Economics and Data Analytics

Economic issues are fascinating but also very complex. The use of large datasets, together with insights from data science, can guide you through this complexity and give you an in-depth understanding of decision-making by governments, businesses and households.

Economic events occupy the news, capture our attention and affect our lives on a daily basis. There is a wealth of data available, measuring a host of economic, financial, business and social indicators. This course will enable you to apply methods of data analysis and exploit large datasets to get a better understanding of the real-world applicability of economic concepts and ideas.

It will also facilitate your pursuit of an active role in the economic decision making of organisations and businesses. We will foster your analytical abilities and critical appraisal skills, which are particularly useful transferable skills for graduate employment and will prepare you for a career in the public or private sector, whether that be in economic research, statistical forecasting, financial services or industry. Your time here will also equip you with the research techniques that are vital for postgraduate study.

The first year of this course is shared with the following programmes:

BSc Economics
BSc Financial Economics and Banking
BSc Business Economics
BSc Economics and Accounting
This means you have the option to switch to any of these other courses at the end of your first year.

The close relationship between research and teaching is one of the great advantages of studying with us, and we welcome talented students from countries all over the world. Our staff are active researchers of international renown, and have acted as advisors and consultants to many international and national organisations. The School of Business has a dedicated research cluster on Data Analytics, offering advice and expertise on the data science aspects of the course.

Following completion of the course you will have a good understanding of the main economic theories and models, but you will also have a very strong set of skills in data analytics. You will be able to use traditional econometric techniques and more innovative ones (machine learning, artificial intelligence, genetic algorithms, etc) to analyse the large datasets which are used to inform the process of decision making in a business environment or policy setting. These skills are highly sought after by big companies or public organisations such as the ONS, World Bank, regulators, etc.