•GUIDA ECONOMIA 07-08 - Università degli studi di Udine

prospectus udine
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point, periodic or chaotic dynamics) will be
studied. In particular, the notion of chaotic
dynamics will be rigorously explained by
means of the concepts of ‘sensitive dependence
on initial conditions’ and ‘Lyapunov
characteristic exponents’. Moreover, it will
be shown how the behaviour of a system
varies when one or more parameters are
changed, and the main types of bifurcation
will be discussed. The students will be
taught to employ a user-friendly computer
program specifically designed for the
numerical and graphical representations of
dynamical systems, named iDMC and
freely available on the net (http://www.
dss.uniud.it/medio/).
Pre-requisites
Knowledge of the mathematical concepts
and methods typically taught in the
courses of Mathematics and Statistics 1 of
the Faculty of Economics. Ability to learn
and use basic computer software programs.
Desirable, but not mandatory, elementary
notions of the theory of difference
and differential equations. Especially
important are the students’ intellectual
curiosity and their desire to learn new
and exciting ideas.
Bibliography
- Lecturer’s handout.
A good textbook of General Mathematics
for Economists, such as:
- C.G. BAROZZI, C. CORRADI, Matematica
Generale per le Scienze Economiche, Il
Mulino, Bologna, 1999 (or a more recent
edition).
- A. MEDIO, M. LINES, Nonlinear Dynamics:
a Primer, Cambridge University Press,
2001 (numerous copies are available in
the Faculty library).
Exam
Written, multiple choice tests or, whenever
suitable, take-home exercises with
applications of the iDMC program to economic
problems.
DYNAMICAL METHODS
FOR ECONOMICS 2
Prof. Alfredo Medio
Aims
The main purpose of this course is to
acquaint the students with the systematic
analysis of dynamical models in economics,
including the use of computational
and graphical methods
Contents
In Part 2, the lecturer will provide a more
advanced discussion of the ideas introduced
in Part 1 of the course, as well as
various applications to models drawn from
economic theory. He will also explain the
fundamental concepts of the ergodic theory,
showing their importance for an understanding
of the statistical properties of
dynamical systems. In particular, he will
explain the concept of entropy and its relevance
to the question of the predictability of
system dynamics. The iDMC software program
will again be an important complementary
teaching tool.
Pre-requisites
Knowledge of the mathematical concepts
and methods typically taught in the
courses of Mathematics and Statistics 1 of
the Faculty of Economics. Ability to learn
and use basic computer software programs.
Desirable, but not mandatory, elementary
notions of the theory of difference
and differential equations. Especially
important are the students’ intellectual
curiosity and their desire to learn new
and exciting ideas
Bibliography
- Lecturer’s handout.
A good textbook of General Mathematics
for Economists, such as
- C.G. BAROZZI, C. CORRADI, Matematica
Generale per le Scienze Economiche, Il
Mulino, Bologna, 1999 (or a more recent
edition).