Macroeconomics
Study Board of Business Economics
Teaching language: English
EKA: B100134X12, B100134X02, B100134412, B100134112, B100134402, B100134102
Censorship: Second examiner: None
Grading: Pass/Fail, 7-point grading scale
Offered in: Soenderborg, Odense
Offered in: Autumn
Level: Bachelor
Course ID: B100134X01, B100134401, B100134101
ECTS value: 10
Date of Approval: 20-03-2018
Duration: 2 semesters
Course ID
Course Title
Teaching language
ECTS value
Responsible study board
Date of Approval
Course Responsible
Offered in
Level
Offered in
Duration
Mandatory prerequisites
Recommended prerequisites
Aim and purpose
It is the purpose of the course that students gain competencies in analyzing the workings of any country's economy (e.g. the Danish Economy) and its relation to the international economy with a focus on the following markets which are of vital importance for companies: goods markets, labour markets, money markets and foreign exchange markets. Thus, the course supports courses in business economics and the methods used in these courses. The course also provides students with knowledge on how economic policy affects the sales and capital cost of firms. The course builds on knowledge and skills obtained in, among others, Mathematics and Statistics as well as Microeconomics.
Students build their knowledge on theory and methods within the subject area macroeconomics in this course. This includes how economic-political trends, growth and business cycle conditions the markets within which companies operate. They acquire skills in using the terminology of the subject to describe a given development and to assess the potential consequences and opportunities of this for the company.
Furthermore, students acquire knowledge about the economic-political institutions and economic data required for a description of an economy in an international context. Thereby, the student will gain proficiency in identifying and providing relevant data and from these evaluate recent developments. The student accordingly gains knowledge about the functions of these institutions and their importance for companies.
Content
- National accounts and balance of payments, deflators/cost of living index.
- Institutions on the money market and money supply.
- Introduction to the public sector's structure and tasks (distribution, stabilization/fiscal policy, market regulation).
- The Central Bank, monetary and exchange rate policy, exchange rate regimes.
- Labour market institutions, wage determination.
- Introduction to international trade, trade policy and the EU.
- Macroeconomic models for an open economy with trade and exchange rates, in the short and medium term (goods market models, open IS-LM model, AS-AD, models with wage determination).
- Introduction to economic growth, including the significance of population trends and technological development.
Learning goals
The student should demonstrate knowledge and skills regarding the subject area, and thereby be able to:
- Summarize and appreciate relationships between concepts within the subject area of the course, including relationships between stocks and flows;
- Assess and discuss the use of concepts and data within the subject area of the course (*);
- Describe institutional environments (rules, agreements) within the subject area of the course.
The student must have knowledge of data sources and be able to:
- Find and download data from national and international databases including the public database of Statistics Denmark (Statistikbanken) (*);
- Select representative data and process data in spreadsheets, including current and fixed price calcuations using indexes (*);
- Present data in tables and graphs (*);
- Discuss and assess data within the subject area of the course, including time series and trends. Furthermore, evaluate the proper use of data.
In a closed economy with fixed prices, the student must be able to:
- Describe the assumptions and the behavioral relations that constitutes the basis for the IS/LM model, and to be able to explain the limitations of the IS/LM model in relation to assumptions and behavioral relations;
- Describe and deduce the multipliers in simple linear IS/LM models;
- Describe and analyze graphically the effects of stabilization policies on the target variable in an IS/LM model.
In an open economy with fixed prices, the student must be able to:
- Describe the assumptions and basis underlying the Mundell-Fleming model, and explain their significance for the model's results under different exchange rate regimes and varying assumptions concerning capital mobility;
- Describe and analyze graphically the effects of stabilization policies on the target variables of the economy.
In a closed and open economy with flexible prices, the student must be able to:
- Describe the supply side of an economy and the relationship between inflation and unemployment;
- Describe determinants of growth;
- Describe and analyze graphically the effects of stabilization policies on the target variable of an economy.
The student must be able to:
- Describe the main developments in the European economy, including the development in goods markets, labour markets, money markets and currency markets and the importance of these development patterns for global companies.
- Describe how the development in the European economy depends on the international economic development and economic policies of the countries.
- Describe the interaction between the private and public sectors, including the role of the EU, with regard to the significance for the economic development and for companies in European countries;
- Investigate and explain economic development within a selected geographic area as a precondition for specific markets with the help of relevant data, calculations and links to economic development in other geographic areas (*).
Literature
Blanchard, O., A. Amighini, F. Giavazzi (most recent edition), "Macroeconomics. A European Perspective", Prentice Hall, and a textbook or equivalent on descriptive economics - supplemented by e.g. topical materials, exercises, toolboxes, screencasts and notes.
Topical materials, exercises, toolboxes, screencasts, notes and supplementary materials will be distributed via Blackboard, where it applies.
Teaching Method
To ensure that the students achieve the goals specified, the course will be planned such that the student through lectures, individual studies of the literature and exercises builds knowledge and understanding of the theory, models and methods of the course.
Lectures support the students learning of concepts, theories and methods of the course supplemented with knowledge of relevant data sources. Exercises should establish the ability of students to choose and apply proper concepts, theories and methods on particular issues.
Teaching is coordinated via Blackboard.
The students are also going to work on a compulsory assignment of which the purpose is to train them in finding, analyzing and presenting data on a macroeconomic issue.
Teaching is in English.
Workload
Scheduled classes:
Two lectures every week and two exercise classes every second week across two semesters in 13 weeks. There are 12 exercise classes in the autumn, and 14 exercise classes in the spring.
____
Students will be required to do approximately 270 hours of work, which is expected to be distributed as follows:
Lectures: 52 hours.
Lectures: 52 hours.
Exercise sessions: 26 hours.
Preparation for lectures/syllabus: 87 hours.
Preparation for exercise sessions: 52 hours.
Participation in Part 1 of the exam: 50 hours.
Participation in part 2 of the exam: 3 hours.
Examination regulations
Exam - Part 1 / Home assignment
Name
Exam - Part 1 / Home assignment
Timing
Exam: The assignment is issued in February and must be submitted in March. Date for hand-out and submission will appear from the plan of examinations.
Reexam: April. Date for hand-out and submission will appear from the plan of examinations.
The form of reexam may be subject to change.
Tests
Exam - Part 1 / Home assignment
Name
Exam - Part 1 / Home assignment
Form of examination
Take-home assignment
Censorship
Second examiner: None
Grading
Pass/Fail
Identification
Student Identification Card - Date of birth
Language
English
Duration
Home assignment.
The assignment is issued in February and must be submitted in March. Date for hand-out and submission will appear from the plan of examinations.
Length
The maximum size is 10 pages (one student), 12 pages (two students) and 15 pages (three students) respectively.
Examination aids
All exam aids allowed.
Assignment handover
Via the course page in Blackboard.
Assignment handin
In SDU-assignment in the course page in Blackboard.
ECTS value
1
Additional information
Location: Home assignment.
Internet access: Required.
The assignment may be done individually or in groups of maximum three students. The completed assignment must be in accordance with the general requirements for written assignments. For assignments issued and undertaken in groups, each student's contribution to the assignment must appear to allow individual grading.
(Weight 0%).
Re-examination
Form of examination
Take-home assignment
Identification
Student Identification Card - Date of birth
Duration
24 hours home assignment.
Examination aids
All exam aids allowed.
Assignment handover
Via the course page in Blackboard.
Assignment handin
In SDU-assignment via the course page in Blackboard.
Additional information
Location: Home assignment.
Internet access: Required.
The assignment is done individually.
Length: The maximum size is 10 pages.
EKA
B100134X12
B100134412
B100134112
B100134412
B100134112
Exam - Part 2 / Written in situ exam
Name
Exam - Part 2 / Written in situ exam
Timing
Exam: June.
Reexam: August.
The form of reexam may be subject to change.
Tests
Exam - Part 2 : Written in situ exam
Name
Exam - Part 2 : Written in situ exam
Form of examination
Written examination on premises
Censorship
Second examiner: None
Grading
7-point grading scale
Identification
Student Identification Card - Exam number
Language
English
Duration
3 hours written in situ exam.
Length
No limitation.
Examination aids
All exam aids allowed. It is not allowed to communicate during the exam.
Assignment handover
Will be handed out In the exam room.
Assignment handin
In SDU-assignment in the course page in Blackboard.
ECTS value
9
Additional information
Location: The examination is held using the students own PC
Internet access: Required
(Weight 100%).
EKA
B100134X02
B100134402
B100134102
B100134402
B100134102
External comment
NOTE - This course is identical with the former course 83105X01 / Sønderborg: 83105501 Odense: 83105301 Macroeconomics.
Used examination attempts in the former identical course will be transferred.
Courses that are identical with former courses that are passed according to applied rules cannot be retaken.
The student is automatically registered for the first examination attempt when the student is registered for a course or course element with which one or more examinations are associated. Withdrawal of registration is not possible, and students who fail to participate in an examination have used one examination attempt, unless the University has made an exemption due to special circumstances.