Macquarie University

Quantitative Methods in Economics, Business and Finance - ECON131

This unit is highly recommended for students who have not studied HSC Mathematics, but who intend to enrol in units for which it is assumed knowledge. The unit is also recommended for students who have completed HSC-level Mathematics and who need to extend their knowledge of mathematical techniques to applications in business, economics and finance. Its objective is to allow students to formulate and analyse problems in business, economics and finance in the language of, and using the power of, mathematics. The unit is a multi-disciplinary unit. It develops literacy in the quantitative techniques commonly used for planning and resource allocation. It is designed to provide students with the confidence to apply these techniques to practical problems relevant to the understanding of sustainability issues and to a myriad of problems in business, economics and finance. The applications vary from year to year, but typically include the solution of macroeconomic models, optimal production and pricing problems, and portfolio selection. The mathematical topics covered include: functions of several variables; calculus of single-variable and multiple-variable functions; optimisation; and matrix algebra.