In this course the theoretical and empirical issues of the financial economics are studied. Among these, we analyse the functioning of the financial markets, the determinants of the interest rates, the volatility and the uncertainty in the financial markets. Special attention will be devoted to the functioning of financial markets in monetary unions, including the importance of fiscal sustainability and financial stability in a common currency area.

Topics

• The functioning of the financial markets
• The determinants of the interest rates
• The volatility and uncertainty of financial assets
• Financial markets in monetary unions
• Financial stability and fiscal sustainability in common currency area

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Knowledge and comprehension skills: At the end of the course, students will be able to understand the main issues related to the financial markets and agents operating there: savers, inverstors, brokers, saving managers. In particular, they will be able to critically assess the principal models and issues concerning the asset pricing. Students will be able to use these models for analyzing the economic patterns and interpreting what happens in real economic world, and actively participating to the economic and financial debate.

Applying knowledge and understanding: Thanks to the course attendance, after passing the exam, the students will be able to deal with a variety of tools to analyze financial and economic information and understand autonomously the evolution of the main issues related to the portfolio management. Students will be able to assess official financial reports with particular attention to the volatility and uncertainty of financial assets. They will be able also to analyze financial data to understand the macroeconomic dynamics of the economy.

Making judgements: Students will be able to gather information and data on the subjects of the course so to make autonomous judgements.

Communication skills: Students will develop reasoning and communication skills on issues related to the subjects of the course thanks to the command of specific terminology used during the lectures and the tutorials.

Learning skills: Students will gain in-depth knowledge of the main models of the financial markets and their functioning. This will allow them to advance their knowledge in finance and prepare them for more advanced courses, inclduding those in applied economics and monetary economics.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

• Seminars
• Tutorials
• Teamwork

Teaching

Frontal lectures and tutorials. The lectures will be developed by following the textbook scheme. Other teaching materials (e.g., PPT and PDF file) used during the lectures will be part of the program and will be made available in the website of the course.

Attendance

The participation in the lecture classes and tutorials is recommended.

Course books

• Brealey, R. A., Myers, S. C., Allen, F., & Mohanty, P. (2012). Principles of corporate finance. Tata McGraw-Hill Education - only some chapters

• DE GRAUWE  P -  Economics of Monetary Union, Oxford University Press, 2014 (10th edition) - only some chapters

• Olivier Blanchard - Macroeconomics 2020, (8th Edition) - only some chapters

• Other teaching materials will be available on Moodle › blended.uniurb.it.

[NB: Specific chapters of the suggested books will be indicated at the beginning of the course and made available on Moodle]

Assessment

Written exam. It is composed by a mix of open-ended questions and closed-ended questions for a total of 6 questions. The maximum score is 32 points that corresponds to the grade 30/30 with honors. The time to do the written exam is one hour.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

The same information for attending students

Attendance

The same information for attending students

Course books

The same information for attending students

Assessment

The same information for attending students

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The student of the Erasmus Program can request to sit the final exam with an alternative bibliography.