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Professor & Head of Department
H Nel, BCom, HEd(UFS), DCom(UPE)
Professors
GG Antrobus, MSc(Agric)(Natal), PhD(Rhodes)
ACM Webb, PhD(Rhodes)
Investec Professor in Money, Banking & Finance
AP Faure, PhD(Stell)
Visiting Professors
PA Black, PhD(Rhodes) (2001-2003)
XP Guma, PhD(Manchester) (2001-2003)
M Holden, PhD(Duke USA) (2001-2003)
Hobart Houghton Research Fellow (2006)
MP van der Hoek, PhD(Rotterdam)
Senior Lecturers
NS Cattaneo, MSc(Rhodes)
J Snowball, PhD(Rhodes)
MJ Aziakpono, MSc Econ(Ibadan, Nigeria)
Lecturers
DCA Fryer, MSc(Natal)
MK Wilson, MA(Botswana)
J Juana, BSc Ed Econ(USL), MA Econ(Botswana)
TE Mutambara, PhD(Rhodes)
CN Mbata, MA Econ(Rhodes)
To be appointed
Junior Lecturer
To be appointed
Economics is a three-year major subject which may be studied for degree curricula in the Faculties of Commerce, Humanities and Science. One, or in some cases two, courses in Economics are allowed as credits for degree/diploma curricula in the Faculties of Education and Law. Post graduate studies in Economics are available through honours, masters and doctoral degrees.
Economics 1 consists of TWO one-credit courses (1 per semester):
CODE COURSE CREDIT SEMESTER OFFERED
ECO 101 Microeconomics 1.00 1
ECO 102 Macroeconomics 1.00 2
Economics 2 consists of TWO one-credit course modules (1 per semester):
CODE MODULE CREDIT SEMESTER OFFERED
ECO 201 Microeconomics 1.00 2
ECO 202 Macroeconomics 1.00 1
Economics 3 consists of TWO semester courses: ECO 301 and ECO 302. Both of these involve TWO half-credit courses from the following list:
CODE MODULE CREDIT SEMESTER OFFERED
ECO 312 International Trade Theory
& Policy 0.50 1
ECO 313 Public Finance 0.50 1
ECO 314 Economic History 0.50 2
ECO 315 Econometrics 0.50 1
ECO 316 Money, Banking & International
Finance 0.50 2
ECO 317 Environmental Economics 0.50 2
ECO 318 Mathematical Economics 0.50 1
ECO 319 Any other paper approved
by the Department 0.50
Economics 3B consists of TWO half-credit course modules (normally one per semester) from the list under Economics 3. Students registered for both Economics 3 and Economics 3B would take 6 courses (three per semester) in total.
Due to timetabling constraints, students would not normally be able to take both ECO 314 and ECO 317.
Econometrics is strongly recommended for students planning to do honours. The department reserves the right to offer second and third year course modules in either Semester 1 or Semester 2 and to withdraw any of the third-year modules.
Admission Prerequisites
Course Admission prerequisite
ECO 201,202 Economics 1 or ECO 101 & ECO 102
ECO 311,312,313,314,
315, 316, 318 Economics 2 or ECO 201 & ECO 202
ECO 317 ECO 101
In addition to the above admission prerequisites, students are normally only
allowed to register for third-year courses after successful completion
of a total of 14 semester credits.
Economics Honours consists of a research project plus EIGHT course modules from the following:
Compulsory Courses
CODE MODULE CREDIT SEMESTER OFFERED
ECO 401 Research project 0,20 1 & 2
ECO 418 Microeconomics 0,10 2
ECO 403 Macroeconomics 0,10 1
Elective Courses
SIX courses are selected from the following list:
CODE MODULE CREDIT SEMESTER OFFERED
ECO 402 Mathematical Economics 0,10 2
ECO 404 Econometrics 0,10 2
ECO 405 Monetary Economics 0,10 1
ECO 406 Growth and Technology 0,10 1
ECO 407 Financial Economics 0,10 2
ECO 408 Labour Economics 0,10 1
ECO 409 Development Economics 0,10 2
ECO 410 Environmental & Resource
Economics 0,10 1
ECO 414 Derivatives Financial Market
Regulation and Efficiency 0,10 2
ECO 415 Public Finance 0,10 1
ECO 416 Industrial Organisation 0,10 2
ECO 417 Any other paper
approved by the Department 0,10
NB Not all the above courses will be offered in any one year. Economics Honours can be taken full-time or part-time.
TWO compulsory and TWO elective modules will normally be taken per semester. Examinations are written in June and November. The research project is completed over the whole year (full-time) and over 2 years (part-time) and should be handed in by 1 October in order to be examined in November.
A student is permitted to take a paper from another department to the maximum weight of 0,2.
Students who have not done Econometrics at the third-year level are allowed to take ECO 315 in lieu of one of the elective honours courses.
Interdisciplinary Honours Degree in Development Studies.
The degree consists of FOUR papers and a long research essay from participating departments.
Master's degree by research thesis
This option is available to students wishing to pursue a clearly defined field of research and where such students have the ability to work independently.
Master's degree in Financial Markets by coursework and dissertation
This degree is aimed specifically at a specialised career in the financial/banking sector. A minimum registration of 5 students is normally required for the degree to be offered.
The normal requirement for admission is an honours degree or a four-year degree, preferably with a strong background in Economics and/or Management. Professional experience will also be taken into account.
The course modules are structured with the above career in mind and are all compulsory. The degree consists of:
CODE MODULE CREDIT SEMESTER OFFERED
ECO 501 Dissertation 0,50 1 & 2
ECO 502 Financial Institutions &
Regulation 0,10 1
ECO 503 Money Banking & Monetary Policy 0,10 1
ECO 504 Debt & Foreign Exchange Markets 0,10 1
ECO 505 Equity & Derivative Markets 0,10 2
ECO 506 Portfolio Theory & Management 0,10 2
A PhD degree may be taken by research thesis. Acceptance of the candidate will depend on previous academic record, an acceptable research proposal and the availability of expertise in the department to supervise the project.
ECO 101 - Microeconomics
Fundamental economic concepts; comparative economic systems; demand, supply and market equilibrium; elasticities of demand and supply; consumer behaviour; production and costs; price and output determination under competitive and monopolistic conditions. The South African economy, structure and development.
ECO 102 - Macroeconomics
National income accounts; index numbers; determination of national output, income and employment; money and banking; quantity theory of money; money, prices and output; unemployment; inflation; introduction to international economics.
ECO 201 - Microeconomics
The economist's view of human nature; preferences, budgets, and consumer equilibrium; income and substitution effects; the Chicago school; production, technology and costs. Fundamentals of market structure; general equilibrium and second best; asymmetric information; the South African labour market; oligopoly and oil; product differentiation (automobiles and airlines); globalization.
ECO 202 Macroeconomics
Measurement of macroeconomic variables; classical macroeconomics; the role of aggregate demand; money, interest and income; policy effects in the IS-LM model; aggregate supply and aggregate demand; output, inflation and unemployment; the balance of payments and exchange rates; monetary and fiscal policy in the open economy; the Mundell-Fleming model; cases of imperfect and perfect capital mobility. Money and monetary policy; the role of the Central Bank; changing nature of monetary control; the budget and fiscal policy (functions of fiscal policy, expenditure issues, revenue issues, and debt and the deficit); internal balance (unemployment and inflation); external balance (the balance of payments); and the growth debate in South Africa.
ECO 312 - International Trade Theory and Policy
International trade theory: the classical (Ricardian) model and extensions; neoclassical trade theory and income distribution; technology theories of trade; the Linder theory; new trade theory based on economies of scale and imperfect competition; economic growth and international trade.
Trade policy: the instruments of trade policy and their effects; the arguments for protection; economic integration; trade and development; South Africa's trade policy and the World Trade Organization.
ECO 313 - Public Finance
Economic basis for investment activity; public versus private goods; externalities; government intervention in the market; financing of government expenditures; effect of taxation on the economy; the budget deficit; theory and structure of taxation; provincial expenditure and intergovernmental fiscal relations.
ECO 314 - Economic History
South African economy in the 20th century; political economy of development; role of the state in industrialization; inward industrialization versus export led growth; changing labour relations; development in the financial sector; foreign direct investment; balance of payments and fiscal discipline; primary sector developments.
ECO 315 - Econometrics
The nature and scope of econometrics; basics of probability and statistics; the linear regression model: the two-variable model, estimation and hypothesis testing; multiple regression estimation, goodness of fit and hypothesis testing; functional forms of regression models: how to measure elasticity and the growth rate, reciprocal models; regression on dummy explanatory variables; regression analysis in practice: multicollinearity and heteroscedasticity; autocorrelation and spurious regression in economic time series data.
ECO 316 - Money, Banking and International Finance
Money and interest rates; the demand for money; interest rate behaviour; transmission mechanism; rational expectations theory (traditional, new classical and new Keynesian models); financial instruments and markets; central banking and depository institutions; foreign exchange markets and the balance of payments accounts (monetary, portfolio balance, price adjustments approaches to the external balance); national income and current account; the exchange rate systems and international monetary system, and macroeconomic policy in the open economy; contemporary issues; macroeconomic policy in South Africa.
ECO 317 - Environmental Economics
Scope and development of environmental economics; a model of the economy and the environment; the economics of pollution; measuring economic impacts on the environment; resource economics; sustainable development; issues and applications.
ECO 318 and ECO 402 - Mathematical Economics
Analytic and mathematical models in economics; linear models; Leontief input-output analysis; optimisation - single and several variables with constraints; consumer theory; demand theory; expenditure minimisation; production theory; profit maximisation; equilibrium and its basic welfare properties; dynamical models of economic processes. Honours level includes: constrained optimisation, integration and applications.
ECO 401 - Research Project
A research project of limited scope (of not more than 15 000 words) on an approved topic in economics to be selected by 31 March, handed in by 1 October, involving either a theoretical analysis or an application of economics. Empirical work is strongly recommended. A presentation of the results is to be made at a departmental seminar. Candidates are encouraged to present a paper at an economic conference.
ECO 403 - Macroeconomics
The evolution of ideology and the economy in the 20th Century: South Africa and the world economy through the lens of macroeconomic thought. Growth theory; Keynes and the Keynesians; neo-Walrasian economics (new Classical and new Keynesian economics); policital economy.
ECO 404 - Econometrics
Dummy dependent variables: LPM, logit, probit and tobit models; panel data regression models: fixed versus random effects approaches; dynamic econometric models: distributed-lag and autoregressive models; time series econometrics: stationarity, unit roots, cointegration and the error correction mechanism; simultaneous equation systems: simultaneous equation bias; the identification problem; the methods of indirect and two-stage least squares.
ECO 405 - Monetary Economics
The monetary sector; money and credit; monetary theory (classical, Keynesian, portfolio models and post Keynesian); the demand for money; the transmission mechanism; the money supply process; theory and application of the definition of money; monetary policy; monetary control in South Africa; monetary vs inflation targeting.
ECO 406 - Growth and Technology
Technology and macroeconomic growth models; technical change and the economic system; the sources of innovation; the new manufacturing technologies; international differences in growth and technology; national systems of innovation; foreign direct investment and multinational corporations in developing countries; technology and industrial policy: government intervention in the market; South Africa: a case study.
ECO 407 - Financial Economics
Financial markets and the economy; portfolio theory; interest rate theory; capital market theory and the valuation of assets (the capital asset pricing model and arbitrage pricing); pricing of bonds and equities; the cost of capital, corporate finance and investment; money, bond and equity markets.
ECO 408 - Labour Economics
Perspectives on labour; neoclassical fundamentals; monopoly, monopsony and the economics of information; traditional systems of industrial relations; labour and the law in South Africa; trade and labour; new workforms; global trends in flexible labour; labour and the law in the global economy.
ECO 409 - Development Economics
Meaning and measurement of development; theories of economic development: classical perspective and alternative perspectives on development (dependency theory etc); human rights; poverty; famine; entitlement and deprivation; role of the state in development; role of foreign aid; the debt crisis; structural adjustment programs; post-Washington consensus; globalization; urban bias theory and rural development.
ECO 410 - Environmental Economics
The application of economic principles to the valuation of environmental services and of degradation; the Environmental Kuznets Curve; Global Warming; natural resource valuation issues; economic sustainability; the development of Environmental Economics and of Ecological Economics.
ECO 414 - Derivatives, Financial Market Regulation and Efficiency
Types of futures contracts; pricing of futures and the futures market; options; pricing of options including the Black-Scholes model; the regulation of financial markets; banking supervision and financial market efficiency.
ECO 416 - Industrial Organization
Origins of industrial organization. The Principle of total costs. The active firm, transaction costs and the firm market entry barriers. Product differentiation; Absolute cost advantages; Economies of scale; Imperfections in capital markets; Theory of contestable markets. The paradigm of market Structure - Conduct - Performance. Alternative theories of a complex firm. Organization and economic efficiency; Behavioural theory of the firm; Agency theory; Economics of transaction costs; Evolutionary theory. Recent developments in industrial organization.
ECO 418 - Microeconomics
Introduction to game theory, oligopoly and bargaining; bounded rationality and private information; moral hazard and performance incentives; risk sharing and incentive contracts, rents and efficiency, ownership and property rights; production, information costs and economic organization; auction theory; intertemporal microeconomics; outlook on industrial organization and on recent developments in microeconomics.
ECO 502 - Financial Institutions and Regulation
The theories underlying the role of financial system, institutions and their regulation - financial system and institutions, asymmetric information and uncertainty, principal-agent theory, adverse selection and moral hazard, financial intermediaries and portfolio choice, financial sector and macroeconomic performance, Institutional aspects of financial sector development. Regulation and supervision of financial intermediaries and markets, main regulators (South African Reserve Bank and Financial Services Board); arguments for and against; evolution; regulators' vital function in terms of financial stability and guarding against systemic and other risks faced by financial intermediaries.
ECO 503 - Money, Banking and Monetary Policy
The core theories underlying monetary policy formulation, analysis and implementation - central banking and monetary policy (goals, tool, targets, conflicts, independence and time consistency of policy), monetary aggregation, empirical models of money demand and money supply, theory of interest rate and application, monetary transmission mechanism, and international monetary system; and the practice of monetary policy formulation and implementation drawing extensively on the experiences of South Africa and other developed and emerging market economies. Private sector banking, operation and management of banks- balance sheet and off-balance sheet activities; risk in banking; banking specialisations; new developments in banking such as securitisation, structured finance; diversification of banking, financial consolidation and financial engineering, international financial architecture.
ECO 504 - Debt and Foreign Exchange Markets
Financial econometrics: the application of statistical and econometric methods in financial market research, including multivariate regression models, ARCH and GARCH models, models of asset prices and volatility models. Mathematics of the financial markets. Economics of the money market, its instruments, its functions and developments; role of interest rates and monetary policy role of central bank via the two interbank markets; risk-free rate and the relationship between money market rates and other interest rates; microstructure of money market; international aspects. Bond market, its instruments, developments, importance and international aspects; economics of bond market; theory of pricing; term structure theories; emergence of the corporate sector in the bond market; role of the Bond Exchange of South Africa; microstructure of bond market. Foreign exchange market; exchange rate theory and determinants; exchange rate systems; exchange rate policy in South Africa; participants, including importers, exporters, speculators, foreign sector; microstructure of forex market; derivatives - hedging tools, such as forex and currency swaps, forwards, futures.
ECO 505 - Equity and Derivative Markets
Equity market; primary and secondary markets; role of the regulator and the JSE as manager of the market; participants, mechanics of the market; microstructure of equity market; theories of valuation of shares; efficiency of equity market; behaviour of prices; international aspects of the market. Financial derivatives market - forwards, futures, options, swaps, hybrids such as swaptions, "other" such as weather and credit derivatives; valuation of derivatives; role of the exchange (Safex) and the regulator; use of markets - investors, hedgers, speculators, arbitrageurs; microstructure of derivative markets.
ECO 506 - Portfolio Theory and Management
Macroeconomic analysis as it applies to the financial markets; asset class analysis and strategic asset allocation as the first level of analysis; sector / industry analysis and security analysis; aspects of security analysis: financial statement analysis and ratio analysis; behavioural finance. Concepts, terminology and definitions in portfolio management; portfolio theory; modern approaches to portfolio management including resample efficiency; types of portfolio managers; asset classes; types of financial portfolios; life staging; portfolio monitoring including performance and risk attribution, statutory environment of the portfolio manager in South Africa.
For more information, see the departmental website: http://www.ru.ac.za/academic/departments/economics/
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