Topics might include experimental methods, preference and choice, risk and uncertainty, expected utility maximization, game theory, industrial organization, search, bargaining, auctions, asset markets, asymmetric information, public goods, and voting. A number of classroom experiments are conducted. This course builds a model of the financial sector of the economy, uses it to gain an understanding of the workings of the financial system, and makes predictions of the effects of events on the financial system and economy as a whole. A particular emphasis is placed on understanding the workings of the Federal Reserve System and monetary policy. The object of the course is to augment the mathematical backgrounds of students interested in pursuing a more quantitative approach to economics and business.
Emphasis is on linear systems, matrix algebra, differential vector calculus, and optimization.
Topics may also include game theory, integral calculus, and dynamic analysis. Mathematical methods are illustrated with various economic applications. This course studies statistical methods used to estimate and test economic models. After a review of basic probability and statistics, the method of ordinary least squares regression is examined in detail. Topics include the Gauss-Markov theorem, inference, multicollinearity, specification error, functional forms, dummy variables, heteroskedasticity, and autocorrelation.