Postgraduate Prospectus

www.essex.ac.uk/economics | Economics
Graduates are well placed for success
in decision making in the interface between
economics and accounting. Key skills
include analytical reasoning, mathematical
methods and the evaluation of business
accounts.
MSc Applied Economics and
Data Analysis•
We run this course jointly with our Institute
for Social and Economic Research (ISER),
which specialises in the analysis of
household and labour market data. Our
MSc Applied Economics and Data Analysis
has a data-orientated, applied focus.
One compulsory module (taught by ISER)
is Panel Data Methods, which introduces
the main techniques used in the analysis
of panel data, the specification of models,
and the tests of their validity. It includes
methods for analysing persistence over
time in economic variables, for example the
duration of an individual’s unemployment
spell. Another core module, Applications
of Data Analysis, focuses on handling
different types of datasets, on survey
methodology and sampling frames, and
on how to deal with problems of response
rates and attrition. These modules provide
the tools for analysing and implementing
some of the models that are presented in
theory modules, like Microeconomics.
macroeconomics, while Empirical Methods
of Economics and Finance introduces you
to techniques for analysing stock market
and other financial data. These modules
combine to equip you for further study at
doctoral level or for a dynamic career in
economic or business research.
MSc Financial and Business Economics•
Careers in business and finance often
require an economic approach, which our
MSc Financial and Business Economics
provides by allowing you to study the
economical principles that are at the heart
of finance and business, and to develop
an awareness of their applications.
One compulsory module, Topics in Financial
Economics, covers a variety of topics in
corporate finance and looks closely at two
broad questions: (i) how to raise funds to
maintain the activity of the firm?, and, (ii)
who should control the firm? You start
with asset pricing algebra, and defining
debt and equity in the firm as basic
options, leading up to the Modigliani-Miller
irrelevance theorems. You graduate with
key employability skills like numeracy and
ICT knowledge, research skills, information
and communication skills, and the ability
to evaluate trends in business and finance.
MSc Financial Economics
Are you interested in finance and its
economic foundations? The emphasis
of this course is on ways economic
reasoning can inform and illuminate
the financial decision making of investors
and the financial choices made by firms.
You gain key skills in the analysis of
complex financial data.
Your compulsory modules in Economics of
Financial Markets and Topics in Financial
Economics give you the chance to gain
a broad understanding of financial
economics. In particular, Economics of
Financial Markets studies the notions of
risk and return in equity markets, both in
the context of asset pricing and in the
management of equity portfolios. In addition
to key employability skills like numeracy
and ICT knowledge, information and
communication, you acquire a deep
knowledge how financial markets work
and how to analyse them.
MSc Financial Economics
and Econometrics
This specialised course includes
in-depth theoretical and applied aspects
of econometrics to complement subjects
in financial markets and corporate finance.
MSc Economics and Econometrics†
Would you like to undertake advanced
study in quantitative analysis in an
environment of research excellence? This
popular course emphasises the foundations
of econometrics and its application to
a wide range of topics in economics.
Among the compulsory modules, Estimation
and Inference in Econometrics provides the
statistical foundation for a variety of ways
of testing economic hypotheses. We span
topics from the classical linear regression
model, to the use of asymptotic methods
in econometrics and classical hypothesis
tests. Time Series Econometrics provides
methods for analysing the dynamic
processes that are often found in
Postgraduate Prospectus 2012 | 89