BEX5850 - Mathematical economic theory

Overview

This unit will primarily focus on explaining the structure of mathematics used in economics. It will start with an introduction to axiomatic set theory and highlight that almost all mathematical concepts of interest to economists can be thought of assets or subsets of suitably defined sets. The three main mathematical structured sets to be covered will be sets with an order structure, topological structure, and linear structure. The six main topics will be set theory; metric and topological spaces; properties of functions and correspondences; linear and normed linear spaces; fixed point and separating hyperplane theorems; and a brief introduction to static and dynamic optimisation.

Requisites

Prohibition

Rules

Enrolment Rule

Teaching approach

Active learning

Assessment

1 - Within semester assessment

Workload requirements

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. You are expected to complete all pre-class activities prior to your scheduled class, and post-class activities should be completed after your scheduled class. Learning activities may include a combination of teacher directed, peer directed and online engagement activities.