- UCAS course code
- L900
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Bachelor of Arts (BAEcon)
BAEcon Development Studies
In-depth study into the problems and options faced by the developing world.
- Typical A-level offer: AAA including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: ABB including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: BBB including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 36 points overall with 6,6,6 at HL, including specific subjects
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £29,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Policy on additional costs
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).
Scholarships/sponsorships
Scholarships and bursaries, including the Manchester Bursary , are available to eligible home/EU students.
Some undergraduate UK students will receive bursaries of up to £2,000 per year, in addition to the government package of maintenance grants.
You can get information and advice on student finance to help you manage your money.
Course unit details:
Financial Economics
Unit code | ECON30432 |
---|---|
Credit rating | 10 |
Unit level | Level 3 |
Teaching period(s) | Semester 2 |
Available as a free choice unit? | Yes |
Overview
The overarching aim of the course is to enable students to understand the interface between economics and finance. To this end the course aims:
- To familiarize students with the role of uncertainty and risk in economics and finance.
- To enable students to understand the economic role of (different types of) assets.
- To introduce students to the fundamental concepts of asset markets (short selling, arbitrage, equilibrium, optimality, completeness of asset markets).
- To familiarize students with the economic fundamentals of formal theories of asset pricing, their implications and limitations.
Emphasis throughout will be on the formal theory of asset markets. There is no applied material involved.
On completion of this unit successful students will be able to:
- Have clear understanding of the economic principles underlying finance.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the role of asset markets as means of risk diversification.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the foundations and limitations of asset pricing techniques.
- Solve numerically typical problems related to asset pricing and risk management.
- Perform rigorous analysis of asset markets and portfolio decisions
Pre/co-requisites
Unit title | Unit code | Requirement type | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Mathematical Economics I | ECON20120 | Pre-Requisite | Compulsory |
Aims
The overarching aim of the course is to enable students to understand the interface between economics and finance. To this end the course aims:
- To familiarize students with the role of uncertainty and risk in economics and finance.
- To enable students to understand the economic role of (different types of) assets.
- To introduce students to the fundamental concepts of asset markets (short selling, arbitrage, equilibrium, optimality, completeness of asset markets).
- To familiarize students with the economic fundamentals of formal theories of asset pricing, their implications and limitations.
Emphasis throughout will be on the formal theory of asset markets. There is no applied material involved.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this unit successful students will be able to:
- Have clear understanding of the economic principles underlying finance.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the role of asset markets as means of risk diversification.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the foundations and limitations of asset pricing techniques.
- Solve numerically typical problems related to asset pricing and risk management.
- Perform rigorous analysis of asset markets and portfolio decisions.
Syllabus
Provisional
Uncertainty and Risk:
- States of nature.
- Contingencies (events).
- Information.
- Contingent goods, contingent plans.
- Preferences over contingent plans.
- Alternative notions of risk.
Alternative Institutional Contexts of Risk Sharing:
- Contingent markets.
- Security markets.
- Real/financial securities, bonds, stocks, options, derivative securities.
Individual Behaviour Under Uncertainty:
- The no arbitrage principle.
Economies with Uncertainty:
- Contingent markets equilibrium.
- Asset markets equilibrium, the no arbitrage property of asset prices.
- Asset market completeness, equivalence between asset markets and contingent markets, optimality properties of complete asset structures and policy implications.
- Asset pricing techniques: arbitrage pricing theory, the capital asset pricing model.
- The Modigliani-Miller theorem of corporate finance.
- Incomplete asset markets, causes and consequences.
- Information, (rational) expectations.
Teaching and learning methods
Synchronous activities (such as Lectures or Review and Q&A sessions, and tutorials), and guided self-study
Employability skills
- Analytical skills
- Synthesis and analysis of data and information. Critical reflection and evaluation. Performing rigorous analysis of financial markets and decisions. Prediction of financial markets trends.
- Problem solving
- Application of asset pricing techniques. Decision-making in financial markets.
- Research
- Planning, conducting and reporting on research in financial markets.
- Other
- Mapping and modelling. Inform financial markets policy making.
Assessment methods
80% Exam
20% Mid-term test
Feedback methods
- Tutorial exercises.
- Three online homework sets.
- Office hours.
- Revision sessions.
- Discussion boards.
Recommended reading
Theory of Incomplete Markets, M. Magill and M. Quinzii, MIT Press, Chapter 1.
Teaching staff
Staff member | Role |
---|---|
Leonidas Koutsougeras | Unit coordinator |
Additional notes
For every 10 course unit credits we expect students to work for around 100 hours. This time generally includes any contact times (online or face to face, recorded and live), but also independent study, work for coursework, and group work. This amount is only a guidance and individual study time will vary