Modern economic theory is based on mathematical models. Thus, a thorough understanding of the economic content of such models is not possible without a clear understanding of the mathematical concepts that underpin the modeling. This course introduces students to a range of optimisation concepts and techniques for economics and financial economics that form the basis of advanced economic theory courses. The introduced optimisation concepts and techniques will be derived from basic principles and assumptions as thoroughly as possible, and will be illustrated using standard applications from economics.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. Understand the mathematical methods that are most widely used in economics, both from a formal, abstract perspective, and an intuitive perspective.
2. Know how to read, understand, and construct mathematical proofs, and appreciate their role in the derivation of mathematical concepts and structures.
3. Apply mathematical methods and techniques that are formulated in abstract settings to concrete economic applications.

Research-Led Teaching

The course covers mathematical concepts, methodologies and techniques that form the foundation of modern research in all fields of economics.

Examination Material or equipment

Exams will be held remotely through the class Wattle site. A stable and reliable internet connection is necessary.

Recommended Resources

Recommended Textbooks

Carl P. Simon and Lawrence Blume, Mathematics for Economists, W.W. Norton, 1994

R. K. Sundaram, A First Course in Optimization Theory, Cambridge University Press, 1996

Textbooks and additional readings will be available on reserve or as electronic versions, as specified in the following ANU Library reading list:

http://library.anu.edu.au/search/r?search=econ2125

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the form of verbal feedback during workshops and tutorials, and individual feedback and help with lecture material and tutorial problems, as well as discussions of solutions to assignments, during consultations.

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). The feedback given in these surveys is anonymous and provides the Colleges, University Education Committee and Academic Board with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement. The Surveys and Evaluation website provides more information on student surveys at ANU and reports on the feedback provided on ANU courses.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Sets, Functions and Proofs
2	Sequences, Continuity and Differentiation
3	Review of Matrices, Linear Systems, and Determinants; Vector Spaces and Linear Independence
4	Linear Maps; Norms, Inner Products and Orthogonal Vectors
5	Functions between Euclidean Spaces
6	Metric Spaces
7	Optimisation Problems in Euclidean Spaces; Consumer Choice
8	Utility Maximisation; Equality-constrained Optimisation
9	Inequality-constrained Optimisation
10	Convexity and Quasiconvexity
11	Demand Theory; The Envelope Theorem

Tutorial Registration

no tutorial registration is required for this course, see Wattle for further information regarding tutorials

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Learning Outcomes
Weekly Quizzes - 32%	32 %	1,2,3,4,5,6,7
Final Examination - 68%	68 %	1,2,3,4,5,6,7

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Misconduct Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Special Assessment Consideration Policy and General Information 
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the Academic Integrity . In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Wattle’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

This course will involve three types of activities, lectures, workshops and tutorials:

LECTURES will be delivered asynchronously, through lecture notes and recordings that will be made available via Wattle. Students are expected to independently work through each week's lecture notes and recordings, before participating in the corresponding workshops and tutorials.

WORKSHOPS are synchronous/live classes whose aim is to further discuss lecture material AFTER students had a chance to work through the lecture notes and recordings by themselves. Workshops will commence in week 2, and each week's workshop will discuss the lecture material from the previous week. Workshops may be delivered in hybrid mode (i.e., in-person with simultaneous live streaming) or online only, depending on technical considerations, student demand and/or current Covid-related restrictions. As workshops are discussion-based classes, recordings may not be made available. Updated details and information will be posted on the course Wattle site.

The objective of TUTORIALS is to provide students with an opportunity to review the theoretical concepts discussed in lectures and apply them in the context of specific problems and examples. Tutorials will commence in week 2, and each week's tutorial will discuss problems related to the lecture material from the previous week. Tutorial problems will be made available at the start of the previous week, together with the notes and recordings for the corresponding lecture. Students are strongly encouraged to work through the tutorial problems before attempting each week's quiz questions, and thus, before attending the respective tutorial sessions. The delivery mode for tutorials will be either in-person only with recordings provided via Wattle, hybrid, or online only, depending on technical considerations, student demand and/or current Covid-related restrictions. In general, tutorial solutions will be made available both as (possibly incomplete) typed-out answers and as recordings. Updated details and information will be posted on the course Wattle site.

Examination(s)

See information above in Assessment Task 2.

Assessment Task 1

Weekly Quizzes - 32%

Weekly quizzes will be administered via the course Wattle site, with the exception of week 1 of the semester. The 8 highest marks out of these 11 quizzes, will be used to compute the 32% quiz component of your final grade. The due dates and times for the quizzes will be posted on Wattle. The quizzes will in general be due before the start of each week's tutorial (e.g., the first quiz, which covers topics related to Lecture 1 and the associated tutorial problems, will be due before the first tutorial, in week 2). Quiz questions will be made available on Wattle three (3) days before their respective due dates, and solutions to the questions will have to be submitted via Wattle during this 3-day time window. Quizzes may include multiple-choice questions, true/false questions, short typed-answer questions, or questions that require handwritten solutions to be scanned in pdf format and uploaded on Wattle. Late submission of answers to quizzes will NOT be accepted, as the solutions may be discussed in class after the submission deadline. Quiz marks will be released on Wattle after the quizzes are graded, approximately one week after the submission dates.

Assessment Task 2

Final Examination - 68%

A final exam will be scheduled during the ANU end-of-semester examination period, and will be delivered online via the class Wattle site. The exam will cover all the material that was presented throughout the course, and will be held over a 4 hour period. Further details will be given on Wattle by week 10.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of the ANU culture as a community of scholars. At its heart, academic integrity is about behaving ethically, committing to honest and responsible scholarly practice and upholding these values with respect and fairness.

The ANU commits to assisting all members of our community to understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. The ANU expects staff and students to be familiar with the academic integrity principle and Academic Misconduct Rule, uphold high standards of academic integrity and act ethically and honestly, to ensure the quality and value of the qualification that you will graduate with.

The Academic Misconduct Rule is in place to promote academic integrity and manage academic misconduct. Very minor breaches of the academic integrity principle may result in a reduction of marks of up to 10% of the total marks available for the assessment. The ANU offers a number of online and in person services to assist students with their assignments, examinations, and other learning activities. Visit the Academic Skills website for more information about academic integrity, your responsibilities and for assistance with your assignments, writing skills and study.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

No submission of assessment tasks without an extension after the due date will be permitted. If an assessment task is not submitted by the due date, a mark of 0 will be awarded.

Referencing Requirements

Accepted academic practice for referencing sources that you use in presentations can be found via the links on the Wattle site, under the file named “ANU and College Policies, Program Information, Student Support Services and Assessment”. Alternatively, you can seek help through the Students Learning Development website.

Returning Assignments

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions may be granted for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Diversity and inclusion for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills and Learning Centre supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling Centre promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents undergraduate and ANU College students
• PARSA supports and represents postgraduate and research students