Elective Module | 2026

Macro-Finance

Macro-Finance: Theory and Empirical Methods is an elective module in the MSc Financial Economics programme at Oxford Said Business School. The course studies how monetary policy, financial markets, and global financial linkages interact, with emphasis on empirical methods used in current research.

Session Roadmap

Based on current module structure

Part I

The Only Game in Town: Central Banking

Session 1: Central Bank Communication and the Role of Expectations

Communication design, expectations, and policy transmission.
Session 2/3: High-frequency Analysis: News, Surprises and Financial Reactions

Event-study methods and market reaction measurement.
Session 3/4: Finance Meets Data Science: Extracting Information from Text

Text-as-data applications in central-bank and macro-finance research.

Part II

Dancing Together: Financial Globalisation, Risk Sharing, and Spillovers

Session 5: Financial Globalisation and Spillovers

Cross-border financial linkages, synchronization, and crisis transmission.

Part III

International Capital Mobility and Capital Controls

Session 6: International Capital Market Integration

Capital flows, exchange rates, and macroeconomic implications.
Session 7: Capital Controls

Policy rationale, effectiveness, and empirical evidence.

Part IV

Quantitative Easing, Quantitative Tightening, and Beyond

Session 8: Unconventional Monetary Policy

Balance-sheet tools, transmission channels, and international spillovers.

Materials and Access

Current delivery policy

Course Operations

This public page is a concise module overview. Full reading lists, classroom files, and assignment logistics are maintained in Canvas for enrolled students.

Open Reading Structure Go to Canvas