Economics Department

This course provides an introduction to microeconomic concepts and methodology. Students will learn about basic concepts such as scarcity and opportunity cost, and economic efficiency. The other central themes of the course include theories of supply and demand; the theory of production and costs, the functioning and the performance of competitive markets versus monopolies and oligopolies; labour markets and the markets for public goods. Three credits.

The second half of introductory economics provides an introduction to macroeconomic concepts. The course examines pressing problems and issues in the Canadian economy and the world. Students will learn about alternate economic systems, national income accounting and the components of the national economy; the role of money in the economy; inflation; unemployment; international trade and trade policy; and the role of government in managing the economy. Three credits.

An introduction to the basic concepts of microeconomic theory, this course examines and derives components of the demand-supply model using consumer theory and producer theory. The course focuses on the purely competitive model. Theory is taught and tested with numerical examples and graphs. Prerequisites: ECON 101, 102. Three credits.

This is the first of a two-course sequence on intermediate macroeconomics. Students will learn the structure and behaviour of contemporary national economies with an emphasis on the policies developed to gear them towards the public interest. This course focuses on the Keynesian and classical models of the closed economy for explaining what determines national income, employment, unemployment, prices, inflation, and the interest rate. Prerequisites: ECON 101, 102. Three credits.

Beginning with theories of local and community economic development and welfare, this course provides an economic analysis of community needs and resources (human resources, capital and natural resources, infrastructure). Students will examine interactions within the community and between the community and the outside world, exploring approaches to local and community economic development and planning. Cross-listed as DEVS 211. Prerequisites: ECON 101, 102. Three credits.

Addresses policy issues and challenges in the Canadian economy. Topics include employment and unemployment; poverty and income distribution; higher education; health care and the social welfare safety net; crime and punishment; insurance markets; money, prices and inflation; social security and retirement; representative government, policy preferences and voting. Topics that reflect strong student interest and/or new issues may be added. Prerequisites: ECON 101, 102. Three credits.

This course covers policy issues and problems in the International economy. Topics include: standard international trade theory; barriers to trade (tariffs, quotas, and subsidies); exchange rate policy; immigration and emigration; trade wars; international monetary, economic and political unions; inequality and standards of living; income and purchasing power. Topics that reflect strong student interest and/or new issues may be added. Prerequisites: ECON 101, 102. Three credits.

This course introduces students to quantitative and mathematical tools commonly used in the study of economics and finance. Topics include functions of one or more variables, financial mathematics, differential calculus, matrix and linear algebra. Applications include computing elasticities, micro and macroeconomic equilibria, cost minimization and profit maximization, constrained optimization, interest rates, present value and bond pricing. Prerequisite: ECON 101; completed or concurrent. Three credits.

As an introduction to the relationship between human economic activity and the environment, this course explores the economic concepts used to analyze the causes, consequences, and possible solutions to local and global environmental issues. Topics include market failure; property rights; externalities; public goods; environmental valuation; environmental policies dealing with pollution and global issues such as global warming, ozone depletion, biodiversity, and sustainability. Prerequisite: ECON 101. Three credits.

This course includes topics related to choices about the time individuals do not spend working. It deals with aspects of the economics of leisure and labour supply; the valuation of time; outdoor recreation; the economics of sports; the economics of dating and marriage; the economics of crime and the consumption of addictive goods; the economics of gambling and other addictive behaviour associated with the consumption of leisure, and the economics of the entertainment industry. Prerequisite: ECON 101. Three credits.

An extension of ECON 201, this course covers price determination in monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly models. Uncertainty and risk, factor pricing, capital investment over time, externalities, and public goods are discussed. The use of micro-economics as a tool in decision-making is illustrated. Prerequisite: ECON 201. Three credits.

This sequel to ECON 202 presents several macroeconomic models for both closed and open economies, in static and dynamic contexts. Topics include interest and exchange rates, investment and saving, the role of expectations, unemployment, inflation, money demand and supply, the government budget, economic growth and macroeconomic policies in the open economy setting. Prerequisite: ECON 202. Three credits.

The course uses basic economic principles to organize students’ understanding of and thinking about money, the functions and structure of financial markets and financial institutions. Topics covered include: the necessity, the nature, and the future of money; the determinants of interest rates; the term structure of interest rates, the pricing of government securities; what banks do and how their operations affect the economy. Prerequisites: ECON 101, 102. Three credits.

The course analyzes the essential elements of the labour market: labour demand and labour supply, and their interaction to determine wages, employment and unemployment. Topics include fertility, education, regional wage disparities, income maintenance schemes, wage discrimination, the unemployment insurance program, unions and collective bargaining, and the distribution of wealth. Prerequisite: ECON 201. Three credits.

The course introduces students to the role of economics in health, health care, and health policy. The course focuses on individual’s choice pertaining to health, and economic evaluation of various methods of health care delivery. Students will learn how the market for health care differs from other markets, especially with regards to uncertainty and asymmetric information, and understand health insurance markets and their interrelationship with the market for health care services, as well as the role of the government. Prerequisite: ECON 201. Three credits.

This course covers the theory of international trade and its policy implications, including comparative advantage; gains from trade; terms of trade; patterns of trade and specialization; trade and growth; trade and economic development; effects of trade on income distribution; economic geography; trade policy (tariff and non-tariff barriers, effective protection, trade liberalization); economic integration and trade agreements. Prerequisite: ECON 201. Three credits.

This course develops the simple and multiple classical regression models, interval estimation and hypothesis testing. The problems of estimation, inference, mis-specified structures, multicollinearity, heteroskedascity, and serial correlation are presented. Students will be exposed to STATA or other relevant econometric software. The course requires some proficiency in calculus and basis statistics. Prerequisites: MATH 107 or 127 or ECON 271; STAT 101 or 231 or permission of the instructor. Three credits.

Examines the role of natural resource industries in the Canadian and world economies, including minerals, oil and gas, forest resources, fisheries, and water resources. The course introduces students to the use of economic tools in analyzing problems of renewable and non-renewable resource management. Topics include welfare and inter-temporal analysis of resource exploitation; ownership and property rights issues in resource use and management; externalities; biodiversity conservation; and sustainability. Prerequisites: ECON 201; MATH 106 or 126 recommended. Three credits.

An analysis of the role of government in the economy, focusing on expenditure and with emphasis on the Canadian situation. Starting with an introduction to the public sector, the course covers: the rationale for government participation in the economy; the growth of the public sector over time; the theory of collective decision-making; cost-benefit analysis; fiscal federalism; specific spending programs. Prerequisite: ECON 201. Three credits.

An advanced treatment of micro-economic concepts and topics, such as consumer choice and demand analysis, production technology and cost, market structure and pricing, factor markets and shares, general equilibrium and economic welfare. Prerequisites: ECON 301; MATH 107 or 127 or ECON 271. Three credits.

An advanced treatment of macroeconomic theory and how macroeconomic policy is conducted. The course offers deeper insights into economic growth processes, business cycles, international macroeconomic stabilization policies, and alternative approaches to building macroeconomic models. Students are introduced to the use of two-period models. Prerequisites: ECON 302; MATH 107 or 127 or ECON 271. Three credits.

Game theory is the mathematical analysis of strategic interactions between players, such as competing firms, nations at war, or between a job-seeker and employer. This course will sharpen your ability to think strategically, and to apply game theory with clarity and precision. Applications of game theory to the real world will be studied. Prerequisite: ECON 201. Three credits.

This course is a continuation of ECON 371 and deals with various estimation methods, including least squares and maximum likelihood, specification tests, dynamic models and simultaneous equation models as well as limited and qualitative dependent variables. Students will be exposed to MATLAB or other matrix-based analytical software. Credit will be granted for only one of ECON 472 or ECON 372. Prerequisite: ECON 371. Three credits.

Students are introduced to current research issues in economics and will read and critically analyze significant historical or recent research papers. They will also be exposed to the art of presenting research findings, as department faculty and visiting speakers will present their latest research. In the past, students have been exposed to topics such as: macroeconomic data revisions; economic impact of climate change; European financial integration; matching models; and the economics of the non-profit sector. Three credits.

Each student works under the supervision of a professor who guides the selection of a thesis topic, the use of resources, the methodological component, and the quality of analysis. Restricted to honours students. Three credits over full year.