Management and Regulation of Risk – (M.Sc.)

You will need a degree of at least upper second class standard from a UK university, or its equivalent. We assume that applicants will have some knowledge of mathematics and statistics. Interesting applicants with weak backgrounds in this regard will be required to take an LSE Summer School course. If your degree is not from a UK university, you must submit a GMAT test score with your application. Decisions will not normally be made in the absence of this test result. We generally look for a GMAT score of over 650; exceptionally we will consider a GRE score of over 700. Conditional offers may be made in the absence of a final test score. If you are a graduate from a UK university, you should note that you may be asked to take either a GRE or GMAT test. Applicants from developing countries may be eligible to be considered for one of the Lord Dahrendorf Scholarships (sponsored by Deutsche Bank). For more information, please see the Department of Finance website.

The success of organisations depends upon their ability to operate in the face of risk. The growing awareness of these problems has meant that risk management is now recognised as requiring special skills that are central to the functioning of the organisation.

There is a long tradition of quantifying and measuring certain risks such as life expectancies or accidents. Recently, important advances have been made towards developing similar quantitative tools for newer areas such as financial markets and the environment. At the same time, other social science disciplines have produced important insights into how more complex risks are perceived, and how social organisations can adjust to regulate and share them.

This MSc programme is designed to provide a comprehensive view of risk perception, management and control as encountered in a wide variety of contexts. It addresses such questions as: What are the appropriate ways to measure and assess risk? How does the organisation of enterprises, governments or markets increase or decrease risk? What are the techniques for risk shifting in markets, firms or societies? What are the tools available to managers and regulators for controlling risks?

The design of the programme will allow students with prior training in diverse disciplines and with a range of professional backgrounds to acquire a broad knowledge of risk management and regulation, and to deepen their competency in a chosen area of specialisation.

You will take the core course Management and Regulation of Risk, one full unit equivalent quantitative course, one full unit equivalent qualitative course, and a fourth full unit equivalent course freely chosen.