BSc (Hons) — 2024 entry Business Economics

This module teaches the basic content and methods of economic history. It provides an overview of key events and periods in global economic development, from the industrial revolution onwards. It also teaches the disciplines of reading and writing in academic style, how to conduct research based on literature review, and how to build an argument using both theory and evidence. We will cover institutional, monetary, demographic and technological explanations for development through examining a variety of different historical contexts from across the globe and throughout history.

Financial and business history examines the evolution of the modern economy via theories of the firm. It covers organization, finance, management and entrepreneurship using a historical perspective to illuminate how these factors have changed over time. The content focuses on the role of technological and institutional changes in shaping the constraints and opportunities faced by firms, and how firms have adapted their strategies in response. 

The form of globalisation that has characterised the international system over the post-Cold War era, a phenomenon that both drives and is driven by international institutions, treaties and regimes, is seemingly reducing the capacity of nation-states to respond to pressures emanating from the international economic and security environment. Economic challenges, including the recent global recession, require intimate cross-border cooperation (at the regional and global level); climate change presents a threat that requires urgent global-cooperation (be it between local authorities and cities in different national contexts, or at the national level), and public health continues to have drastic impacts on economy, development, and wellbeing that reach beyond individual states. Furthermore, the end of the Cold War has ushered in a host of new security challenges that states are unable to tackle on an individual basis, from preventing and dealing with the consequences of state failure, international terrorism and crime, as well as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. A key question that the module will examine is the extent to which these challenges are leading to a shift away from an international system characterized by the notion of state sovereignty and the control of policy development and implementation by the central political authority of the nation-state, to a diffusion of power and competencies, both ‘horizontally’, to private actors such as NGOs and Transnational Corporations, and ‘vertically’, downwards to the regional level and upwards to international organisations. The module will critically assess the analytical leverage that can be attained to these questions through the application of diverse perspectives within IR theories, covering not only realist, liberal, and constructivist schools of thought, but also critical approaches such as Marxism and post-structuralism. It will also focus on approaches drawn from political science theory, notably the literatures on multi-level governance, public policy theories,  and the ‘new’ institutionalism. In the course students will tackle a number of contemporary debates on international organisations that are central to public debate - the meaning and forms of international organisations, issues of authority, power and legitimacy; how states and non-state actors (particularly NGOs and business) have shaped the nature and scope of international cooperation and the effects that participation in international institutions upon policy-making, styles of governance and institutional configuration at the national and sub-national levels. We will also examine not only the role of hegemonic powers, in particular the impact of the United States over the post-war and post-Cold War eras, but also the implications of the rise of new powers such as China and India upon international organisations. The module will then examine relevant case studies: environmental governance; global health governance; the WTO and the governance of international trade; the IMF, World Bank and the governance of finance and development; the United Nations and security governance. The module will conclude by assessing the implications of the growth of international organisations for the role of the state as a national and international actor.

In this module students will develop their knowledge and understanding of Political Ideologies, which form a key component of the study of political theory more broadly. The module starts with a brief definition of an inclusive model of ideology, which is the one most commonly adopted in political science. Subsequent lectures deal with a range of major ideological traditions, covering the political spectrum from extreme right to extreme left and taking account of recent developments which overflow traditional left/right borderlines, most notably due to the rise of populism. Specific emphasis is placed on the historical, social, and geographical context of the development of ideologies. Underlying the module is a concern for the condition of modernity, which serves as the backdrop for the genesis of current ideological frameworks. At a meta-level, the module critically assesses whether conditions of modernity still hold or whether these are being replaced by an increasingly reflexive form of modernity, liquid modernity, or even post-modernity. This raises wider questions about the continued applicability of the classic ideologies.  In addition, the module offers insights, feedback, and assessment forms which cumulatively provide students with opportunities to engage in five key areas: employability, global and cultural capabilities, digital capabilities, sustainability, and resourcefulness and resilience.

By the end of the module students will have learnt how to carry out empirical analyses using appropriate econometric software to study economic and financial time series data; how to interpret the results of such analyses; and will have acquired an ability to critically assess empirical papers.  

This module develops equilibrium concepts for static, dynamic, complete and incomplete information. These are applied to various aspects of economic importance: markets, bargaining, job-market signalling, expert advice and electoral competition.  The module will advance students’ knowledge of microeconomics. 

This module introduces students to the field of behavioural economics which incorporates psychological evidence into economics. The standard approach in economics explains market outcomes and economic decision-making using theoretical models which usually assume that people are fully rational. Behavioural economics, on the other hand, seeks to increase the explanatory power of traditional models by considering a number of real life decision making situations where some standard rationality assumptions on preferences do not hold. This module builds mainly on the individual decision making models taught in microeconomics and financial economics modules in year 1 and year 2, identifies departures from these classical models, and use them as an inspiration to create alternative theories of decision making.

The module examines the nature and behaviour of households in modern economies. It will use economic theory and empirical evidence to illuminate why families are organized as they are and how this has changed in recent years.  This will encourage students to adopt a critical perspective on the patterns they see in society and in their personal life. Students will make use of the Microeconomic knowledge and Econometrics skills that they have developed in Level 5, applying them in a new context. The research focus of this module will serve as a good preparation for students taking the Economics Project (ECO3050) or planning to undertake further study.

This module develops a theoretical and empirical framework to analyse the economics of the environment. Understanding sources of inefficient allocation of resources, and how it is linked to the most serious environmental problems observed in the contemporary world like climate change, examining the different remedial instruments available to correct these problems, evaluating different methods of valuing environmental amenities and understanding the basics of climate science and consequences are some of the key topics covered in this module. This will enable the students to have a well-rounded knowledge of theoretical models and a critical perspective which they can apply to analyse contemporary environmental issues and policies in place. This module will draw on students knowledge of Microeconomics from Level 5. 

The module has the aim of introducing students to core concepts in the blockchain technology. Students will become familiar with applications of cryptography to financial transactions and the technicalities behind cryptocurrencies and their workings. Using case studies and simulations, students will be exposed to the use of software wallets and engage in blockchain and cryptocurrency related transactions.

The module analyses applications of the theory of finance to corporate policy. Broadly defined, this area comprises all operations directed towards the procurement of funds and their investment in the various types of assets.

This module introduces students to the ways in which economic analysis can help us to understand and evaluate the law.  It combines topics on civil and criminal law.  It does not assume any prior knowledge of law but does make use of economic theory (especially microeconomics), diagrams, maths (calculus and algebra encountered in FHEQ Level 5) and interpreting empirical results. As such, it builds upon quantitative, mathematical and analytical techniques developed in FHEQ Levels 4 and 5.

The module analyzes the foundations of the nature of the labour markets, and the mechanisms governing their functioning and development during past and contemporary history. The students will be exposed to economic theory and empirical evidence to understand the aim, role and behaviour of workers, firms and governments within the labour markets.  This will make students aware of the crucial importance of labour markets in the broader economy and society, as well as into the personal and professional development of the lives and careers of individual agents.

Utilising the material taught across different principal subjects in Economics, this module provides a comprehensive introduction to theoretical and applied issues related to the global banking industry. Understanding the role of the financial system in the economy in ensuring the efficient allocation of resources, its effect on policy making and the risks involved from a potential disruption of its operation are key learning outcomes from this module, especially for students who are interested in applying for employment in the financial sector.

Traditional theories of public economics justify government interventions in the economy on the grounds of market failure, equity and/or political considerations, each of which can be examined theoretically and/or empirically. The module will discuss government intervention related market failure, social insurance and social security, and taxation. In the weekly applied lectures, we will derive testable predictions from the theoretic models and use journal articles to take those predictions to the data. The module will also introduce cost-benefit analysis as a means to assess and compare public investments and government programmes. The module is based on and makes use of knowledge acquired in previous microeconomics modules in Levels 4 and 5 and requires a good understanding of the applied econometrics learned in Level 5. 

This unit introduces the students to the process of independent academic investigation and helps them develop research skills through the completion of a substantial research project. Students are expected to use the empirical and analytical skills that they acquired in other modules.

This module introduces students to the field of political economy, which combines insights from politics into the study of economic performance. The module:  focuses on the formal modelling of political actors such as voters, politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists, political institutions, states etc as behaving in mainly self-interested ways, analyses outcomes of these interactions using rational-choice assumptions, microeconomic concepts and game theoretical analysis, and finally, studies predictions of these models based on available data. The module builds a foundation for thinking economic modelling   as a tool for policy formation and a tool for understanding the world better.

The module explores the incidence of corruption from an economic perspective. It is based on the relevant academic literature and incorporates both microeconomic and macroeconomic approaches. Different aspects of corruption are examined, such as causes and consequences, and a deeper understanding around the topic is developed.

The module covers topics within the economics of education. It will cover topical areas within economics of education with a strong empirical foundation and relevance for public policy. The topics will include the following: the extent of inequality in educational outcomes and why this matters (this is an important aspect of sustainability); evidence on the economic and social benefits of education; drivers of educational outcomes in the family, among peers and within educational institutions. We will look at how different types of education and training are rewarded in the labour market and the public policy implications of this. The module will build on the microeconomic theory and econometrics that students learned in the second year of their programme. 

This module introduces students to computational methods for solving and simulating economic models. The student will learn basic results and techniques in numerical analysis, acquire a working knowledge of programming language, and learn how to apply these tools to analyse quantitative implications of macroeconomic dynamic models and macroeconometrics. Matlab will be the main language taught in the course, while learning other languages (e.g. Python, Julia, etc) will be optional.

This module builds on the econometrics foundation from the Introductory Econometrics and Intermediate Econometrics courses and emphasizes on introducing micro-econometric techniques used to analyse microeconomic data. The first half of this module considers techniques to achieve causal inference. The second half studies maximum likelihood estimation of limited dependent variable models (logit, probit, Poisson, censoring and selectivity), as well as basic machine learning methods. This will enable students to acquire the skill sets necessary to investigate important and intriguing empirical questions that have real-world impacts on society.

The module introduces the workings of financial and commodity derivatives markets and securities. Securities such as forwards, futures, swaps, CDOs and options have been traded on organised exchanges and/or ‘over the counter’, for decades. Financial markets are innovative and new derivative instruments are frequently introduced to facilitate risk-hedging or speculative investor operations. However, financial innovation can bring about its own significant risks, as the link between securitisation, CDOs and the credit crisis of 2007/08 showed. The emphasis of this module is on the pricing of derivative securities, their risks, as well as their use in professional settings, such as executive boards and derivative trading firms for hedging or investment purposes. 

This module introduces students to the fundamentals of energy economics from both the demand and supply side – covering appropriate economic theory, empirical and case studies, and policy issues. Understanding a number of concepts such as promoting clean energy, managing energy demand and analysing energy markets are key learning outcomes from this module. Students will make use of the Microeconomics knowledge and Econometrics skills that they have developed in Level 5. The module is complementary to the Environmental Economics (ECO3060), and research focus of this module will serve as a good preparation for students taking the Economics Project (ECO3050) or planning to undertake further study. In particular, the module prepares students for further study in Energy and Environmental Economics, and Sustainability related subjects.

The first half of the course will introduce students to modern theories of development economics, with special emphasis on the impact of credit market imperfections and other types of market failures. The second half of the course will focus on empirical evidence and studies on the impact of market failures, institutions, property rights, and civil conflict on long- run growth. This part of the course will also introduce students to the use of randomized controlled trials in the context of developing economies.  The module will build upon students' knowledge from their second year. Specifically it is grounded in both micro- and macroeconomic theory and relies on their familiarity with econometric analysis of both cross section and panel data. 

This module investigates the relationship between state and market in East and West by discussing views on philosophical ideas of democracy, development and justice. The module will build upon theoretical perspectives, ranging from Marxism to neo-liberalism. The students will analyse the practical policy applications of these theories as they have been manifested through neo-liberal politics, the Welfare State model and particularly the Development State model. Topical case studies will focus on East-Asia. The region allows for a critical discussion of major economic models and how they function as justification for particular regime forms and vice versa. Students will engage in debates over the socio-political consequences of economic and political transformations. It therefore builds on understanding of political and social philosophy on questions of welfare and justice acquired in POL1014 and more fundamentally on skills and knowledge obtained in POL2038 as it will deepen discussions on developmental strategies and state-market relations in political economy.

The module provides an opportunity for students to apply their understanding of key theories and debates in International Political Economy (IPE) to current developments and case studies. Students will be able to discuss and debate the role of the main IPE institutions. Current and future challenges to the status quo of IPE are discussed as well.

This module teaches the basic content and methods of economic history. It provides an overview of key events and periods in global economic development, from the industrial revolution onwards. It also teaches the disciplines of reading and writing in academic style, how to conduct research based on literature review, and how to build an argument using both theory and evidence. We will cover institutional, monetary, demographic and technological explanations for development through examining a variety of different historical contexts from across the globe and throughout history.

Financial and business history examines the evolution of the modern economy via theories of the firm. It covers organization, finance, management and entrepreneurship using a historical perspective to illuminate how these factors have changed over time. The content focuses on the role of technological and institutional changes in shaping the constraints and opportunities faced by firms, and how firms have adapted their strategies in response. 

The form of globalisation that has characterised the international system over the post-Cold War era, a phenomenon that both drives and is driven by international institutions, treaties and regimes, is seemingly reducing the capacity of nation-states to respond to pressures emanating from the international economic and security environment. Economic challenges, including the recent global recession, require intimate cross-border cooperation (at the regional and global level); climate change presents a threat that requires urgent global-cooperation (be it between local authorities and cities in different national contexts, or at the national level), and public health continues to have drastic impacts on economy, development, and wellbeing that reach beyond individual states. Furthermore, the end of the Cold War has ushered in a host of new security challenges that states are unable to tackle on an individual basis, from preventing and dealing with the consequences of state failure, international terrorism and crime, as well as the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. A key question that the module will examine is the extent to which these challenges are leading to a shift away from an international system characterized by the notion of state sovereignty and the control of policy development and implementation by the central political authority of the nation-state, to a diffusion of power and competencies, both ‘horizontally’, to private actors such as NGOs and Transnational Corporations, and ‘vertically’, downwards to the regional level and upwards to international organisations. The module will critically assess the analytical leverage that can be attained to these questions through the application of diverse perspectives within IR theories, covering not only realist, liberal, and constructivist schools of thought, but also critical approaches such as Marxism and post-structuralism. It will also focus on approaches drawn from political science theory, notably the literatures on multi-level governance, public policy theories,  and the ‘new’ institutionalism. In the course students will tackle a number of contemporary debates on international organisations that are central to public debate - the meaning and forms of international organisations, issues of authority, power and legitimacy; how states and non-state actors (particularly NGOs and business) have shaped the nature and scope of international cooperation and the effects that participation in international institutions upon policy-making, styles of governance and institutional configuration at the national and sub-national levels. We will also examine not only the role of hegemonic powers, in particular the impact of the United States over the post-war and post-Cold War eras, but also the implications of the rise of new powers such as China and India upon international organisations. The module will then examine relevant case studies: environmental governance; global health governance; the WTO and the governance of international trade; the IMF, World Bank and the governance of finance and development; the United Nations and security governance. The module will conclude by assessing the implications of the growth of international organisations for the role of the state as a national and international actor.

In this module students will develop their knowledge and understanding of Political Ideologies, which form a key component of the study of political theory more broadly. The module starts with a brief definition of an inclusive model of ideology, which is the one most commonly adopted in political science. Subsequent lectures deal with a range of major ideological traditions, covering the political spectrum from extreme right to extreme left and taking account of recent developments which overflow traditional left/right borderlines, most notably due to the rise of populism. Specific emphasis is placed on the historical, social, and geographical context of the development of ideologies. Underlying the module is a concern for the condition of modernity, which serves as the backdrop for the genesis of current ideological frameworks. At a meta-level, the module critically assesses whether conditions of modernity still hold or whether these are being replaced by an increasingly reflexive form of modernity, liquid modernity, or even post-modernity. This raises wider questions about the continued applicability of the classic ideologies.  In addition, the module offers insights, feedback, and assessment forms which cumulatively provide students with opportunities to engage in five key areas: employability, global and cultural capabilities, digital capabilities, sustainability, and resourcefulness and resilience.

By the end of the module students will have learnt how to carry out empirical analyses using appropriate econometric software to study economic and financial time series data; how to interpret the results of such analyses; and will have acquired an ability to critically assess empirical papers.  

This module develops equilibrium concepts for static, dynamic, complete and incomplete information. These are applied to various aspects of economic importance: markets, bargaining, job-market signalling, expert advice and electoral competition.  The module will advance students’ knowledge of microeconomics. 

This module introduces students to the field of behavioural economics which incorporates psychological evidence into economics. The standard approach in economics explains market outcomes and economic decision-making using theoretical models which usually assume that people are fully rational. Behavioural economics, on the other hand, seeks to increase the explanatory power of traditional models by considering a number of real life decision making situations where some standard rationality assumptions on preferences do not hold. This module builds mainly on the individual decision making models taught in microeconomics and financial economics modules in year 1 and year 2, identifies departures from these classical models, and use them as an inspiration to create alternative theories of decision making.

The module examines the nature and behaviour of households in modern economies. It will use economic theory and empirical evidence to illuminate why families are organized as they are and how this has changed in recent years.  This will encourage students to adopt a critical perspective on the patterns they see in society and in their personal life. Students will make use of the Microeconomic knowledge and Econometrics skills that they have developed in Level 5, applying them in a new context. The research focus of this module will serve as a good preparation for students taking the Economics Project (ECO3050) or planning to undertake further study.

This module develops a theoretical and empirical framework to analyse the economics of the environment. Understanding sources of inefficient allocation of resources, and how it is linked to the most serious environmental problems observed in the contemporary world like climate change, examining the different remedial instruments available to correct these problems, evaluating different methods of valuing environmental amenities and understanding the basics of climate science and consequences are some of the key topics covered in this module. This will enable the students to have a well-rounded knowledge of theoretical models and a critical perspective which they can apply to analyse contemporary environmental issues and policies in place. This module will draw on students knowledge of Microeconomics from Level 5. 

The module has the aim of introducing students to core concepts in the blockchain technology. Students will become familiar with applications of cryptography to financial transactions and the technicalities behind cryptocurrencies and their workings. Using case studies and simulations, students will be exposed to the use of software wallets and engage in blockchain and cryptocurrency related transactions.

The module analyses applications of the theory of finance to corporate policy. Broadly defined, this area comprises all operations directed towards the procurement of funds and their investment in the various types of assets.

This module introduces students to the ways in which economic analysis can help us to understand and evaluate the law.  It combines topics on civil and criminal law.  It does not assume any prior knowledge of law but does make use of economic theory (especially microeconomics), diagrams, maths (calculus and algebra encountered in FHEQ Level 5) and interpreting empirical results. As such, it builds upon quantitative, mathematical and analytical techniques developed in FHEQ Levels 4 and 5.

The module analyzes the foundations of the nature of the labour markets, and the mechanisms governing their functioning and development during past and contemporary history. The students will be exposed to economic theory and empirical evidence to understand the aim, role and behaviour of workers, firms and governments within the labour markets.  This will make students aware of the crucial importance of labour markets in the broader economy and society, as well as into the personal and professional development of the lives and careers of individual agents.

Utilising the material taught across different principal subjects in Economics, this module provides a comprehensive introduction to theoretical and applied issues related to the global banking industry. Understanding the role of the financial system in the economy in ensuring the efficient allocation of resources, its effect on policy making and the risks involved from a potential disruption of its operation are key learning outcomes from this module, especially for students who are interested in applying for employment in the financial sector.

Traditional theories of public economics justify government interventions in the economy on the grounds of market failure, equity and/or political considerations, each of which can be examined theoretically and/or empirically. The module will discuss government intervention related market failure, social insurance and social security, and taxation. In the weekly applied lectures, we will derive testable predictions from the theoretic models and use journal articles to take those predictions to the data. The module will also introduce cost-benefit analysis as a means to assess and compare public investments and government programmes. The module is based on and makes use of knowledge acquired in previous microeconomics modules in Levels 4 and 5 and requires a good understanding of the applied econometrics learned in Level 5. 

This unit introduces the students to the process of independent academic investigation and helps them develop research skills through the completion of a substantial research project. Students are expected to use the empirical and analytical skills that they acquired in other modules.

This module introduces students to the field of political economy, which combines insights from politics into the study of economic performance. The module:  focuses on the formal modelling of political actors such as voters, politicians, bureaucrats, lobbyists, political institutions, states etc as behaving in mainly self-interested ways, analyses outcomes of these interactions using rational-choice assumptions, microeconomic concepts and game theoretical analysis, and finally, studies predictions of these models based on available data. The module builds a foundation for thinking economic modelling   as a tool for policy formation and a tool for understanding the world better.

The module explores the incidence of corruption from an economic perspective. It is based on the relevant academic literature and incorporates both microeconomic and macroeconomic approaches. Different aspects of corruption are examined, such as causes and consequences, and a deeper understanding around the topic is developed.

The module covers topics within the economics of education. It will cover topical areas within economics of education with a strong empirical foundation and relevance for public policy. The topics will include the following: the extent of inequality in educational outcomes and why this matters (this is an important aspect of sustainability); evidence on the economic and social benefits of education; drivers of educational outcomes in the family, among peers and within educational institutions. We will look at how different types of education and training are rewarded in the labour market and the public policy implications of this. The module will build on the microeconomic theory and econometrics that students learned in the second year of their programme. 

This module introduces students to computational methods for solving and simulating economic models. The student will learn basic results and techniques in numerical analysis, acquire a working knowledge of programming language, and learn how to apply these tools to analyse quantitative implications of macroeconomic dynamic models and macroeconometrics. Matlab will be the main language taught in the course, while learning other languages (e.g. Python, Julia, etc) will be optional.

This module builds on the econometrics foundation from the Introductory Econometrics and Intermediate Econometrics courses and emphasizes on introducing micro-econometric techniques used to analyse microeconomic data. The first half of this module considers techniques to achieve causal inference. The second half studies maximum likelihood estimation of limited dependent variable models (logit, probit, Poisson, censoring and selectivity), as well as basic machine learning methods. This will enable students to acquire the skill sets necessary to investigate important and intriguing empirical questions that have real-world impacts on society.

The module introduces the workings of financial and commodity derivatives markets and securities. Securities such as forwards, futures, swaps, CDOs and options have been traded on organised exchanges and/or ‘over the counter’, for decades. Financial markets are innovative and new derivative instruments are frequently introduced to facilitate risk-hedging or speculative investor operations. However, financial innovation can bring about its own significant risks, as the link between securitisation, CDOs and the credit crisis of 2007/08 showed. The emphasis of this module is on the pricing of derivative securities, their risks, as well as their use in professional settings, such as executive boards and derivative trading firms for hedging or investment purposes. 

This module introduces students to the fundamentals of energy economics from both the demand and supply side – covering appropriate economic theory, empirical and case studies, and policy issues. Understanding a number of concepts such as promoting clean energy, managing energy demand and analysing energy markets are key learning outcomes from this module. Students will make use of the Microeconomics knowledge and Econometrics skills that they have developed in Level 5. The module is complementary to the Environmental Economics (ECO3060), and research focus of this module will serve as a good preparation for students taking the Economics Project (ECO3050) or planning to undertake further study. In particular, the module prepares students for further study in Energy and Environmental Economics, and Sustainability related subjects.

The first half of the course will introduce students to modern theories of development economics, with special emphasis on the impact of credit market imperfections and other types of market failures. The second half of the course will focus on empirical evidence and studies on the impact of market failures, institutions, property rights, and civil conflict on long- run growth. This part of the course will also introduce students to the use of randomized controlled trials in the context of developing economies.  The module will build upon students' knowledge from their second year. Specifically it is grounded in both micro- and macroeconomic theory and relies on their familiarity with econometric analysis of both cross section and panel data. 

This module investigates the relationship between state and market in East and West by discussing views on philosophical ideas of democracy, development and justice. The module will build upon theoretical perspectives, ranging from Marxism to neo-liberalism. The students will analyse the practical policy applications of these theories as they have been manifested through neo-liberal politics, the Welfare State model and particularly the Development State model. Topical case studies will focus on East-Asia. The region allows for a critical discussion of major economic models and how they function as justification for particular regime forms and vice versa. Students will engage in debates over the socio-political consequences of economic and political transformations. It therefore builds on understanding of political and social philosophy on questions of welfare and justice acquired in POL1014 and more fundamentally on skills and knowledge obtained in POL2038 as it will deepen discussions on developmental strategies and state-market relations in political economy.

The module provides an opportunity for students to apply their understanding of key theories and debates in International Political Economy (IPE) to current developments and case studies. Students will be able to discuss and debate the role of the main IPE institutions. Current and future challenges to the status quo of IPE are discussed as well.