M.A Economics

The Avinashilingam University for Women offers M.A Economics course to its students. The course structure for it is as follows:

ADVANCED MICRO ECONOMIC THEORY
Theory of consumer behaviors and demand – consumer
preference and choice – consumer behavior and individual demand –
elasticity’s – superiority of indifference curve analysis.
The modern utility analysis of choice – choice involving risk or
uncertainty – Bernoulli hypothesis – Neumann – Morgenstern method of
measuring utility – Friedman savage hypothesis – The Markowitz hypothesis –
appraisal.
Revealed preference theory – derivation of demand curve from
revealed preference - superiority of revealed preference theory – limitations.

ADVANCED MACRO ECONOMICS THOERY
Circular flow of income in two, three and four sector economy –
different forms of national income accounting – social accounting and green
accounting.
Consumption function – importance – Keynes’ psychological law of
consumption – non income factors influencing consumption function –
evidence from cross sectional, short run and long run data and studies on
consumption.
Theories of the consumption function – absolute income, relative
income, permanent income and life cycle hypothesis.

MATHEMATICAL ECONOMICS
Elements of matrix algebra – addition and multiplication of matrices
– determinants – rank – solution to simultaneous equations - inverse of a
matrix
Differentiation – techniques of derivatives – first order derivatives –
maximum and minimum of a function – applications – elasticity of demand –
marginal revenue – marginal cost – marginal propensity to save – maximum
profit and minimum cost
Higher order derivatives – partial derivatives – maxima and minima –
total differential – first and second order

PUBLIC ECONOMICS
Functions of public finance – allocation , distribution and
stabilization function – approach to public finance – normative and sociology of
fiscal politics
Role of government in mixed Economy – public goods versus private
goods
Theory of externalities - external benefit – external cost – correction
of externalities

MONETARY ECONOMICS
Money - meaning, functions and classifications - Gresham’s law –
role of money in capitalist, socialist and mixed economy.
Monetary standards – metallic and paper systems of note issue –
principles of issue of currency – components of money stock
Value of money – quantity theory of money – cash transaction and
cash balance approach – Keynes reformulated quanti

INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS

Seller concentration – product differentiation – entry condition –
Economies of Scale –market structure and profitability –innovation –theories of
industrial location –Weber and Sergeant Florence – Factors affecting location.
Product pricing – theories – investment expenditure – methods of
evaluating investment expenditure.
Growth of the firm – size and growth of the firm – profitability –
constraints – productivity efficiency and capacity utilization – measurement.

ECONOMICS OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
Concept of organization of a firm – ownership control and objectives
of a firm – passive, active behavior of the firm.

Seller concentration – product differentiation – entry condition –
Economies of Scale –market structure and profitability –innovation –theories of
industrial location –Weber and Sergeant Florence – Factors affecting location.

Product pricing – theories – investment expenditure – methods of
evaluating investment expenditure.