39 graduate courses in the Spring 2008 Graduate Calendar, from Waterloo’s archived copy.
A non-credit refresher course which will review at a relatively fast pace the basic mathematical and statistical techniques deemed necessary for graduate courses, particularly in theory. It will focu on selected topics generally covered in intermediate to senior level undergraduate courses in quantitative methods.
LEC · Course ID 000924Archived pageECON 600 today
Topics include: axioms of rationality; consumer behaviour in perfectly competitive markets; behaviour of firms in perfectly competitive markets; implications of rationality on observable behaviour; partial and general equilibrium; uncertainty and incomplete information.
LEC · Course ID 000925Archived pageECON 601 today
A theoretical and policy-oriented treatment of the determination of output, employment, interest rates and inflation in the short run and in the long run. Discussion of the policies of growth promotion, stabilization policy and disinflation policy options.
LEC · Course ID 000926Archived pageECON 602 today
Topics covered include a critical review of current forecasting models, the concept of rationality in economic forecasting, and issues in forecast evaluations. Applications will be from many areas of economics, such as optimal pricing, product demand including the demand for new products, macroeconomic forecasting, financial forecasting, and issues concerning technological forecasting.
LEC · Course ID 000927Archived pageECON 603 today
A general equilibrium approach to money, interest and asset structures, prices, and activity. Problems and policies of central banking, with special reference to Canadian experience.
LEC · Course ID 000928Archived pageECON 604 today
Static and dynamic general equilibrium modelling; computation, calibration and simulation. Sensitivity analysis. Policy applications.
LEC · Course ID 000929Archived pageECON 605 today
A survey from the early writers on economics through classical, Austrian, Marxist, neo-classical and contemporary schools. Students will be required to read the primary texts.
LEC · Course ID 000932Archived pageECON 611 today
Specification and estimation of the linear regression model. Departures from the Gauss-Markov assumptions include heteroskedasticity, serial correlation, and errors in variables. Advanced topics include generalized least squares, and simultaneous equations/instrumental variables. They may also include nonlinear regression, and limited dependent variable models. Some or all of the problem sets involve working with the computer.
LEC · Course ID 000933Archived pageECON 621 today
After exploring solutions for first and second-order difference and differential equations, the course studies the calculus of variations, optimal control theory, discrete and continuous dynamic programming, with applications to various fields; including micro and macroeconomics, natural resource and environmental economics, finance and investment theory. Techniques of dynamic simulation are discussed.
LEC · Course ID 011824Archived pageECON 623 today
Analysis of gains from trade and the basic trade models including Ricardian, Heckscher-Ohlin, and increasing returns to scale. The effects of distortions such as taxes and the consequences of tariffs, quotas and non-tariff barriers are considered, along with a discussion of foreign investment, factor mobility, customs unions and regional trade policies.
LEC · Course ID 000935Archived pageECON 631 today
This course analyzes the main theoretical issues in international finance. Topics include the intertemporal gains from trade, current account dynamics, exchange rate determination, asset trade, international debt and policy coordination.
LEC · Course ID 000936Archived pageECON 632 today
This course is aimed at exploring the nexus between international trade, growth, and development through a set of selected readings. The course will not present a comprehensive treatment of the subject area. Rather, it will provide an introduction to a few selected topics that are suggestive of both the typical questions posed in the literature and of the manner in which the literature has developed over time. The topics will include models of international trade under perfect and imperfect competition, models of north-south trade, immiserizing growth, the Dutch disease, trade as an engine of growth, and international trade, technological change and long-run growth.
LEC · Course ID 010498Archived pageECON 635 today
This course demonstrates the usefulness of economic analysis to the study of global governance. Topics include the economic analysis of international trade, foreign direct investment, and international finance.
Department Consent Required
Prerequisite: PSCI 610
LEC · Course ID 012850Archived pageECON 637 today
An introduction to the economics of inter-governmental fiscal relations. Topics will include the assignment of tax and spending decisions to the appropriate level of government, the Tiebout model and the relative efficiencies of various regional structures, the theory of inter-governmental grants, and theories of federation formation and dissolution.
LEC · Course ID 000937Archived pageECON 640 today
This course studies the economic role of the public sector in a modern market economy. Topics include the efficient provision of public goods, externalities and public choice analysis of the growth in government spending. Time permitting, some issues in the public economics of taxation may be covered.
LEC · Course ID 000938Archived pageECON 641 today
This course discusses the economic effects of taxation. Topics may include the design of a desirable tax system, the structure of income, consumption and wealth taxes in Cananda, the efficiency cost and incidence of various types of taxes, international aspects of taxation, and fiscal federalism. Time permitting, some issues in public expenditure theory may be covered.
LEC · Course ID 011825Archived pageECON 642 today
This course introduces students to the role of economics in health care and health policy. It is meant to be a survey of major topics in health economics and an introduction to the ongoing debate over health care policy. Topics include the economic determinants of health and health policy, the market for medical care, the market for health insurance, and the role of the government in health care, and health care reform.
LEC · Course ID 011126Archived pageECON 643 today
Conceptual frameworks and analytical tools for marketing decision making in high-growth and turbulent technology businesses are developed. Specific topics may include marketing in the networked economy, understanding unarticulated user needs, technology standards and network externalities, demand forecasting and strategic planning in technology markets, product design and architecture, product platform strategy, managing new product realization programs and managing the technology adoption life cycle.
LEC · Course ID 011826Archived pageECON 644 today
Behaviour of firms in non-competitive markets: monopoly; multi-product monopoly; oligopoly. Introduction to game theory. Other topics may include: advertising, limit pricing, principal-agent problems and contracting.
LEC · Course ID 000939Archived pageECON 645 today
This course gives an overview of the recent literature on the economics of technological change. We discuss the neoclassical literature on technological change, as well as neo-Schumpeterian and more evolutionary approaches to technology. The course begins with the macro-economic effects of technological change, starting with growth accounting and leading towards an outline of endogenous growth models. It will discuss the impact of technological revolutions from an historical perspective, as well as Schumpeter's theory of basic innovations and long waves in economic growth. Topics in the microeconomics of technological change may include the diffusion of technologies, optimal patent design and patent races, technology competitions and standardization.
LEC · Course ID 012015Archived pageECON 646 today
Economic theories of the firm are developed from a management strategy perspective. Topics may include economic models of pricing, product quality, entry, diversification, innovation, demand forecasting and market intermediation. The role of the firm as a market intermediary may be examined using models of search, matching and asymmetric information.
LEC · Course ID 011827Archived pageECON 647 today
The accumulation and use of intellectual property (IP) and intellectual capital (IC) has led to the realization that traditional tangible fixed assets are no longer the only means of commercial success. Students will be introduced to the IP field and will be presented with a frame of reference for IP in the technology-based firm. Technology strategies and IP streategies as well as IP organizational structure and management will be topics for discussion. The possible evolution of IP management towards a distributed IC management strategy is explored as well.
LEC · Course ID 012016Archived pageECON 648 today
Labour market structure and operations. Theories of real wages, labour supply, employment-unemployment, and labour unions.
LEC · Course ID 010499Archived pageECON 651 today
The economics of renewable and non-renewable resources in a Canadian context. Problems peculiar to the fisheries, forestry, mineral industries and oil and gas production and consumption are analyzed. Also considered are economic and constitutional issues arising from the uneven distribution of resource rents in Canada.
LEC · Course ID 000941Archived pageECON 655 today
This course will review the application of the tools and theory of economics to environmental problems. The normative foundations of economic analysis will be discussed including efficiency, intergenerational equity and sustainability. The design and implementation of environmental policy will be analyzed including the use of command and control regulation, market-based instruments, and legal liability. Applications to various environmental issues may include global warming, trans-boundary pollution, and trade and the environment.
LEC · Course ID 011828Archived pageECON 657 today
This course considers the application of option concepts from finance to value real assests. The focus is on using real options theory and methodology to value investments characterized by uncertainty, irreversibility, and flexibilty inthe timing of irreversible expenditures. The course begins with an introduction to stochastic processes, Ito's Lemma, the Black-Scholes equation, contingent claims analysis and dynamic programming. Methods to solve simple option value problems will be presented, such as binomial trees and Monte Carlo simulation. Applications will focus on problems in natural resource and environmental economics, such as valuing the option ot drill for oil or install pollution control equipment and, time permitting, other appications in economics.
LEC · Course ID 012333Archived pageECON 659 today
This course focuses on the principal forms of advanced capitalism in the contemporary world. Emphasis is placed on understanding theoretically the operative principles of these systems, together with trends toward convergence and divergence. In addition, various transitions to capitalism in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, and 'the South' are analyzed. Topics such as the extent and significance of globalization, US hegemony, European integration, the formation of regional trading blocks, and international conflict and cooperation, also figure prominently.
LEC · Course ID 000942Archived pageECON 661 today
This course deals with prime variables and institutions in economic analysis in the context of history. Emphasis on technology, economic institutions, capital formation, living standards, and the role of the state in Europe from 1500 to 1939.
LEC · Course ID 012342Archived pageECON 665 today
Topics covered include: expected utility theory, no-arbitrage pricing, equilibrium-pricing models, derivative-security pricing, asymmetric information, capital structure theory and dividend policy.
LEC · Course ID 000945Archived pageECON 672 today
One or more half-courses will be offered at different times as announced by the Department.
Instructor Consent Required
LEC · Course ID 000946Archived pageECON 673 today
This course introduces students to the underlying economic aspects of electronic commerce. Major issues to be considered include quality and the role of intermediaries; digital copyrights; advertising; consumer searches for product information; product selection and pricing strategies; electronic financial systems, and payment services. Applying standard economic analyses to an entirely new industry facilitates the development of radically new business models.
LEC · Course ID 010501Archived pageECON 681 today
This course builds on the models and the techniques developed in Microeconomic Theory I. Topics may include general-equilibrium analysis, game theory, the economics of information, mechanism design and applications of bargaining theory to the theory of markets.
Prerequisite: ECON 601
LEC · Course ID 011829Archived pageECON 701 today
The course consists of an advanced analysis of topics treated in Macroeconomic Theory I, with emphasis on recent empirical developments in macroeconomics. Topics may include the convergence hypothesis, consumption and asset pricing models, monetary and fiscal policy, the expectations hypothesis and stabilization regimes.
Prerequisite: ECON 602
LEC · Course ID 011830Archived pageECON 702 today
The course provides a rigorous treatment of more advanced topics in econometrics. They include system of equations, simultaneous equations, generalized method of moments, empirical likelihood, vector autoregression and dynamic models, time series models and methods, discrete dependent variables, and limited dependent variables.
Prerequisite: ECON 621
LEC · Course ID 000957Archived pageECON 721 today
This course reviews identification strategies used in the analysis of cross-sectional and longitudinal microdata. Techniques primarily come from applications in labour economics, health economics and industrial organization. These may include fixed and random effects models, duration analysis, instrumental variables estimators, nonparametric and semi-parametric analysis, decomposition techniques, quantile regression, difference-in-difference estimators, propensity score matching and regression discontinuity design. The primary objectives of the course are to familiarize students with current methods used in microeconometric research and provide them with hands-on experience applying these methods using an appropriate statistical software package.
LEC · Course ID 012334Archived pageECON 722 today
This course covers some of the most important concepts, models and methods used in the empirical analysis of macroeconomic problems. In particular the course covers established time series techniques as well as more recent developments such as testing for unit roots, measurement of the persistence of shocks and estimation and hypothesis testing in cointegrated systems. Several dynamic models will be studied using time series analysis methods. Topics covered include basic concepts in time series analysis (modelling volatility and trend), VAR Modes (including structural VAR's), VECM and Cointegration, neural networks and estimation of DSGE models. During the course, students will have the opportunity to explore several case studies using econometric software such as RATS and MATLAB.
LEC · Course ID 012335Archived pageECON 723 today
This course focuses on the theory and application of estimation and statistical evaluation of continuous-time stochastic processes frequently used in finance. In particular, it provides an in-depth discussion of estimation methods and statistical tests in the context of dynamic models of the term structure of interest and option pricing.
Prerequisite: STAT 850 or permission of the instructor
LEC · Course ID 012849Archived pageECON 727 today
The course builds upon the MA course in Health Economics (643). This topics course is designed for students wishing to undertake research in the area of health policy. The course will examine health and economic literature on mutually (instructor and students) agreed upon topics, focusing on current research issues in population health, health-services research, economic evaluation, and health policy analysis from an economic perspective.
Prereq: ECON 643
LEC · Course ID 012337Archived pageECON 743 today
One or more courses will be offered at different times as announced by the Department.
Instructor Consent Required
LEC · Course ID 012336Archived pageECON 773 today