Prof Diane Reyniers NAB 5.22

This course is available on the BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics, BSc in Management, International Exchange (1 Term) and International Exchange (Full Year). This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

Third year only. 

This course addresses various interesting topics which will be used to encourage creative and logical thinking, structuring of clear arguments and critical assessment of evidence. The focus is on interpretation of findings rather than statistical or econometric techniques.

The intellectual backbone of the course is applied and empirical economics (including behavioural economics) and finance but, wherever appropriate contributions from the psychology, sociology and management literature will be discussed. We will mainly deal with issues which are amenable to rigorous empirical investigation. The course is designed around a set of empirical research papers. Examples of questions considered are whether pain killers are more effective when they are expensive, whether creative people cheat more, whether people overvalue their own ideas.

The main objective of the course is to enable students to comprehend and critically assess the management literature, to evaluate statements in terms of evidence and to detect false reasoning or logic.

Topics vary each year (based on student feedback) but examples are racial discrimination, negotiation and gender, graduate earnings, leadership, optimism and entrepreneurship. 

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 2 hours of classes in the LT.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.

Two take-home mock exam papers.

A reading list will be available on Moodle.

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the summer exam period.

Department: Management

Total students 2019/20: 36

Average class size 2019/20: 19

Capped 2019/20: No

Value: Half Unit