Economics Courses
See page 27 for Key to Course Descriptions |
SSC199Y1 Undergraduate seminar that focuses on specific ideas, questions, phenomena or controversies, taught by a regular Faculty member deeply engaged in the discipline. Open only to newly admitted first year students. It may serve as a distribution requirement course; see page 40. ECO100Y1 An introduction to economic analysis and its applications: price determination; the role of competition; international trade and finance; the theory of production and employment; the role of money and the banking system; monetary and fiscal policy. NOTE graphical and quantitative analysis are used extensively. ECO105Y1 An introduction to the principles and methods of economics in association with policy issues. Lectures cover 24 topics, including economic growth, the importance of productivity, international trade, competitive markets, macroeconomic issues and more specific topics such as rent controls, OPEC, the international debt crisis, trade restrictions, the national debt and sustainable development. Students who intend to complete a minor, major, or specialist program in Economics are advised to take ECO100Y1. ECO200Y1 Theory of markets and prices. Determination of prices through the interaction of the basic economic units, the household as consumer and as supplier of inputs and the business firm as producer and as employer of inputs. The pricing system as the mechanism by which social decisions and allocation of goods are made in a market economy. ECO202Y1 Theory of output, employment and the price level; techniques for achieving economic stability; central banking and Canadian financial institutions and markets; foreign exchange markets and the exchange rate. This course is not intended for those in the B.Com program; please see ECO209Y1. ECO206Y1 This course deals more rigorously and more mathematically with the topics included in ECO200Y1 and is intended primarily for students in certain Specialist programs. ECO208Y1 This course deals more rigorously and more mathematically with the topics included in ECO202Y1 and is intended primarily for students in certain Specialist programs. ECO209Y1 For Commerce students only. ECO210H1 An introduction to mathematical methods commonly used in economic theory. Topics include unconstrained multivariate optimization, multivariate optimization subject to equality or inequality constraints and differential equations. ECO220Y1 Statistical analysis; elementary probability theory, sampling distributions, tests of hypotheses, estimation and multiple regression analysis. Applications in economic and business problems. Elementary calculus and matrix algebra are used. ECO221Y1 Canadian economic growth and development as viewed through the staples thesis of Harold Innis. Reference to United States economic history throughout the course. ECO227Y1 This course deals more rigorously with the topics included in ECO220Y1 and is intended primarily for students in certain Specialist programs and other students planning to take ECO327Y1. ECO230Y1 The key concepts of international trade and finance are reviewed with an eye to understanding contemporary issues and recommending policy initiatives. Attention is given to empirical assessment of alternative trade theories and to broader international relations issues. ECO239Y1 Application of economic analysis to current issues in labour policy: immigration, retirement, education, unemployment, earnings differentials, employment and pay equity, labour unions, minimum wage, income policies. WDW244H1 See Woodsworth College ECO250Y1/251H1/252H1 Courses may be offered in one or more subjects each year. Students must meet the Prerequisites announced by the Department (see the Undergraduate Secretary for details). ECO299Y1 Credit course for supervised participation in faculty research project. See page 40 for details. ECO302H1 Contrasting ways in which the factors of production - land, labour and capital - are organized in human society. Tribal, feudal, mercantilist and market economies are considered. A conceptual framework related to both market and non-market economies is examined, based on the work of Karl Polanyi. ECO303Y1 The economic development of modern Europe, focusing on urban industrialization in the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, up to World War I. Major topics: technological, institutional, and social factors in economic growth; demographic and monetary forces; structural changes in and interactions among the agrarian, commercial, financial, and industrial sectors; international trade and capital flows; the role of the state; the role of economic theory and ideology; theories of post-1850 imperialism. ECO306Y1 U.S. economic history from European settlement to the late 20th century. Interrelationships of the U.S. and world developments, international migration, economic policies, institutions, capital flows and technological transfer. ECO310Y1 Analysis of firm behaviour in imperfectly competitive markets and how well those markets function. The impact of market power, limited information, transaction costs, barriers to entry, strategic behaviour of competitors, externalities and contractual agreements on firm and market performance. Evaluation of competition policy and government regulation. ECO313H1 This course demonstrates the way that a rigorous application of microeconomic techniques can inform our responses to various environmental problems. Topics may include: air and water pollution and renewable resource management. ECO314H1 An investigation of the way that a rigorous application of microeconomic techniques can 1) improve our understanding of how resources like oil, minerals, fish, and forests are extracted in equilibrium, and 2) lead to improved management policies. ECO320H1 The practical application of microeconomic theory to common legal problems: torts, contracts, property and crime, and the limitations of economic analysis. No previous familiarity with the law is assumed. (This is an economic analysis of legal issues, not a course in law.) ECO324Y1 Economic development theory and policy related to the economic transformation of the developing countries, including industrial and agricultural sector strategies, international trade policy, public sector activities and the importance of productivity growth and poverty reduction programs. ECO325H1 This course develops the microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic theory and expand students' analytic skills by constructing and solving macroeconomic models. Topics may include: dynamic choice, neoclassical growth theory, uncertainty and rational expectations, business cycles, as well as fiscal and monetary policy. ECO326H1 Game theory and applications. Topics include: consumer and firm strategic decision-making, welfare economics, uncertainty and information, industrial organization. Emphasis on modeling and quantitative analysis. ECO327Y1 The development and application of statistical techniques in estimating economic models and testing economic theory. The implications and treatment of special statistical problems that arise in estimating economic relationships. ECO328Y1 The operation of the international economy and the economic interdependence among nations, in terms of international monetary relationships, commodity trade and factor movements. ECO329H1 Theories and techniques in monetary economics, including the equilibrium asset-pricing theory and modelling money as a medium of exchange, the Lucas supply curve, the choice of monetary policy rules versus discretion, and the liquidity effect of open market operations. Emphasis on the interactions between macroeconomic phenomena and individual decisions. ECO332H1 This course uses microeconomics to study the behaviour of the family, including marriage, divorce, intra-family allocations, investment in children and gender roles. ECO333Y1 Spatial economic theory and urban public policy: firms and individuals in partial and general equilibrium, land development and land-use controls, urban transportation, efficiency and equity in spending and taxing. ECO334Y1 The operation of the housing and other real estate markets and the markets for real estate finance; the impact of government intervention on income distribution, efficiency, and resource allocation in these markets. ECO336Y1 Theory of public goods, externalities, and the politics of government policy. Analysis of equity, incidence and incentive effects of taxes. An analytical treatment of the public sector. ECO338H1 Application of microeconomic theory to conceptual and policy issues in education. Topics include the economic benefits and costs of education; investment in human capital and the returns to educational expenditures; the role of government in education; educational financing and planning. ECO339Y1 The operation of labour markets; determinants of supply and demand for labour; wage differentials; discrimination; investment in schooling and training; unemployment; economics of unions. ECO340H1 The personal distribution of income and wealth; distributive justice; measurement of inequality and poverty. The distributional effects of the tax system, government spending, economic regulation (including policies such as pay and employment equity), and macroeconomic policies. ECO342Y1 Economic development of Europe and certain overseas areas, particularly Japan and the United States. Special attention to globalization before 1914, problems of the interwar years, the Great Depression of the 1930's, the period since 1945, international trade, the balance of payments and exchange rate mechanisms, growth performance of the major industrial countries. ECO350Y1/351H1/352H1 Courses may be offered in one or more subjects each year. Students must meet the Prerequisites announced by the Department (see the Undergraduate Secretary for details). ECO353Y1/355H1 Courses may be offered in one or more subjects each year. Students must meet the Prerequisites announced by the Department (see the Undergraduate Secretary for details). ECO358H1 An introduction to economics of financial assets and financial markets. Topics: inter-temporal choice, expected utility theory, security valuation, selected asset pricing models, market efficiency, term structure of interest rates and international foreign exchange rate systems - essential materials for an understanding of the role and operation of financial markets. ECO359H1 Agency and incomplete information problems inherent in financial transactions; the role of contractual arrangements in overcoming them. Financial constraints on investment decisions of firms; the financial system in economic growth; the legal system in the functioning of financial markets. A look at theoretical and empirical literature covering these issues. ECO360Y1 With emphasis on the United States, Japan and Canada, this course examines theories of capitalism; Long Wave Cycle, the importance of productivity growth and Solow's residual, the economics of technological change, the Japanese/U.S. trade interface, the economic slowdown since 1973 and the current Canadian productivity challenge. ECO369Y1 The provision of health care provides many special problems of informational asymmetry, regulation, insurance and redistribution. The course considers the demand and supply side problems. Alternative reform proposals for health care are explored. ECO370Y1 An introduction to the economic analysis of organizations and, in particular, the firm. An investigation of how markets can solve the twin problems of coordinating activities and motivating individuals; and, when markets are less successful, how organizations and special contractual relationships emerge as alternative institutions for allocating resources. ECO380H1 This course in applied microeconomics is concerned with the functioning of markets and the behaviour of firms within these markets. The focus is on strategic relationships between organizations. This includes competitive relationships among firms in the same market and cooperative relationships between a firm and its suppliers and distributors. ECO381H1 An examination of selected material on compensation and incentives in hierarchical organizations. Topics include recruitment and hiring, training, turnover, downsizing, motivating workers, teams, allocating authority and task assignment. ECO398H0/ 399Y0 ECO392H1 Economic issues in the major communications networks (Internet and telephone). These networks confront stochastic and time varying demands, which create interesting pricing problems. There is an emphasis on the supply side and the role of competition in a dynamic industry with technological convergence. JPE400Y1 An integration of economics and political science to explore both the domestic and international obstacles to development in the contemporary Third World and the efficacy of the development strategies actually followed. (Given by the Departments of Economics and Political Science) ECO416H1 The construction and operation of macroeconometric models. The use of models for conducting policy simulations and for generating quantitative forecasts of economic activity. ECO418H1 An empirical study of econometric methodologies and their economic application, with emphasis on cross-sectional and panel data. This may include linear panel data model, extremum estimators, discrete choice models and simulation estimators. Examples are explored in labour economics, industrial organization, macroeconomics. Students need familiarity with either STATA, Gauss or Matlab. ECO419H1 Contemporary issues in international monetary economics and marcroeconomic policy formulation in open economies like Canada. A study of forces determining interest rates and exchange rates, inflation and unemployment; analysis of government policy in relation to financial markets. ECO420Y1/421H1/422H1 Seminars or workshops may be offered in one or more subjects each year. Students must meet the Prerequisites announced by the Department. (See the Undergraduate Secretary for details.) ECO423H1 Themes are incentives, contracts, and the impetus for change within North America. Topics covered: the staples growth thesis, slavery, indentured servitude, apprenticeships, technical change, the evolution of production, the rise of the factory, fertility and convergence. ECO424H1 Economic analysis of topics in economic development, such as patterns of growth, issues of poverty and inequality, land reform, tax design and price reform. Focus on application of theory, especially statistical analysis relating to conduct of economic policy in developing countries. ECO425H1 A research-oriented course exploring the interrelationships between economics and demographic change, both historical and projected, with attention to the microeconomic foundations, macroeconomic performance, and policy in areas such as fertility, migration, education, labour markets, housing, crime, recreation, leisure, marketing, health, retirement and pensions. The Canadian experience, with some international comparisons. ECO426H1 An examination of selected research on compensation, incentive issues, cooperation and allocation of authority in hierarchical organizations. ECO429Y1 Development of analytical economics from the 18th century with emphasis on Adam Smith and the British Classical School (David Ricardo, T.R. Malthus, and J.S. Mill), Karl Marx, the Marginalists and their successors to 1939, including Keynes. ECO430Y1/431H1 Intended for advanced Specialist students who have exhausted course offerings in a particular area. Open only when a faculty member is available and willing to supervise. Students must obtain the approval of the Associate Chairman for Undergraduate Studies before enrolling. ECO432H1 Topics in the economics of information, with particular emphasis on how Bayesian rational people behave under uncertainty. Topics will include comparative statics under uncertainty, Bayesian learning, the value of information and information acquisition, matching theory and search theory. ECO435H1 A focus on post-1949 Chinese economy, and the PRC's economic legacy. Economic development during the Maoist period, particularly post-1979 reforms. China's experience is compared to Eastern Europe's and the role of China in the rapidly growing East Asian economy. This a limited enrolment seminar requiring extensive reading. ECO450H1 Stylized facts about growth and development; how a simple neoclassical growth model explains these observations. New growth models emphasizing institutions, endogenous population growth and technological change; how they explain cross-country income differences in the postwar period; the historical experience in some countries, with a look at Europe and Asia. ECO451H1 An introduction to modern theories of the determinants of macroeconomic growth that examines the important question of why some countries are rich and others are poor. Topics include: investigation of empirical literature pertaining to international comparisons of recent and past rates of economic growth across countries. ECO452H1 National economic development primarily in Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, with focus on industrialization, agricultural change, banking and finance, state economic policies; international trade and factor movements, poverty and income distribution. ECO457Y1 Topics vary with the interest and backgrounds of the participants: subjects normally include international monetary arrangements; patterns of international trade, competition and payments; migration and capital flows; imperialism and dependency; international fluctuations; the effects of the world wars on the international economy and the evolution of international economic institutions. ECO459H1 The theory and political economy of international trade, with examination of specific trade institutions: Bretton Woods, WTO, NAFTA, tariff administration, most-favoured nation treatment, antidumping regulation, subsidies and countervailing duties, agriculture, trade in services, trade-related intellectual property, trade and environment, trade and developing countries. ECO461H1 The role of risk management in both private and public sectors, a discussion of why firms and government should hedge financial risks; individual and social gains of financial risk management; identification and quantification of financial risks (including Value-at-Risk measures); how derivative securities can be used for financial risk management. |
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