Antoine Bommier: Catalogue data in Spring Semester 2016

Name Prof. Dr. Antoine Bommier
FieldIntegrative Risk Management and Economics
Address
Integratives Risikomanag. und Ök.
ETH Zürich, SEC E 7
Scheuchzerstrasse 7
8092 Zürich
SWITZERLAND
Telephone+41 44 632 38 10
E-mailabommier@ethz.ch
DepartmentManagement, Technology, and Economics
RelationshipFull Professor

NumberTitleECTSHoursLecturers
363-0515-00LDecisions and Markets3 credits2VA. Bommier
AbstractThis course provides an introduction to microeconomics. The course is open to students who have completed an undergraduate course in economics principles and an undergraduate course in multivariate calculus. The course emphasizes the conceptual foundations of microeconomics and contains concrete examples of their application.
Learning objectiveMicroeconomics is an element of nearly every subfield in economic analysis today. Model building in economics relies on a number of fundamental frameworks, many of which are introduced for the first time in intermediate microeconomics.

The purpose of this course is to provide MTEC master students with an introduction to graduate-level microeconomics, particularly for students considering further graduate work in economics, business administration or management science. The course provides the fundamental concepts and tools for graduate courses in economics offered at ETH and UZH.
ContentThe lectures will cover consumer choice, producer theory, markets and market failure. The course will include concrete examples of the use of choice theory in applied economics.
Lecture notesThe course is mostly based on the textbook by R. Serrano and A. Feldman: "A short Course in Intermediate Economics with Calculus" (Cambridge University Press, 2013)
Another textbook of interest is "Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach" by H. Varian (Norton, 2009).
LiteratureExercises are available in the textbook by R. Serrano and A. Feldman on which the lecture is based ("A short Course in Intermediate Economics with Calculus", Cambridge University Press, 2013).
More exercises can be found in the book "Workouts in Intermediate Microeconomics" by T. Bergstrom and H. Varian (Norton, 2010).
363-1000-00LFinancial Economics3 credits2VA. Bommier
AbstractThis is a theoretical course on the economics of financial decision making, at the crossroads between Microeconomics and Finance. It discusses portfolio choice theory, risk sharing, market equilibrium and asset pricing.
Learning objectiveThe objective is to make students familiar with the economics of financial decision making and develop their intuition regarding the determination of asset prices, the notions of optimal risk sharing. However this is not a practical formation for traders. Moreover, the lecture doesn't cover topics such as market irrationality or systemic risk.
ContentThe following topics will be discussed:
Introduction to finance and investment planning; Option valuation; Arbitrage; Choice under uncertainty; Portfolio Choice; Risk sharing and insurance; Market equilibrium under symmetric information.
LiteratureSuggesting readings:

1) "Investments", by Z. Bodie, A. Kane and A. Marcus, for the
introductory part of the course (see chapters 20 and 21 in
particular).
2) "Finance and the Economics of Uncertainty" by G. Demange and G. Laroque, Blackwell, 2006.
3) "The Economics of Risk and Time", by C. Gollier, and

Other readings:
- "Intermediate Financial Theory" by J.-P. Danthine and J.B. Donaldson.
- Ingersoll, J., E., Theory of Financial Decision Making, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers.
- Leroy S and J. Werner, Principles of Financial Economics, Cambridge University Press, 2001
Prerequisites / NoticeBasic mathematical skills needed (calculus, linear algebra, convex analysis). Students must be able to solve simple optimization problems (e.g. Lagrangian methods). Some knowledge in microeconomics would help but is not compulsory. The bases will be covered in class.
364-0531-00LCER-ETH Research Seminar Restricted registration - show details 0 credits2SL. Bretschger, A. Bommier, H. Gersbach, W. Mimra
AbstractResearch Seminar of Center of Economic Research CER-ETH
Learning objectiveSurvey of the currently leading research in economics, especially in the CER-ETH research fields.
ContentPresentations of current and recent research results in the CER-ETH research fields, usually by international guest speakers.
Prerequisites / NoticePlease note the special announcements.
364-1058-00LRisk Center Seminar Series Information Restricted registration - show details
Number of participants limited to 50.
0 credits2SB. Stojadinovic, K. W. Axhausen, D. Basin, A. Bommier, L.‑E. Cederman, P. Embrechts, H. Gersbach, H. R. Heinimann, D. Helbing, H. J. Herrmann, W. Mimra, G. Sansavini, F. Schweitzer, D. Sornette, B. Sudret, U. A. Weidmann
AbstractThis course is a mixture between a seminar primarily for PhD and postdoc students and a colloquium involving invited speakers. It consists of presentations and subsequent discussions in the area of modeling and governing complex socio-economic systems, and managing risks and crises. Students and other guests are welcome.
Learning objectiveParticipants should learn to get an overview of the state of the art in the field, to present it in a well understandable way to an interdisciplinary scientific audience, to develop novel mathematical models and approaches for open problems, to analyze them with computers or other means, and to defend their results in response to critical questions. In essence, participants should improve their scientific skills and learn to work scientifically on an internationally competitive level.
ContentThis course is a mixture between a seminar primarily for PhD and postdoc students and a colloquium involving invited speakers. It consists of presentations and subsequent discussions in the area of modeling complex socio-economic systems and crises. For details of the program see the webpage of the seminar. Students and other guests are welcome.
Lecture notesThere is no script, but the sessions will be recorded and be made available. Transparencies of the presentations may be put on the course webpage.
LiteratureLiterature will be provided by the speakers in their respective presentations.
Prerequisites / NoticeParticipants should have relatively good scientific, in particular mathematical skills and some experience of how scientific work is performed.