Mathematical economic theory
Associate Professor Keith McLaren
Two 1.5 hour lectures per week * First semester * Clayton * Prerequisites: ECO3840, ECM3400, ECM3410 or a mathematics subject
Objectives On completion of this subject students should be able to understand the necessary conditions of calculus of variations and optimal control; capable of posing and solving as problems of intertemporal optimisation the standard problems of investment, consumption and optimal growth; capable of reading current literature in these areas.
Synopsis Mathematical preliminaries; static optimisation theory; introduction to calculus of variations and optimal control theory; necessary and sufficient conditions; investment theory: costs of adjustment, neoclassical, q theory; consumption theory; use of duality theory; growth models; Hamilton Jacobi theory; discrete time stochastic models; selected current applications.
Assessment Written (three assignments): 40% * Examination (3 hours): 60%
Recommended texts
Leonard D and Long N V Optimal control theory and static optimisation in economics CUP, 1991