Sunday, June 7, 2009
Over half of the students who enrol on economics degree courses have not studied mathematics beyond GCSE or an equivalent level. These include many mature students whose last encounter with algebra, or any other mathematics beyond basic arithmetic, is now a dim and distant memory. It is mainly for these students that this book is intended. It aims to develop their mathematical ability up to the level required for a general economics degree course (i.e. one not specializing in mathematical economics) or for a modular degree course in economics and related subjects, such as business studies. To achieve this aim it has several objectives.
First, it provides a revision of arithmetical and algebraic methods that students probably studied at school but have now largely forgotten. It is a misconception to assume that, just because a GCSE mathematics syllabus includes certain topics, students who passed examinations on that syllabus two or more years ago are all still familiar with the material. They usually require some revision exercises to jog their memories and to get into the habit of using the different mathematical techniques again. The first few chapters are mainly devoted to this revision, set out where possible in the context of applications in economics.
Second, this book introduces mathematical techniques that will be new to most students through examples of their application to economic concepts. It also tries to get students tackling problems in economics using these techniques as soon as possible so that they can see how useful they are. Students are not required to work through unnecessary proofs, or wrestle with complicated special cases that they are unlikely ever to encounter again. For example, when covering the topic of calculus, some other textbooks require students to plough through abstract theoretical applications of the technique of differentiation to every conceivable type of function and special case before any mention of its uses in economics is made. In this book, however, we introduce the basic concept of differentiation followed
by examples of economic applications in Chapter 8. Further developments of the topic,
such as the second-order conditions for optimization, partial differentiation, and the rules for differentiation of composite functions, are then gradually brought in over the next few chapters, again in the context of economics application.
Third, this book tries to cover those mathematical techniques that will be relevant to students’ economics degree programmes. Most applications are in the field of microeconomics, rather than macroeconomics, given the increased emphasis on business economics within many degree courses. In particular, Chapter 7 concentrates on a number of mathematical techniques that are relevant to finance and investment decision-making.
Given that most students now have access to computing facilities, ways of using a spreadsheet package to solve certain problems that are extremely difficult or time-consuming to solve manually are also explained.
Although it starts at a gentle pace through fairly elementary material, so that the students who gave up mathematics some years ago because they thought that they could not cope with A-level maths are able to build up their confidence, this is not a watered-down ‘mathematics without tears or effort’ type of textbook. As the book progresses the pace is increased and students are expected to put in a serious amount of time and effort to master the material. However, given the way in which this material is developed, it is hoped that students will be motivated to do so. Not everyone finds mathematics easy, but at least it helps if you can see the reason for having to study it.
First, it provides a revision of arithmetical and algebraic methods that students probably studied at school but have now largely forgotten. It is a misconception to assume that, just because a GCSE mathematics syllabus includes certain topics, students who passed examinations on that syllabus two or more years ago are all still familiar with the material. They usually require some revision exercises to jog their memories and to get into the habit of using the different mathematical techniques again. The first few chapters are mainly devoted to this revision, set out where possible in the context of applications in economics.
Second, this book introduces mathematical techniques that will be new to most students through examples of their application to economic concepts. It also tries to get students tackling problems in economics using these techniques as soon as possible so that they can see how useful they are. Students are not required to work through unnecessary proofs, or wrestle with complicated special cases that they are unlikely ever to encounter again. For example, when covering the topic of calculus, some other textbooks require students to plough through abstract theoretical applications of the technique of differentiation to every conceivable type of function and special case before any mention of its uses in economics is made. In this book, however, we introduce the basic concept of differentiation followed
by examples of economic applications in Chapter 8. Further developments of the topic,
such as the second-order conditions for optimization, partial differentiation, and the rules for differentiation of composite functions, are then gradually brought in over the next few chapters, again in the context of economics application.
Third, this book tries to cover those mathematical techniques that will be relevant to students’ economics degree programmes. Most applications are in the field of microeconomics, rather than macroeconomics, given the increased emphasis on business economics within many degree courses. In particular, Chapter 7 concentrates on a number of mathematical techniques that are relevant to finance and investment decision-making.
Given that most students now have access to computing facilities, ways of using a spreadsheet package to solve certain problems that are extremely difficult or time-consuming to solve manually are also explained.
Although it starts at a gentle pace through fairly elementary material, so that the students who gave up mathematics some years ago because they thought that they could not cope with A-level maths are able to build up their confidence, this is not a watered-down ‘mathematics without tears or effort’ type of textbook. As the book progresses the pace is increased and students are expected to put in a serious amount of time and effort to master the material. However, given the way in which this material is developed, it is hoped that students will be motivated to do so. Not everyone finds mathematics easy, but at least it helps if you can see the reason for having to study it.
Download E-Book Lengkap
0 comments: to “ ”
Post a Comment