FIRST-YEAR UNITS
Accounting and Financial Management COMM1020
(6cp)
First and Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisite: Financial Accounting Fundamentals.
Syllabus: The unit extends the material in Financial Accounting Fundamentals and provides an introduction to cost concepts and applications, and to the accounting techniques employed by managers in decision making and analysis. The time value of money is used as a basis for principles of financial management and investment decisions. Topics include: cash flow statements; cost behaviour and estimation; cost-volume-profit analysis; differential analysis and pricing decisions; financial statement analysis and cost accounting procedures; accounting for long term liabilities.
Actuarial Studies 1 STAT1031
(6cp)
Second semester
Two 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the first year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Mathematics AA1 and current enrolment in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies.
Description: An introduction to: compound interest functions and operations; valuation of annuities, bonds and loans; demography, and factors affecting population growth and size; construction and use of the life table; applications of these in life insurance; types of insurance products; the role of the actuary; the significance of financial institutions utilising actuarial management.
Australian Economy ECHI1006
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures and one tutorial per week.
Prerequisite: None
Incompatible with Australian Economy (ECHI1001) or Australian Economy (S) (ECH1003) or Australian Economy (S2) (ECHI1004).
Syllabus: The unit aims to explain and assess the functioning of the Australian economy. It is intended for students who are seeking a broad understanding of how the economy works. Emphasis will be placed on the related topics of current economic issues, institutions and policies. The approach adopted will emphasise that the present Australian economy needs to be seen in the context of the historical pattern of development and change. While the unit deals primarily with economic factors, important social and political circumstances will also be taken into account.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Business and Economy in the Asia-Pacific Region ECHI1005
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial per week.
Prerequisite: None
Syllabus: This unit surveys the recent changes in Australias position in the international economy, in particular in the light of the increasing influence exerted by the rapid economic development in Australias geographical neighbours in the Asia Pacific region. It familiarises students with the foremost countries in the region and the main changes the economies of these countries have undergone during recent decades. The unit also discusses recent developments in several economic sectors in the region, which have an important bearing on the Australian economy. Lastly, the unit introduces students to several practical issues related to the conduct of business in the AsiaPacific region, such as forms of foreign investment, corporate organisation, public institutions and business environment.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Economics I (P) ECON1001
(12cp)
Full year
Three lectures a week with tutorials. Economics I is a unit on
principles of economics covering basic micro and macroeconomics.
Syllabus: The unit examines the way people allocate scarce resources in a market economy.
The topics covered include consumer demand, the effects of taxes and subsidies, the role of government in a market economy, the economics of time, the markets for labour and capital, international trade, production inside the firm, an analysis of markets with pricetakers and price researchers, externalities and the social cost of various government policies.
In the macroeconomics section, the workings of the economy as a whole (as distinct from individuals, firms and industries) are analysed, with particular attention given to unemployment and inflation. Macroeconomics covers theories of the determination of national income and interest rates, and examines the role of fiscal, monetary policy and labour market policy.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: Mid-year and end-of-year examinations together with fortnightly tutorial tests in each semester.
Economics I (H) ECON1011
(12cp)
Second semester
One lecture and one tutorial per week (in addition to the
pass course).
Syllabus: The theoretical treatment of microeconomic behaviour presented in the First semester of the pass course is made more rigorous to allow previews of advanced and applied topics such as uncertainty, the economics of the family, labour supply, law and economics, and the economics of politics.
Proposed assessment: A 3-hour examination at the end of the year (in addition to the pass examination).
Financial Accounting Fundamentals COMM1010
(6cp)
First and Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Syllabus: The unit focuses on the nature and ambit of accounting with reference to the broad conceptual framework within which accounting is practised. The unit includes an analysis of the financial information needs of business decision makers. Topics include: double-entry accounting systems for recording; processing and summarising financial transactions; basic accounting concepts and methods of income measurement, asset valuation and financial reporting; accounting for partnerships; introduction to company reports.
Introduction to Commercial Law COMM1101
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Incompatible with LAWS2101 Introductory Business Law, LAWS1007 Contracts and ENGN4003 Engineering Law.
Syllabus: The unit provides an introduction to Australian legal institutions and laws regulating business activities. Particular focus is given to contractual relationships within the context of sale of goods and consumer protection. Other topics include: dealings with, and security over, forms of property; financial instruments and banking; interference with business interests; debt recovery and bankruptcy.
Introduction to Programming and Algorithms COMP1100
(6cp)
First semester
See entry in the Computer Science section of this Handbook
Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 1 STAT1006
(6cp)
First and Second semester
Three lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: None
Incompatible with Economic Statistics.
Syllabus: This is the first of two introductory units in quantitative methods for students in Economics and Commerce. It is concerned with the application of mathematical techniques to problems in economics, business, and finance. Particular applications include: solving systems of equations such as supply and demand models, and input-output models; discounting and present value calculations in finance; optimisation problems such as profit maximisation and cost minimisation; probability and its uses in decision making under uncertainty and in statistical analysis; numerical and graphical methods for describing and displaying data.
Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 2 STAT1007
(6cp)
First and Second semester
Three lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 1.
Incompatible with Economic Statistics or Statistical Techniques 1.
Syllabus: This is the second of two introductory units in quantitative methods for students in Economics and Commerce. It is concerned with the application of statistical methods to the analysis of data in economics, business and finance. Topics include: sources of data; descriptive statistics; probability distributions to describe the sampling behaviour of means and proportions; point estimation; confidence intervals and hypothesis tests for one- and two-sample problems involving means and proportions; p-values; non-parametric methods; linear regression models and prediction; index numbers, especially price indices; seasonal adjustment of time series.
Statistical Techniques 1 STAT1003
(6cp)
First and Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per
week.
Prerequisites: None
Incompatible with Economic Statistics and Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 2.
Objectives: This unit introduces students to the methods and philosophy of modern statistical data analysis and inference. The unit has a strong emphasis on computing and graphical methods, and uses a variety of real world problems to motivate the theory and methods required for carrying out statistical data analysis. The unit makes extensive use of the Macintosh-based JMP statistical analysis package (previous experience in using Macintosh computers is not assumed.)
Syllabus: Using tables to organise and summarise data; using graphics to present statistical information; measures of location and dispersion for univariate distributions; measures of linear association for bivariate distributions. An introductory discussion of: normal and binomial distributions; sampling distributions; sampling from a normal population; large sample inference; p-values and confidence intervals; tests of hypotheses; comparing two populations.
Statistical Techniques 2 STAT1004
(6cp)
Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Prerequisites: Statistical Techniques 1.
Objectives: This unit extends the material introduced in Statistical Techniques 1 to cover more complex data analytic situations, as well as introducing students to the rudiments and the application of non-parametric methods of statistical inference. As with Statistical Techniques 1, the unit has a strong emphasis on computing and graphical methods, using a variety of real world problems to motivate the techniques covered in the unit, as well as making extensive use of the Macintosh-based JMP statistical analysis package.
Syllabus: Simple regression, regression diagnostics, multiple regression; analysis of factorial experiments; introduction to experimental design; introduction to sample survey design
Understanding Economic Behaviour: Microeconomics for Social Scientists ECHI1105
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Not available to students enrolled in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce. Course details are contained in the Faculty of Arts section of the Handbook.
Understanding Economic Policy: Macroeconomics for Social Scientists ECHI1106
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Not available to students enrolled in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce. Course details are contained in the Faculty of Arts section of the Handbook.
LATER-YEAR UNITS
Accounting Theory COMM3001
(6cp)
First semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Company Accounting.
Syllabus: The unit engages students in critical analysis of the major approaches to the formulation of an accounting theory. The features, similarities, differences and merits of the traditional, regulatory, events, behavioural, human information processing, predictive, positive and critical approaches are discussed and evaluated. Proposals for a conceptual framework for financial accounting, and the structure of an accounting theory, are analysed. At the conclusion of the unit students will have read widely and will have acquired a deeper and more critical appreciation of what defines contemporary accounting practice, and more importantly, what it is that should define the nature, scope and future of accounting. Students will be encouraged to challenge the conventional wisdom of accounting and to highlight the idiosyncrasies, solecisms and artefactual nature of accounting.
Actuarial Control Cycle I STAT4031
(6cp)
First semester
Four hours per week of lectures and/or tutorials.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the fourth year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Actuarial Principles 1 and Actuarial Principles 2 and current enrolment in Actuarial Studies IV(H).
Description: Insurance markets and products; underwriting and risk assessment; policy design; actuarial modelling; actuarial assumptions and feedback; reserving methods.
Actuarial Control Cycle II STAT4032
(6cp)
Second semester
Four hours per week of lectures and/or tutorials.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the fourth year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Actuarial Control Cycle I and current enrolment in Actuarial Studies IV(H).
Description: Investments for different types of liabilities; assessment of solvency; analysis of experience; analysis of surplus; actuarial techniques in the wider fields, an introduction to professionalism.
Actuarial Principles 1 STAT3037
(6cp)
First semester
Three 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the third year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Introductory Mathematical Statistics and Mathematics in the Financial World and current enrolment in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies.
Corequisite: concurrent enrolment in Actuarial Principles 2.
Incompatible with Actuarial Principles.
Description: The application of probability to contingencies of human life; laws of mortality; the life table; select tables; factors affecting mortality, annuities and assurances on single lives, commutation functions; office premiums; accumulations.
Actuarial Principles 2 STAT3038
(6cp)
First semester
Three 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the third year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Introductory Mathematical Statistics and Mathematics in the Financial World and current enrolment in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies.
Corequisite: Concurrent enrolment in Actuarial Principles 1.
Incompatible with Actuarial Principles.
Description: Reserves and policy values; extra risks; policy alterations, cash flow models for life insurance policies; profit testing; assessment of unit linked policies.
Actuarial Statistics STAT3032
(6cp)
Second semester
Two 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the third year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Actuarial Principles 1 and Actuarial Principles 2 and current enrolment in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies.
Description: The analysis of mortality and other decremental statistics including exact, continuous and census exposed-to-risk formulae; risk classification; the derivation of select rates; the derivation of multiple decrement tables; construction of recent standard life tables; single figure indices.
Advanced Marketing Research Methods STAT3005
(6cp)
Not offered 1999
Prerequisites: Marketing Research Methods.
Syllabus: The aim of this unit is to explore multivariate techniques used in modern marketing practice. Emphasis will be placed on case studies of marketing practice and on the practical application of the methods discussed. Topics to be drawn from: Analysis of variance; Regression analysis; Discriminant analysis; Canonical correlation analysis; Factor analysis; Cluster analysis; Multi-dimensional scaling; Conjoint analysis.
Agricultural Economics ECON2002
(6cp)
May not be offered in 1999
Two lectures a week with tutorials throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: The unit has three components. It studies the economics of agriculture in poor countries, rich countries, and international trade in agricultural products. The agricultural sections of both poor and rich countries pose special problems for economic policy. In poor countries, agriculture is regarded as a backward part of the economy. In rich countries, agriculture is often treated as a special case for economic policy, requiring protection. International trade in agricultural products reflects the combined effects of these attitudes.
Proposed assessment: to be determined.
Applied Econometric Models EMET3006
(6cp)
Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures.
Prerequisite: Econometric Modelling.
Syllabus: The aim of this course is to equip students with the skills required to undertake independent applied research using modern econometrics methods. Lectures cover the role of theory and data in model specification, types and sources of data, model evaluation, and applications of models for testing, policy analysis and forecasting. Students undertake regular practical assignments and a major applied project using an econometric software package. Topics covered include: modelling dynamics and expectations, simultaneity, discrete choice models, and time series techniques.
Applied Tax Policy (P) ECON2040
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: This unit aims to apply microeconomic analysis to examine the effects of recent tax changes around the world, of the present Australian tax system and of possible reform options. The unit will examine the policy issues involved in comprehensive changes to the tax system. It will review the impact of taxes on the distribution of wealth (tax incidence) and on economic efficiency and discuss the efficiency/ equity trade off. The unit will consider how relatively neutral taxes on income and expenditure might be designed and the effects of departures from neutrality including the tax preferred status of superannuation and housing. Emphasis will be placed on major Australian tax changes since the mid 1980s, such as the capital gains tax and full imputation reforms, effects of taxation on the pattern of savings and investment, and on tax reform options such as a GST. Other topics include tax shelters and international tax issues.
Proposed assessment: Assessment will be by means of a mid-semester examination and an examination at the end of the semester.
Applied Tax Policy (H) ECON2090
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass course plus there
may be an additional lecture each week.
Prerequisite: As for Applied Tax Policy (P).
Syllabus: The honours course covers the same topics as the pass course but in greater depth.
Asian Giants: China, India and Japan: alternative paths to prosperity (P) ECHI2109
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H), or Understanding Economic Behaviour: Microeconomics for Social Scientists and Understanding Economic Policy: Macroeconomics for Social Scientists, or 72 credit points.
Syllabus: The purpose of this unit is to provide a comparative analysis of the long-term growth of three of the largest economies in Asia: India, China and Japan. The unit is designed to satisfy the interests of a wide range of students in, and outside the Faculty of Economics. The unit deals primarily with the economic determinants of each countrys growth, but the role of cultural, political and religious factors, as well as the ethnic diversity within China and India, will be taken into account in explaining the relative economic success of each country. The main focus of study will be on identifying and comparing the relative importance of those factors that appear to have hindered, or have promoted economic growth in each of the three economies. Among the main themes to be explored are the roles of rural development and technology, peasant society and other cultural influences affecting economic growth, manufacturing industry and industrialisation, population growth, urbanisation, foreign influences, and economic systems (command, feudal, etc.). Analytical emphasis will be on identifying and comparing long-run determinants of each countrys success (or the lack of it) in achieving economic growth and development.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Asian Giants: China, India and Japan: alternative paths to prosperity (H) ECHI2119
(6cp)
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass course with additional honours classes throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Asian Giants: China, India and Japan: alternative paths to prosperity (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass course along with additional honours classes and assessment throughout the semester.
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Auditing COMM3002
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Business Information Systems, Company Accounting, Introduction to Commercial Law and Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 2.
Syllabus: Nature and objectives of independent financial audits; auditing standards; risk as a basis for auditing; evidence; internal control; sampling and data verification techniques; audit reports; auditing in a computerised Information System (CIS) environment; legal and ethical responsibilities; other types of audit.
Australian Economic History (P) ECHI2102
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H), or Understanding Economic Behaviour: Microeconomics for Social Scientists and Understanding Economic Policy: Macroeconomics for Social Scientists.
Syllabus: The unit uses the basic tools of economics to examine Australian economic experience in the period from early settlement to the Second World War. Particular topics may include the major influences on economic development; standards of living and income distribution; the impact of white settlement on the aboriginal population and the environment; Australias place in the international system of trade, capital flows and migration; the nature and significance of the economic depressions of the 1890s and the 1930s; and the policy problems and actions of governments. Although the course concentrates on economic questions, social and political circumstances will also be taken into account where these are important for understanding the questions at issue.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Australian Economic History (H) ECHI2112
(6cp)
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit, together with a research essay based on primary source materials held in the Archives of Business and Labour at ANU and in the Commonwealth Government Archives. Students intending to proceed to fourth-year honours in economic history are strongly advised to take this unit in their second or third year.
Prerequisite: As for Australian Economic History (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit, together with a longer essay based on research into archival documents. Students attempting the honours essay have until October to submit their essay.
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Business and Economic Forecasting EMET3007
(6cp)
Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures
Prerequisite: 72 credit points including Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 1 and 2 or Statistical Techniques 1 and 2 or Regression Modelling or permission of the head of department.
Incompatible with Business Statistics.
Syllabus: Accurate forecasting of future events and their outcomes is a crucial input into a successful business or economic planning process. This unit provides an introduction to the application of various forecasting techniques. The methods include trend curve extrapolation, smoothing, autoregressions, regression modelling, leading indicators. The unit also looks at techniques for the evaluation of performance of forecasting methods and examines the role of forecasts in the decision making process. Students will learn how to use the various techniques in real world forecasting applications.
Business Ethics COMM3016
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: 60 credit points including at least 48 credit points from Schedule 1, or permission of the head of department.
Syllabus: Philosophical inquiry into ethics and the psychological theories of moral development. A major purpose is to promote reflection on the ethical domain of economic decision making and to develop the student’s capacity to analyse and argue the ethical dimension. Important themes will include the ethical content inherent in capitalistic economic behaviour; the compatibility of goals and organisational structures of business and professions with ethical outcomes; motivation and incentive for ethical behaviour. Applications will examine a range of ethical problems, for instance dilemmas concerning trust, loyalty, truthfulness and responsibility that present in workplace settings.
Business Information Systems* INFS2012
(6cp)
First and Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisite: 24 credit points or permission of head of department.
Incompatible with Introduction to Information Systems (INFS1014).
Syllabus: The roles of computers in commerce and economics; the environment of information systems; the nature of decisions, information and data; the structure and characteristics of information systems in general; information technology to support information systems; software construction; data storage and retrieval of data; database management systems, with particular reference to relational data modelling and relational database inquiries; the systems life-cycle; information technology applications and implications; responsibility in the application of information technology.
* Taken in first year if pursuing a major in business information systems.
Company Accounting COMM2015
(6cp)
First and Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisite: Accounting and Financial Management.
Syllabus: Characteristics and types of companies; accounting for company life-cycle events: formation, issues of shares and debt instruments, reserves, retained profits and distributions to owners, financial reporting requirements, reorganisations, expansion by asset acquisitions, external administration; group accounts: the entity concept and control, substitution, inter-company transactions, outside equity interests; associates and the equity accounting method.
Competition Policy, Privatisation and Regulation (P) ECON2010
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures per week and one tutorial per week.
Prerequisite: Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: This unit will provide a broad understanding of the economic principles of government intervention in markets. The topics to be covered are competition policy, regulation, and privatisation. Beginning with a brief overview of the theory of market structure, the study of competition policy will focus on mergers, collusion and access pricing. The standard issues of regulatory price setting will be covered, including modern theories relating to imperfect information. Finally the costs and benefits of privatisation and contracting out will be explored. The aim of the unit is to introduce new microeconomic theory and techniques relating to competition policy and to demonstrate how that theory can be used in practical, policy relevant analysis. Current issues in Australian microeconomic reform will be analysed using the acquired skills.
Competition Policy, Privatisation and Regulation (H) ECON2012
(6cp)
Second semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit together with
one honours class a week throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Competition Policy, Privatisation and Regulation (P).
Syllabus: Introduction to advanced topics in competition policy. Additional emphasis will be placed on recent theoretical developments with applications to current policy initiatives.
Consumers and Consumption in the Modern Economy (P) ECHI2021
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisites: Economics I (P or H) or Understanding Economic Behaviour: Microeconomics for Social Scientists and Understanding Economic Policy: Macroeconomics for Social Scientists.
Syllabus: This unit analyses changes in consumer demand during economic development, particularly during the 20th century. The unit is thematic and assesses these changes at both the macro and micro level. It uses the historical experience of Western economies and businesses to outline the complex processes by which the modern consumer society has evolved. It then uses this outline to analyse recent changes in consumption patterns in Asian economies. The unit presents students with an interdisciplinary understanding of the fundamental factors thatmotivate broad changes in consumer choice and spending. Topicsdiscussed include: economic growth and consumption patterns, consumer behaviour, changes in production and distribution, the role of marketing,case studies for basic necessities, manufactures and services.
Preliminary reading:
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial work.
Text
Consumers and Consumption in the Modern Economy (H) ECHI2022
(6cp)
Second semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit with more advanced
topics and reading in the same field.
Prerequisite: As for Consumers and Consumption in the Modern Economy (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit together with more advanced topics.
Proposed assessment: By examination, extended essay and tutorial presentation.
Continuous Time Finance COMM3012
(6cp)
Semester to be determined
Prerequisite: Permission of the head of department.
Syllabus: This unit is directed at students pursuing advanced studies in finance wishing to gain an understanding of stochastic processes and applications used in continuous time. Topics include: introduction to stochastic calculus; continuous time concepts; martingales; stochastic volatility; applications to asset pricing and derivatives; hedging principles; incomplete markets; transactions costs.
Corporate Finance COMM2005
(6cp)
First and Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Accounting and Financial Management, and Economics I (P or H).
Incompatible with Financial Economics or Corporate Finance (COMM3004).
Syllabus: An introduction to the study of finance with a specific focus on corporate issues. Covers a range of topics designed to provide a general understanding of modern finance theory and practice. Topics include: capital markets; financial decision-making under uncertainty; assessment of risk; portfolio theory; valuation of equity and debt instruments; pricing of risky assets; efficient markets; corporate financing decisions; corporate dividend decisions; capital budgeting concepts and applications; international finance; topical issues and developments.
Corporate Strategy COMM3015
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: 72 credit points including at least 48 credit points from Schedule 1, or permission of the head of department.
Syllabus: Emphasis is on corporate strategy from the firm’s perspective. Covers the theory of the firm, strategic options, decision-making and implement- ation, corporate governance and corporate failure. Theories are analysed to examine the forces and factors that influence the strategies pursued by corporations and their construction of governance structures. Topics include various theories of the firm, strategic analysis and techniques (such as SWOT), strategic capability, strategic options and choice, strategic implementation and feedback, alternative corporate governance structures and corporate failures. The unit has a mix of theory and practice and draws upon case studies to highlight key concepts in strategic decision-making.
Design of Experiments and Surveys STAT3012
(6cp)
First semester
Three 1-hour lectures.
Prerequisites: Econometric Methods or Regression Modelling or Introductory Mathematical Statistics.
Objectives: This unit is intended to introduce the principles of data collection (with particular emphasis on the design of experiments and surveys) and methods for analysing such data.
Syllabus: Experimentation; principles of experimental design; experiments to compare two treatments; analysis of variance; maximum likelihood and REML; factorial experiments; blocking; split-plot designs. Finite populations; censuses and sample surveys; sampling methods; models for finite populations; stratification; cluster sampling; complex surveys; total survey design. Design-based analysis; observational studies.
Development of Capital Markets (P) ECHI3005
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H).
Syllabus: This unit draws upon recent research from business and financial history to provide an understanding of the development and organisation of international and domestic capital markets within their broader institutional and historical context. Topics to be addressed include the development of the legal and economic framework for share trading, the foundation of Australian colonial stock markets, trends in regulation, speculative booms, and corporate collapse during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Specific issues relating to the development of international capital markets include international finance networks, speculative activity and the propagation of financial crises, and finance and industrial concentration.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial presentation.
Development of Capital Markets (H) ECHI3015
(6cp)
First semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit with more advanced
topics in the same field.
Prerequisite: As for Development of Capital Markets (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit together with wider reading in the same field.
Proposed assessment: By examination, extended essay and tutorial presentation.
The Development of General Equilibrium Theory (P) ECON3008
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
One 2-hour lecture and one 1-hour tutorial per week.
Prerequisite: Microeconomics 2 (P or H) and Macroeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: This unit deals with the history and development of long-run equilibrium theory from Smith to Sraffa and modern NeoWalrasian systems. Its primary concern is with the structure and possible limitations of general equilibrium theory, in both a static and an intertemporal context. Topics include: Ricardian growth models; Marxs transformation problem and the labour theory of value; Walrasian general equilibrium and the convergence to long-run prices with uniform returns; Wicksell and time-sequence production; the stability of dynamic paths with heterogeneous capital goods; the NeoWalrasian revolution and own-rates of return, intertemporal prices and long-run portfolio equilibrium. The unit closes with an appraisal of general equilibrium theory, and an examination of the formal analogy between physics and economics and its appropriateness.
Proposed assessment: A 3-hour final exam 75%. Problem sets and discussion questions will be presented in tutorials.
The Development of General Equilibrium Theory (H) ECON3018
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit, together
with additional honours classes throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for The Development of General Equilibrium Theory (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit together with wider reading in the same field.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Development of Modern Business (P) ECHI2010
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial per week.
Prerequisites: Economics I (P or H), or Understanding Economic Behaviour: Microeconomics for Social Scientists and Understanding Economic Policy: Macroeconomics for Social Scientists.
Incompatible with Comparative History of Business Enterprises (P or H).
Syllabus: The aim of this unit is to examine long run changes in the nature of business enterprises. The major themes to be covered include the changing scale, ownership, organisation, and managerial policies of firms. Examples of particular issues to be addressed include the growth of multinationals and why ownership and control have become increasingly separated. While there is no precise chronological period (reference, for example, will be made to the trading companies of the seventeenth century), the main concentration will be on the growth of large scale corporations since about the middle of the last century. The emphasis will be on a comparative approach by looking at the experience of individual firms in different industries and the pattern of corporate growth between countries. The major examples will be taken from Britain, USA, Japan and Australia.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Development of Modern Business (H) ECHI2020
(6cp)
First semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit, together with
additional class work throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Development of Modern Business (P).
Incompatible with Comparative History of Business Enterprises (P or H).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit, together with more advanced topics in the same field.
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Development, Poverty and Famine (P) ECHI2003
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures a week with tutorials throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H).
Syllabus: The objective of this course is to use historical material from about 1940 to examine the issues of development, poverty and famine. The approach is interdisciplinary and historical, and draws on concepts, mostly at an elementary level, from all relevant areas including economics, philosophy and nutritional science. Students are required to have a background in first-year economics or in general university attainment. Since this course is based on a rapidly changing and growing literature, its content varies over time. Topics that have been discussed in the past includethe interpretation of the data on the distribution of household incomes in various poor communities over time, consideration of some of the factors which have contributed to this distribution (such as the distribution of land and the influence of new agricultural technologies); the influence of public policy on the distribution of economic benefits within various communities; the basic causes of famines; the analysis of various famines in the period after 1940; the administration of food aid and famine relief. This unit may be included in the Development Studies program major.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Development, Poverty and Famine (H) ECHI2013
(6cp)
First semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit, together with
additional tutorials throughout the year or a longer honours essay.
Prerequisite: As for Development, Poverty and Famine (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit, together with wider reading in the same field.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Dynamic Econometrics EMET3008
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Three 1-hour lectures.
Prerequisite: Econometric Modelling.
Syllabus: This unit focuses on the development and application of multivariate time series methods suitable for analysing empirical problems that arise in macroeconomics and financial economics. The topics covered include full information analysis of systems of simultaneously determined variables, time series decompositions and multivariate time series models, and macro-econometric models. A typical offering would cover applications of consumption and business cycle theory, asset price determination, and stochastic policy and control analysis.
Econometric Methods EMET2007
(6cp)
First semester
Three 1-hour lectures.
Prerequisite: Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 1 and 2 or Statistical Techniques 1 and either of Mathematics AA1 or AM1, and completion or concurrent taking of Economics I (P or H).
Incompatible with Introductory Econometrics and Regression Modelling.
Syllabus: This unit is an introduction to econometric methods and applications. Practical aspects such as formulation of models and interpretation of results are emphasised more than abstract statistical theory. The basic framework is the linear regression model and its adaptations to econometric problems. Topics include: specification and functional form; estimation by least squares; interpretation of coefficients, measures of precision; checks of model assumptions; prediction; and model selection. Computer software is used to give students experience with realistic economic and business examples.
Econometric Modelling EMET2008
(6cp)
Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures.
Prerequisite: Econometric Methods or Regression Modelling, and completion or concurrent taking of Economics I (P or H).
Syllabus: This unit develops techniques necessary for the quantitative analysis of economic and business problems that are beyond the scope of the linear regression model. The main topics studied are non-linear regression models, limited information analysis of systems of simultaneous equations, and single equation dynamic models. Specific applications may include models of discrete choice, supply and demand, expectations formation, and dynamic adjustment. Use of computer software provides the opportunity to employ the methods in applications from actual economic and business case studies.
The Economic Development of Europe, 1750–1914 (P) ECHI2103
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures and one tutorial per week.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H), or Understanding Economic Behaviour: Microeconomics for Social Scientists and Understanding Economic Policy: Macroeconomics for Social Scientists.
Syllabus: An investigation of the economic development and industrialisation of Europe before World War One from regional, national, and Pan-European perspectives. Emphasis will be placed upon explaining the industrialisation of north- western Europe and drawing comparisons with the more belated growth and development of much of southern and eastern regions of the continent. Distinctive features of development in individual countries will be examined in detail while cross- national comparative themes will include demography, urbanisation, transport, technology transfer, capital formation, and entrepreneurship.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
The Economic Development of Europe, 1750–1914 (H) ECHI2113
(6cp)
Second semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit together with
more advanced topics in the same field.
Prerequisite: As for The Economic Development of Europe 1750–1914 (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit, together with wider reading in the same field.
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Economics III (H) ECON3111
(6cp)
Full year
One 1-hour lecture and one 1-hour tutorial per week throughout
the year.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 3 and Macroeconomics 3.
Syllabus: Topics from Microeconomics 3 and Macroeconomics 3 are examined in greater depth along with several more advanced topics based on recent developments in economics.
Proposed assessment: Mid-year and end-of-year examinations together with a small number of assignments in each semester.
Economics of Education (P) ECON3005
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Two 1-hour lectures and one tutorial per week.
Prerequisites: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: The first part of the course looks at human capital theory, the basic economic approach that when individuals acquire education they invest in themselves, or increase their human capital. The theory is used to analyse the private demand for education, the education of labour training and the relationship between education and earnings. The model is used to explain the observed life-cycle pattern of earnings and distribution of income across the population. The determinants of, and policy responses to, income inequality and social stratification are examined. The effect of ability, opportunity and family background on the distribution of income and schooling in the population is analysed. Empirical estimates of rates of return to education and their implications are evaluated. The relationship between education and productivity are examined.
The course then provides an economic analysis of policy issues in the finance and provision of education. Economic considerations which bear on the role of government and effects of government intervention in the education system are examined. The Australian education system is analysed in detail and relevant empirical evidence presented.
Proposed assessment: A mid-semester examination and a final three-hour examination.
Preliminary reading
Economics of Education (H) ECON3015
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit, together with additional honours classes throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Economics of Education (P).
Syllabus: The honours section provides a deeper treatment of some issues in the pass course, as well as extra topics. Topics include the tax treatment of human capital, the effect of uncertainty on investment in human capital, models of signalling, heterogeneous human capital, male-female wage differences and income contingent loans in financing higher education.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Emerging Southeast Asia: the Economic Rise of Australia’s neighbours (P) ECHI2108
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Two lectures and one tutorial a week
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H), or Understanding Economic Behaviour: Microeconomics for Social Scientists and Understanding Economic Policy: Macroeconomics for Social Scientists, or 12 points.
Incompatible with Economic History of Modern Southeast Asia (P or H).
Syllabus: The unit provides an overview of the economic history of Southeast Asia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The countries covered stretch from Burma to the Philippines. The unit will advance students understanding of the historical issues which contributed to economic underdevelopment and to the rapid recent economic change in most of the region.
The unit will be both chronological and thematic in approach. Topics to be discussed during lectures and tutorials include: population growth and population density; the rice economy; the development of foreign trade; the advent of monetary and fiscal systems; the relevance of transport infrastructure and market integration; foreign enterprise and investment; the contribution of ethnic Chinese; the relevance of education; the impact of the global slump in the 1930s and the Japanese occupation in the early 1940s; decolonisation and the rise of economic nationalism; the Green Revolution in rice agriculture; poverty and income distribution; industrial policy and industrialisation, Australian connections.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Emerging Southeast Asia: the Economic Rise of Australias neighbours (H) ECHI2108
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit, together
with additional honours classes.
Prerequisite: As for Emerging Southeast Asia: the Economic Rise of Australia’s Neighbours (P).
Incompatible with Economic History of Modern Southeast Asia (P or H).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit together with wider reading in the same field.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Environmental Accountability and Reporting COMM3017
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: 72 credit points or permission of the head of department.
Syllabus: Provides an introduction to corporate and macro environmental accounting and reporting issues. The main focus is on the need for improved transparency, accountability and decision making. The main focus is on the need for improved transparency and accountability between these stakeholders. Topics will be selected from: theoretical foundations of environmental accounting within the context of sustainable development; tools of analysis including environmental audit, environmental management systems, and life cycle assessment and costing; measurement and disclosure issues; accounting for environmental assets, costs and liabilities; and environmental accounting and reporting at the corporate and national levels.
Financial Economics (P) ECON3006
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures a week with tutorials
Prerequisites: Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Incompatible with Corporate Finance.
Syllabus: This unit examines the role of finance in a market economy. Both the demand and supply sides of the market for financial securities are analysed to provide a clearer understanding of the way security prices are determined under uncertainty using the CAPM. There is a detailed treatment of corporate finance when there are corporate and personal taxes; the theorems are analysed in detail as are the explanations for optimal firm financial policies.
Preliminary reading
Financial Economics (H) ECON3016
(6cp)
Second semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit with one honours
class throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Financial Economics (P).
Incompatible with Corporate Finance.
Syllabus: As for the pass unit.
Preliminary reading: As for the pass unit.
Financial Institutions and Risk Management COMM2006
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Corporate Finance or Financial Economics.
Syllabus: This unit is directed at students interested in gaining an understanding of the functions and roles of capital markets, financial institutions and financial intermediation in addition to concepts and applications of risk management in modern financial markets. Topics covered include financial institutions and intermediation, financial (de)regulation, the banking sector, financial instruments, interest rates and term structure, rediscounting, derivative securities, risk management strategies and corporate treasuries.
Financial Reporting by Corporations COMM3008
(6cp)
First semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisite: Company Accounting.
Syllabus: The unit examines a selection of financial reporting issues that are included, or under consideration for inclusion in, accounting standards applicable in Australia. Technical and theoretical aspects are considered. The conceptual framework, normative theories of accounting measurement and political and international pressures on the local standard setting processes are all presented as factors shaping the current and developing body of accounting standards.
Generalised Linear Modelling STAT2009
(6cp)
Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures.
Prerequisites: Econometric Methods or Regression Modelling.
Objectives: This unit is intended to introduce students to generalised linear and some non-linear modelling methods for both discrete and continuous response data.
Syllabus: Review of multiple linear regression and the analysis of variance; use of transformations and weighting in linear models. Logistic regression for binary response data. Generalised linear models; estimation and inference using iteratively re-weighed least squares (IRLS). Poisson regression; loglinear models for contingency tables; models for survival data. Non-linear regression techniques.
Graphical Data Analysis STAT3011
(6cp)
Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Prerequisites: 72 credit points including Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 1 and 2 or Statistical Techniques 1 and 2 or Econometric Methods or Regression Modelling; or with permission of the head of department.
Syllabus: This unit introduces the principles of data representation, summarisation and presentation with particular emphasis on the use of graphics. The unit will use the S Plus Language in a modern computing environment. Topics to be discussed include: Data representation; examples of good and bad graphics; principles of graphic construction; some pitfalls to be avoided; presentation graphics. Graphics environments; interactive graphics; windows; linked windows; graphics objects. Statistical graphics; stem and leaf plots, box plots, histograms; smoothing histograms; quantile-quantile plots; representing multivariate data; scatterplots; clustering; stars and faces; dynamic graphics including data rotation and brushing. Relationships between variables; smoothing scatterplots; simple regression; modelling and diagnostic plots; exploring surfaces; contour plots and perspective plots; multiple regression; relationships in time and space; time series modelling and diagnostic plots.
Health Economics ECON3004
(6cp)
Semester to be determined
Two lectures per week with tutorials throughout
the semester.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: Demand for health and health care, theory of consumer behaviour and demand for health insurance, the issue of voluntary versus compulsory health insurance, production of health and health care, including economic models of hospitals and hospital cost analysis, public choice approaches to issues in the health sector, output budgeting and economic evaluation of health care programs. Throughout the course the emphasis will be on the application of microeconomic analysis to health care issues.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: Students will be required to sit a three-hour examination at the end of the semester and to complete written work during the course. Details to be determined at commencement of the unit.
History of Economic Thought (P) ECHI2005
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures a week with tutorials throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H).
Syllabus: This unit is intended as an introduction to the history of economic theory. While the major phases in the development of economics (in the technical sense) will be studied, the aim will be to treat them against the background of their historical environment, including political and social thought and current economic problems. The unit will include, but not be confined to, the work of Smith, Ricardo, Marx, Marshall and Keynes.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
History of Economic Thought (H) ECHI2015
(6cp)
Second semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit, together with
additional tutorials throughout the semester or a longer honours essay.
Prerequisite: As for History of Economic Thought (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit together with wider reading in the same field.
Proposed assessment: By examination, essay and tutorial participation.
Industrial Organisation (P) ECON2107
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: The standard competitive model of market structure is simple and clear. However, it does not explain the composition of most industries. Students of industrial organization depart from the competitive model by analysing the behaviour of firms and its impact on market structure, pricing, advertising, research and development, and profits. The tools for studying industrial organisation, namely basis microeconomic theory and game theory, will be taught in the first few weeks of the course. An elementary knowledge of calculus used for simple maximisation is assumed.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: A final examination, assignments and an optional essay. Details to be determined.
Industrial Organisation (H) ECON2057
(6cp)
First semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit together with
an additional research essay covering recent empirical studies and extra
tutorial problems.
Prerequisite: As for Industrial Organisation (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass course together with more advanced work.
Preliminary reading: As for the pass unit.
Information Systems Analysis INFS2024
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Business Information Systems or Introduction to Programming and Algorithms (COMP1100).
Syllabus: Information systems theory, decision concepts and techniques; fundamentals of individual and organisational behaviour; information systems analysis; user requirements determination, procedure representations and process specification; systems implementation; project management; user participation in systems analysis and implementation; systems operation.
Information Systems Management INFS3024
(6cp)
First semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Information Systems Analysis or Introduction to the Technology of Information Systems (COMP2400).
Syllabus: Alternative vehicles and product architectures for application software development and exploitation; quality assurance; acquisition methods; issues in project management; group decision support systems; inter, multi and extra-organisational applications, with particular reference to EFTS, EDI and electronic trading; competitive and strategic applications of information technology; information privacy law; legal liability, crime and professional ethics.
Information Systems Project INFS3059
(6cp)
Second semester
Prerequisites: Information Systems Management.
Syllabus: This unit comprises supervised project work that pursues a specific application of information technology in business, industry or government, complemented by a limited amount of coursework.
International Economics ECON3103
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Microeconomics 2 (P or H) and Macroeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: The unit aims to provide students with an understanding of, and the competence to apply economic analysis to, the main issues confronting business and the economy in the modern international trading and financial environment. Issues of contemporary international debate and policy relevance are investigated in the context of the development of the core body of the theory of international trade, commercial policy and international monetary economics.
The unit commences with a discussion of the nature of the gains from trade specialisation, the determinants of the pattern of world trade, and the factors which influence the benefits to an economy (and its component sectors and groups) from participation in the international trading system. Labour migration and the operations of multinational corporations will be considered and the relation of factor and technology flows to trade patterns examined. A significant proportion of the course will focus on commercial policy issues, commencing with an analysis of unilateral trade policy changes and then examining the economics of trade policy coordination through multilateral and regional arrangements. The debate on the role of industrial policy in the process of economic development will receive special attention. The latter part of the course will develop the understanding of macroeconomic issues and policy in the open economy setting, with particular attention being paid to the internationalisation of financial markets and its implications for the interdependence of macroeconomic outcomes, the analysis of international macroeconomic policy coordination and monetary union, and the role of expectations and risk in determining spot and forward currency exchange rates. Special attention will be paid to monetary, exchange rate, and debt issues in developing countries.
Proposed assessment: A mid-semester examination and/or essay plus a 3-hour end-of-semester examination.
International Economy Since the Second World War (P) ECHI2006
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures a week with tutorials throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H).
Syllabus: An introductory section covers developments in the international economy from about the mid-19th century to the 1930s. Major trends in international economic experience from the mid-1940s to the very recent past will then be examined. Particular topics for examination include the planning and operation of the post-war international economic order; the international monetary system; international trade; capital markets; regional trade groupings; problems of the less-developed countries in the world economy; and East-West economic relationships.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: Examination, essay and tutorial participation.
International Economy Since the Second World War (H) ECHI2016
(6cp)
Second semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit. In addition
a course of lectures and an honours-length essay on the European Communities
in the international economy.
Prerequisite: As for International Economy Since the Second World War (P)
Syllabus: Aspects of regional economic integration in Europe since the Second World War with special reference to institutional and policy developments.
Proposed assessment: Examination, essay and tutorial participation.
International Financial Management COMM3005
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Corporate Finance or Financial Economics.
Syllabus: This subject is directed at students interested in international markets and operations, foreign exchange, multinational corporations and their activities, and concepts of international business. The subject provides an analysis of modern theory and practice in international financial management. Topics include: decision-making in multinational corporations; concepts and operations of foreign exchange markets; international financial markets; Euromarkets; parity concepts and applications; international investment decision-making; aspects of international banking; funding mechanisms; capital budgeting tools and techniques; risk management strategies in an international environment.
Introduction to Technology of Information Systems COMP2400
(6cp)
Second semester
See entry in the Computer Science section of this Handbook.
Introductory Mathematical Statistics STAT2001
(6cp)
First and Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures.
Prerequisites: 12 credit points of mathematics 1000-level units including either Mathematics AA1 or AM1, or current enrolment in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies, or permission of the head of department.
Syllabus: A first unit in mathematical statistics with emphasis on applications; probability, random variables, moment generating functions and correlation, sampling distributions, estimation of parameters by the methods of moments and maximum likelihood, interval estimation, hypothesis testing, use of t, chi-square and F statistics, application of the central limit theorem to large sample inference, simple linear regression.
Investments COMM3011
(6cp)
First semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Corporate Finance or Financial Economics.
Syllabus: This unit is directed at students interested in the study of investments and portfolio management. The subject provides a practical analysis of modern financial markets, traders and trading strategies. Topics include: theory of investments; advanced portfolio theory; asset pricing models under uncertainty; derivative securities (options and futures); arbitrage; equity trading strategies; funds management; bond and bill pricing; management of bond portfolios; bond portfolio trading strategies; techniques of asset allocation and performance measurement.
Japanese Economy and Economic Policy ECON2008
(6cp)
Semester to be determined
Three hours of lectures a week throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: This unit is designed to introduce students to the operation and management of the Japanese economy and its impact on Australias economic relations with Japan. Stress will be given to the analytic and policy interest in the operation and management of an economic system built on different social and institutional foundations from that of our own and the interaction between the Japanese economy and other economies, particularly the Australian economy.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: Assignments are prescribed as well as an examination at the end of the semester.
Labour Economics and Industrial Relations (P) ECON2009
(6cp)
Second semester
Two 1-hour lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: This course provides a theoretical and empirical discussion of labour markets. Topics considered will include: labour supply and the determinants of hours of work, migration, investments in human capital, labour demand, wage determination, discrimination, internal labour markets, trade unions, and macroeconomic issues related to wages and employment.
Proposed assessment: A 1-hour mid-semester examination and a 3-hour final examination. An essay assignment can be arranged for interested students.
Labour Economics and Industrial Relations (H) ECON2059
(6cp)
Second semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit along with one
honours class a week throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Labour Economics and Industrial Relations (P).
Syllabus: The honours section provides a more detailed theoretical and empirical treatment of most topics covered concurrently in the pass course.
Proposed assessment: Assessment will be based on the same arrangements as for the pass unit although examinations and essays for the honours students will be marked at a higher standard. Some exam questions given to the honours section will differ from those given to the pass course.
Law and Economics (P) ECON2120
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures and one tutorial per week.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: This unit provides an introduction to a growing body of literature that applies economic analysis to the law. Prior legal knowledge is not required. Topics to be discussed will include the economic approach to the analysis of law, the welfare implications of such analysis, and selected topics in property, contract, tort and family law.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: A 1-hour interm examination, and a 3-hour final examination.
Law and Economics (H) ECON2139
(6cp)
To be advised
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit, together with
additional classes as may be required throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Law and Economics (P)
Syllabus: As for the pass unit, together with more advanced topics in the same field.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Law of Business Entities COMM2101
(6cp)
First semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Introduction to Commercial Law.
Incompatible with Business Associations or Corporations Law.
Syllabus: A study of the legal principles relevant to business structures in Australia with particular reference to agents, partnerships and corporations. The unit examines the nature of the agency relationship and issues of authority as well as the formation, operation and dissolution of partnerships. In relation to corporations, the unit discusses the nature of incorporation and registration requirements; the raising of finance through share issues and debt instruments; internal administration including directors duties; and external administration and liquidation. The unit will also discuss other structures such as joint ventures, trading trusts, incorporated associations and cooperatives.
Life Insurance Mathematics STAT3033
(6cp)
Second semester
Two 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the third year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Actuarial Principles 1 and Actuarial Principles 2 and current enrolment in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies.
Description: The use of multiple-decrement and similar tables; multiple state models; joint life and last survivor annuities; contingent assurances; reversionary annuities; valuation of pension benefits.
Macroeconomics 2(P) ECON2102
(6cp)
Second semester
Three hours of lectures and a one-hour tutorial each week
throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H).
Syllabus: This course builds on the macroeconomic analysis of Economics I and introduces new themes in the context of the Australian economy. It examines open-economy models, analysing the determination of short-run aggregate demand in an economy which is open to trade, flows of capital and variable exchange rates. Examination of the dynamics of expectations, inflation and unemployment introduce modern supply-side debates, including an analysis of non-competitive labour and product markets. The course then moves on to consider issues and evidence on longer-run growth. The goal of the course is to develop a set of ideas and models with which to make sense of current issues in Australian macroeconomic policy.
Proposed assessment: A combination of tutorial problem sets, short essays and a final examination.
Preliminary reading
Macroeconomics 2(H) ECON2112
(6cp)
Second semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit together with
additional honours classes throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: As for Macroeconomics 2(P). Topics from the pass unit are examined in greater depth along with several more advanced topics based on recent developments in macroeconomics.
Proposed assessment: to be determined.
Macroeconomics 3 ECON3102
(6cp)
Second semester
Three lectures and one tutorial per week throughout the
semester.
Prerequisite: Macroeconomics 2 (P or H) and Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: this course extends and reinforces the material developed in Macroeconomics 2, by analysing a number of policy issues in macroeconomics. Its objective is to show how practical problems can be structured and analysed using macroeconomic models and appropriate data. Most of the applications will be drawn from contemporary and historical Australian experience. Topics to be discussed include measurement and interpretation of macroeconomic aggregates; impact of the world economy on short-run fluctuations in Australia; determinants of economic growth and foreign debt; assessment of the impact of fiscal policy; inflation targets and monetary policy; and the persistence of unemployment.
Proposed assessment: An essay and an end of semester examination.
See Economics III (H) for the honours level of this unit.
Management Accounting COMM2011
(6cp)
First and Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Accounting and Financial Management and completion or concurrent taking of Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 2.
Syllabus: Alternative management accounting systems, including traditional and activity based costing; overhead allocation; standard costing for management control; relevant costs for decision- making; cost estimation using simple linear and multiple regression; linear programming and the product mix decision; inventory management (EOQ and JIT compared); quality, continuous improvement and non-financial performance indicators; capital budgeting; transfer pricing and decentralisation.
Management Control Systems COMM3013
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Management Accounting.
Syllabus: Theories of organisation and management relating to management control systems design, implementation and use. Topics covered relate to behavioural, structural, and organisational implications of management control systems.
Managerial Decision Analysis STAT3014
(6cp)
First semester
Three 1-hour lectures.
Prerequisite: 72 credit points including Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 1 and 2, or Statistical Techniques 1 and 2, or Econometric Methods, or Regression Modelling; or permission of the head of department.
Incompatible with Operations Research: Linear Programming.
Syllabus: Decision making is a process of selecting a specific unit of action from a set of possible actions to address a given problem. Because there is uncertainty about the future, we cannot be sure of the consequences of the decision. This unit provides an introduction to the quantitative techniques and models used by managers to help solve decision making problems in an uncertain environment. The main quantitative techniques studied will be those of statistical decision analysis, mathematical programming, and simulation. Specific applications of these techniques may include product-mix determination, transportation planning, risk analysis (of securities), inventory control, queuing problems, and quality control.
Managerial Decision Making COMM3003
(6cp)
First semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisite: Management Accounting.
Syllabus: This unit focuses on managerial decision-making and associated organisational and behavioural issues. The subject aims to provide a practical analysis of the processes of identifying managerial decisions and solving problems. Topics cover a broad range of decision situations including uncertainty, inventory, strategy, profitability, quality, and project and investment appraisal.
Marketing COMM2010
(6cp)
First semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Economics I (P or H).
Syllabus: The unit provides an introduction to the function and responsibilities of marketing. Topics include: the role of marketing and the organisational context; the marketing environment; marketing information, research and analysis; planning and strategies; buyer behaviour; defining a market; pricing products and services; promotion and advertising; distribution channels; industry analysis and competitive strategies; marketing of services; non profit organisations; and evaluating the marketing effort.
Marketing Models ECON3012
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures per week and one tutorial per week.
Prerequisite: Marketing.
Syllabus: This unit brings together the economic study of consumer behaviour with the study of strategic firm behaviour. First, models of consumer behaviour are developed focusing on issues such as optimal product choice, response to advertising, repeat purchase incentives. Given the models of consumer behaviour, models of firm decisions about product price, product characteristics, and advertising are investigated. The goal is to provide students with an analytical approach to marketing tools and with an understanding of how marketers can make better marketing decisions.
Marketing Research Methods STAT2003
(6cp)
Second semester
Prerequisites: Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics
2 or Statistical Techniques 1.
Syllabus: This unit is directed at students interested in quantitative methods of marketing research. The subject provides an introduction to many of the techniques currently used in modern marketing practice. Considerable emphasis will be placed on case studies in marketing practice and on the practical application of the methods discussed. Topics may include: Formulation of marketing research problems; Data collection; Techniques of data analysis.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Mathematical Economics IA (P) ECON2121
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures a week with tutorials throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Two first-year mathematics units other than Mathematics AM1, AM2, AM3, or AM4, or Mathematics for Economists A and B, and completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: Review of constrained optimisation theory; duality; consumer and producer theory; models of oligopoly; bargaining theory; topics on uncertainty; general equilibrium; applications to tax reform in general equilibrium.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: A 3-hour final examination and problem sets.
Mathematical Economics IA (H) ECON2122
(6cp)
First semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit with one honours
class a week throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Mathematical Economics IA (P).
Syllabus: Extensions to the concepts introduced in Mathematical Economics IA. Proofs of theorems.
Proposed assessment: A 3-hour final examination and problem sets.
Mathematical Economics IB (P) ECON2023
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Two lectures a week with tutorials throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Mathematical Economics IA.
Syllabus
(a) Theory of differential and difference equations; stability
analysis.
(b) Descriptive dynamic models in such areas as inflation, resource
economics, exchange rate determination, trade cycles, and growth.
(c) Dynamic
optimising models.
Proposed assessment: A 3-hour final examination and problem sets.
Mathematical Economics IB (H) ECON2024
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Lectures as for the pass unit together with one honours
class a week throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Mathematical Economics IB (P).
Syllabus: Applications of stochastic calculus to descriptive and optimal economic models.
Proposed assessment: A 3-hour final examination and problem sets.
Mathematics for Economists A ECON2125
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisites: Economics I (P or H) and Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 1 and 2.
Syllabus: Graphs and functions used in economic theory; vectors, matrices and determinants; partial derivatives and total derivatives; concavity and convexity; unconstrained maximisation/minimisation; maximisation/minimisation subject to equality constraints; the implicit function theorem and the envelope theorem; elementary integration. Throughout the course, the usefulness of these concepts and techniques will be illustrated by applications to theoretical economic analysis.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: Mid-semester and semester examinations.
Mathematics for Economists B ECON2127
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures a week with tutorials throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Mathematics for Economists A.
Syllabus: This unit is the second of a two semester sequence which introduces students to a range of mathematical concepts and techniques which are useful in analysing economic issues. The main focus in this unit is on Dynamic Analysis and an introduction to Dynamic Optimisation. Throughout the course, the various concepts and techniques will be illustrated by applications to theoretical economic analysis.
The topics to be covered will be drawn from:
Review of Integral Calculus
First
Order Differential Equations
Higher Order Differential Equations
First Order
Difference Equations
Higher Order Difference Equations
System of Differential
or Difference Equations
Introduction to Dynamic Optimisation
Proposed assessment: Mid-semester and end-of-semester examinations.
Mathematics in the Financial World STAT2032
(6cp)
First semester
Three 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the second year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Introductory Mathematical Statistics and Mathematics AA1 and current enrolment in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies.
Description: Compound interest functions; valuation of annuities certain; loans repayable by instalments; comparison of value and yield of cash flow transactions; valuation of fixed interest securities, with and without tax on interest and capital gains; duration and volatility of securities; introduction to concept of immunisation and matching; consumer credit contracts; introduction to stochastic interest rate models.
Microeconomics 2 (P) ECON2101
(6cp)
First semester
Three lectures and one tutorial per week throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H).
Syllabus: Building upon material introduced in Economics I, this unit aims to provide a solid understanding of basic microeconomic theory and the ability to apply those tools and ideas. Models describing the economic behaviour of individual decision-makers and the outcomes of markets are developed and applied with an interest in their impact on social welfare. Questions addressed include: What influences consumer demand decisions and how? How do firms decide on how much to produce and how much inputs to use? How do prices function to coordinate economic activity? What is meant by economic efficiency? When do markets fail to achieve efficient outcomes?
Training in economic analysis is achieved via weekly tutorials that go over problem sets linked to material presented in lecture. Overall, the course takes an analytical approach emphasising rigorous logical reasoning and economic problem solving.
Proposed assessment: In-class tests, tutorial assignments, group presentations and final examination.
Text
Microeconomics 2 (H) ECON2111
(6cp)
First semester
Lectures as for the pass degree, together with two honours
of classes a week throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Microeconomics 2 (P).
Syllabus: As for Microeconomics 2(P). Topics from the pass unit are examined in greater depth along with several more advanced topics based on recent developments in microeconomics, including game theory and the economics of uncertainty and asymmetric information.
Proposed assessment: Candidates are required to complete all assignments and examinations prescribed for the pass degree. In addition they must complete an end-of-semester examination based upon the subject matter of the honours classes.
Microeconomics 3 ECON3101
(6cp)
First semester
Three lectures and one tutorial per week throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: Techniques for the Analysis of Microeconomic Policies — the welfare basis of government intervention; positive theory of government; concepts and measurement of consumer and producer welfare change; partial-equilibrium efficiency analysis; Harberger’s general-equilibrium efficiency analysis.
Applications will be drawn from topics relating to Australian primary, manufacturing and service industries.
Proposed assessment: A three-hour end-of-semester examination, in-class tests and an optional assignment.
See Economics III (H) for the honours level of this unit.
Modern Political Economy (The Analysis of Social Institutions) ECON2039
(6cp)
Not offered in 1999
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: Most modern economics deal with the derivation of empirically testable propositions concerning human action within a given environment of institutional rules. There is, however, a venerable tradition within economics concerned with the evaluation of alternative institutional structures and procedural rules; that tradition is often termed political economy. It might more descriptively be termed comparative institutional analysis.
In recent times there has been a renewal of interest in the area of political economy by a range of economists from both the mainstream neoclassical school (a sub-branch of economics, Public Choice, has developed specifically in this area) and from alternative viewpoints (eg the Austrian and the Marxian schools). At the same time, there has been a complementary growth of interest in the general area of political economy from writers in sociology, law, philosophy and political theory.
This course attempts to bring together these bodies of work within a framework based in part on the links between individually rational behaviour and ethically desirable behaviour. The object is to present a survey of alternative approaches to political economy, and to develop some of these approaches in considerable depth. This will allow the investigation of questions concerning the properties of alternative social orders and their potential justification.
Monetary Economics (P) ECON2026
(6cp)
First semester
Two 1-hour lectures plus one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Microeconomics 2 (P or H) and Macroeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: The objective of this course is to provide an introduction to both theoretical and policy issues in monetary economics. In the main, the development of theory will be directed towards providing a structure within which to analyse contemporary policy issues in Australia and elsewhere. These include: the common experience of many economies where central banks have moved from targeting monetary aggregates, to using short-term interest rates to target inflation; increasing central bank independence; monetary union in Europe and elsewhere; volatility of foreign exchange markets; prudential supervision of financial institutions; effectiveness of monetary policy in stabilising output fluctuations.
Proposed assessment: to be determined.
Monetary Economics (H) ECON2076
(6cp)
First semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit together with
an additional lecture/tutorial.
Prerequisite: As for Monetary Economics (P).
Syllabus: Introduction to recent developments in theoretical monetary economics and its applications.
Proposed assessment: A 3-hour honours examination plus a major assignment.
Object-Orientated Systems Analysis INFS3047
(4cp)
Second semester
See entry in the Computer Science section of this Handbook.
Object-Orientated Systems Design INFS3048
(4cp)
Second semester
See entry in the Computer Science section of this Handbook.
Organisational Behaviour COMM3007
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisites: Accounting and Financial Management.
Syllabus: This unit provides an introduction to the theories that attempt to explain behaviour within organisations at the individual, group and organisational levels. Theories explored include: the psychology of the individual, motivation, group dynamics, leadership, power and politics, work design, organisational design, and organisational change.
Poverty, Public Policy and Development (P) ECHI3004
(6cp)
Second semester
Two 1-hour lectures a week and one 2-hour tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Microeconomics 2 (P or H) and at least a credit grade for Development, Poverty and Famine.
Syllabus: The central objective is to consider in some detail the theory of the design and implementation of policies, subject to various constraints, targeted at assisting the poor in developing countries. The starting point in the lectures will be the discussion of pertinent economic history for a number of developing countries which provide insights into how poverty and destitution may best be alleviated. To derive from these insights a deeper understanding of pertinent issues a range of disciplines are next brought to bear in the discussion. Besides economic history, the list of disciplines includes microeconomic theory (and within that discipline uncertainty theory, game theory, the general theory of market failure, taxation and expenditure), aspects of moral philosophy, political science, anthropology, ecology, demography, nutritional science and epidemiology. A concerted effort is made in the lectures to combine relevant ideas to be found in this literature into a coherent and reasonably rigorous framework of analysis. Much of this framework is provided by applying general equilibrium and elements of advanced microeconomic theory. Ideas from other disciplines suggest, however, what elements should be embodied in this framework for thinking about how to design and implement constrained public programs which appear to be socially optimal for alleviating poverty in developing countries.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Poverty, Public Policy and Development (H) ECHI3014
(6cp)
Second semester
Two 1-hour lectures a week and one 2-hour tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: As for Poverty, Public Policy and Development (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit with additional work as required.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Principles of Taxation Law COMM3014
(6cp)
First semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisite: Introduction to Commercial Law.
Incompatible with Introduction to Income Tax or Income Tax.
Syllabus: The unit involves the study of the basic principles of income tax law, especially the concepts of income and capital, and the rules relating to deductions. The important provisions of the Income Tax Assessment Acts 1936 and 1997 are considered in detail. In addition there will be a brief survey of the tax treatment of individual tax entities. Case materials and practical illustrations are introduced.
Public Economics — Theory (P) ECON2131
(6cp)
First semester
Two lectures and one tutorial a week.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: This course uses the basic tools of microeconomics to analyse the role of government and the rationale for and design of taxation and expenditure policy. Expository techniques include the use of diagrams, simple algebra and calculus. Emphasis is placed on attaining a solid grasp of the basic theory of public economics. The topics to be covered will be drawn from:
Review of Basic Microeconomics; Welfare Economics; Externalities; Public Goods; Public Choice; Public Production and Bureaucracy; Taxation; Fiscal Federalism.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Public Economics — Theory (H) ECON2132
(6cp)
First semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit together with
additional honours classes and assessment as may be required throughout
the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Public Economics — Theory (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit with additional advanced material.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Public Sector Accounting COMM3006
(6cp)
Second semester
At least three contact hours per week.
Prerequisite: Economics I (P or H) and Company Accounting and Management Accounting.
Syllabus: An examination of the role of government in Australia and its mechanisms for control over public expenditures and resources to insure greater efficiency and effectiveness in government activities, and public sector accounting standards. It considers the public sector environment and how it differs from private markets — The role of externalities and accountability; recent reforms in public sector financial management. An examination of major issues in public sector financial management — use of cash and accrual accounting information systems; management of financial and physical assets including environmental considerations; accounting for and management of superannuation obligations; performance measurement issues for departments of state; management and performance of government business enterprises including privatisation issues; types of public sector audits; roles of the Auditor General and accountability issues; role of the budget, budget process and management, and cash and accrual budgeting systems.
Regression Modelling STAT2008
(6cp)
First semester
Three 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Prerequisites: Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 1 and 2 or Statistical Techniques 1 and 2 or Statistical Techniques 1 and either Mathematics AA1 or AM1.
Incompatible with Regression Modelling (STAT2002) or Econometric Methods.
Objectives: This unit is designed to emphasise the principles of statistical modelling through the cycle of proposing a model, fitting it, criticising it, and modifying it. The use of graphical methods will also be stressed.
Syllabus: Introduction to Splus. Statistical inference; estimation; failures of the model diagnostics; transformations; inference and interpretation. Multiple regression models; matrix formulation; estimation and diagnostics; variable selection. Models with indicator variables (including experimental designs).
Resource and Environmental Economics ECON2128
(6cp)
Second semester
Two lectures a week plus tutorials throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: Completion or concurrent taking of Microeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: The unit deals with the exploitation of exhaustible, renewable, and environmental resources and the public policy issues which arise in seeking their efficient use. A strong connecting thread is the problem of ill-defined property rights in the market allocation of these resources. The course first deals with the theory of exhaustible resources and examines the effects of different market and mineral leasing arrangements, alternative taxation regimes, and some policy issues relating to Australia’s production, consumption and trade of mineral and energy resources. Following this, the theory of renewable resources and some policy issues arising in that area are discussed. Finally, the course examines problems of environmental degradation and natural area conservation with a particular focus on the alternative policy tools and evaluation procedures available to governments.
Although the unit largely reinforces and extends microeconomic theory with reference to the areas mentioned, it has a strong applied focus relating particularly to Australian policy problems.
Risk Theory 1 STAT3035
(6cp)
First semester
Two 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the third year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Stochastic Modelling and current enrolment in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies.
Incompatible with Risk Theory.
Description: The calculation of probabilities and moments of loss distributions, both with and without simple reinsurance arrangements; the contraction of risk models appropriate to short term insurance contracts and the calculation of the moment generating function and moments for these risk models; the calculation and approximation of the aggregate claims distribution for short term insurance contracts; the application of several techniques for analysing a delay triangle and estimating outstanding claim amounts.
Risk Theory 2 STAT3036
(6cp)
Second semester
Two 1-hour lectures and a 1-hour tutorial per week.
Professional Actuarial Unit for the third year of Actuarial Studies Degree.
Prerequisites: Risk Theory 1 and current enrolment in the Bachelor of Actuarial Studies
Incompatible with Risk Theory.
Description: The concept of ruin for a risk model; the calculation of the adjustment coefficient and the derivation of Lundberg’s inequality; the effect on the probability of ruin of changing parameter values and of simple reinsurance arrangements; the concepts of decision theory; the fundamental concepts of Bayesian statistics and the calculation of Bayesian estimators; the fundamental concept of credibility theory; the fundamental concepts of simple experience rating systems.
South East Asian Economic Policy and Development (P) ECON3009
(6cp)
Semester to be determined
Prerequisites: Microeconomics 2 (P or H) and Macroeconomics 2 (P or H).
Syllabus: The purpose of this unit is to provide a rigorous, analytically informed overview of the Southeast Asian economies, with primary emphasis on the period after 1970. The five original ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member states are the focus of study, but their experience will also be related to that of other developing regions where relevant. The ASEAN group contains considerable diversity in terms of resource endowments, policy orientations and economic performance, thereby offering a range of case studies for analysis. The principal themes explored are the economic effects of rapid growth, structural change and changing comparative advantage, and the economic implications of growing regionalisation and internationalisation of the economies. Economic theory and descriptive analysis are combined to assess and evaluate the economic performance and policies of these countries.
Preliminary reading
There is no single text for this course. Students will be expected to read widely on the basis of an extensive reading list to be issued at the commencement of the course. Much of that material is listed in Hills 1993 literature review.
Proposed assessment: Exam (65%), term paper (25%), and tutorial presentation and participation (10%). Honours and Diploma students will be required to complete an additional essay.
South East Asian Economic Policy and Development (H) ECON3019
(6cp)
Semester to be determined
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit together
with additional honours classes and assessment throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for South East Asian Economic Policy and Development (P).
Syllabus: As for the pass unit with additional advanced material.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Statistical Inference STAT3013
(6cp)
Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures.
Prerequisites: Generalised Linear Models or Econometric Modelling or Introductory Mathematical Statistics.
Incompatible with Distribution Theory and Inference.
Objectives: This unit is intended to introduce students to the basic theory and application of statistical inference techniques.
Syllabus: Univariate and multivariate distribution theory; transformations of random variables. Theory of point and interval estimation. Parametric models, and maximum likelihood techniques. Method of moments; Bayes estimators. Asymptotic distribution theory. Parametric and non-parametric hypothesis testing.
Stochastic Modelling STAT3004
(6cp)
Second semester
Three 1-hour lectures
Prerequisites: Introductory Mathematical Statistics.
Objectives: This unit is intended to introduce students to the theory and application of basic stochastic processes.
Syllabus: Review of probability. Conditional probability and conditional expectation. Markov chains in discrete time. Poisson processes and their extensions. Markov jump processes in continuous time Brownian motion.
Strategic Thinking: An Introduction to Game Theory (P) ECON2141
(6cp)
Second semester
Prerequisite: Quantitative Methods for Business and Economics 1 and Microeconomics 2 (P or H) or permission of the head of department.
Objectives: The aim of the course is to provide an introduction to the basic techniques of game theory and to illustrate the range of its applications in economics and business. At the completion of the course, students should be able: to identify situations involving strategic behaviour which can be studied with game theory; to apply the techniques of game theory to develop simple formal models of strategic situations, and to critically evaluate the methodology and to assess the usefulness of applications of game-theoretic modelling.
Syllabus: Game theory is the study of multiperson decision problems. In particular, it provides a framework for describing situations of strategic interaction which can be used to predict the behaviour of rational players in interaction with other rational players. The course begins by outlining the ways in which social interactions can be represented as games. Four classes of games will be considered: static games of complete information; dynamic games of complete information; static games of incomplete information, and dynamic games of incomplete information. Corresponding to these four classes of games, four notions of equilibrium in games will be introduced and applied. Each new concept and idea will be introduced and illustrated by way of relevant examples from a range of fields, including macroeconomics, labour economics, public economics, industrial organisation, monetary economics, financial economics and corporate finance.
Preliminary reading
Proposed assessment: A small number of assignments worth 20% of the final grade and an end-of-semester examination worth 80%.
Strategic Thinking: An Introduction to Game Theory (H) ECON2142
(6cp)
Second semester
Lectures and tutorials as for the pass unit, together with
an additional honours lecture each week throughout the semester.
Prerequisite: As for Strategic Thinking: An Introduction to Game Theory (P)
Syllabus: The honours course covers the same topics as the pass course in greater depth.
Proposed assessment: To be determined.
Honours Year Units
Admission to the fourth honours year is by invitation and subject to the approval of Faculty. Interested students should obtain admission requirements from the relevant department.
Actuarial Studies IV (H) ACST4001
(48cp)
Full year
Students may proceed to the fourth honours year in Actuarial Studies. Entry to the fourth-year program requires the approval of Faculty. Details of the fourth year program which is highly prescribed are given in this Handbook. Interested students should discuss their intentions with the Convenor of the Actuarial Program.
Applied Economics IV (H) ECON4020
(48cp)
Full year
Applicants from the ANU should have satisfied the requirements for the Bachelor of Economics pass degree at the ANU with a Credit grade average in Microeconomics 3 and Macroeconomics 3. Applicants from other universities should have achieved an equivalent standard of performance in economics in their degree program.
The Applied Economics course comprises eight semester length units:
|
Semester 1 |
Microeconomics |
|
Mathematical Techniques in Economics I |
|
|
Economic Models & Introductory Econometrics |
|
|
Elective unit |
|
|
Semester 2 |
Macroeconomics |
|
Applied econometric unit |
|
|
Elective unit |
|
|
Research essay on an applied economics topic |
Commerce IV (H) COMM4001
(48cp)
Full year
Entry to fourth year honours requires the approval of the Head of Department. Permission is normally based upon results in second and third year units. Seminars are also run in the Second semester to provide prospective honours students with an introduction to the honours year. The program comprises a thesis and at least four honours level coursework units. Additional units may be required in particular cases.
Candidates must present a seminar on their proposed thesis during their First semester.
Interested students should contact the Commerce Honours Coordinator, for more detailed information. Explanatory brochures are available from the Course Coordinator, Department of Commerce.
Econometrics IV (H) EMET4001
(48cp)
Full year
Students may proceed to final fourth-year honours either in part or wholly within the Department. Entry to the fourth-year program requires the approval of Faculty and interested students should discuss their proposed program with the appropriate convenor in the Department.
Economic History IV (H) ECHI4001
(48cp)
Full year
Entry to the fourth-year honours program requires the approval of Faculty, and interested students should discuss the matter with the Head of the Department.
The program is designed for students who wish to study economic history at an advanced level and who are interested in carrying out a research project. Students are encouraged to combine their economic history with course work in related disciplines.
The total honours program is the equivalent of eight semester units. These
consist of:
(a) two fourth-year semester units in economic history; Research
Methods and Resources, and Readings in Economic History.
(b) three semester
units at an appropriate level selected from economic history and related
disciplines
(c) a research thesis which is given the weight of three semester
units. The topic of research must be approved after consultation in the
Department, and work on the thesis is supervised by a member of the Department.
Economics IV (H) ECON4001
(48cp)
Full year
Applicants from the ANU should have satisfied the requirements for the Bachelor of Economics pass degree at the ANU with a Credit grade average in Microeconomics 3, Macroeconomics 3, International Economics and Economics III(H). In addition applicants should have passed the units Mathematics for Economists A and Mathematics for Economists B. Applications from students at other universities are also welcomed. Applicants should have achieved an equivalent distinguished standard of performance in economics in their degree program. Students are required to take the bridging course offered by the Department in February that reviews the principal analytical economic and mathematical techniques upon which the program builds.
The course consists of a mix of coursework and research. The coursework requires completion of seven semester length units:
|
Semester 1 |
Microeconomics IV |
|
Macroeconomics IV |
|
|
Public Economics IV |
|
|
Elective unit |
|
|
Semester 2 |
Economics of Uncertainty and Information |
|
Applied Welfare Economics |
|
|
Elective unit |
The research component consists of a sub-thesis that is given the weight of one semester unit.
Economics/Econometrics IV (H) ECON4002
(48cp)
Full year
Further details may be obtained from the Departments of Economics, and Statistics and Econometrics.
Public Economics IV (H) ECON4003
(48cp)
Full year
Further details may be obtained from the Department of Economics.
Statistics IV (H) STAT4001
(48cp)
Full year
Students may proceed to final fourth-year honours either in part or wholly within the Department. Entry to the fourth-year program requires the approval of Faculty and interested students should discuss their proposed program with the appropriate convenor in the Department.
Mathematical Techniques for Advanced Economic Analysis — Bridging Course
This unit, consisting of four weeks of intensive instruction, is offered by the Department of Economics in February for incoming students who are either enrolling in the fourth year honours program ECON4001, or in the Masters of Economics by coursework or in Part A of the PhD in Economics.
Objectives: The aim of this course is help prepare students for advanced level study in economics, by providing them with an introduction to the mathematical techniques that are used extensively in units offered at an advanced level.
Syllabus: Economic applications of functions; economic significance of convexity and concavity; unconstrained optimisation; Kuhn-Tucker conditions for constrained optimisation; the envelope theorem; and a brief introduction to dynamic optimisation.
Assessment: A number of problem sets and final examination.
Commerce — Selected graduate units available to undergraduates
These are units offered as part of the Graduate Program in Commerce. Undergraduate students are allowed to take a maximum of two of these units as part of their degree. Each unit will be assigned a value of six credit points. Entry into all units is only with the written permission of the Head of the Department. The units are offered subject to student demand and staff availability.
(a) Accounting and Auditing
Normative Accounting Theory (COMM3051)
Public Accountability and Control
(COMM3052)
Public Sector Financial Management (COMM3056)
Positive Accounting
Theory (COMM3057)
Advanced Auditing Issues (COMM3062)
International Accounting
(COMM3064)
Taxation Concepts and Issues (COMM3066)
Special Topics in Commerce
(COMM3060)
(b) Finance
Advanced Corporate Finance (COMM3054)
Advanced Investments (COMM3061)
International
Finance (COMM3065)
Special Topics in Commerce (COMM3060)
(c) Management
Advanced Managerial Decision Making (COMM3053)
Public Accountability and
Control (COMM3052)
Public Sector Financial Management (COMM3056)
Special
Topics in Commerce (COMM3060)
Further details about these courses are available from the Department of Commerce.