Economic & Financial Analysis | Manchester Metropolitan

Our MSc is a long standing programme from which graduates have gone on to work in finance, government and wider analytical roles as well as PhDs and research. We provide you with a balance of units that develop essential economic, finance, policy and analytical skills and knowledge in a supportive, structured and evidenced based environment.Our MSc is a long standing programme from which graduates have gone on to work in finance, government and wider analytical roles as well as PhDs and research.

How does the programme provide content to ensure students achieve an understanding of a reasonably diverse set of perspectives on understanding economies?

Throughout the programme, you will engage in social and economic debates using a pluralist and applied approach. The pluralism of theory and methods will encourage you to analyse  mainstream economic, as well as a variety of alternatives, using considered, structured and evidenced methods. You will be able to critically assess and evaluate prevailing socio-economic problems across fields in both current and historical perspectives. For example you could explore whether financial regulatory approaches based on the efficient market hypothesis distort value creation in the rest of the economy or the feasibility of deep green sustainability.

You could develop evidenced theories of change to question how or if markets are effective or disruptive mechanisms for achieving fair health, education or employment outcomes.  

How does the programme ensure students understand the interaction between economic and ecological systems?

We question the orientation of diverse markets, and the beginnings of Environmental, Social and Governance considerations. This will allow you to explore how they are incorporated or not into the formation of policy and challenge the status quo.

In discussing, for example, financial innovation, You can explore both the relevance of diverse human behaviours and the environmental implications – with Bitcoin being a particularly striking case. 

When we look within markets, taking an environmental rather than ecological perspective, you can explore the construction of optimal or fair taxes polices. Using a “what works" evidence based approach you could question the contexts in which taxes could shift behaviours towards desired environmental or social objectives. 

How does the programme ensure students understand how to critically explore real-world evidence, both qualitative and quantitative?

The units of Quantitative Modelling, Policy Evaluation and Financial Statistics enable you to build core statistical skills. Integral to this is your development of coding skills in both Stata and R studio, used throughout the economic, finance and analysis professions.

You build from understanding distributions to estimators used in the evaluation of policy, social theories and experiments (E.g. basic regressions with interactions, Panel estimators, difference in difference and matching). You use real (messy) data to investigate pressing social dilemmas, with evidence based theories of change rather than from derivative models.

In Financial Statistics, you interrogate real time series data, from professional sources, to explore  theories, principles, and shocks which you can interpret within wider discussions from preceding units.  The units of Quantitative Modelling, Policy Evaluation and Financial Statistics enable you to build core statistical skills. Integral to this is your development of coding skills in both Stata and R studio, used throughout the economic, finance and analysis professions.

You build from understanding distributions to estimators used in the evaluation of policy, social theories and experiments (E.g. basic regressions with interactions, Panel estimators, difference in difference and matching). You use real (messy) data to investigate pressing social dilemmas, with evidence based theories of change rather than from derivative models.

In Financial Statistics, you interrogate real time series data, from professional sources, to explore  theories, principles, and shocks which you can interpret within wider discussions from preceding units.  The units of Quantitative Modelling, Policy Evaluation and Financial Statistics enable you to build core statistical skills. Integral to this is your development of coding skills in both Stata and R studio, used throughout the economic, finance and analysis professions.

You build from understanding distributions to estimators used in the evaluation of policy, social theories and experiments (E.g. basic regressions with interactions, Panel estimators, difference in difference and matching). You use real (messy) data to investigate pressing social dilemmas, with evidence based theories of change rather than from derivative models.

In Financial Statistics, you interrogate real time series data, from professional sources, to explore  theories, principles, and shocks which you can interpret within wider discussions from preceding units.  

What pedagogical approaches does the programme use to ensure that students examine the historical context, assumptions and values in all economic thinking?

Policies and actions do not occur in a vacuum. Any shift in the dominant economic perspective and acceptable policies is typically evolutionary and then sudden. The creation and resolution of environmental, social and financial crises requires deep knowledge of theories, how individual and societal biases are shaped and persist, evidence of causal mechanisms, and construction of feasible policies.

Our Pluralist Economic Analysis unit addresses the evolution of modern economic thought (mainstream and heterodox). The Behavioural Economics, Financial Economics and Cryptocurrency units look at how and why regulations have(not) evolved and been enacted, whilst the Public Policy Economics and Policy Evaluation units explicitly explore policy formation and effectiveness in terms of what works.

How does the department ensure that the teaching culture and capacity to deliver economic pluralism are continually improving?

When we designed this programme we started by evaluating what success looked like for students who wish to focus on finance, policy analysis or data analysis in terms of knowledge and skills.

We then took a whole-programme approach to assessment such that together they build critical skills and knowledge. We can not achieve this through examinations. Rather, given our small cohort, we employ a variety of different assessments, which build the complexity and depth of skills over the year in order to support successful dissertations and meet the demands of leading professions or further research.

That is, graduates should be able to transfer strong critical analysis, synthesis and data handling skills to their chosen career. This approach requires that we work together to reflect key developments in thought and practice.When we designed this programme we started by evaluating what success looked like for students who wish to focus on finance, policy analysis or data analysis in terms of knowledge and skills.

We then took a whole-programme approach to assessment such that together they build critical skills and knowledge. We can not achieve this through examinations. Rather, given our small cohort, we employ a variety of different assessments, which build the complexity and depth of skills over the year in order to support successful dissertations and meet the demands of leading professions or further research.

That is, graduates should be able to transfer strong critical analysis, synthesis and data handling skills to their chosen career. This approach requires that we work together to reflect key developments in thought and practice.When we designed this programme we started by evaluating what success looked like for students who wish to focus on finance, policy analysis or data analysis in terms of knowledge and skills.

We then took a whole-programme approach to assessment such that together they build critical skills and knowledge. We can not achieve this through examinations. Rather, given our small cohort, we employ a variety of different assessments, which build the complexity and depth of skills over the year in order to support successful dissertations and meet the demands of leading professions or further research.

That is, graduates should be able to transfer strong critical analysis, synthesis and data handling skills to their chosen career. This approach requires that we work together to reflect key developments in thought and practice.