Mathematics and Statistics for Economics

lecon2500  2019-2020  Louvain-la-Neuve

Mathematics and Statistics for Economics
Note from June 29, 2020
Although we do not yet know how long the social distancing related to the Covid-19 pandemic will last, and regardless of the changes that had to be made in the evaluation of the June 2020 session in relation to what is provided for in this learning unit description, new learnig unit evaluation methods may still be adopted by the teachers; details of these methods have been - or will be - communicated to the students by the teachers, as soon as possible.
5 credits
30.0 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
Davila Muro Julio; Van Bellegem Sébastien;
Language
English
Prerequisites
Basic background in mathematics
Main themes
For the mathematics part, the themes of matrix algebra, functions, optimization, and difference/differential equations. For the statistics part: multivariate distributions and related concepts. The two parts are linked in particular by matrix algebra.
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1 The purpose is that students learn the most important mathematical and statistical tools needed for advanced courses in macroeconomics, microeconomics and econometrics. The course serves mostly to refresh students' knowledge in certain topics, and to ensure that all students taking the advanced courses have a common mathe-matical and statistical level.
 

The contribution of this Teaching Unit to the development and command of the skills and learning outcomes of the programme(s) can be accessed at the end of this sheet, in the section entitled “Programmes/courses offering this Teaching Unit”.
Content
Mathematics : Matrix algebra (inverse, rank, derivatives, eigenvalues, diagonalization and factorization, quadratic forms). Met-ric and topological spaces, vector spaces. Real functions on Rn (continuity, concavity, differentiability, Taylor expansion, mean value theorem, implicit function theorem). Static optimization (constrained and uncon-strained). Difference and differential equations (steady states, stability).
Statistics: Multivariate distributions: joint, marginal and conditional distributions, (conditional) moments (variance-covariance matrices), independence in probability and linear independence. Law of iterated expectations. Transformation of random vectors. Multivariate normal distribution. Quadratic forms in normal vectors and related distributions (Student, chi-squared, Fisher)
Teaching methods
Methods: Lectures and home works
Evaluation methods
Written exam
Faculty or entity
ECON


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Master [60] in Economics : General

Master [120] in Economics: General