EC451     
Introductory Course for MSc EME

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

Microeconomics (Week 1):

This section focuses on introducing core topics and tools in microeconomic theory as preparation for the core course Advanced Microeconomics EC487. Topics are likely to include the economic concepts of choice, preference, and utility, the revealed preference approach, the consumer’s problem and its properties, expected utility, and the aggregation of social preferences. Tools covered may include basic real analysis foundations, correspondences, and fixed-point theorems. 

Macroeconomics (Week 2):

This part of the course introduces students to the methods of dynamic optimization and the general equilibrium. These methods are widely used in many areas of macroeconomics — including growth theory, business cycles, monetary economics, search models, etc. — but are also common in other fields of economics. The main goal of the course is to provide mathematical tools that can be used to solve dynamic problems and to introduce the basic concepts that are required to study macroeconomic models. The main focus is on applications and heuristic derivations. 

Econometrics (Week 3):

Days 1-4 (Dr Ragvir Sabharwal): This part includes (i) a review of probability theory, (ii) a review of linear algebra, and the algebra of ordinary least squares (OLS) estimation, (iii) an analysis of finite sample properties of OLS estimators, and (iv) a discussion of additional estimation methods (method of moments, maximum likelihood) as well as statistical inference.

Day 5 (Dr Yike Wang): The final session is devoted to introducing Econometric Analysis EC484. Further econometrics concepts and results are discussed.

45 hours of lectures and 22 hours of classes.

The course is taught in September. It consists of approximately 45 hours of lectures and an additional 22 hours of classes, across a 3-week period. Lectures and classes will be delivered in person on the LSE campus.

After each lecture, some exercises will be handed to students. They will be solved during the classes.

Hansen, Bruce (2022) Econometrics

Hansen, Bruce (2022) Probability and Statistics for Economists

Rubinstein (2012) Lecture Notes in Microeconomic Theory

Ljungqvist, Lars and Thomas J. Sargent (2012) Recursive Macroeconomic Theory

Romer, David (2011) Advanced Macroeconomics.

At the end of the course, students will be examined on all three modules, microeconomics, econometrics and macroeconomics.

Students from programmes other than MSc EME wishing to continue studying MSc EME core courses must achieve a passing mark in each subject exam.