COURSE TITLE: MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS FOR ECONOMIC THEORY COURSE CODE: ECO7119A NAME OF THE PROFESSOR: NGUYEN VAN

QUYEN SESSION: FALL 2013

Course schedule: Friday 8h30-11h30 Course location: LMX 390 Office: FSS 9007 Office hours: Tuesday 14h30-16h30 or by appointment Telephone: 613-562 5800 ext 1696 E-mail: nvquyen@uottawa.ca Assistant:

OFFICIAL COURSE DESCRIPTION

The course covers the following topics: The basic differential equations in economics The derivative as a linear map from one Euclidean space to another The overlapping-generations model
Dynamic Programming in discrete time The Pontryagin maximum principle.

GENERAL COURSE OBJECTIVES

The course teaches the mathematical techniques needed to study microeconomics and macroeconomics at the Ph.D. level and to carry out research. The mathematical techniques are not taught in the abstract, but in the context of concrete economic problems. There is no textbook available at this level, and the lecture notes will be available under the form of computer files as the course progresses. The students might find the following books useful
Foundations of mathematical economics By Michael Carter MRT HB 135 C295 2001 Foundations of international macroeconomics By Maurice Obstfeld and Kenneth Rogoff Publisher: MIT Press, 1996, Cambridge, Mass. MRT HF 1359 .O27 1996 Income, wealth, and the maximum principle By Martin L. Weitzman Harvard University Press, 2003
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MRT HB143.7 W45 2003

As a guide to writing the Ph.D. thesis or research papers for submission to economic journals, the student is advised to read the following articles:
How to Fabricate an Article Author(s): Alice Vandermeulen Source: The American Economist, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Spring, 1975), pp. 55-59 How to Fabricate an Article: The Authors' View Author(s): Uri Ben-Zion and Barry Keating Source: The American Economist, Vol. 20, No. 2 (Fall, 1976), pp. 64-68

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

In addition to the mathematical techniques, the course also teaches computations both symbolic and numerical with the help of Mathematica. In particular, the backwardshooting technique, which is the numerical technique used to solve economic growth problems will be covered. The student is advised to obtain a student version of Mathematica so that he or she can expedite the learning process by carrying out the computations in class during the lectures using this computer program. In learning Mathematica, the student can consult the following Ebook: Jim Hoste Mathematica demystified New York : McGraw-Hill, c2009 Available online at the University of Ottawa Library
EVALUATION Assignments: 20% Midterm (11 October 2013): 30% Final: 50%

*Please note: The take home exam must be submitted to the professor directly, it cannot be slid under the office door. For useful tips on how to write a University paper, please refer to the following Website: http://www.sciencessociales.uottawa.ca/USB/cleusbkey.swf .

COURSE OUTLINE

The most fundamental differential equation in economics The derivative as a linear map from one Euclidean space to another The cake-eating problem A dynamic macroeconomic model in discrete time The over-lapping generations model The Pontryagin maximum principle
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Absence from an examination or late submission of an assignment Absence from any examination or test, or late submission of assignments due to illness, must be justified; otherwise, a penalty will be imposed. The Faculty reserves the right to accept or reject the reason offered. Reasons such as travel, employment, and misreading the examination schedule are not usually accepted.

Beware of Academic Fraud! Academic fraud is an act committed by a student to distort the marking of assignments, tests, examinations, and other forms of academic evaluation. Academic fraud is neither accepted nor tolerated by the University. Anyone found guilty of academic fraud is liable to severe academic sanctions. Here are a few examples of academic fraud: engaging in any form of plagiarism or cheating; presenting falsified research data; handing in an assignment that was not authored, in whole or in part, by the student; submitting the same assignment in more than one course, without the written consent of the professors concerned. In recent years, the development of the Internet has made it much easier to identify academic plagiarism. The tools available to your professors allow them to trace the exact origin of a text on the Web, using just a few words. In cases where students are unsure whether they are at fault, it is their responsibility to consult the Universitys Web site at the following address: http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/eng/writing_tools.asp Tools for Writing Papers and Assignments . Persons who have committed or attempted to commit (or have been accomplices to) academic fraud will be penalized. Here are some examples of the academic sanctions, which can be imposed: a grade of F for the assignment or course in question; an additional program requirement of between 3 and 30 credits; suspension or expulsion from the Faculty. Last session, most of the students found guilty of fraud were given an F for the course and had between three and twelve credits added to their program requirement. For more information, refer to: http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/info/newsletter/fraud_e.html

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