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ECONOMICS www.stir.ac.uk/management/about/economics/

Overseas Advisor: Dr Robin Ruffell

Email: economics@stir.ac.uk

Code Title Availability Prerequisite SCQF

Credit

SCQF

Level

ECN111 Introductory

Microeconomics

Autumn Basic high school

maths

22 8

The economic problem of scarcity; the concept of opportunity cost; the production possibility frontier; how

prices are determined by supply and demand; the concept of market equilibrium; the causes and effects of

changes in supply and demand; the elasticities of supply and demand; government intervention in markets;

the different categories of costs; the short-run pricing and output decisions of firms in perfect competition,

monopolistic competition and monopoly; labour markets and the reasons why wage rates vary for different

types of occupation; the distribution of income; the theory of comparative advantage.

*This is a first year module. Please note that students can only register for one of these modules as part oftheir overall courseload each semester.

ECN211 IntermediateMicroeconomics

Autumn ECN111 22 8

The assumptions of consumer choice theory relating to preferences and constraints on choice; derivation of

the main results about demand; the application of consumer choice theory to payments in kind, subsidies

and lump-sum benefits; consumer welfare measures of welfare and cost-benefit analysis; labour supply;

capital supply; the theory of costs and production; the long-run theory of perfect competition, monopolistic

competition and monopoly; the behaviour of oligopolistic markets.

ECN212 Intermediate

Macroeconomics

Spring ECN112 22 9

Stylized macroeconomic facts and how they relate to theory and policy; income and wealth accounting;

aggregate data analysis trends versus cycles; historical evolution of macroeconomic theory; the classical

approach to aggregate demand and supply; the determinants of savings and investment; new-Keynesian

theory of aggregate supply; the IS-LM model of income and interest rate determination; efficiency versus

sticky wages and unemployment; the trade off between inflation and unemployment; demand and supply of

money; static macroeconomic policy analysis.

ECN213 Introduction to Quantitative

Techniques for Economics

Spring ECN112 AND ECN 211 22 9

The mathematical treatment of the economic problem of optimisation subject to a constraint - elementary

algebra; the concept of a derivative and a partial derivative; rules for calculating derivatives; simple

optimisation and constrained optimisation; the economic application of the mathematical techniques

covered. The econometric estimation of a relationship between two economic variables - the principles and

difficulties of collecting data by sample surveys; methods of summarising and representing data, including

frequency distributions, measures of location and dispersion and index numbers; the basic concepts of

probability theory; the key concepts of statistical inference - point estimation, interval estimation andhypothesis testing; the method of least squares; the economic application of the statistical techniques

covered.

ECN311 Advanced Microeconomics Autumn ECN211 22 10

Choice and rationality; individual welfare changes; the pure exchange model; trading at false prices; Pareto

optimality; social welfare functions and compensation tests; market failure, property rights and public goods;expected utility and the insurance market; games and oligopoly; adverse selection, moral hazard and

principal-agent theory.

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ECN313 Using Economic Data Autumn ECN213 22 10

Extension of the method of least squares introduced in ECN213 to handle estimation of relationships

between many variables. the problems of econometric estimation, their causes, diagnosis and solutions. the

use of computers for least-squares estimation. The second half will develop skills in two sorts of work: the

critical appraisal of applied econometric results and original applied work involving formulation of an

economic model, data gathering and statistical estimation.

ECN 414 Economic Policy in Britain

and Europe

Autumn ECN311 AND ECN 312 22 10

This module uses the theory discussed in Advanced Microeconomics and Advanced Macroeconomics to

examine major topical policy issues: the current state of the British economy; fiscal and monetary issues of

current concern in the UK, including pension funding and inflation targeting; problems associated with

unemployment in the UK and Europe and policy objectives in the fields of employment, unemployment and

part-time employment; major economic issues of the European Community agriculture, fiscal criteria,

monetary union, central bank independence; the relationship between the UK and the European Monetary

Union.

ECN3BK Domestic and InternationalBanking Autumn ECN212 22 10

The core principles of money and the financial system; the role of financial institutions, financial instruments

and financial markets; risk, return and diversification; the capital asset pricing model; the interest rate and its

determinants; the interest rate and its determinants; the main economi c fundamental of banks activities; on-

balance-sheet and off-balance-sheet activities of banks; demand for money; the supply of money; central

banking: monetary policy instruments; inflation targeting; central bank independence and accountability; issues

in banking: after the crisis.

ECN3EE Energy Economics Autumn ECN211 22 10

This module examines the function of the major markets for energy: oil, coal, natural gas, electric power, and

alternative/renewable energy in a national and international context. It discusses the technologic structure and

parameters of energy supply and use; the principal drivers of supply and demand for energy; basic econometricforecasting of supply or demand for energy; the environmental issues related to energy use and consumption.

ECN3AX Applied Economics I Autumn ECN 211 AND ECN212 22 10

This module will cover a selection of topical issues in applied economics.

ECN3BN Modern Banking Spring ECN212 AND ECN311 22 10

An introduction to modern banking theory and practice from a predominantly microeconomic perspective,

including structure, performance, risks, technology and regulation.

ECN3BP Behavioural Economics and

Public Policy

Spring ECN211 22 10

The overall aim is to provide an overview of the key areas of intersection between economics and psychology.

This area is an exciting field with increasing academic prominence and real-world applications. Students will be

introduced to core areas of economics and psychology such as judgment, rational choice, intertemporal decision

making and emotion-based decision making. The module will also cover emerging areas of economics and

psychology such as neuroeconomics which seeks to examine the biological foundations of economic decision

making.

ECN3IN Industrial Economics Spring ECN311 22 10

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The structure-conduct-performance model of economic performance; the relevance of non-co-operative game

theory to oligopoly pricing behaviour; the relationships between concentration, mergers, potential competition,

dynamic competition and technical change, entry barriers and strategic deterrence; the economics of marketing

strategies including search theory, optimal advertising, the market for lemons and quality signalling games and

pricing tactics; the economics of global competition and e-commerce.