Course syllabus


Course overview

All rich countries have well developed financial systems and the importance of financial systems for growth is continuosly proved by empirical research.

At the same time, financial systems are recurrently plagued by crisis and financial actors are often criticised in the public debate for shorttermism and right-out greed. In other words, financial systems are the epitome of capitalism and to study them raises many central questions: Why are financial systems important? Why do financial crises occur? What kind of ideas and ideologies lies behind different forms of financial theorising and regulation? The course offers the students the tools to analyse these questions.

Please read the study guide to prepare for the course.

Course Coordinator: Oskar Broberg

Student Course Representative: to be decided. You can contact the student representatives by using the messaging function in Canvas. For alternative means of contact and further information, see the course evaluation and development page.

Course Administrator: Lisa Sutton (ep@handels.gu.se)

 


Course details

EFI255 is lectured in English. It is a full-time course of 7.5 credits which is offered in the first cycle (bachelor's level) and is included in the fifth semester of the Bachelor’s Programme in Business and Economics for students majoring in financial economics. It is also offered as a freestanding course, and is open to exhange students.

Course dates: 2 September - 2 October

Course registration in Ladok opens on 25 August. Registration is required for programme students and students on freestanding course. Please register for the course as soon as possible.

Syllabus and reading list EFI255

Schedule EFI255 (preliminary until 14 days prior to course start)

Study Guide EFI255 (available upon registration)

 


Assessment

The intended learning outcomes of the course are assessed through hand-in assignments (3 credits, including seminar participation) and an individual written exam (4.5 credits).

The hand-in assignments are carried out both individually and in groups, and are discussed in seminars where active participation is mandatory. 

Exam dates

Exam

Date

Type

Exam

1 October

E-exam in examination hall (DISA)

Re-Exam 1

23 November

E-exam in examination hall (DISA)

Re-Exam 2

12 August 2025

E-exam in examination hall (DISA)

Please note: Exam registration (sign up) in Ladok is required for all exams. The registration deadline is 10 days prior to each exam date. You can find information regarding start time and location of the exam under the tab Examinations (Examinationstillfällen) on Ladok.  

The Student Portal has comprehensive information about exams in the university's examination halls. Please note that you, as a student, are responsible for complying with the rules for written examinations at the University of Gothenburg. It is therefore important that you read through this information well before your exam.

Some aspects of undertaking an e-examination are different from those of writing a paper-based exam. For example, a brought computer must meet specific system requirements, be able to connect to the eduroam network and have the Safe Exam Browser client installed. All necessary information can be found on the Student Portal. If you want to borrow a computer, it must be reserved in the TimeEdit system no later than five working days prior to the exam.