Bachelor of Science in Applied Economics major in Financial Economics
Degree Codes: Program – BSAEC Plan – BSAE-FE
The applied economics major in financial economics program is designed to equip students with knowledge in economic theory and the basic skills needed for undertaking economic analysis in general and their application to financial markets and financial decision making. The program is for those interested in pursuing a career in financial analysis.
Students will learn the importance of formal economic and econometric modeling frameworks and strategies emphasizing the increasingly dominant role of mathematics and logic. They will develop the ability to communicate the essential aspects of economic policy and its implications through applied research, develop problem solving skills, and integrate the core La Sallian values into one’s life. Aside from incorporating mathematical and logical rigor, the curriculum encompasses important fields like financial statement analysis, international trade and finance, money and banking, futures, options and derivatives, portfolio analysis, and other fields directly related to finance.
It takes 9 trimesters and 1 summer term to finish the program. To successfully complete the program, students should be able to sucessfully complete 159 units of formal academic coursework as well as comply with other academic requirements set by the department. Students will also have to take up 12 units of non-academic subjects for their wholistic development. Students in this program need to write a thesis that conforms with standards prescribed by the department. Students are also required to undertake practicum work in any private corporation or government entity.
Course Descriptions
Course Descriptions
BASIC SUBJECTS
LBYECON Computer Package 1 for Economcis Major
3 units
This course aims to introduce students to basic computer concepts. It is designed to provide students with a broad understanding of the World Wide Web/Information Technology (IT), and provides an initial description of the Microsoft Windows XP environment and usage of the Microsoft Office suite.
Pre-requisite: none
Pre-requisite to: none
ECONONE Basic Microeconomics
3 units
The course aims to give an understanding and appreciation of the basic theories and concepts in economics and their applications to current national and international economic concerns. In addition, this course exposes the students to alternative tools of economics analysis and how they are used to solve the problems of a country.
Pre-requisite: COMALGE
Pre-requisite to: ECONTWO and LBYECO1
ECONTWO Introduction to Macroeconomics
3 units
This course is an introduction to macroeconomics, which will provide students with sufficient understanding of the definition and determinants of aggregate variables in the economy. After a quick review of the fundamental principles of economic analysis, including graphing and theoretical concepts, the rest of the term will focus on learning the tools of macroeconomics, exploring the role of fiscal policy in stabilizing the economy, and studying functions of money and how it can be used as a policy tool in achieving a country’s macroeconomic goals. Armed with the basics, the succeeding sessions will be devoted to deeper discussions of issues involving unemployment and inflation, government budget deficits, exchange rates, the open economy and other current policy concerns.
Pre-requisite: ECONONE
Pre-requisite to: LBYECO2, MACREC1, MICREC1 and ECOSTAT
LBYECO1 Mathematical Economics 1 Lab.
0.5 unit
This course supplements the discussions in MATECO1, which aims to discuss how to solve problems in economics using Mathematica. Being familiar with statistical softwares such as Mathematica will open more learning opportunities and save a lot of time for students.
Pre-requisite: LBYECON and ECONONE
Pre-requisite to: LBYECO2
LBYECO2 Mathematical Economics 2 Lab.
0.5 unit
This course supplements the discussions in MATECO2 aims to discuss how to solve problems in economics using Mathematica. Solving problems manually is not always the best way to achieve learning, especially when problems are hard to do manually.
Pre-requisite: MATECO1, LBYECO1 and ECONTWO
Pre-requisite to: None
MATECO1 Mathematical Economics 1
3 units
This course represents the first in a sequence of two mathematical economics courses. The course discusses introductory concepts on the foundations and applications of one-variable calculus and its essential extensions to the multivariate case. In essence, this course highlights how mathematics, in its formalized form, can be integrated into problems in economics like comparative static analysis and highlight and emphasize essential model construction features that will ultimately lead to an enhanced capability to formal model building. This course should be taken simultaneously with LBYECO1 (Basic Mathematica 1).
Pre-requisite: BUSANA1
Pre-requisite to: MATECO2 and LBYECO2
MATECO2 Mathematical Economics 2 (Lecture)
3 units
The course deals with the more advanced theories and economic applications of calculus of several variables and optimization. It specifically covers the different functions of several variables, implicit functions, total derivatives, differentials, higher-orders derivatives, and unconstrained and constrained optimization. Building upon the skills learned from its predecessor, MATECO1, this course emphasizes on the logic of mathematical reasoning provided by proofs. This course should be taken simultaneously with LBYECO2 (Basic Mathematica 2).
Pre-requisite: MATECO1
Pre-requisite to: MICREC1, MACREC1 and ECOSTAT
CAFINS1 Corporate Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis 1
3 units
This is the first of a two-part course in corporate accounting and corporate financial statement analysis. Part I of this course deals with transactions, financial statements and problems peculiar to the operations of corporations as distinguished from the sole proprietorship. Special topics on book value per share and earnings per share are also included. Part II of this course provides students with the basic principles, techniques and analytical tools needed in conducting financial analysis, in evaluating and forecasting a business firm’s short-term financial performance and profit planning. It also deals with managing working capital, with focus on cash, marketable securities, accounts receivables, inventories and short term financing sources.
Pre-requisite:
Pre-requisite to: CAFINS2
CAFINS2 Corporate Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis 2
3 units
This is the second of a two-part course in corporate accounting and corporate financial statement analysis. It covers the more complex and long-term aspects of financial decisions such as valuation of financial assets, risk and return, medium to long-term investments, capital structure, dividend policy and hybrid securities.
Pre-requisite: CAFINS1
Pre-requisite to:
MAJOR SUBJECTS
ECONDEV Economic Development
3 units
The course is designed to provide students with a thorough understanding of the concepts and principles of development economics and equip them of tools necessary to analyze, evaluate and interpret contemporary Philippine economic development issues. The course includes a rigorous discussion of the models of economic growth and development as well as a critical analysis of these models particularly in the context of the experience of less developed countries. It will also look into current policy controversies in developing countries and alternative forms of financing economic growth. Issues concerning trade orientation, trade reform and its effects on growth and development will be discussed along with financial reform and its effects on savings, investment and growth. The course examines the critical problems and issues that these countries face as they try to develop, and the government policies that are implemented to address these issues. Classes are conducted principally through class discussions and lectures.
Pre-requisite: None
Pre-requisite to: THSECO1
ECOSTAT Economic Statistics
3 units
This course is an introductory subject in statistical data analysis. Emphasis is given to the understanding of basic statistical tools and techniques as used by practicing economists. This course also prepares the students for the rigors of empirical courses like econometrics and economic research.
Pre-requisite: ECONTWO and MATECO2
Pre-requisite to: FINALEC, ECONMET and LBYEMET
ECONMET Econometrics
3 units
This course uses basic econometric theory to enable students to appreciate the applications of this quantitative method in support of economic analysis. Relying mainly on statistical inferences, the course allows students to understand economic behavior, effects on market agents and measure probable impacts of different policies and scenarios.
Pre-requisite: ECOSTAT
Pre-requisite to: METRESE, ECONMETF and PORTIVA
ECOMETF Financial Econometrics
3 units
This course is designed to provide the students the opportunity to learn and apply certain advanced econometric modeling tools and techniques frequently used in the empirical financial economics literature.
Pre-requisite: ECONMET
Pre-requisite to: NONE
INTRAFN International Trade and Finance
3 units
This is an introductory course in international trade and open-economy macroeconomics (also know as international finance). It examines both the microeconomic and macroeconomic issues relevant to the economic relations among countries via international trade. The first half of the course tackles the microeconomic issues of international trade and includes such issues as why countries trade, what do countries trade, how gains from trade are distributed, and protectionism versus free trade and regional economic integration. The second half of the course deals with issues in international finance or open-economy macroeconomics such as the markets for currencies and exchange rates, exchange rate regimes (fixed versus flexible), balance of payments, foreign exchange rate adjustment processes, and the role of monetary and fiscal policies in an open economy.
Pre-requisite: MACREC2, MICREC2, FINALEC
Pre-requisite to: FOPDERV
ECOINFO Economics of Information and Game Theory
3 units
This course is an introduction to the economics of information and game theory. Specifically, it introduces students to an economic methodology that tackles what happens when economic agents maximize their utility subject to constraints imposed by their information, endowments and production functions. It examines strategic behavior among parties having opposed, mixed or similar interests. It also explores how information is subject to the laws of economics and provides students with an understanding of how they affect strategy, structure and pricing.
Pre-requisite: MACREC2, MICREC2, ECONMET
Pre-requisite to: PORTIVA
FINALEC Financial Economics
3 unts
This course is an introduction to the field of Financial Economics. In particular this course aims to introduce students to the main theoretical models used by financial economists. It will focus on risk attitudes, financial portfolio theory, and static equilibrium in capital markets. The course is a blend of theory and technique. The material in this course is arranged to commence at the utility theoretic foundations of individual financial decisions under conditions of certainty and uncertainty and proceed to the theories of asset pricing and issues of capital market equilibrium. The course will also tackle the application of financial concepts and techniques. Due to time constraint, this course concentrates only on risk-free assets and risky securities including stocks and bonds and only. Overall, the course provides a broad perspective of the economic foundations of Modern Portfolio Theory which is the subject of the course Portfolio Theory and Investment Analysis (PORTIVA).
Pre-requisite: MICREC1, ECOSTAT
Pre-requisite to: PORTIVA
LBYEMET Econometrics Laboratory
1.5 units
This course supplements the discussions in ECONMET, aims to discuss the use of software packages for data management and econometric analysis. You will be introduced to using EXCEL, EVIEWS, GRETL, MATHEMATICA, STATA, and many other software packages that are convenient, powerful, and practical.
Pre-requisite: ECOSTAT
Pre-requisite to: None
LBYMET2 Econometrics 2 Laboratory
0.5 unit
This course is a supplement to Advanced Econometrics (ECOMET2) that allows hands-on demonstration of the estimation techniques to be learned in ECOMET2. This course uses Stata as the software to implement the estimation techniques and tests. It also provides an opportunity for students to conduct a study and apply the techniques learned on real-world data.
Pre-requisite: LBYECO2
Pre-requisite to: none
MACREC1 Macroeconomics 1
3 units
The course deals with the analysis of overall behavior of the economy. It will strive to explain trends or fluctuations in important macroeconomic aggregates like output, employment and prices. It will also cover important theoretical underpinnings behind different paradigms in macroeconomics as in Keynesian and classical models. Using basic aggregate demand and aggregate supply framework, the course will explain the determination of equilibrium output, prices, interest rates under a closed economy and open economy model. It will use microeconomic foundations to explain behavior of macro variables like consumption, investment, government spending etc. Towards the end, special topics like theory of economic policy and inflation-unemployment trade-off will be discussed. Discussion of theories will be related to recent developments in the economy which have important policy implications.
Pre-requisites: ECONTWO and MATECO2
Pre-requisite to: MACREC2 and METRESE
MACREC2 Macroeconomics 2
3 units
This course will elucidate on core concepts and special topics in macroeconomics. It will deal with the analysis of the behavior of economic aggregates like output, employment, prices interest rates, exchange rate and balance of payment under more complex assumptions. It will tackle open economy macroeconomic models, explain the existence of hyperinflation and high unemployment, expound on the existence of business cycles and on the concept of long-run economic growth. It will give some attention to the role of expectations in accounting for intertemporal choices of household, firm, government sector and foreign sector. It will strive to give an understanding of workings of financial markets and how current global financial crisis came to fore. In the end, it is hoped that students will be well equipped to analyze and understand with greater depth current macroeconomic problems within the local and international context.
Prerequisite: MACREC1
Prerequisite to: INTRAFN, ECOINFO, MONBANK, OPERRES, PORTIVA and FOPDERV
METRESE Methods of Research
3 units
This course initiates students into the experience of proposing a “discovery-based” economic research problem (as opposed to other forms of research, e.g., “action”, “pedagogical”, etc.). Through lectures, workshops, and group presentations, they are expected to produce a properly formatted research proposal containing an abstract, as well as introductory, review, theory and method chapters that are to be presented to their prospective thesis panelists.
Pre-requisite: MACREC1, MICREC1, CAFINS1, CAFINS2 and ECONMET
Pre-requisite to: THSECO1
MICREC1 Microeconomics 1
3 units
This course is the first of a two-course Intermediate Microeconomic Theory sequence where it provides students with the central concepts of decision-making and optimization in a competitive market framework. Simple mathematical models are used to develop these concepts. It concentrates on the theories of consumer decision-making, production and costs, and the partial equilibrium competitive model. At the intermediate level, the course will provide students with a more theoretical treatment of topics that they have been exposed to in previous basic principles of economics courses.
Pre-requisite: ECONTWO and MATECO2
Pre-requisite to: MICREC2 and METRESE
MICREC2 Microeconomics 2
3 units
This course is the second of a two-course study of Intermediate Microeconomic Theory. This course examines partial equilibrium analysis of price determination in the market for goods under imperfectly competitive structures (monopoly, oligopoly and monopolistic competition). We then analyze the efficiency of a competitive model of market interdependence (e.g., general equilibrium and welfare). Moreover, we will become familiar with the limits to optimal market allocation (market failures) due to externalities and public goods. Finally, special topics on optimal allocation and price determination in the market for production inputs (labor and capital services), decision-making under uncertainty, and the economics of information are taken up.
Prerequisite: MICREC1
Prerequisite to: INTRAFN, ECOINFO, MONBANK, OPERRES, PORTIVA and FOPDERV
OPERRES Operations Research
3 units
The course tackles the relevance and applicability of quantitative tools in managerial decision-making. Specifically, it trains students to construct mathematical models of problem situations calling for executive action.
Pre-requisite: MACREC2 and MICREC2
Pre-requisite to: none
PRCECON Economics Practicum
3 units
This course is the practical application of the theories and models discussed in the major subjects. Students get to be exposed in the corporate world and prepare a research paper related to their assigned work. Students who are enrolled in the program are required to render at least two hundred (200) hours of practicum training with an organization that is based in the Philippines and are expected to submit a progress report on a periodic basis.
Prerequisite: THSECO2
Prerequisite to: none
THSECO1 Economics Research & Project Study 1
3 units
This course discusses the thesis proposal stage writing process where students meet their panel advisers to present their research proposal.
Pre-requisite: METRESE, INTRAFN and ECONDEV
Pre-requisite to: THSECO2
THSECO2 Economics Research & Project Study 2 (no deferral)
3 units
This course is a continuation of Thesis Writing 1 where students meet regularly with their panel advisers to present their thesis.
Pre-requisite: THSECO1
Pre-requisite to: none
FINANCIAL ECONOMICS ELECTIVES
PORTIVA Portfolio Choice and Investment Analysis
3 units
This course provides the economic framework that describes the environment in which portfolio managers, security analysts, investment advisors, and investors make choices. Specifically, it extends the concepts in portfolio choice introduced in FINALEC to the case of more than two risky securities and introduces students to the analytical models and techniques used in investment management, investment performance analysis, and security valuation. This course is a blend of theory and technique using spreadsheet and model building tools such as Excel’s Solver and Regression Analysis tools, and estimation using econometric software such as Stata that has been introduced in ECONMET. The course relies heavily on mathematics and statistics/econometrics in building the conceptual models of financial markets. Therefore, students are expected to review the materials from the courses in linear algebra, calculus, and statistics/econometrics.
Pre-requisite: MACREC2, MICREC2, ECOINFO, FINALEC, ECONMET
Pre-requisite to: none
MONBANK Money and Banking
3 units
This course introduces the subject matter of money and banking from an economic perspective. It focuses on the study of the behavior of money and credit, financial markets and institutions, interest rates, monetary policy and the interrelationship of money and banking to the economy as a whole. The objective of the course is to acquaint students with the nature of money and its impact on commercial relationships both domestically and in an open economy world. The structures of domestic commercial and central banking systems and the global financial system will be examined. Attention will be extended to money related macroeconomic problems and governmental policies directed towards these problems.
Prerequisite: MICREC2 and MACREC2
Prerequisite to: None
FOPDERV Futures, Options and Other Derivatives
3 units
This course is designed to introduce students to a category of financial instruments whose value derives from the values of other, more fundamental, underlying variables. Specifically, this course examines the theoretical models, techniques and skills related to the valuation of derivative-related financial instruments such as forwards, futures, swaps, and options. These skills include understanding how derivatives work (mechanics), how they are used hedging, trading, other strategic analysis), and how they are priced (valuation).
Prerequisite: MACREC2, MICREC2, FINALEC, INTRAFN
Prerequisite to: None
Updated: July 29, 2013