(Revised November 2002)
Code: UPEN45-15-M Title:
Finance I Version: 1
Level: M UWE
credit rating: 15 ECTS credit rating: 7.5
Module type: Standard
Owning Faculty: HLSS Field: Economics
Valid from: September 2004 Discontinued from:
Pre-requisites: None
Co-requisites: None
Excluded combinations: None
Learning outcomes:
Having successfully completed the module, students
should have:
·
a critical awareness of the latest literature and current developments
in selected areas of financial economics (Components A & B)
·
the ability to distinguish key functions of a financial system
(Components A & B)
·
the ability to analyse critically the comparative merits of
intermediation by institutions and by markets (Components A & B)
·
a critical understanding of the concept of asset pricing (Components A
& B)
·
a good understanding of the notion of portfolio management (Component A
& B)
·
an understanding of the latest critical insights on the efficient market
hypothesis (Component A)
·
the ability to evaluate problems arising from globalisation for the
regulation of financial activity (Component A)
·
an ability to identify the main sources of financial market failure
(Component A)
·
an ability to analyse and explain recent events in finance (Component A)
·
deal with complex issues and show evidence of self-direction and
originality in tackling the problems thrown up by the evolution of financial
systems (Components A & B)
Syllabus outline:
·
The role and nature of the financial system
The conflicting interests
of lenders and borrowers, intermediation by financial markets and institutions
·
Asset pricing
Theoretical and conceptual
issues of asset pricing, diversification and risk
·
Portfolio theory
The capital asset pricing
model (CAPM), implications for portfolio management, the validity of the CAPM
·
Efficiency of financial markets
Rationality and efficiency,
the efficient market hypothesis, empirical validity of different forms of
informational efficiency, volatility effects in financial markets
·
Bubbles and crashes
Case studies: Market crash
of October 1987, the dotcom bubble
·
Regulation of financial activity
The purposes of regulation,
the impact of globalisation on regulation: Basel Committee
Teaching and learning
methods:
Several different teaching
and learning methods will be used. Some sessions will be used to communicate
core material and to deal with central concepts and models. They may be
interactive, giving a chance for questioning and debate on economic and
financial issues raised in this module. Use may also be made of video
recordings, with student tasks being linked where relevant to material in the
videos. There will also be sessions that involve a number of different formats
such as group reporting on case study material, formal debates, discussion of
assigned reading and presentations.
Indicative sources:
Greenbaum, S I and Thakar A., 1995, Contemporary
Financial Intermediation, Dryden.
Howells, P and K Bain (forthcoming): Finance and the
Economy, Palgrave-Macmillan.
Elton, E J and Gruber, M J., 1995, Modern portfolio theory and investment
analysis, 5th ed., John Wiley.
Shleifer, A, 2000, Inefficient markets: an introduction to
behavioural finance, Oxford.
Houthakker, H S and P J Williamson, 1996,
The economics of financial markets,
Oxford University
Press.
Mishkin, F S., 2002, The economics of money, banking and financial
markets, 6th ed., Addison Wesley.
Dale, R., 1996, Risk
and Regulation in Global Securities Markets, John Wiley.
Lo, A W., 1997, Market
efficiency, 2 vols., Edward Elgar.
Blake, D., 2000, The financial system, Oxford: Blackwell.
Buckle M and J Thompson, 1998, The UK financial system, 3rd ed., Manchester University Press.
Students will be expected to draw on current
journal articles from:
Applied Economics
Applied Financial Economics
Economic Journal
Economic Review
European Economic Review
Journal of Economic Surveys
Journal of Finance
Journal of Financial
Economics
Journal of Political
Economy
Journal of Portfolio
Management
Journal of Financial and
Quantitative Analysis
Review of Economics and
Statistics
Assessment
Weighting between
components A and B (standard modules only)
A:
50%
B: 50%
ATTEMPT 1
First Assessment
Opportunity
Component A
Description of each element Element
weighting
1. Unseen
exam, 2 hours 50%
Component B
Description of each element Element
weighting
1. Individual
coursework assignment of up to 1500 words 50%
Second Assessment
Opportunity (further attendance at taught classes is not required)
Component A
Description of each element Element
weighting
1. Unseen
exam, 2 hours 50%
Component B
Description of each element Element
weighting
1. Individual
coursework assignment of up to 1500 words. 50%
SECOND (OR SUBSEQUENT)
ATTEMPT: Attendance at taught classes is not required.
Specification confirmed
by …………Module approved at VARSC
13.05.04
Date ……………………………
(Associate Dean/Programme
Director)