MA Economics

Fees for entry in 2027 have not yet been set. For reference, the fees for the academic year beginning September 2026 were as follows:

• MA (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £15,800
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £33,600

The fees quoted above are fully inclusive of tuition, administration and computational costs.

Fees for entry are subject to yearly review. The University reserves the right to increase your tuition fee by up to 7% each year for courses lasting more than one year, including to reflect rising costs associated with delivering our educational and wider student experience. Postgraduate fees information .

Always contact the admissions team if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We know that student finance can be complicated. The links below provide further information to help guide you.

• Learn more about - student finance options for UK students .
• Learn more about - fees and finance for international students .
• Graduates of The University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University can receive a 10% discount on their master's degree tuition fees as part of our Manchester Alumni Loyalty Discount scheme.

The aims of this course are threefold.

1. to introduce students to basic modeling techniques in the analysis of cross-section, panel and time series economic data;
2. to provide students with sufficient econometric training to read the applied literature in core journals which use these standard techniques;
3. to prepare students for a dissertation topic that analyses either cross-section, panel or time series data using basic econometric techniques.

At the end of the course, students should be able to perform the following tasks.

With cross-section and panel data:

1. Interpret the results from regression models involving panel data and instrumental variables;
2. understand how to use instrumental variables to account for endogenous regressors;
3. understand how to estimate binary response models
4. understand how to correct for sample selection using Heckman’s two-step procedure;
5. understand how use repeated cross-section samples to perform a Difference in Difference analysis
6. understand how to set up and analyse panel data regression models;
7. estimate basic panel data, instrumental variables binary response and sample selection models;
8. use the computer package Stata.

With time series data:

1. understand the basic concepts of stationary and non-stationary time series;
2. understand and apply basic linear models for univariate and multivariate time series;
3. understand the concepts of integration and cointegration and how to test for these phenomena in time series;
4. use the computer package R to analyse time series data.

Provisional

(Relevant textbook chapters in parentheses; W = Wooldridge; B=Brooks)

Cross-section & panel data

• Instrumental Variables Estimation and Two-Stage Least Squares (W 15)
• Binary response models (W 17.1)
• Sample Selection and Heckman’s Two-Step Procedure (W 9.5, 17.5)
• Repeated cross-section data, and Difference in Difference analysis (W 13.1-13.2)
• Panel Data Methods (W 13.3-13.5,14.1)

Time series data

• Stationary Time Series – AR(MA) Modelling (B 6)
• Multivariate Modelling – VARs (B 7)
• Regression with time series data  (W 11, B5)
• Non-Stationary Time Series – Unit Root Testing and Cointegration (B 8)

Lectures and tutorials

85% final exam

15% mid term test

The main texts are:

• Wooldridge, J. M., (2013), Introductory Econometrics, South-Western Cengage Learning, Fifth Edition. Please note that other editions of the textbook may be used as well.

Important information: a custom edition of this textbook is available at a lower price at Blackwell’s bookstore. It is sold as:

Econometrics, Custom Edition for The University of Manchester, compiled by Andrews, Becker,

Cortes, Masters, Mazza and Backus. ISBN 978-1-4737-2064-0.

• Brooks, C., (2019), Introductory Econometrics for Finance, 4^th Edition, Cambridge UP

 An additional source is

• Verbeek, M., (2012), A Guide to Modern Econometrics, 4^th Edition, Wiley

Information
Pre-requisite: ECON60611