SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY

Mathematics for Economics (ECON 104)

Academic Year 2023-2024, Term 1

Instructor: Takashi KUNIMOTO

Email: tkunimoto@smu.edu.sg
Tel: 6828 9558
Office: SOE 5051 (5th floor)
Class Web: We use “eLearn-SMU” as this course’s class web.

All the announcements will be made via email on the eLearn system as well as in the
class. Therefore, please check this website frequently and make sure that you receive
emails through the eLearn system.

OFFICE HOUR: I hold my office hour every week. The exact schedule of my office
hours will be announced later. If you come to this regular office hour, you do not
need to make an appointment with me in advance. Just stop by my office. If I need
to cancel my office hour and/or add an extra office hour, I will let you know by email
through the eLearn system. If you would like to see me at some other times,
I am only available by appointment via email.

TA’s OFFICE HOUR: I plan to have two teaching assistants (TAs) for this course.
Our TAs will be available to answer your questions about the course materials and
homework assignments during their office hour.

CLASS TIMINGS

Each class session will be held every week for 3 hours together with a 15 minute
break in between the two lectures (each lecture is 1.5 hours long). There will be no
presentations or case studies in this course. Each session will consist of a lecture by
the instructor and a discussion of the assignments and course materials. Of course,
you are encouraged to ask questions during the class.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

“Mathematics for Economics (ECON 104)” covers univariate and multivariate cal-
culus, basic matrix algebra, and optimization theory.

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LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

The goal of this course is to introduce you to the standard mathematical techniques
to help you understand how economists approach economics questions. To achieve
this goal, the course is designed to provide you with mathematical tools that will
enable you to fully master all undergraduate economics and econometrics courses
offered at SMU.

RECOMMENDED TEXT AND READINGS:

• (Main Textbook) “Essential Mathematics for Economic Analysis, Sixth Edi-

tion” by Knut Sydsaeter, Peter Hammond, Atle Strøm, and Andrés Carvajal,
Pearson, 2021. We will use this book as the main text for the course. Through-
out the course, I will abbreviate it as EMEA. You can also use the 5th edition
of the book.

• (Advanced Textbook) “Further Mathematics for Economic Analysis, Second

Edition” by Knut Sydsaeter, Peter Hammond, Atle Seierstad, and Atle Strøm,
Prentice Hall, 2008. If you want to know more advanced treatments, this book
might be useful. This is the textbook for another course I teach in the same
semester (Econ 696: Mathematical Methods for Economic Dynamics).

PRE-REQUISITE/CO-REQUISITE/MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
COURSE(S)

Please use the class search function at OASIS > Study > BOSS > BOSS Bidding
(Plan & Bid page > Add to Cart and Perform Course Search) or the course catalogue
in OASIS to check the most updated attributes of this course.
It would be helpful, but not required, to review the basic topics found in Chapters 2
through 5 of EMEA prior to taking this course.

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ASSESSMENT METHODS: Course Participation: 10%; Homework Assign-
ments: 20%; Midterm Exam: 30%; and Comprehensive Final Exam: 40%. Note
that there will be no makeup for the midterm exam (if missed, with a valid excuse,
the final exam will account for 70% of the grade).

• Weekly Homework Assignments (20%): There will be a weekly homework

assignment. These homework assignments are essential to your understanding
of the course material. Also, you should expect these assignments to be very
good proxies for how and what questions will be asked on the midterm and
final exams.

– Students are strongly encouraged to work together on their homework

assignments.
– A maximum of four students may form a group and submit homework
together, with each member’s name and ID number on the assignment.
However, you must be fully aware that copying someone else’s work will
have serious consequences for your performance on the midterm and final
exams.
– The exact method for submitting your own work for each homework as-
signment will be announced later.
– All assignments will be given to you only through our class website.
– After you receive your graded assignment, you have only 7 days to request
a re-grade. After this deadline, you will not be able to request a re-grade.

• (Closed-Book) Midterm Exam (30%): In order to give each student an

incentive to work on their homework, a midterm exam will be given in class just
before the midterm recess. The exact format of this exam will be announced
at a later date.

• (Closed-Book) Final Exam (40%): We have a two-hour comprehensive final

exam during the exam period. By “comprehensive” I mean that the exam
covers all the topics of the entire course.

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ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating,
fabrication, facilitation of acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized pos-
session of exam questions, or tampering with the academic work of other students)
are serious offences.

All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be the
student’s own work. Penalties for violation of the policy range from zero marks for
the component assessment to expulsion, depending on the nature of the offense.

When in doubt, students should consult the instructors of the course. Details on the
SMU Code of Academic Integrity may be accessed at
https://oasis.smu.edu.sg/Pages/DOS-WKLSWC/UCSC.aspx.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Please note that all course materials are meant for personal use only, namely, for the
purposes of teaching, studying and research. You are strictly not permitted to make
copies of or print additional copies or distribute such copies of the course materials
or any parts thereof, for commercial gain or exchange.

For the full copyright notice, please visit: https://smu.sg/Copyright-notice or

OASIS > Campus Life & Exchange > Conduct & Discipline > University Council
of Student Discipline.

ACCESSIBILITY

SMU strives to make learning experiences accessible for all. If students anticipate
or experience physical or academic barriers due to disability, please let the instruc-
tor know immediately. Students are also welcome to contact the university’s dis-
ability services team if they have questions or concerns about academic provisions:
DSS@smu.edu.sg. Please be aware that the accessible tables in the seminar room
should remain available for students who require them.

DIGITAL READINESS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING (DRTL)

As part of emergency preparedness, instructors may conduct lessons online via the
Zoom platform during the term, to prepare students for online learning. During an
actual emergency, students will be notified to access the Zoom platform for their
online lessons. The class schedule will mirror the current face-to-face class timetable
unless otherwise stated.

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OUTLINE OF TOPICS

Here is an outline of the topics covered in this course and the corresponding
chapters of EMEA. Keep in mind that this outline is meant to be a plan and is
subject to change as we go along.

Week Date Topic Readings

1 Aug 14 - 20 Logic, Set Theory
Univariate Calculus Chapters 1, 6
2 Aug 21 - 27 Univariate Calculus Chapters 6, 7
3 Aug 28 - Sep 3 Univariate Optimization Chapters 8, 9
4 Sep 4 - 10 Matrix Algebra Chapter 12
5 Sep 11 - 17 Matrix Algebra Chapter 13
6 Sep 18 - Sep 24 Multivariate Calculus Chapter 14
7 Sep 25 - Oct 1 Multivariate Calculus Chapter 15
and Midterm Exam
8 Oct 2 - 8 Recess Week
9 Oct 9 - 15 Unconstrained Optmization Chapter 17
10 Oct 16 - 22 Unconstrained Optmization
and Optimization with
Equality Constraints Chapters 17, 18
11 Oct 23 - 29 Optimization with
Equality/Inequality Constraints Chapters 18, 20
12 Oct 30 - Nov 5 Optimization with
Inequality Constraints Chapter 20
13 Nov 6 - 12 Integration Chapter 10
Topics in Finance and Dynamics Chapter 11
14 Nov 13 - 19 Revision Week
15 Nov 20 - Dec 1 Final Exam Weeks