MSc Economics & Finance

The aim of this class is to provide you with an understanding of the basic principles of financial accounting and financial analysis, the ability to interpret financial statements and their use in assessing the financial position and performance of companies.

This class provides an introduction to the principles of accounting and the analysis of financial statements. It will enable you to prepare financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and to interpret and analyse these statements. Particular emphasis is placed on the accounting concepts and information employed in financial analysis and decision taking.

You'll develop the ability to prepare and interpret financial statements and construct cash forecasts. In addition, you'll develop an understanding of the demand and supply for accounting information; an appreciation of the role of financial analysis and analysts; and an awareness of the statistical characteristics of accounting numbers.

Find out more in the class outline of Accounting & Financial Analysis.

This module introduces some of the statistical methods commonly used in applied economics with an emphasis on regression analysis.  

You'll focus on understanding and application but also consider some of the more formal concepts required to engage in econometric work with confidence.

10 credits

You’ll learn about key macroeconomic variables and how changes in GDP, unemployment and inflation can impact on day-to-day policy and business decisions. You'll also study objectives and challenges in the design of macroeconomic policies by central banks and government’s finance departments and gain an understanding of how policies impact on the macroeconomic environment.

10 credits

This class will introduce you to some key concepts and principles of economics, focusing particularly on consumer theory and the theory of the firm. You’ll be shown how these concepts and theories are applied to the analysis of a range of contemporary real-world issues.

This course will enable you to understand global trends and to study the key drivers of international economics, including how exchange rates move; what determines flows of international investment; and why some countries grow more quickly than others. With the global economy becoming ever more integrated, understanding of these issues is important for the applied Economist working within business, consulting and policy.

10 credits

20 credits

This class will provide an introduction to financial decision-making, and much of the relevant analysis will be developed from the standpoint of corporate finance. It'll explain how a company should decide on the investments to be undertaken to meet its objectives, generally assumed to be the maximisation of its value. It will be demonstrated that this will require a rate of return on its investments in excess of the return available in the capital market on equally risky financial investments. As a result, it will be necessary to develop an understanding of the capital market risk-return relationship. This will require an appreciation of the nature of risk and how this can be managed by the development of portfolios.

Even though the focus of the class will be on corporate finance, it'll also require an appreciation of how the risk-return tradeoff is determined in the capital market.

Find out more in the class outline for Principles of Finance.

This class is a truly distinctive feature of our MSc, combining a practitioner seminar series with site visits and skills development sessions. You will learn about topical issues in economics from invited speakers who are working as Economists in business, consultancy or policy roles as well as developing core transferable skills that extend the applied Economist’s toolkit. These skills include writing accessible briefing notes, presenting data, team working, planning and delivering on consultancy projects, leadership skills and gaining experience in presenting findings.

This class is complementary to the other classes and is fundamental to developing the skills that are sought after by employers.

Your summer project makes up 40 of the 180 credits required to receive your MSc award. While we expect that all learning throughout the degree will be helpful for the Summer Project, you can choose your topic from any area/issue in the field of Economics.

Every student will be supervised by an appropriate member of staff with expertise in the research area. This is your opportunity to develop a substantive piece of applied work on a topic that is of particular interest to you under the guidance of a supervisor.

In addition to providing a key opportunity to put into practice what you have learned during your MSc studies, this project will provide useful experience for your future careers. We're also able to supervise students who are sponsored by their employer and wish to work on a topic of interest to both them and their employer.

40 credits

The aim of this class is to discuss the different ways in which firms can raise funds, internally and externally, and the role of capital markets in determining the terms on which funding will be available. The costs and risks of difference sources of financing and the role of taxation will also be covered.

It will also provide you with a working knowledge of the leasing decision of a firm, of corporate financial planning, the management of working capital, the rationale for mergers and acquisitions, the implications of corporate governance, and issues related to corporate financial restructuring.

The class will cover the capital structure of companies, and their ability to raise finance through initial and seasoned equity capital issues. It will also examine mergers and acquisitions as major investments undertaken by companies, the firm’s working capital policy, and their payout policy in the form of dividends and stock market buybacks. It will be conducted through a series of lectures and tutorials.

Find out more in the class outline for Advanced Corporate Finance & Applications.

20 credits

The aim of this class are to provide a strong grounding in derivatives that may be used to manage the financial risks faced by individuals, financial institutions and business corporations. It places an emphasis on corporate treasury management and the role of derivatives in managing treasury risk.

Find out more in the class outline for Derivatives & Treasury Management.

In this class, you'll discuss the different ways in which firm's can raise funds, internally and externally, and the role of capital markets in determining the terms on which funding will be available, the costs and risks of difference sources of financing, and the role of taxation.

The aims of this class are to provide a strong grounding in derivatives that may be used to manage the financial risks faced by individuals, financial institutions and business corporations.

In particular, the class will examine futures and forward contracts, options, swaps and credit derivatives, and how these may be used for speculation, hedging, and arbitrage purposes. The emphasis is on understanding the pricing of these derivatives and the strategies devised to hedge long and short positions in underlying assets such as equities, bonds, and interest rates.

The role of derivatives in the global financial market is also covered, including a discussion of the difficulties due to the regulatory framework of derivatives and the (partial) lack of regulation of derivatives. Emphasis is placed on practical techniques and the solution of problems, though not to the exclusion of theory. It will develop students’ understanding of international finance and capital markets, foreign exchange risk management and derivatives.

10 credits

The aim of the class is to provide you with an understanding of the main ideas of behavioural finance. A particular emphasis is placed on understanding the roles of non-rational actions and the development of new financial models that incorporate these ideas.

You'll engage with up to date research and develop a critical view of existing and new finance theories and models. It aims to introduce you to the rapidly evolving area of behavioural finance. You'll develop an understanding of behavioural finance and an appreciation of its possible implications and applications.

This class introduces you to behavioural finance and provides you with an understanding of the main flaws of 'traditional' finance theory from a behavioural finance viewpoint. It will allow you to develop the ability to discuss issues arising from violations of the rationality assumption and will enable you to evaluate new theoretical models based on research in psychology.

The course will allow you to appreciate the role of new developments in finance and their possible implications for established views of the functioning of financial markets.

Find out more in the class outline for Behavioural Finance.

In this class you'll explore key economic issues at the heart of topical energy questions – building on the University’s outstanding reputation as a centre of excellence in energy technology and policy. The class covers the objectives of energy policy; private and social perspectives on energy supply and demand; the special case of regulation of energy markets; the use of economic models in energy analysis; the economics of oil and gas activity and links between energy use and the energy sector and an economy.

10 credits

A growing, and increasingly important, part of the work of many applied Economists includes the economic analysis of environmental issues. Additionally, many professionals working in the fields of energy, the natural environment, or business more generally will find that their careers require some working knowledge of economic approaches to environmental problems. The main objective of this class is to provide a thorough grounding in the economics of the environment, with a particular focus on environmental protection in an international policy context, such as climate change the loss of biological diversity.

10 credits

In this class you will study decision making in strategic scenarios where the outcome of a decision depends not only on your decision but also the decisions made by others. This is a key class for those considering careers in industry where competition is crucial and effective market strategies are vital to the success of the business. You will learn how to make effective decisions in such environments and to gain an advantage over your competitors.

This class will introduce policy relevant issues and knowledge in the economics of development. Lectures will combine insights from theoretical economic models with policy-relevant empirical evidence on in low-income countries. Moreover, through the thorough analysis of empirical research, the class will assist students in developing skills required to make an effective contribution working as an applied economist.

10 credits

The course aims to give you a foundation in the theory and practice of management accounting. It emphasises the role of the management accountant in helping the owners and managers of a business to make decisions.

Different accounting information is required for different purposes: conventional cost accounting emphasises product costs for the allocation of costs between the cost of goods sold and inventories; decision-relevant costs provide information to help managers make resource allocation decisions; and responsibility accounting, cost control and performance measurement focus on both financial and non-financial information.

This course provides an introduction to the theory and practice of management accounting. It covers management accounting principles and their relevance to the business environment. It further involves a detailed exploration of the uses of management accounting information in the financial decision making process.

Find out more in the course outline.

10 credits

The class aims to examine the Markowitz (1952) approach to optimal portfolio selection. The class explores issues relating to optimal portfolio choice and issues in passive and active fund management through the lens of the nature of variance, covariance, risk and return. The class introduces practical applications and an extension of basic theory.

Find out more in the class outline for Portfolio Theory & Management.

10 credits

The class aims to develop an appreciation of the investment characteristics of different types of securities, particularly bonds and shares, and to develop an understanding of how such securities are valued. This class will build on the analysis developed in the Semester 1 class, Principles of Finance. It will consider the determination of interest rates, the valuation of bonds, the management of bond portfolios, and the valuation of equities.

Find out more in the class outline for Security Analysis.