MSc Finance & Economics

Gain the insights needed to make well-informed decisions with regard to today’s complex investment management environment.

Psychologists working in the area of behavioural decision-making have evidenced the inadequacies of neoclassical economics. Behavioural finance studies financial markets using models that are less narrow than those based on von Neumann Morgenstern expected utility theory and arbitrage assumptions.

This module will cover a wide range of cutting edge research in Big Data Analytics, with a particular focus on the extensive value of data from the Internet, much of which is freely available if you have the skills to mine it.

This module involves learning to program in R, but no prior programming knowledge is required.

Module aims will include:

• Linking stock market movements to online data
• Measuring sentiment with online data
• Predicting consumer behaviour with online data
• Getting quicker measurements of key economic indicators with online data
• Measuring where people are and where they are going with mobile phone data and online data
• Predicting crime and epidemics
• Understanding social networks.

The module will also teach you the practical skills needed to work with online data.

You will learn:

• How to mine data on Google searches
• How to mine data on Wikipedia page views
• How to mine data on photographs uploaded to Flickr
• How to make data visualisations
• How to design and execute a small data science project of your own

As part of this, the module will teach you how to use R, an industry standard programming language for data analytics.

Develop an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of different classes of derivative securities such as forwards and futures, swaps and options; the markets in which these securities are traded; their potential use as instruments for managing risk; methods for valuing these securities; and the application of these methods in other areas of finance.

Learn how to interpret financial statements in context and apply appropriate models and techniques for company valuation and related business issues. You will also gain an understanding of how accounting provides data for corporate finance analysis.

Gain an understanding of the need for financial risk management, the techniques to measure financial risks according to the regulatory framework, and tools for the management of risk exposure. You will be introduced to quantitative methods of risk measurement and risk management.

Get to grips with the tools for the assessment and management of fixed income and credit risk. 

Extend your knowledge and understanding of the fundamental concepts of international finance, with an emphasis on the operation of the spot and forward foreign exchange markets. Gain first-hand experience with forex markets via empirical data and trading contest, and develop your critical reasoning skills in the context of international financial risk management.

Gain an introduction to the psychology of human judgement and decision making. This field provides the foundation for understanding the decision-making processes involved in financial markets. The module encourages you to: see how the insights from this work can help understand the origins of rational and irrationality in financial decision makers and financial markets; improve your own financial decision-making; gain a broader understanding of decision-making throughout the finance industry.

This module will introduce you to the basic issues in mergers and acquisitions from corporate finance point of view. The module will be based on the main research papers in the field.  

Gain a realistic experience of the responsibilities involved in managing money for clients. You will be introduced to practical investment management techniques, building on the work of the modules of the first term. 

The module syllabus may cover, but is not limited to, the following areas:

• Effect of reference dependent preferences, loss aversion, present bias and social preferences, in the labour, in the financial and in other important markets.

• The relationship between choice utility and subjective wellbeing.

• Effect of macroeconomic variables on subjective wellbeing.

The course will have an emphasis on the empirical identification of the different models, but it does not require an advanced econometric knowledge.

Further information can be found on the Department of Economics web pages.

During this module you will develop skills in combining theoretical models and empirical results to address policy issues related to employment, unemployment and wages

This module is run by the Department of Economics. You can view further information here.

This module trains you in both theory and applications in the field of public finance. The purpose of the module is to understand the role of the government through expenditure and taxation, as well as develop an idea on topics such as externalities and the political economy. It will expose you to frontier research on the theory behind the design of various public policies.

This module is run by the Department of Economics. You can view further information here.

Gain the analytical tools and the knowledge to study and understand aspects of economic development in developing countries.

This module is run by the Department of Economics. You can view further information here. 

Gain the ability to discuss, critically evaluate and recommend policy options in various areas of macroeconomics.

This module is run by the Department of Economics. You can view further information here.

Gain the ability to understand, discuss, and critically evaluate microeconomic policies.

This module is run by the Department of Economics. You can view further information here.

This module is a challenging technical course. It covers advanced topics in global finance and aims to equip you with a variety of theoretical and econometric tools to understand current events in the global economy and to analyse policy responses. It departs from standard theoretical models of international finance and uses mathematical tools and econometric methods to build up from these models and to assess complex issues relating to the global finance.

Further information can be found on the Department of Economics web pages.