Economics with Finance BSc

This module introduces you to the fundamental principles of microeconomic theory, focusing on the behaviour and decision-making processes of individuals, households, and firms. You will gain a solid understanding of key microeconomic concepts, such as choice theory, market structures, consumer behavior, and firm decision-making. The module explores the practical application of microeconomic analysis to contemporary policy issues. This module provides you with the foundations in microeconomics required for advanced study.

This module introduces you to the foundations of macroeconomic theory and analysis. You will explore how economies operate at the aggregate level and develop the analytical tools needed to understand key economic indicators such as interest rates, national output, inflation, unemployment, and exchange rates. A central focus will be on understanding how these variables interact and influence one another over the short and long run. Through real-world examples and policy applications, you will learn how macroeconomic analysis informs and shapes economic decision-making and policy evaluation in both national and global contexts. Topics covered will include the determination of output and employment and the role of fiscal and monetary policy. By the end of this module, you will be equipped to evaluate the effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policies and understand the complex dynamics shaping economic outcomes in national and global contexts.

In this module you will begin learning how to analyse and interpret economic data. You will first learn how to describe data using a range of statistics, including measures of the average, and the distribution around the average. You will then learn about the principles of probability, and from there about probability distributions. Knowing the probability distribution of a random variable means we can say something about the values it is expected to take, which then allows us to test whether the data we have is consistent with hypotheses that we want to test, for example based on the predictions of economic theory. You will also begin exploring relationships between variables through correlation and regression analysis, providing a direct foundation for your future econometric training.

This module is designed for students with A Level Mathematics (or an equivalent qualification). You will revisit key mathematical tools covered in A Level Mathematics (such as differential calculus) and learn to use them to formulate and solve problems in economics and finance. You will also be introduced to other techniques that are essential for problem solving in economics. These tools will be used throughout the rest of your degree. The topics covered include: sequences/series and the economics of finance, functions, univariate optimisation, elasticity, integration, multivariate optimisation, constrained optimisation and matrix algebra.

Economic questions require careful use of data. In this module, you will develop the foundations of economic data analysis and visualisation. You will learn how different types of economic data are collected and how to assess the strengths and limitations of alternative data sources.

Using real-world datasets in interactive sessions, you will gain hands-on experience in data management, summary statistics, visualisation, and basic statistical inference. You will construct tables and charts, interpret statistical measures, and evaluate empirical evidence in applied economic contexts.

By working with appropriate statistical software, you will develop practical skills in analysing and communicating data. The module strengthens your Sheffield Graduate Attributes (SGA), particularly data literacy, critical thinking and professional communication, and equips you with skills valued across research, policy and business.

In this module, you will be introduced to the financing and investment decisions that financial managers make, and the financial market context in which those decisions are made. You will explore how financial managers evaluate investment opportunities and manage risk to maximise shareholder value. You will develop an understanding of key financial theories and tools, including financial statement analysis, the time value of money, and risk-return relationships. Through a combination of theoretical analysis, problem-solving exercises, and practical applications, you will build the quantitative and critical skills required to interpret financial information, evaluate investment projects, and understand the pricing of financial assets within competitive markets.

This module builds on Level 1 modules in microeconomics and mathematical economics, using the mathematical training to allow a more rigorous investigation of the principles of microeconomics. It aims to develop an understanding and ability to undertake economic analysis of models of the behaviour and interaction of economic agents (consumers, firms and government) in a market economy, the functioning of different types of industries, decision making under uncertainty and economic welfare.

The aims of this course are to provide firm grounding in the analytical tools of modern macroeconomics; to use these tools to understand critically the conduct of economic policy nationally and internationally. The course builds on level 1 modules in macroeconomics. The main subject areas covered are: Basic macroeconomic models: consumption/leisure choice, closed economy one period-macro models, models of search and unemployment; Savings, investment and government deficits: consumption/savings choice (two-period model), credit market imperfections, real intertemporal model with investment; Money and business cycles: flexible price models, New Keynesian economics (sticky prices), inflation; International macroeconomics: international trade, money in open economy; Economic growth: Malthus and Solow growth models, convergence, endogenous growth model.

This module is designed to give you an introduction into the econometric skills you will need for a successful career in applied economic research. Throughout this module, you will build a strong foundation in interpreting econometric outputs, crucial for understanding academic literature and policy reports. You will learn fundamental theoretical knowledge, such as ordinary least squares, supported by economic intuition and mathematical reasoning. You will learn statistical software, gaining an understanding of reproducible coding, in order to develop and apply such skills to answer economic research questions by analysing real-world data using appropriate statistical and econometric techniques. This process will also introduce you to ethical research practices. This module will train you in the core competencies you need to perform rigorous econometric and economic research.

This module builds directly upon the econometric foundations established in ECN21004, extending your knowledge into a range of econometric techniques and their practical applications. The module places strong emphasis on applied econometrics through real-world economic problems. You will develop advanced skills in data handling, model specification, and interpretation of results through project-based learning. By the end of the module, you will have gained proficiency in applying appropriate econometric techniques to address complex economic questions and critically evaluating empirical economic research.

The module aims to expand your econometric toolkit beyond ordinary least squares (OLS) regression, by exploring a variety of micro-econometric and time series techniques. It will strengthen your ability to interpret and critically evaluate published empirical research, and provide practical experience working with real-world economic datasets. Additionally, the module will develop your employability by encouraging them to reflect upon and critically assess the skills they are acquiring, in relation to the Sheffield Graduate Attributes (SGAs).

In this module, you will explore the core mechanisms of financial intermediation and the role of financial institutions in the modern economy. You will examine the flow of funds and the determinants of interest rates in bond and money markets, alongside the function of equity markets in capital allocation and valuation.

The module also analyses how banks manage liquidity and credit risk. Furthermore, it investigates how asymmetric information shapes financial structures and market outcomes. Drawing on theoretical models and real-world examples, you will evaluate the causes of financial instability and the role of regulation in promoting stability and efficiency in the global financial system.

Industrial Organisation is a major branch of microeconomics that explores the structure, operation, and performance of industries and firms. In this module, you will analyse these core elements using both economic theory and empirical work. You will examine the strategic decisions firms make and how they compete within various market environments. Throughout this module, you will develop the analytical skills and theoretical knowledge required to evaluate real-world industrial behaviour and the effectiveness of regulatory frameworks.

In this module, you will explore fundamental questions in International Economics, focusing on the phenomenon of 'global imbalances.' Many countries, including the world's largest economies, have accumulated significant external debt or asset positions over recent decades, raising concerns about global economic stability. You will learn to use modern, microfounded tools based on the latest economic research to analyse these imbalances and their implications.Throughout the module, you will engage with key topics such as the determinants of global capital flows and current account balances, the role of exchange rates, and major policy challenges. By the end, you will be able to critically assess policy debates and apply advanced economic models to real-world scenarios, preparing you for careers in international finance, policy analysis, or further academic research.

Labour Economics provides the analytical tools needed to understand wage determination, employment, inequality, and the role of policy in shaping labour market outcomes. This module develops your ability to apply economic theory and empirical evidence to contemporary labour market issues.

You will develop a rigorous understanding of how labour markets operate, starting with the competitive model and the analysis of labour supply and demand. You will explore how wages, employment, and inequality are shaped by institutions, market imperfections, and policy interventions. Alongside theory, you will engage critically with empirical evidence to assess how well models explain real-world labour market outcomes. By the end of the module, you will be able to apply theoretical tools to analyse contemporary labour market issues and interpret empirical findings with confidence.

This module helps you develop the practical research skills needed to design and complete a supervised, independent project in economics. You will learn how to formulate a relevant, feasible economic research question, translate it into a clear research plan, critically evaluate academic literature, and identify appropriate data sources. Hands-on computer workshops provide experience working with real-world datasets and building confidence in empirical analysis. Regular supervision sessions offer structured guidance and feedback as you progress, supporting you from initial idea to completed dissertation. The experience is designed to strengthen analytical and research skills valued in postgraduate study and research-driven careers.

This module introduces the core principles of finance and develops your ability to apply them in both corporate and investment contexts. Using an analytical approach, with key ideas developed from foundational principles, it examines risk and return, portfolio theory, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, and the associated empirical evidence. It also explores corporate financing decisions, especially capital structure, leverage, firm value, and financial risk. Further topics include market efficiency, behavioural finance, and the use of derivatives in risk management. By engaging with readings, quizzes, and class discussion, you will build both conceptual understanding and the ability to evaluate the applications and limitations of financial theories, with emphasis on critically evaluating competing views on asset pricing, investors' behaviour, and financial decision-making.

In this module you will further your understanding of core microeconomic principles by exploring a number of advanced topics in microeconomics. The course material you will encounter will be predominately theoretical with a substantial mathematical component and some evaluation of empirical evidence. Indicative topics include: auctions; decision making under uncertainty; dynamic efficiency; imperfect competition and common ownership; matching and assignment.

Game theory is the study of decision problems which involve more than one agent, each of whom must take into account the choices and strategic behaviour of others when forming their own decisions. Given the prevalence of such problems in economics, game theory has become a very important methodological tool in many of its fields, including industrial economics, political economy and international trade. Its frameworks allow economists to model and analyse a wide range of real-world phenomena, from firm competition and bargaining to voting behaviour and international negotiations. This module aims at equipping you with the core knowledge of game theory as used in economics, with special emphasis on applications and examples, rather than pure theory. By the end of the module, you will be familiar with the key solution concepts and will have developed the analytical skills needed to apply game-theoretic reasoning to a variety of economic settings.

It is essential for you as an economist to understand and be able to apply econometric techniques because it will allow you to rigorously analyse data to test economic theories, measure real-world effects, and produce credible evidence to inform decisions and policy. In this module you will study a number of advanced topics in econometrics. In the first half of the module you will learn how to implement recent developments in time series econometrics. In the second half of the module you will learn how to model microeconometric outcomes using cross-section and panel data techniques. The module will have a strong practical element and you will learn how to use relevant econometric computer packages. This module will be particularly useful if you are interested in how to test economic theories and/or model economic behaviour. 

In this module you will explore modern macroeconomic theory and its application to key economic challenges facing policymakers and society. The module is framed within the dynamic general equilibrium (DGE) tradition that underpins much contemporary research and policy analysis, providing a coherent framework for understanding aggregate behaviour and policy design.

You will begin by building a benchmark DGE model, using it to learn how such models are constructed, solved, and interpreted. You will then extend this framework to study issues such as macroeconomic uncertainty, pandemics and policy responses, ageing and pension sustainability, inequality and redistribution, secular stagnation, unconventional monetary policy, and the government expenditure multiplier.

By the end of the module, you will will be able to analyse macroeconomic policy debates using modern theoretical tools and communicate policy-relevant insights.

This module aims to build upon a basic knowledge of mathematical economics, introducing and explaining some of the more advanced mathematical techniques which are prevalent in modern economics and to show how they can be applied to intermediate economic analysis and discussions. By the end of the module students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of, and be able to apply in a variety of economic situations, the principles of univariate and multivariate calculus; linear algebra; constrained and unconstrained optimisation and comparative static analysis (with and without the use of linear algebra); basic inequality constrained optimisation; maximum value functions and the envelope theorem. It is assumed that students enrolling onto this module can rearrange equations, solve simultaneous equations, undertake multivariate calculus and solve economic problems including basic constrained optimisation.

In this module you will initially explore neoclassical theories of comparative advantage before moving on to modern trade models rooted in economies of scale and imperfect competition. These frameworks will help explain contemporary patterns observed in global data. Beyond theoretical models, you will examine the complexities of trade policy and the political economy influences that shape it. By engaging with this module, you will develop the analytical skills necessary to evaluate the impact of trade on diverse economies.

This module covers monetary theory and monetary policy. It presents several economic models and discusses what monetary policy can and cannot do, as well as an introduction to the New Keynesian model. The module aims to enable students to apply the skills of economic analysis to the conduct of central banks and to the mechanisms underlying the monetary transmission mechanism.

Urban economics is concerned with understanding the spatial form of cities and the spatial distribution of economic activities within a country, making use of theoretical models and empirical evidence. Three fundamental questions are: (1) Why are economic activities within a country so unequally distributed across space? (2) Why do cities, and more broadly agglomerations of firms and workers, emerge and in what locations? (3) What are the consequences of unequal distribution of activities for productivity, innovation and wages? This module covers topics such as:- Why do cities exist and why do firms cluster?- What determines equilibrium city size and features of the urban system?- City growth, spatial transformation and the implications for productivity, knowledge and wages.- Real Estate economics and the housing market.- Diseconomies in cities: Urban location, land rents and land use patterns.- Unequal distribution of economic activities and levelling-up.- Transportation economics.- Urbanisation in developing countries.

Economics is the study of how society allocates its scarce resources across competing alternatives. This notion of scarcity is as relevant in the health care sector as it is elsewhere and, thus, it is important that the resources available to health and health care are used in the best possible ways. This course will: look at how best should be defined in the context of health care; consider the roles that market forces and governments might play in achieving the sector's objectives; and discuss what information is needed so that resources can be deployed where they will do the most good. The aims of the module are: 1. To enable students to develop a critical understanding of the basis of health economics.
2. To introduce students to the health economists' toolkit, the ways in which it can be used in to inform health care resource allocation, and its limitations.

This module will cover the economic theories used for the analysis of inequality and poverty.
The theories will be backed by evidence from both the developed and the developing countries. The module starts off by a discussion of issues around measurement of inequality and poverty; the different measures that are used and the inherent assumptions behind these measures. We then move on to explain the existing global trends in inequality and poverty. Different theories are used to explain these trends; for example: role of human capital, poverty traps etc. Finally we discuss the policy response of different countries to address the issues of inequality and poverty, drawing on the specific examples of welfare programmes in the developed countries and the conditional cash transfers in the developing countries.

The amount of education possessed by individuals will influence their decisions in future. Education relates to issues such as health and labour market decisions. This module examines the demand for and provision of education, incorporating a mixture of economic theory such as human capital; rates of return to further and higher education and course type all of which directly relate to the labour market. The graduate labour market is analysed, incorporating changes in the provision of higher education and an understanding of the rationale for the introduction of top-up fees. A final section considers schools, analysing and evaluating issues such as class size reduction, competition and selection, the performance of teachers, and the importance of pupils' family backgrounds, all in terms of their effect on pupil performance.

Economic outcomes are shaped not only by markets, but also by the political environment in which they operate. In this module, you will examine how political institutions, governments' political motivations and contemporary global challenges influence public policy and economic performance. You will connect economics with politics, gaining valuable interdisciplinary insight that strengthens your degree and broadens your career prospects. By engaging with theoretical and applied political economy research, you will develop the tools to analyse real-world policy issues. A research-focused assignment will help you build critical thinking, analytical and independent research skills valued by employers and postgraduate programmes.

Economic choices shape nature just as nature can shape our choices. This module provides you with the opportunity to apply economic concepts and methods to issues related to the use and management of the environment and natural resources. You will explore issues, arguments, and analysis of market failure in the protection of the environment. You will learn how environmental economics tries to answer questions such as determining optimal pollution levels and designing effective environmental policies. You will also look at public policy responses to issues of sustainability and climate change.

Standard economic models often rely on strict assumptions about human rationality, which can in some occasions lead to systematic mispredictions. Behavioural economics addresses these gaps by adopting assumptions inspired by other disciplines.

In this module, you will explore how behavioural models are developed and tested using lab and field experiments, as well as surveys. We cover key topics including transaction utility, mental accounting, loss aversion, time inconsistency (such as procrastination and addiction), social comparisons, and systematic errors in probabilistic reasoning.

Throughout, you will apply these behavioural insights to real-world challenges, exploring how they inform public policy (such as nudging), corporate strategy, and your own everyday decision-making.

Understanding inequality is central to economics. In this module, you will examine how gender and race are associated with differences in economic outcomes across labour markets and other economic contexts. You will analyse variations in pay, employment, occupational attainment and participation, and consider the economic, social and institutional mechanisms that may contribute to these disparities.

You will engage with economic theories of discrimination and study the empirical strategies economists use to identify and measure discriminatory behaviour using real-world data. By critically assessing economic research, you will strengthen your analytical and quantitative skills and develop the ability to evaluate competing explanations and policy responses. This module will prepare you for further study or careers in economics, public policy and related fields.

The aim of this module is to provide an overview of the economics of innovation. You will study firms' incentives to invest in innovation and the resulting policy implications. In this module you will expand your knowledge of microeconomics, and learn the relationship between market structure and innovation, the role of firm cooperation and the effects of mergers on innovative activities. You will also look at the role of intellectual property rights / patent systems and policy interventions. As many innovations in recent years are in the areas of digitalization, artificial intelligence, and big data, you will also investigate those topics.

Why are some countries rich while others remain poor? The gaps are enormous: it takes the average worker in the United Kingdom just a few weeks to produce the same amount of output as the average worker in the Democratic Republic of the Congo produces over the course of an entire year. In this module you will use economic theory and real-world evidence to explain these differences and what they imply for policy. You will study theories of economic growth and poverty traps, including how history and expectations can shape long-run outcomes. You will examine deep determinants such as geography and institutions, critically read landmark research papers, and develop your ability to evaluate empirical evidence to assess competing explanations.