company finance
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: IMML - 50% MANG 50% ESML
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 CW50
Requisites: Pre MANG0008
Aims & learning objectives:
Students will develop a knowledge of the different forms of finance that a company
may use, how to compare their costs, and consider issues such a desirable capital
structure, dividend policy, working capital management and approaches to acquisitions
and mergers.
Content:
General principles of valuation for businesses and securities Source of finance
and their costs Managing working capital and liquidity The corporate group cost
of capital (WACC and the dividend growth, CAPM, and Arbitrage pricing models)
The required rates of return for non-quoted companies, corporate divisions and
individual projects The theory of capital structure and its relation to the
cost of capital Dividend policy Short, intermediate and long term financing
Mergers, acquisitions and corporate growth
MANG0018: Processing, reporting & auditing financial
information
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: IMML - 50% MANG 50% ESML
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre MANG0008
Aims & learning objectives:
Students will gain a thorough grounding in processing financial data and preparing
final accounts and a general understanding of what is involved in the audit
of those accounts. This is an essential course for those contemplating a possible
career in some dimension of accountancy.
Content:
The nature of financial data, purposes of financial information systems - manual
and computerised systems Single and double entry recording systems and basic
ledgers kept by businesses The accruals principle applied to the treatment of
various types of costs, revenues, assets and liabilities The depreciation concept
Trial balancing Preparation of Manufacturing Accounts, Profit and Loss Accounts,
Balance Sheets, Funds and Cash Flow Statements Direct experience of using an
established financial accounting package including inputting data, types of
outputs available and the production of accounting statements Basic distinctions
between the accounts of sole traders, partnerships and companies Preparation
of final accounts from incomplete records Introduction to published accounts
The purpose and basis of the audit process; the audit trail and types of audit
evidence Developing audit evidence; consideration of the concepts of materiality
and audit risk Evaluation of internal controls
MANG0019: Product costing & cost analysis
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: IMML - 50% MANG 50% ESML
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 CW50
Requisites: Pre MANG0008
Aims & learning objectives:
Students will gain a thorough understanding and practical experience in constructing
cost accounting statements and interpreting them. This is a fundamental course
for anyone wishing to understand how costs are constructed for decision purposes
Content:
Review of the nature of product costs and process costs Costing terminology
and identifying cost behaviour Historical based cost accounting systems for
Job and Process costing (FIFO, LIFO and weighted average) Job and process costing
- establishing standard cost systems Absorption and variable costing systems
(including differential income effects) Overhead allocation including activity
based allocations Costing for joint products, by-products, wastage, rework and
scrap Cost-volume-profit analysis and relevant costs for decision purposes Relevant
costs where resources are constrained: single and multiple constraints and mathematical
programming solutions by graph and computer package Stock control models and
the influence of JIT in supply and manufacturing Costing for JIT systems Costing
for service industries Costing for major projects and project financial control
MANG0023: Business forecasting
Semester 1
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX60 CW40
Requisites:
Pre MATH0095 or UNIV0036 Aims & learning objectives:
Almost all organisations use forecasts as necessary ingredients for decision
making. The main objective of this course is to introduce students to the various
forecasting techniques most commonly used in a business context and methods
by which these techniques can be evaluated.
Content:
The primary focus is on univariate (time series) forecasting methods but the
course will also deal with causal modelling and diffusion models for technological
forecasting.
MANG0026: Economic analysis of financial decisions
Semester 1
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre MANG0008
Aims & learning objectives:
The course aims to demonstrate the close links between economic analysis on
the one hand and management accounting and financial management on the other.
It explores the use of optimisation approaches and considers , in depth, problems
faced in investment decision-making. The course will include some computer based
analysis of cost functions and investment modelling
Content:
The relationship of accounting cost concepts to those in economics (e.g. by-product
analysis and marginal costs) Short-run and long-run cost functions and their
relevance to choice of accounting models Cost behaviour analysis and the analysis
of cost functions through regression analysis using appropriate software to
generate scatter diagrams and graphical presentations Learning curves - theory
and practice Optimisation, Opportunity costs and constraints Costs, prices,
profits and different rates of return Productivity concepts and measurement
The concept of economic value Financial appraisal of investments, including
analysis of different appraisal techniques, risk analysis, expected values,
decision-trees and simulations Different types of investment decisions Making
investment decisions where benefits are difficult to quantify ( e.g intangibles,
strategic investments, investments to retain options, investments associated
with mergers and acquisitions) Errors often made in investment appraisal
MANG0030: Financial control & performance evaluation
Semester 1
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre MANG0008
Aims & learning objectives:
Students will acquire a understanding of how organisations use financial information
to evaluate managers, operatives and business segments
Content:
Different types of budgets and their purposes - feedback and feed-forward controls,
flexible budgets, engineered, committed and discretionary costs Short-term and
long-term budget construction - with computer simulations Analysis of variances
from budgets, variance analysis in standard costing systems Essential concepts
in responsibility accounting (controllable and non-controllable costs, etc.
) and performance evaluation of managers and operational units Behavioural issues
in budgeting and control by variance analysis Centralised and decentralised
organisations and financial control implications Strengths and weaknesses of
aggregated financial measures of performance such as ROI and Residual Income
and their impact on investment decision- making Shareholder Value Analysis for
SBU / divisional performance goal setting and appraisal. Behavioural implications
of divisional control and the internal control function in large divisionalised
organisations Transfer pricing Operative and manager bonus / incentive schemes
Development of balanced scorecards
MANG0040: European integration studies 1
Semester 1
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: IMML - 50% MANG 50% ESML
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Students should have taken MANG0006 or MANG0070, or equivalent Economics
unit. IMML students must take MANG0059 in the next semester if they take this
unit. Aims & learning objectives:
To provide a basic grounding in the theory, politics and economics of European
integration. Students will complete the course with a sound knowledge of European
Union institutions and key economic policies.
Content:
Subjects covered will be: integration theory; EU political institutions, their
legitimacy and their accountability; the EU decision-making process; EC finances
and funds; the single market and Europe's lost competitiveness; competition
policy; the EU, world trade and developing countries; regional policy; economic
and monetary union; the enlargement of the EU, the EEA and Central and Eastern
Europe. Lectures will be supplemented by case study discussions, tutorial sessions
and a revision workshop.
MANG0055: Corporate governance & regulation
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: IMML - 50% MANG 50% ESML
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Students should have taken MANG0008 or MANG0070. Aims & learning objectives:
The course will acquaint students with a range of issues which come under the
broad heading of governance and regulation of corporate practices. This will
include the nature of the company and responsibilities of its principal officers,
concerns about the state of corporate governance and the special regulatory
issues associated with public control over utilities. The latter part of the
course will recognise the growing phenomenon of globalisation and the need for
regulation by international accounting standards
Content:
Issues selected each year from: The nature of the corporation and the position
of shareholders, chairmen, CEOs, executive directors and non-executive directors;
The nature of corporate governance and development of a conceptual framework
for governance - including the relationship between governance and management;
Examples of crises in governance; Governance as exercised in different countries;
Whistle-blowing as a means of governance; The place of top executive compensation
schemes in corporate governance considerations; Regulation of MNCs and cross-border
transfer pricing; The regulation of public utilities; International standard
setting in accounting and relationship to national standards; Financial reporting
in the European Union; Comparative accounting practices in selected countries.
Financial statement analysis using accounts of different countries
MANG0059: European integration studies 2
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: IMML - 50% MANG 50% ESML
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES100
Requisites: Pre MANG0040
IMML students must take this unit if they have taken MANG0040 in the previous
semester. Aims & learning objectives:
To provide an advanced knowledge of the impact of European policies on individuals,
managements and work organisations in the European Union. Students will complete
the course unit with a detailed knowledge of social, environmental and sectoral
impacts of integration and how business interests can influence the EU decision-making
process.
Content:
Subjects covered will be: Social and employment policy issues and the firm;
EU environment policy and its impact upon business and communities; the harmonisation
of company law; sectoral impacts of the single market and business strategies;
lobbying the EU; transport policy and trans-European networks; implementation
of EC law; the future direction of the EU. Lectures will be supplemented by
case study discussions, a decision-making game, and tutorial sessions.
MANG0060: Europe & international business management
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX60 ES30 OT10
Requisites:
Students should have taken MANG0006 or MANG0070, or MANG0169, or equivalent
economics unit. Aims & learning objectives:
The course aims to introduce and assess the forms, motivations and processes
of establishing and developing a multinational both in manufacturing and service
industries. The students should be able: to understand and assess the options
available to companies undergoing the internationalisation process; to analyse
the different issues that arise and problems that need to be addressed when
establishing and operating subsidiaries and affiliates across national boundaries;
the impact of technology on the configuration and co-ordination of operations;
the impact on host countries and the companies themselves; to identify and explain
actual examples using theories introduced in the course.
Content:
The theories of international business, including internalisation, the eclectic
theory and other theories of the multinational enterprise. The motivations for
multinational operation - economic globalisation, competitive rivalry, resource
or market seeking. The different forms of multinational operation, including
contractual forms, joint ventures, etc. but with a particular focus on foreign
direct investment. An assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of each.
The strategic options for establishing a global network of subsidiaries. The
course will require students to present industry/company-based case studies
of foreign direct investment - from both inside and outside the European Union
to illustrate and explain the theories of international business.
MANG0067: Treasury management
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: IMML - 50% MANG 50% ESML
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Pre MANG0008 or MANG0070, or MANG0170. Aims & learning objectives:
To show how a large company manages sources of capital, relations with financial
markets and shareholders and balances needs for finance with internationally
spread organisations.
Content:
Issues selected from: Reviewing sources of finance and their costs International
and domestic aspects of cash management Sources of Return and risk Value at
Risk Analysis Portfolio risk management Foreign exchange markets and foreign
exchange rate risks Exposure management:hedging, swaps, options, interest rate
risk, etc. Complications in investment appraisal in undertaking direct investment
abroad International financing Foreign exchange markets and foreign exchange
rate risks Exposure management: hedging, swaps, options, interest rate risk,
etc. Complications in investment appraisal in undertaking direct investment
abroad International financing
MANG0071: Organisational behaviour
Semester 1
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX60 CW40
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To develop the student's understanding of people's behaviour within work organizations
Content:
Topics of study will be drawn from the following: The meaning of organising
and organisation Socialisation, organisational norms and organisational culture
Bureaucracy, organisational design and new organisational forms Managing organisational
change Power and politics Business ethics Leadership and team work Decision
-making Motivation Innovation Gender The future of work
MANG0094: Economics of incentives
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: IMML - 50% MANG 50% ESML
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES30 OT20
Requisites:
This course is intended for those who have MANG0012 or ECOI0010 and ECOI0045.
Others with ECOI0044, MANG0006 and placement experience should undertake preparatory
reading. Aims & learning objectives:
This course uses economics to investigate the incentives generated by a range
of contractual relationships. Students will link economic ideas to their own
experiences in the workplace, and they will develop their written and oral communication
skills.
Content:
Incentives are an integral part of many areas in economics, and so the topics
examined in the course come from a range of economic disciplines. The course
examines the application of principal-agent models to labour markets, capital
markets, insurance markets, and corporate governance issues. Some of the topics
addressed in the course will be: The use of pay systems to influence the behaviour
of managerial and non-managerial employees; transaction costs as the reason
for the existence of contracts; the importance of institutional structures as
a response to transaction costs; and moral hazard and adverse selection.
MATH0031: Statistics & probability 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Mathematics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
Students must have A-level Mathematics, Grade B or better in order to undertake
this unit. Aims & learning objectives:
Aims: To introduce some basic concepts in probability and statistics. Objectives:
Ability to perform an exploratory analysis of a data set, apply the axioms and
laws of probability, and compute quantities relating to discrete probability
distributions
Content:
Descriptive statistics: Histograms, stem-and-leaf plots, box plots. Measures
of location and dispersion. Scatter plots. Probability: Sample space, events
as sets, unions and intersections. Axioms and laws of probability. Probability
defined through symmetry, relative frequency and degree of belief. Conditional
probability, independence. Bayes' Theorem. Combinations and permutations. Discrete
random variables: Bernoulli and Binomial distributions. Mean and variance of
a discrete random variable. Poisson distribution, Poisson approximation to the
binomial distribution, introduction to the Poisson process. Geometric distribution.
Hypergeometric distribution. Negative binomial distribution. Bivariate discrete
distributions including marginal and conditional distributions. Expectation
and variance of discrete random variables. General properties including expectation
of a sum, variance of a sum of independent variables. Covariance. Probability
generating function. Introduction to the random walk.
MATH0032: Statistics & probability 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Mathematics
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Pre MATH0031
Aims & learning objectives:
Aims: To introduce further concepts in probability and statistics. Objectives:
Ability to compute quantities relating to continuous probability distributions,
fit certain types of statistical model to data, and be able to use the MINITAB
package.
Content:
Continuous random variables: Density functions and cumulative distribution functions.
Mean and variance of a continuous random variable. Uniform, exponential and
normal distributions. Normal approximation to binomial and continuity correction.
Fact that the sum of independent normals is normal. Distribution of a monotone
transformation of a random variable. Fitting statistical models: Sampling distributions,
particularly of sample mean. Standard error. Point and interval estimates. Properties
of point estimators including bias and variance. Confidence intervals: for the
mean of a normal distribution, for a proportion. Opinion polls. The t-distribution;
confidence intervals for a normal mean with unknown variance. Regression and
correlation: Scatter plot. Fitting a straight line by least squares. The linear
regression model. Correlation.
MATH0033: Statistical inference 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Mathematics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Pre MATH0032
Aims & learning objectives:
Aims: Introduce classical estimation and hypothesis-testing principles. Objectives:
Ability to perform standard estimation procedures and tests on normal data.
Ability to carry out goodness-of-fit tests, analyse contingency tables, and
carry out non-parametric tests.
Content:
Point estimation: Maximum-likelihood estimation; further properties of estimators,
including mean square error, efficiency and consistency; robust methods of estimation
such as the median and trimmed mean. Interval estimation: Revision of confidence
intervals. Hypothesis testing: Size and power of tests; one-sided and two-sided
tests. Examples. Neyman-Pearson lemma. Distributions related to the normal:
t, chi-square and F distributions. Inference for normal data:
Tests and confidence intervals for normal means and variances, one-sample problems,
paired and unpaired two-sample problems. Contingency tables and goodness-of-fit
tests. Non-parametric methods: Sign test, signed rank test, Mann-Whitney U-test.
MATH0035: Statistical inference 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Mathematics
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX75 CW25
Requisites: Pre MATH0033
Aims & learning objectives:
Aims: Introduce the principles of building and analysing linear models. Objectives:
Ability to carry out analyses using linear Gaussian models, including regression
and ANOVA. Understand the principles of statistical modelling.
Content:
One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA): One-way classification model, F-test,
comparison of group means. Regression: Estimation of model parameters, tests
and confidence intervals, prediction intervals, polynomial and multiple regression.
Two-way ANOVA: Two-way classification model. Main effects and interaction, parameter
estimation, F- and t-tests. Discussion of experimental design.
Principles of modelling: Role of the statistical model. Critical appraisal of
model selection methods. Use of residuals to check model assumptions: probability
plots, identification and treatment of outliers. Multivariate distributions:
Joint, marginal and conditional distributions; expectation and variance-covariance
matrix of a random vector; statement of properties of the bivariate and multivariate
normal distribution. The general linear model: Vector and matrix notation, examples
of the design matrix for regression and ANOVA, least squares estimation, internally
and externally Studentized residuals.
MATH0085: Time series
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Pre MATH0035
Aims & learning objectives:
Aims: To introduce a variety of statistical models for time series and cover
the main methods for analysing these models. Objectives: At the end of the course,
the student should be able to
* compute and interpret a correlogram and a sample spectrum
* derive the properties of ARIMA and state-space models
* choose an appropriate ARIMA model for a given set of data and fit the model
using the MINITAB package
* compute forecasts for a variety of linear methods and models.
Content:
Introduction: Examples, simple descriptive techniques, trend, seasonality, the
correlogram. Probability models for time series: Stationarity; moving average
(MA), autoregressive (AR), ARMA and ARIMA models. Estimating the autocorrelation
function and fitting ARIMA models. Forecasting: Exponential smoothing, Box-Jenkins
method. Stationary processes in the frequency domain: The spectral density function,
the periodogram, spectral analysis. Bivariate processes: Cross-correlation function,
cross spectrum. Linear systems: Impulse response, step response and frequency
response functions. State-space models: Dynamic linear models and the Kalman
filter.
MATH0092: Statistical inference
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic: Statistics
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Pre MATH0033
Aims & learning objectives:
Aims: To develop a formal basis for methods of statistical inference and decision
making, including criteria for the comparison of procedures. To give an in depth
description of Bayesian methods and the asymptotic theory of maximum likelihood
methods. Objectives: On completing the course, students should be able to
* identify and compute admissible, minimax and Bayes decision rules
* calculate properties of estimates and hypothesis tests
* derive efficient estimates and tests for a broad range of problems, including
applications to a variety of standard distributions.
Content:
Revision of standard distributions: Bernoulli, binomial, Poisson, exponential,
gamma and normal, and their interrelationships. Sufficiency and Exponential
families. Decision theory: Admissibility and minimax decision rules; Bayes risk
and Bayes rules. Bayesian inference; prior and posterior distributions, conjugate
priors. Point estimation: Bias and variance considerations, mean squared error.
Cramer-Rao lower bound and efficiency. Unbiased minimum variance estimators
and a direct appreciation of efficiency through some examples. Bias reduction.
Asymptotic theory for maximum likelihood estimators. Hypothesis testing: Hypothesis
testing, review of the Neyman-Pearson lemma and maximisation of power. Maximum
likelihood ratio tests, asymptotic theory. Compound alternative hypotheses,
uniformly most powerful tests, locally most powerful tests and score statistics.
Compound null hypotheses, monotone likelihood ratio property, uniformly most
powerful unbiased tests. Nuisance parameters, generalised likelihood ratio tests.
MATH0118: Management statistics
Semester 2
Credits: 5
Contact:
Topic: Mathematics
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX60 CW40
Requisites:
Pre MATH0097 or MATH0035 Aims & learning objectives:
This unit is designed primarily for DBA Final Year students who have taken the
First and Second Year management statistics units but is also available for
Final Year Statistics students from the Department of Mathematical Sciences.
Well qualified students from the IMML course would also be considered. It introduces
three statistical topics which are particularly relevant to Management Science,
namely quality control, forecasting and decision theory. Aims: To introduce
some statistical topics which are particularly relevant to Management Science.
Objectives: On completing the unit, students should be able to implement some
quality control procedures, and some univariate forecasting procedures. They
should also understand the ideas of decision theory.
Content:
Quality Control: Acceptance sampling, single and double schemes, SPRT applied
to sequential scheme. Process control, Shewhart charts for mean and range, operating
characteristics, ideas of cusum charts. Practical forecasting. Time plot. Trend-and-seasonal
models. Exponential smoothing. Holt's linear trend model and Holt-Winters seasonal
forecasting. Autoregressive models. Box-Jenkins ARIMA forecasting. Introduction
to decision analysis for discrete events: Revision of Bayes' Theorem, admissability,
Bayes' decisions, minimax. Decision trees, expected value of perfect information.
Utility, subjective probability and its measurement.
PSYC0001: Psychology 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this unit is to introduce students to basic concepts and current
themes and debates within psychology. Students will understand basic ideas in
psychology and have a familiarity with some classic studies and methods. They
will understand how psychologists approach problems of mental processing.
Content:
Lectures will be broadly based on the question "Who am I"? They will put forward
the idea that in order to understand ourselves and our behaviour we need to
remember that we are members of human societies with histories and cultural
traditions: that who we are is, at least in part, determined by those around
us, our families and our friends and the social groups to which we belong. The
topics covered include: society and the individual, conformity and deviance,
gender and social identity, the self, language and social life, thinking and
reasoning, personality, life-span developments, clinical psychology.
PSYC0002: Mind, brain & behaviour
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To equip the student with an understanding, at a basic level, of brain functioning
and the relationship between mind and brain. No prior biological training is
required. Students will understand the basic brain functions that relate to
psychological processes. They will have a introductory level understanding of
consciousness and of what can be learnt from studies of brain damage.
Content:
The brain - a user's guide. How we encounter our world through our senses and
how the brain processes and organises input and output. Conscious and non-conscious
functioning. Sleep and dreaming. Emotions, stress and anxiety. What can we learn
from brain damage and dysfunction - when things go wrong.
PSYC0008: Cognitive psychology
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre PSYC0001, Pre PSYC0002, Pre PSYC0058
Aims & learning objectives:
To equip the student with an understanding of cognitive psychology including
current methodological and theoretical issues. Students will understand the
principles of human cognitive functioning, and the main debates and theoretical
controversies. They will be familiar with the methodological issues surrounding
research on cognition.
Content:
How psychologists model and investigate information processing, problem solving,
reasoning, perception and the representation of knowledge. Consciousness, monitoring
and attention. How we use tools, and their relationship to thinking. Models
of mind/brain relations. Problems of logic and rationality. Individual and interpersonal
factors in tasks and problems. Experts and novices. Decision making.
PSYC0009: Social psychology
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre PSYC0001
Aims & learning objectives:
To understand the relationship between individual, social and cultural psychological
processes Students will understand the ways in which psychologists approach
problems of communication and the construction of meaning. They will be familiar
with the debates about the individual and the social and cultural context.
Content:
Language as dialogue and social negotiation. Rhetoric and discourse: how to
persuade, argue, negotiate and interpret. The construction and communication
of representation of meaning. The relationships between individual schemas,
representations and lay theories, and social and cultural repertoires. Effective
and ineffective communication. The role of metaphor and narrative in individual
and cultural meaning.
PSYC0015: Economic & political psychology
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre PSYC0009
Aims & learning objectives:
The theoretical basis of this course will be on the psychological organisation
of social, political, economic and ethical beliefs, and their development and
aetiology. The implicit models of psychological processes that underpin expert
and common-sense conceptions of rationality and ethics. The problematic nature
of links between beliefs and action. The tensions between 'discourse' and 'ideology'
models of explanation.
Content:
Topics include: psychological models of ideology in the organisation of beliefs;
mainstream and emergent political-social beliefs (feminism, Green politics);
lay beliefs, e.g., about unemployment, poverty, ethics; concepts of fairness
and equity; moral development; elite beliefs - what constitutes 'legitimation'?
Political propaganda and rhetoric. Social movements, social change and intergroup
relations. Students must have undertaken one other unit from Cognitive (SOCS0089),
Developmental (SOCS0088) and Clinical Psychology (SOCS0091), as well as the
necessary pre-requisite (SOCS0090).
PSYC0019: Artificial minds: Minds, machines & persons
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: ES60 CW20 PR20
Requisites: Pre PSYC0008, Pre PSYC0025, Ex PSYC0061
Undergraduate students must have taken one of the above pre-requisites in order
to take this unit. Aims & learning objectives:
This course introduces some recent research in the field of computer-based modeling
and simulation of human activities which require the intelligent use of knowledge,
otherwise known as Artificial Intelligence. We will approach machine intelligence
through two complementary questions: could human intelligence be simulated,
equaled or even exceeded by machines? Can the machine-metaphor still help us
understand human cognitive and social processes? Students will understand the
relevance of research in A. I. to larger questions concerning the nature of
intelligence and of scientific approaches to the replication of complex attributes
such as intelligence.
Content:
Machine-metaphors for human thinking and reasoning now compete with evolutionary
biology and neurology for influence in both psychological and sociological approaches
to human behaviour. The course will provide historical background, will introduce
some of the main approaches and research projects in the field, and will set
out two main areas of debate: criticisms made by AI researchers about rival
approaches, and arguments of philosophers, sociologists and psychologists about
the attempt to simulate intelligence. Students will become familiar with key
authors and texts, and will learn to evaluate claims about computer programs
relating to:
* their power, intelligence or other capabilities
* their influence upon psychological and social theory
* their continuing role in psychological and social research
* their influence on our notions of expertise, intelligence, creativity and
humanity. This unit shares teaching with the postgraduate unit of the same title
PSYC0061.
PSYC0020: Artificial lives: Simulation, modelling &
visualisation of complex systems
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: PR60 ES40
Requisites: Ex PSYC0062
Aims & learning objectives:
This unit allows students to develop their understanding of recent applications
of computer modeling and simulation techniques to cognitive and social processes.
Students will be required to examine the literature relating to two influential
developments simulation techniques. No prior programming or modeling experience
is necessary, but practical work with simulation software will be expected.
Students will understand the application of current research techniques in AI
and simulation to the explanation of consciousness and to the exploration of
the dynamics of group processes, and demonstrate basic familiarity with simulation
software and the evaluation of its use.
Content:
This course explores the application of biological models in AI and to social
processes. Students will be expected to understand the applications of computer
simulation in the natural and social sciences, the methods of two major research
projects(in cognitive psychology or a social science), and the implications
of computer simulation for psychological theories of communication, social interaction,
cognition, brain function and consciousness. Students will undertake practical
projects in the form of experiments with computer models and simulation programs,
and the evaluation of such programs, which will be written up as a project report.
This unit shares teaching with the postgraduate unit of the same title PSYC0062.
PSYC0057: Becoming a social person
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre PSYC0001
Aims & learning objectives:
To equip the student with an understanding of how we become 'social beings'.
Students will understand the core questions of social psychology and the development
of social processes. They will be acquainted with classic studies in social
and developmental psychology and the ways in which psychologists have approached
the social nature of the human.
Content:
The unit will use 'classic' studies in social and developmental psychology to
address the following: How do we form early relationship and attachment? How
do we make friends? How do we form impressions of others? How do we behave in
groups? How do groups affect our identity? What is the basis of prejudice, discrimination
and inter-group relations? How do we develop and change our beliefs and attitudes?
PSYC0058: The intelligent being
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Pre PSYC0001
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide a foundation understanding of cognitive processes. The student will
understand the basic questions that psychologists have addressed regarding learning,
memory and reasoning. They will have been introduced to the methods and theories
by which research has been conducted in general psychology.
Content:
This unit will introduce some of the classic studies which address the questions:
How do we learn? How do we remember? How do we reason and solve problems? How
have psychologists thought about learning, remembering and reasoning? How have
psychologists thought about intelligence and how has it been measured? How does
intelligence develop? What is the role of emotion in our understanding of the
world? What can we learn from the errors we make? The unit will highlight different
approaches in psychology and where they contrast.
SOCP0001: Introduction to social policy & the welfare
state 1
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: CW100
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To introduce basic concepts of social policy; to examine the historical evolution
of social policy and the welfare state in Britain; to review and analyse recent
developments in major social service areas; to introduce the work of 'classic'
writers in social policy.
Content:
Services and sectors in Social Policy; 1834 Poor Law; the 1842 'Sanitary Report';
The Liberal Reforms and the Introduction of Pensions; Beveridge and the impact
of the 2nd World war; the Post-War Welfare State; Thatcherism and Social Policy;
Educational Reform; Housing; Community Care
SOCP0002: Introduction to social policy & the welfare
state 2
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Pre SOCP0001
Aims & learning objectives:
To provide an introduction to social policy as a field of study. To examine
the nature and extent of poverty and inequality in Britain today, as a means
of developing an understanding of social policies as a field of study.
Content:
Introduction to Social Policy; Concepts and Definitions of Poverty; Social Exclusion;
Evidence on the Incidence of Poverty and Inequality; Demographic Factors and
their relationship to Poverty; Poverty, Gender and 'Race'; Poverty and Policy.
SOCP0006: Political values & social policy
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This unit introduces students to a range of values and principles used to justify
the role of the state in social policy. By the end of the module students should
be familiar with the broad range of principles and should be able to apply some
of them to current debates.
Content:
Each lecture will cover one core principle, including: Need, Freedom, Equality,
Justice, Citizenship, Community. The seminars will apply each to one issue or
problem in contemporary social policy; for example, training schemes and equality
of opportunity; citizenship and rights to a basic income.
SOCP0011: Health policies & politics
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
This course aims to develop an understanding of how health policy integrates
with wider social policy issues, as well as a detailed understanding of the
content and dynamism of health policy processes. As a result , students should
* understand the impact of different welfare models on health care systems in
Europe and America
* understand the political forces behind health care reform in the British NHS
* understand the pressures exerted on health care systems and the range of responses
that have arisen
* be able to compare and contrast the strengths of the different approaches
and their uses in different settings
Content:
1. Health, health care and health policy 2. Comparing health systems: the UK
3. Comparing health systems: the USA and Europe 4. Pressures on health care
systems (1) Demographic and economic changes 5. Pressures on health care systems
(2) Science and technology 6. Politics of reform: 50 years of the NHS 7. Rationing
and priority setting 8. Medicine and the media: the effect on policy 9. Paying
for care and the mixed economy 10. Evaluating health care and health policy
11. Informing health policy: the politics of data gathering 12. The New Public
Health
SOCP0012: European social policy: a comparative approach
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre SOCP0001, Pre SOCP0002
Aims & learning objectives:
This unit introduces students to the social policies of several European countries.
By the end of the module students should have a basic knowledge of the patterns
and development of welfare policies in these countries and be able to situate
them in relation to models of different welfare state regimes.
Content:
The course adopts two approaches to the material. In the first part, it examines
in depth the development of social policies in specific countries which represent
different 'welfare regimes': Germany, Sweden, Italy and Russia/ Central Europe.
Second, it then compares specific policy areas across these countries, such
as pensions and health services. The module concludes by considering the impact
of the EU and the prospects for converging social policies in Europe.
SOCP0013: Social security policy and welfare reform
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre SOCP0001, Pre SOCP0002
Aims & learning objectives:
To compare different ways of meeting financial need, including historical and
cross-national comparisons. To examine the assumptions and values that structure
social security provision. To examine approaches to welfare reform in Australia,
the USA and the UK in the 1980s and 1990s.
Content:
The scope of structure of social security policy; Models of social security
policy; Reviews and reforms; Australia, UK, USA; Social Security expenditure
trends; Benefit take-up and adequacy; Fraud and Abuse. Reform in relation to
specific policy areas: Unemployment and work incentives; Families and lone parents,
Child Support; Housing; Pensions; Disability.
SOCP0043: Sociology of industrial societies 1: classical
theories
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: ES100
Requisites: Co SOCP0044
Aims & learning objectives:
To understand the basic sociological questions, theories and evidence of industrial
society
Content:
To answer the following questions: 1) How and why is industrial society distinctive?
2) Does industrial society have a logic of social differentiation, based on
conflict , control, or social order? Differences in work, authority and decision
making, kinship and gender, culture and community. The theories of Marx, Durkheim
and Weber.
SOCP0044: Sociology of industrial societies 2: social
change & social control
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX100
Requisites: Co SOCP0043
Aims & learning objectives:
To understand the changing nature of industrial societies, modern and post-modern
theories and evidence of social stratification, organisation and control
Content:
To answer the following questions: 1) Do industrial societies display common
trends, even superseding industrialism? 2) What are the main modes of social
regulation and social control in changing societies? Theories and evidence of
post-industrialism, convergence, managerialism, ethnic and gender forms of social
stratification in relation to social control and citizenship.
SOCP0056: Environmental policy & the countryside
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
To develop a clear understanding of the politics of the policy process as it
applies to the countryside and the environment
Content:
Concern for the environment has become a radical and innovative element in European
politics. By focusing on developments between the passage of the 1981 Wildlife
and Countryside Act and the publication of the 1995 Rural White Paper the Unit
explains the factors which have transformed the agenda of rural policy making.
Corporatist politics and competitive pluralist politics are contrasted and special
attention is given to the changing balance of private and public rights and
responsibilities in the countryside.
SOCP0084: The politics of the welfare state
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 3
Assessment: EX50 ES50
Requisites: Pre SOCP0001, Pre SOCP0002
Aims and Learning Objectives: To discuss and assess different theories of policy-making
in the area of social policy. To apply them to selected current social policy
issues.
Content:
Socio-economic explanations; political explanations; institutional explanations;
theory of welfare retrenchment; public opinion and the welfare state; the middle
classes and the welfare state; the think tanks and the welfare state; globalization
and the welfare state; population ageing and pension reform; the development
of active labour market policies.
UNIV0036: Core skills for economists: mathematics
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment: EX80 CW20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of this Unit is to provide students with the knowledge of the main parts
of mathematics that are relevant to undergraduate economics and to prepare them
for taking further economics and econometrics courses. The learning objective
is that students should be able to: (i) understand mathematical concepts; (ii)
solve mathematical problems; (iii) apply mathematics to economic problems.
Content:
Topics will include: functions of more than one variable; partial differentiation;
maxima and minima of multivariate functions; constrained optimisation; solution
of sets of linear equations; manipulation of vectors and matrices; differential
and difference equations. Key texts: Ian Jacques,'Mathematics for Economics
and Business'. T. Bradley and P. Patton,'Essential Mathematics for Economics
and Business'. Chris Birchenhall and Paul Grout,'Mathematics for Modern Economics'.
UNIV0037: Statistics for economists
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 2
Assessment: EX80 CW20
Requisites:
Aims & learning objectives:
The aim of the Unit is to provide students with the knowledge of the main parts
of statistics that are relevant to undergraduate economics and to prepare them
for taking further economics and econometrics courses. The learning objectives
are that students should be able to: (i) understand statistical concepts; (ii)
solve statistical problems; (iii) apply statistics to economic problems.
Content:
Topics will include: Probability theory; Bayes theorem; Discrete and continuous
distributions; Binomial and normal distributions; Sampling theory; Point estimation;
standard errors and confidence intervals; Hypothesis testing; Type I and Type
II errors; skewness and kurtosis; the F distribution; analysis of variance;
index numbers. Key texts: Anderson, Sweeney and Williams,'Statistics for Business
and Economics'. P. Newbold,'Statistics for Business and Economics'.
XXXX0014: Approved units
Semester 1
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment:
Requisites:
This pseudo-unit indicates that you are allowed to choose additional units from
the University's Generally Available Catalogue (accumulating up to an additional
6 credits in one year). These options are subject to the normal constraints
such as staff availability, timetabling restrictions,and minimum and maximum
group sizes. You should make sure that you indicate your actual choice of units
when requested to do so. Details of the University's Catalogue can be seen on
the University's Home Page.
XXXX0014: Approved units
Semester 2
Credits: 6
Contact:
Topic:
Level: Level 1
Assessment:
Requisites:
This pseudo-unit indicates that you are allowed to choose additional units from
the University's Generally Available Catalogue (accumulating up to an additional
6 credits in one year). These options are subject to the normal constraints
such as staff availability, timetabling restrictions,and minimum and maximum
group sizes. You should make sure that you indicate your actual choice of units
when requested to do so. Details of the University's Catalogue can be seen on
the University's Home Page.