EC4437 Applied Macroeconomics

Academic year

2026 to 2027 Semester 2

Further information on which modules are specific to your programme.

Key module information

SCOTCAT credits

20

The Scottish Credit Accumulation and Transfer (SCOTCAT) system allows credits gained in Scotland to be transferred between institutions. The number of credits associated with a module gives an indication of the amount of learning effort required by the learner. European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits are half the value of SCOTCAT credits.

SCQF level

SCQF level 10

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) provides an indication of the complexity of award qualifications and associated learning and operates on an ascending numeric scale from Levels 1-12 with SCQF Level 10 equating to a Scottish undergraduate Honours degree.

Planned timetable

To be confirmed

This information is given as indicative. Timetable may change at short notice depending on room availability.

Module coordinator

Dr M Bruns

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module Staff

Dr M Bruns

This information is given as indicative. Staff involved in a module may change at short notice depending on availability and circumstances.

Module description

This module introduces approaches to infer causality in macroeconomic applications. The first half covers univariate approaches such as Granger causality and cointegration analysis and will allow us to answer questions such as: Does unemployment predict inflation or vice versa? Is there arbitrage in the market for short-term bonds? The second half covers multivariate approaches such as structural vector autoregressive models and local projection models. We will first discuss approaches to identify macroeconomic shocks such as labour market shocks, monetary policy shocks, and oil market shocks. In a second step, we will analyse their impact on the macroeconomy and discuss their contributions to business cycle fluctuations.

Relationship to other modules

Pre-requisites

BEFORE TAKING THIS MODULE YOU MUST PASS EC3301 OR PASS MT3508 OR PASS EC5207

Assessment pattern

50% Examination 50% Coursework

Re-assessment

100% Examination

Learning and teaching methods and delivery

Weekly contact

20 hours of lectures over 11 weeks, 1-hour laboratories (x 9 weeks).

Scheduled learning hours

29

The number of compulsory student:staff contact hours over the period of the module.

Guided independent study hours

171

The number of hours that students are expected to invest in independent study over the period of the module.

Intended learning outcomes

  • apply empirical methods for establishing causal relationships in macroeconomics
  • interpret model outputs to address policy-relevant questions
  • implement advanced macroeconomic techniques in statistical software
  • critically engage with influential empirical research and contemporary questions in macroeconomics