Economics - BSc (Hons)

This module equips you with key tools for conducting microeconomic analysis and introduces a number of policy applications. The specific topics include consumption and production theories, perfectly competitive markets, market power, game theory and risk and uncertainty.

Our understanding of the economy is contested. Reflecting this there are discernible schools of economic thought which vary in the extent to which they recommend government intervention, and in their understanding of market processes. This module offers you a relativist introduction to the major works of four great, and very different, thinkers: Adam Smith, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek. 

Macroeconomics is a study of different views on how the economy operates at the national and international level. It analyses how actions of different groups of economic agents (including consumers, firms, workers, governments, and the financial system) interact with each other to shape economic processes and outcomes at the aggregate level. This module offers sound knowledge and understanding of macroeconomic theories, debates, and practices at the intermediate level.

This module is consistent with the applied philosophy of the course, where it presents a comprehensive coverage of the main techniques and practical applications of analysis for economics, business and financial-type data, starting with the application of regression analysis.

The aim of this module is to provide an understanding of how to apply economic evidence to analyse the opportunities and challenges of sustainable development. You will explore key features of the three pillars of sustainable development – the economy, the society, and the natural environment – and how they are related to each other, using a case study of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

This module focuses on the tools and techniques used by Operation Managers within service, manufacturing, private and public sector institutions to ensure activities are aligned with corporate and market objectives. The module requires you to apply a range of operations management tools and techniques to given scenarios in order to produce a range of verbal, written and numerical solutions focussed on the efficiency, effectiveness and economy of an operation’s processes.

You will investigate the impacts of global issues such as pandemics, public health, global warming, financial interconnectedness, migration, geopolitical events, the power of media, and demographic shifts on large businesses in the Dynamic Business Issues and Solutions module.

Corporate Finance is a rigorous and comprehensive module that is designed to broaden your understanding of the main issues in modern corporate finance. Corporate Finance is concerned with how businesses raise funds and invest those funds to provide a return to investors. This module aims to equip you with the skills and knowledge required by a financial manager to make appropriate investment and financing decisions for a business in a global environment.

This module will introduce you to the language spoken by accounting professionals. You will gain an understanding of how financial statements are prepared. This is key to being able to interpret the financial position and performance of companies using ratio analysis. This module will also give an insight into how standard costs are developed for products and services and how they are key to the budgeting process.

This module introduces you to personal investments and wealth management of individuals. You will learn about the wealth management process and be able to develop investment policy statements for individuals given their unique goals, constraints and circumstances. In addition, you will develop a thorough understanding of the different global tax regimes. You will also develop analytical skills in estate planning and risk management of personal investments.

This module is designed for the student who wishes to learn how to utilize financial theory in real world applications. The course is practical in nature and will implement computational approach to many financial problems. This module will build upon modules that are covered in year 1 and will link to the year 3 modules.

In this module, you will study the financial management of entrepreneurial firms (small and medium-sized) and venture firms. You will first consider different sources of financing for entrepreneurial firms including bank loans, government funding, angels, venture capital, peer-to-peer financing, online banking, and various types of private equity as well as the process of obtaining these sources.

A semester abroad is a fantastic opportunity to explore your subject in an international context at one of our partner institutions. Spending a period of time abroad as part of your degree allows you to understand a different culture, and gain specific knowledge about working practices in your host country. Connecting with fellow international students can broaden your network and increase your graduate prospects.

If you choose this option, you will study 60 credits of modules at the overseas partner institution and fewer modules at BCU.

This module is designed to provide you with the opportunity to undertake a credit bearing, 40- week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Undergraduate Degree.    The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market.  Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace. 

The module will develop your knowledge of economic theory to enhance your skills in analysing economic problems and situations. Topics covered will be competitive equilibrium, welfare theorems, general equilibrium with incomplete financial markets, public choice, choice under uncertainty, asymmetric information (signalling and principal agent models) and game theory (Nash equilibria, subgame perfection, super-games).

The module aims to develop your skills in understanding, analysing and evaluating issues and policies in the world economy. You will build upon your knowledge of macroeconomics and expand your analysis to the open economy framework. You will learn how exchange rates are determined and how they affect the balance of payments, price level, national level of output and other macroeconomic indicators. You will analyse a variety of alternative exchange rate regimes and study their relative advantages, downsides and effects on the rest of the economy.

The aim of this module is to provide a framework for you to undertake a substantial economics research project. The module provides a framework for integrating the principles, tools and methods of economics, developing your practitioner skills via research methods, analytical tools and techniques. The project requires a high degree of professionalism in time management and managing the supervisory relationship. 

Although there are a variety of business disciplines – including strategy, marketing, accounting, finance, or human resource management – researchers often employ a common body of techniques as they investigate these areas. The aim of this module is to provide you with the knowledge of research project management, research philosophy and the analytical “toolkit” to conduct a piece of research, in line with established research ethics. 

The aim of this module is to provide a framework for you to undertake a significant piece of disciplinary-relevant research and consultancy. It is founded upon Birmingham City Business School’s teaching and learning philosophy which integrates theory and practice, in this case community or third-sector practice, based on business principles.

The UK is witnessing an increase in the number of public companies collapsing and it may be arguable that a lot of such failures can be attributed to poor corporate finance strategies. As a result of this, the module explores the advanced mechanics of corporate finance and the different strategies that can help a company detect or prevent financial difficulties.

This module will help you in developing knowledge and understanding of the underlying principles and concepts relating to corporate finance and give the theoretical underpinnings of financial management in corporates.

This module offers a comprehensive treatment of the theory and practice of industrial economics (aka Industrial Organisation). It provides an understanding of how a range of theoretical models can be used to explain and predict the behaviour of firms in different types of markets, and how the actions of firms affect household welfare.

You will be given the opportunity to apply relevant economic models to the investigation of a labour market issues within a country of your choice. The module aims to encourage the development of transferable skills, which enhance career prospects, by accessing and interpreting information from a variety of sources, in order to evaluate theoretical models. The module also locates the UK labour market in the context of productivity, working hours, migration, international competitiveness and employee wellbeing.

As events of the last decade will indicate, money and banking are of paramount importance in their influence on the economics. Indeed, the collapse of various financial institutions triggered significant drops in living standards for a period of time, with lasting effects on government budgets. The module provides you with an understanding of the issues in the role of money in the economy and the operation of the monetary and financial system and policy by the application of appropriate economic principles, frameworks and analytical techniques.

The 2008 Global Financial Crisis and the consequent global recession were directly triggered by the events in the American real estate market. These dramatic events have highlighted the lack of understanding by many professionals of the linkages between the property market and the rest of the economy, which played an important role in the development of this crisis.

The Real Estate Economics module attempts to close this knowledge gap. It will provide you with practical understanding of how property market operates, what drives property prices and yields, and how to spot signs of approaching booms and busts.