Pre–Sessional Syllabus and Reading lists
MSc Economics, MSc Finance and Econometrics
- The aim of these lectures is to review some basic concepts, which you are assumed to be familiar with.
- In particular, these lectures will review the concepts of:
Pre-sessional 1: Calculus
- The difference quotient
- Derivatives
- Increasing and decreasing functions
- Optimization
- 2nd and 3rd derivative
- Points of inflection
- Economic applications
Pre-sessional 2: Matrix Algebra
- Idempotent matrix
- Rank of a matrix
- Determinant of a matrix
- Characteristic vector
- Diagonalisation and spectral decomposition
- Trace of a matrix
Pre-sessional 3: Statistics
- Probability and Distribution theory
- Random variables
- Cumulative distribution function
- Descriptive Statistics
- Probability distribution
Recommended reading:
- Renshaw G.(2012) Maths for Economics, Oxford.
- Greene WH. (2011) Econometric Analysis, Pearson Higher Ed, Appendices A and B.
- Avinash DK. (1990) Optimization in Economic Theory, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2 ed.
Pre-sessional 4: Macro
- Dynamic systems in continuous time
- Dynamic systems in discrete time
- Calculus of variations
- Optimal control
- Discrete time optimisation
Recommended reading:
- Acemoglu D. Modern economic growth, Princeton University Press
- Chiang A. Fundamental methods in mathematical economics, McGrawHill
- Chiang A. Elements of dynamic optimization, McGrawHill
- Miao J. Economic dynamics in discrete time, MIT Press
- K. Sydsaeter et al., Further mathematics for economic analysis, FT Prentice Hall
MSc Investment and Finance, MSc Investment Banking, MSc Wealth Management, MSc Corporate Finance, MSc Banking and Finance, MSc Behavioural Finance
Pre-sessional Math and Statistics classes begin on the Monday 16th September and last for two weeks. There are 6 lectures and 6 tutorials in total, spreading over these two weeks accumulating to a total of 18 hours. The first 4 lectures and 4 tutorials are devoted to the minimum level of math and statistics that is required for all programs. The last 2 lectures and 2 tutorials cover more advanced materials that are required for MSc Banking and Finance, and MSc Behavioural Finance. There is no examination at the end of this period. Students are expected to attend the sessions relevant for their purposes to make sure that they have an adequate amount of quantitative skills to advance in their programs.
Lectures are led by Dr. Yu Zheng, and Maddalena Ronchi.
The lectures will cover the following topics:
- Lecture 1 (basic): Simple functions and basics of present value.
- Lecture 2 (basic): Sampling, central tendency, and other moments (variance, skewness, kurtosis, etc).
- Lecture 3 (basic): Probability distributions, covariances and correlations.
- Lecture 4 (basic): Estimation and hypothesis testing.
- Lecture 5 (more advanced): Basics of derivatives and matrix algebra.
- Lecture 6 (more advanced): Basics of regression analysis.
Recommended reading for Mathematics:
- Sydsaeter K., Hammond P., Strom A. (2012) Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis, Pearson, 3rd Edition.
- Hoy M., Livernois J., McKenna C., Rees, R., Stengos, R. (2011) Mathematics for Economics, MIT Press, 3rd Edition.
- Francis A. (2004) Business Mathematics and Statistics, Cengage, 6th Edition.
Recommended reading for Statistics:
- Newbold P., Carlson W., Thorne B. (2010) Statistics for Business and Economics, Pearson, 7th Edition.
- Anderson D., Sweeney D., Williams T., Freeman J., Shoesmith E. (2010) Statistics for Business and Economics, Cengage, 2nd Edition.
Recommended reading for An Introduction to Econometrics:
- Gujarati D. (2003), Basic Econometrics, McGraw-Hill, 4th Edition.
- Brooks C. (2008), Introductory Econometrics for Finance, Cambridge University Press, 2nd Edition.