Class Test 1

A 75 minute online test consisting of multiple-choice and short answer questions will be held during the lecture in week 6. The test will cover all contents from week 1 to  week 5, inclusive. A calculator is needed for the test and attendance is compulsory.

Students must be available during the time of the lecture class to sit the class test. The only exception to this is when the student submits a valid application for Special Consideration which is approved by the University. In these circumstances the student may wish to consult the Special Consideration Policy which is available via the link in the Policies and Procedures section of this document.

This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:

• Apply basic statistical techniques to problems in economics and business

• Apply research skills to select, compare and utilise econometric models.

Class Test 2

A 75 minute online test consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer questions will be held during the lecture time in week 10. The test will cover all contents from week 1 to  week 9, inclusive. A calculator is needed for the test and attendance is compulsory. 

Students must be available during the time of the lecture class to sit the class test. The only exception to this is when the student submits a valid application for Special Consideration which is approved by the University. In these circumstances the student may wish to consult the Special Consideration Policy which is available via the link in the Policies and Procedures section of this document.

This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:

• Apply basic statistical techniques to problems in economics and business

• Apply research skills to select, compare and utilise econometric models.

Assignment 

The assignment will require students to analyse some sets of data using the econometric software and econometric models described in the course.  The assignment must be submitted electronically in week 13. Further details including the assignment topic will be released in iLearn. 

No extensions will be granted. There will be a deduction of 10% of the total available marks made from the total awarded mark for each 24 hour period or part thereof that the submission is late (for example, 25 hours late in submission – 20% penalty). This penalty does not apply for cases in which the student submits a valid application for Special Consideration which is approved by the University. In these circumstances the student may wish to consult the Special Consideration Policy which is available via the link in the Policies and Procedures section of this document.

This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:

• Apply basic statistical techniques to problems in economics and business
• Evaluate and use appropriate econometric tools to model, estimate and forecast economic data.
• Apply research skills to select, compare and utilise econometric models
• Utilise appropriate practices involved in today's working environment to work effectively in a group.

Final Examination

The final exam will consist of multiple-choice questions and short-answer questions. The exam will have a duration of 1 hour and 40 minutes. 

This Assessment Task relates to the following Learning Outcomes:

• Apply basic statistical techniques to problems in economics and business
• Evaluate and use appropriate econometric tools to model, estimate and forecast economic data.
• Apply research skills to select, compare and utilise econometric models

This unit is taught as a mix of tutorials, lectures. The lectures are designed to introduce the underlying knowledge in probability, statistics and econometrics, and to explain the methods which will be used to analyse and interpret data. Tutorials are based mainly on numerical problems which allow students to practice and understand the methods taught in the lectures. The tutorials include empirical applications which require the use of econometric software packages.

Lectures are intended to provide an overview of statistical and econometrics techniques that are critical to the core themes of the unit. Students are expected to read the relevant material before each lecture.

Tutorials – 1 hour per week Tutorials will go through assigned problems which may be mathematical exercises, or which may require use of the econometric software available in the AppStream to estimate a model.

Self-study activities – learning by doing (about 6 hours each teaching week and 9 hours each week during the mid-semester recess)

ECON6034 relies heavily on independent learning where students read the lecture notes, relevant chapters in the useful text books and prepare answers to the pre-set tutorial questions.

Useful but not required texts include:

1. Hill, C. H., Griffiths, W. E. and Lim, G. C. (2011) Principles of Econometrics (4th ed.) Wiley -- Available online through our library: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au/lib/MQU/ detail.action?docID=4806586

2. Gujarati, N. G. and Porter, D. C. (2009) Essentials of Econometrics, 4th Edition, McGraw-Hill

3. Keller, Gerald (2014) Statistics for Management and Economics (10th, ed.), Cengage Learning.

4. Stock, J. H. and Watson, M. W. (2014) Introduction to Econometrics, 3rd Edition, Pearson

Material such as lecture slides, examples, and tutorial questions will be available on the unit home page. The lecture notes, together with the lectures and additional references will provide students with a clear indication of the basic content of the unit.

It is recommended that students listen to all  lectures  and tutorials for several reasons including:

1.  Not all the material in the texts is included in the unit, and not all the material in the unit is covered in the texts. In some places the texts deals with issues in greater depth than is necessary for the unit, and in other places it doesn’t go far enough. The lectures contain all the unit material taught at the level required for the assessment tasks, and are your guide to the unit content.

2. The approaches to some problems that are recommended by the lecturer are different to those in the text.

3. The lectures will include guidance about the style and content of the final exam and recommendation about study technique.

4. It is difficult (and often impossible) for staff to provide meaningful assistance to students outside class times on topics for which they did not attend the relevant lectures and tutorials.