Economics of Financial Markets
Module Code: ECU44142/ECU44144
Module Name: Economics of Financial Markets
- ECTS weighting: 10/5
- Semester/term taught: Semester 2
- Contact Hours: 22 hours of lectures and 4 hours of tutorials
- Module Personnel: Lecturer – Paul Scanlon
Module Learning Aims
This course is concerned with the pricing of financial assets, with the pricing and handling of risk, and with the place of the financial markets in the economy as a whole. For example, how might risk-averse investors choose an efficient portfolio of risky investments? Do stock market prices reflect all available information, or are they influenced by irrational waves of sentiment? This module assumes previous knowledge of financial economics.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Synthesize a broad range of topics in modern finance;
- Apply statistical techniques to judge the empirical performance of economic theories of financial markets.
Module Content
- Topics include the pricing of assets, uncertainty & the predictability of asset prices, the efficient market hypothesis, the possibility of bubbles and hedging against risk.
Recommended Reading List
- Cuthbertson, K. and D. Nitzsche Quantitative Financial Economics, (Chichester: Wiley).
- Hull, J., Options, Futures and other Derivatives, Prentice Hall
- Additional readings will be assigned
Module pre-requisites
JS Investment Analysis and JS Econometrics
Assessment Details
- For ECU44142 (10 ECTS) students, an assignment will account for 20% of the final mark, and the remaining 80% will be based on the final exam.
- For ECU44144 (5 ECTS) students, a final exam will account for 100% of the final mark.
Module Website
Blackboard