Major Overview

The QEF faculty and curriculum will provide you with the foundational qualitative and quantitative analysis, techniques, and skills to operate in technical economic and capital management roles. Your studies will be focused on the application of quantitative and applied mathematical, economic, and computer science techniques within global economic institutions and capital markets. You also will learn to develop technical solutions to challenges within economics and finance such as time value of money, information asymmetry and latency, data management, uncertainty, diversification, model selection and construction, hedging, security replication, all while emphasizing empirical and data-intensive structures. From these tools and techniques and the breadth of course offerings you also will build a reflective, ethical, and global understanding of the strengths and limitations of these applied approaches.

Learning Outcomes

The educational goals for this major are as follows:

  • Demonstrate an understanding of the economic and financial environment.
  • Demonstrate proficiency with mathematics, data science, economics, and finance and use techniques and tools from these disciplines to solve problems, improve solutions, and analyze their effectiveness.
  • Use verbal, written, tabular, graphical, and mathematical skills to communicate economics and financial information convincingly, in writing and orally.
  • Autonomously develop methods for making connections among disciplines and managing knowledge useful for professional development and higher education.

Learning Environment

Our foundational program will help you master a variety of issues within the international economic and finance arena, while also building foundational mathematical and data science skills. Our classes and seminars are designed to encourage hands-on activities as well as in-class participation. You will learn economic and finance concepts, the mathematics skills, and the computer and data science programming techniques that will allow you to develop models and solutions to cross-disciplinary international economics and finance problems.

Our graduates take full advantage of our interdisciplinary environment, working for companies such as Bank of America, AXA or Blackrock, generally following studies in diverse programs such as the University of Oxford Computer Science or the Sorbonne QEM, as well as other applied quantitative Finance masters.

Core Courses

MA1020 Applied Statistics I

Introduces the tools of statistical analysis. Combines theory with extensive data collection and computer-assisted laboratory work. Develops an attitude of mind accepting uncertainty and variability as part of problem analysis and decision-making. Topics include: exploratory data analysis and data transformation, hypothesis-testing and the analysis of variance, simple and multiple regression with residual and influence analyses.

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MA1030 Calculus I

Introduces differential and integral calculus. Develops the concepts of calculus as applied to polynomials, logarithmic, and exponential functions. Topics include: limits, derivatives, techniques of differentiation, applications to extrema and graphing; the definite integral; the fundamental theorem of calculus, applications; logarithmic and exponential functions, growth and decay; partial derivatives. Appropriate for students in the biological, management, computer and social sciences.

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BA2001 Financial Accounting

This course introduces students to the financial accounting cycle and financial reporting for corporations. Students learn how to measure and record accounting data and prepare financial statements. At the end of the course, students choose a company and do an analysis of their financial statements, comparing their company against a competitor company, using financial ratios.

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EC2010 Principles Of Microeconomics

Focuses on the role played by relative market prices in our society and on the forces of market supply and demand in determining these prices. Since the actions of consumers and firms underlie supply and demand, the course studies in detail the behavior of these two groups.

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EC2020 Principles Of Macroeconomics

Examines the determinants of the levels of national income, employment, rates of interest, and prices. Studies in detail the instruments of monetary and fiscal policy, highlighting the domestic and international repercussions of their implementation.

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MA2030 Calculus II

The continuation of MA1030, Calculus I. This course is appropriate for economics, mathematics, business and computer science majors and minors. Topics include: infinite series and applications; differential equations of first and second order and applications, functions of several variables, partial derivatives with applications, especially Lagrange multipliers. Includes the use of Mathematica.

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MA3005 Probability

Examines probability in its various components and through its diverse applications. Topics include: combinatorial analysis, axioms of probability, discrete random variables and distributions & continuous random variables and probability density functions, joint distribution functions, law of large numbers. The statistical concepts of conditioning, independence and expectation will be highlighted, as well as the notion of moments. Selected applications will shed light on the use of probability in various fields.

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BA3010 Corporate Finance

Examines finance as the practical application of economic theory and accounting data in the procurement and employment of capital funds. Applies the principles of strong fiscal planning and control to asset investment, and debt and equity financing decisions. Emphasizes sound leveraging in view of the time value of money, subject to the pernicious effects of taxation and inflation. BA 2002 recommended for simultaneous registration.

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EC3086 Introduction To Econometrics

Includes an introduction to the linear regression model; a review of elementary statistics; the two-variable regression model in detail; the multiple regression model, its use, and problems arising from violations of its underlying assumptions; and an introduction to simultaneous-equation models.

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BA4020 Computational Finance

This course is an introduction to applied computational methods for finance and the valuation of financial firms and elements of capital structure: equity, bonds, and options and additional methods for optimization of securities portfolios and hedging risk. We emphasize implementation and use selected models. Aimed at providing the necessary technical and analytical skills useful for graduate school work, working in financial firms or investment banks.

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BA4090 Seminar In International Economics And Finance

The senior research seminar in economics and finance provides students with a capstone experience. Using quantitative tools, students will embark on an empirical research project in economics or finance that interests them most.

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