De La Salle University

School of Economics

ECO501M – Mathematical Economics

1st Term AY 2019-2020

Instructor: Renz Adrian T. Calub

Class schedule: Mondays, 6-9:15 PM (G01, LS204); Wednesdays, 6-9:15 PM (G02, LS208)
Consultation: By e-mail (renz.calub@dlsu.edu.ph)

Course description:

This course shall cover mathematical concepts and tools relevant to economic theory.
We introduce the elementary concepts of sets, topics from theory of functions, basic
linear algebra, and extensively discuss methods of differentiation and classical
programming. We shall also cover basic techniques in integral calculus.

School of Economics Learning Outcomes (LOs)

Expected Lasallian Upon the completion of the course, students are

Graduate Attributes
(ELGAs)
Intellectual Inquisitiveness
Technical Proficiency
expected to do the following:
LO1: To gain mastery of mathematics as a language of
economic theory
LO2: To apply such mathematical tools in understanding
economic theories and concepts.

Main references:

Danao (2001). Introductory Mathematical Economics Volume 1: Static Models. Quezon

City: UP Press.

Danao (2007). Mathematical Methods in Economics and Business. Quezon City: UP Press.

Course outline:

1. Introductory concepts

a. Set theory
b. Topology of metric spaces

2. Elements of linear algebra

 a. Matrix and vectors
b. Basic matrix operations
c. Square matrices: determinants, trace, and inverse
d. System of linear equations, Cramer’s rule
e. Linear independence and rank of the matrix
f. Eigenvalues and eigenvectors
g. Quadratic forms

3. Functions, limits, and continuity

a. Types of functions
b. Functions defined from other functions
c. Inverse of functions
d. Functions and continuity
e. Limits and continuity
f. Concavity and convexity
g. Quasiconcavity and quasiconvexity

4. Differentiation

a. Derivative of single variable functions

b. L’Hospital’s rule
c. Derivative of multiple variable functions
d. Total differential and total derivatives
e. Implicit function theorem
f. Taylor series approximation
g. Homogenous functions

5. Introduction to classical programming

a. Unconstrained optimization
b. Constrained optimization with equality constraints
c. Constrained optimization with inequality constraints
d. Kuhn-Tucker conditions

6. Integration

Course requirements:

First exam – 30%

Second exam – 30%
Third exam – 30%
Attendance – 10%
Course guidelines

1. All slides and exercises are conveniently uploaded in the class Google Drive.
Announcements will be posted on the dedicated Google Classroom page, which
you can access via classroom.google.com. Use your DLSU email to log-in and
input the classroom code o2isdg to join.

2. No make-up exam is given to a student with an unexcused absence on the exam

day; as such, he/she shall automatically get a zero on the missed exam. If the
student has a planned absence on the scheduled exam day, he/she must inform
the instructor at least a week ahead to set the date of his/her make-up exam.

3. Attendance is seldom checked, but if the student has to miss more than two weeks
of lecture, he/she should be responsible enough to inform the instructor and catch
up to speed on the missed lectures.

4. A student may be exempted from the third exam if he/she gets an average of 95
percent or higher in the first two exams.

Grading system

Class standing Equivalent grade

92.00 – 100.00 4.0
85.00 – 91.99 3.5
78.00 – 84.99 3.0
71.00 – 77.99 2.5
64.00 – 70.99 2.0
57.00 – 63.99 1.5
50.00 – 56.99 1.0
0.00 – 49.99 0.0