units

ECC5850

Faculty of Business and Economics

18 September 2017 22 November 2024
Monash University

Postgraduate - Unit

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

print version

6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

LevelPostgraduate
FacultyFaculty of Business and Economics
Organisational UnitDepartment of Economics
OfferedClayton First semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)Dr Birendra Rai

Synopsis

This unit will primarily focus on explaining the structure of mathematics used in economics. It will start with an introduction to axiomatic set theory and highlight that almost all mathematical concepts of interest to economists can be thought of assets or subsets of suitably defined sets. The three main mathematical structured sets to be covered will be sets with an order structure, topological structure, and linear structure. The six main topics will be Set Theory, Metric and Topological Spaces, Properties of Functions and Correspondences, Linear and Normed Linear Spaces, Fixed Point and Separating Hyperplane Theorems, and a brief introduction to Static and Dynamic Optimization.

Outcomes

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

  1. understand the basic structure of mathematics that is used by economists
  2. gain an in-depth knowledge of Order Structure, Topological Structure, and Linear Structure
  3. master the notion of functions and correspondences along with their key properties
  4. understand fixed point theorems, separating hyperplane theorems, and the different types of static and dynamic optimisation problems
  5. develop the ability to read technical articles on one's own.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 40%
Examination: 60%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Birendra Rai