Economics

6 ECTS credits
157 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1015809ANW for working students in the 2nd semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.

Semester

2nd semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Impossible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

NOTE: registration for this course is only possible for working students. Day students can register for courses whose code ends with an R. At Inschrijven / studentenadministratie@vub.be you must be registered at the VUB as a working student for the current academic year.

Taught in

Dutch

Partnership Agreement

Under agreement for exchange of courses

Faculty

Faculty of Social Sciences & SolvayBusinessSchool

Department

Applied economics

Educational team

Viviane Illegems
Bart Van Kerkhove (course titular)

Activities and contact hours

52 contact hours Lecture
105 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

The course focuses on the principles guiding economic behavior and trends, as well at the level of individual decision making as on the level of the aggregate nation.
Important topics are:

Principles of economic decision making.
The market mechanism.
Market efficiencey versus market failure.
Public goods.
The costs of production and the behavior of firms on the market.
Measuring and understanding the aggregate economic flows.
Real versus monetary kay variables.
Economic fluctuations and the impact of economic policy tools.

Course material

Handbook (Required) : Economics, Mankiw, N. G. & Taylor, M. P., 6, Cengage Learning EMEA, 9781473786981, 2023
Digital course material (Required) : Bijkomend materiaal ter beschikking gesteld (indien van toepassing), Bart Van Kerkhove en Viviane Illegems, Canvas
Course text (Required) : Economie, Bart Van Kerkhove en Viviane Illegems, 2023, VUB, 2220170010267, 2023

Additional info

Explanatory notes on study materials

The course text may not be sold separately, but only accompanied by the original textbook. It is therefore best to purchase both together from the Standard Student Shop VUB.

Explanation of work form calculation

- Lecture (HOC): collective contact moments when the lecturer covers the learning content
- Work formats and practical exercises (WPO): collective and individual contact moments when the student works with the learning content under supervision
- Self-work and study (SELF): contact-independent activities

The work format calculation below is indicative and indicates the expected study load

HOC: 52 hours (13 x 4 hours)

SELF: 105 hours

keeping up with the course during the semester and going through background information, at the rate of 1 hour per hour HOC: 52 hours
following current affairs, at the rate of 1 hour per week: 13 hours
exam preparation: 40 hours (5 days of 8 hours)

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

Insight in the mechanisms of a mixed economic system. The focus is on the interaction between the public and the private sector.

The course explains the principles guiding economic thought and its contribution in analysing and steering economic trends.
The student learns to understand today's economic problems and its indicators.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:

Written Exam (macro) with a relative weight of 50 which comprises 50% of the final mark.
Written Exam (micro) with a relative weight of 50 which comprises 50% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

The multiple-choice exam will be graded by positive scoring with Higher Pass Mark (hogere cesuur). There
will therefore no points be deducted for a wrong answer.

This method makes the exam strategy simple: do your best on all of
the exam, questions you don't know or partially know, guess to the best of your ability, without worrying
about possible point deductions.

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context