MSc International Business Finance and Economics

Introducing micro and macro economic analysis, this module will familiarise you with a wide range of economic tools which can be applied to issues relating to your Applied Training Programme. It covers, in particular, consumer and producer choice, market equilibrium, market structure, externalities and public goods, the macroeconomics of inflation, unemployment and growth and macroeconomic policy.

Have you ever wondered why firms buy other firms, or why that trendy technology firm recently issued some shares? Why stock prices go up (and down)? What do we know about financial markets and, importantly, what don't we understand? This module introduces a range of concepts related to the financial decisions firms have to make, and how these decisions lead to the existence of the stock markets that feature in the daily news. The early part of the module introduces the subject area by considering a range a fundamental concepts. From this foundation, you'll learn how firms make financial decisions and how these decisions are interrelated. The later part of the module investigates how stock markets work, the risks involved, and the extent to which these risks can be avoided. On successful completion of the module, you'll have gained the knowledge and skills for setting out on a career in finance, or for further study of corporate finance and financial markets. You'll better understand financial news and be better-placed to discuss it, drawing on discussion from academic literature. You'll be able to discuss and answer the sorts of questions prospective employers, friends and family might reasonably ask a finance postgraduate.

Are foreign exchange rates predictable? How can a firm hedge foreign exchange risk? What effect do interest rates have on currency values? Why are exchange rates so volatile? Are exchange rates based on macroeconomic fundamentals, or determined by speculative activity? These are the types of questions you will explore on this module. International Finance lies at the intersection of finance and macroeconomics. You'll begin by learning the general finance tools of option pricing and risk management, before focusing on how to apply these tools to look, in particular, at exchange rates. This will involve understanding the structure of the foreign exchange market, examining theories of exchange rate determination, and looking at the foreign exchange futures and options markets. You'll learn through a mixture of lectures, which have regular intervals for team or individual work, as well as seminars and self-study. Assessment comprises of technical and essay questions. By the end of the module you'll be equipped for further study in financial economics or a career in the finance industry, particularly in roles related to foreign exchange.

Are you interested in working with financial data? Would you like to be able to forecast future movements of stock prices or test the efficiency of financial markets? If so, this module will introduce to you the empirical techniques you need to satisfy these interests. The module is divided into two parts. The first part covers basic econometric techniques. You will be shown how to estimate a regression model in a variety of contexts, interpret your findings, and test the relationships between variables. As you progress, you'll learn how to identify problems with the models (such as multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity) and how to address these problems. In lectures you will learn about the techniques; in seminars you will apply these techniques to a variety of economic problems and estimate models with real data. In the second part of the module, you will apply the techniques learnt in the first part to problems in financial economics. These applications include estimation of the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM), testing the Efficient Markets Hypothesis (EMH), and using stock price data in the valuation of options. Throughout the module, seminars take place in computer labs and you will gain skills in analysing data using the widely used econometric computer package STATA. By the end of the module, you will be able to estimate appropriate regression models, identify problems which may arise and know how to address them. In particular you will know how to apply these methods in financial contexts. In addition, you will be able use STATA and you will be have acquired a range of skills that are currently highly marketable in the financial industry.

This module is structured around three main questions: Why do multi-nationals exist? What are their beneficial effects? Why might they sometimes be a cause for concern? In answering these questions we confront a variety of theoretical and empirical methodologies (e.g. oligopoly theory, transactions costs, econometric methods, case studies in corporate strategy) and draw upon various branches of Economics (international, industrial, labour, financial and political economy).