Economics and Finance

Economics and Finance is a degree that trains you to understand the forces shaping economies, markets, and financial systems, equipping you with both the theoretical frameworks and the analytical tools needed to investigate questions that matter in the real world. Economics provides the intellectual foundations: how markets allocate resources, how households and firms respond to incentives, how governments intervene and with what effects, and how national and international economies interact. Finance applies complementary rigour to questions about capital, investment, risk, and the pricing of financial assets, examining how money is managed by individuals, firms, and institutions.

At Heriot-Watt University, this four-year, full-time MA (Hons) degree develops your skills in investigating, analysing, and answering global economic questions alongside specialist understanding of financial theories and practice. The programme is designed with a focus on making a difference in the real world, combining academic depth with an orientation towards the kinds of problems that economists and finance professionals actually face. You will build competence in economic modelling, data analysis, and financial theory, developing the rigorous and flexible thinking that both disciplines require.

Graduates are strongly placed for careers across the financial and economic sectors, including banking, investment management, financial analysis, economic consultancy, and the public sector. The combination of economics and finance opens particularly attractive routes into roles where both macroeconomic understanding and quantitative financial skills are required, such as central banking, policy analysis, fund management, and corporate treasury. Many graduates also progress to postgraduate study in economics, finance, or financial economics, or to professional qualifications such as the CFA, for those who wish to develop specialist expertise.