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About the University of Calgary
 Graduate Studies Calendar 2015-2016 Courses of Instruction Course Descriptions E Economics ECON
Economics ECON
ECON 605 609 611 615 619 621 627 633 635 641 649 651 653 655 657 659 661 667 669 675 677 679 691 693 695 697 707 709 711 715 717 723 725 757 759
 

Instruction offered by members of the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Arts.
 
Graduate Courses Students are required to have departmental consent before registering in any of the following courses:
 
Economics 605       Computational Optimization and Economic Applications
Explores the theory and numerical implementation of mathematical programming, covering basic classes of optimization problems — linear programming, non-linear programming and complementarity problems — as ways to operationalize models of individual choice and decentralized equilibrium behaviour from economics. Applications will vary.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 609       Political Economy
Provides a selective overview of modern political economy. Gives an introduction to the basic theoretical models, empirical methodologies, and substantive findings in political economy. Covers theoretical and empirical research and the links between the two. Also treat a number of selected topics on the research frontier.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 611       Independent Study

Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
MAY BE REPEATED FOR CREDIT
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Economics 615       Econometrics I
Provides a foundation of econometric theory relevant for empirical work in economics. Surveys theory and applies methods of analysis developed for micro data.  Taking economic models as given, students learn how to estimate a general class of parametric models or semiparametric models, and how to conduct testing and inference given the data. Presents classical estimation and inference procedures, including linear regression, linear instrumental variables and nonlinear estimation methods.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 619       Empirical International Trade
Examines issues from the economic literature on international trade. Focuses on quantitative and empirical analysis. Specific topics include the factor content of trade, firm level and multinational behaviour, empirical testing of political economy determinants of protection, and assessing the environmental impact of trade agreements.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 621       International Trade
Focuses on the microeconomic aspects of international economics with emphasis on general equilibrium models commonly employed in international economics. Specific topics covered include theories of international specialization and exchange, trade policy and economic welfare, international factor movement, trade and growth, under both perfect competition and imperfect competition, and selected problems of trade policy in the international trading system.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 627       Energy Economics
Applies the tools of microeconomics, institutional economics, and econometrics to energy markets and policies. Course content focuses on empirical studies of the energy business including markets for natural gas, crude oil, gasoline, electricity and coal.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 633       Labour Economics
Emphasizes empirical implementation of theoretical models through the use of data and econometrics. Topics include labor supply theory, search theory, wage determination theories, and numerical methods for the estimation of dynamic models.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 635       Regulatory Economics
An in-depth study of regulatory economics, defined as price and entry regulation. Price and entry regulation occurs when the state restricts who can provide services and approves the terms of service. A considerable part of the course will address regulatory restructuring in network industries, with case studies on electricity reform, local telecommunications, and pipelines.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 641       Financial Economics
A review of  the main themes of financial economics and an introduction of  a number of frontier ideas that have marked the recent evolution of the discipline. The main focus is on asset pricing and the application of financial econometrics to modelling and prediction of financial data.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 649       Empirical Public Economics
Focuses on empirical research on the economics of the public sector, including material on taxation, public expenditures and social insurance. Gives a broad overview of this growing field and prepares for research frontier in public economics.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Antirequisite(s): Credit for both Economics 649 and 611.48 will not be allowed.
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Economics 651       Redistribution and Social Insurance
A focus on the economics of public expenditure programs designed to redistribute income or to provide social insurance against risks faced by households.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 653       Public Revenue Analysis
A focus on the revenue side of public finance, primarily in the form of taxation. The equity and efficiency aspects of different taxes are considered, as is optimal tax design. Possible topics include the taxation of labour and capital, the impact taxation on savings and risk taking, and environmental and resource taxation.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 655       Cost/Benefit Analysis
Theoretical and applied aspects of the use of cost-benefit techniques and applied welfare analysis in the evaluation of investment projects and public policies.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 657       Microeconomic Theory
Introduction to advanced microeconomic theory. Topics include consumer theory, theory of the firm, general equilibrium, uncertainty, game theory, and informational economics.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Admission into the Master of Arts Economics program.
Notes: Students in other departments can take this course with permission of the Department of Economics.
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Economics 659       Macroeconomic Theory
Introduction to the analysis of macroeconomics at an advanced level. Provides an overview of theories addressing the major questions of macroeconomic phenomena. Some coverage of applied topics, such as economic growth and government policy.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Admission into the Master of Arts Economics program.
Notes: Students in other departments can take this course with permission of the Department of Economics.
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Economics 661       Behavioural Economics
Survey of research incorporating psychological evidence into economics. Topics include fairness, altruism, prospect theory, self-control, biases in probabilistic judgment, mental accounting, and the relationship between markets, incentives, and attention and various cognitive processes.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 667       Industrial Organization
A focus on marker power: its acquisition, maintenance, and exercise. Both theory and application, with an emphasis on how industrial organization does, and should, inform competition policy and antitrust law, will be examined.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 669       Empirical Industrial Organization
Firm behaviour in oligopolistic markets, as well as consumer and firm behaviour in environments with asymmetric information. Strong emphasis on combining economic models with econometric techniques to answer economic questions. Models of demand and supply, discrete static and dynamic games, production function estimation, single agent dynamic models and matching models.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Antirequisite(s): Credit for both Economics 669 and 611.71 will not be allowed.
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Economics 675       Natural Resource Economics
Examines economic models of the structure and nature of natural resource industries and their interaction with the rest of the economy. Includes non-renewable and renewable resources and applies methods from capital theory, growth theory, public economics, and industrial organization to the study of natural resources.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 677       Seminar in Economics of the Environment
Environmental economics describes the ways in which people interact with their natural environment and the policies that best achieve society's goals in this context. Topics vary from year to year and may include benefit-cost analysis, non-market valuation, choice of policy instruments, environmental taxation, trade-growth and the environment, global warming and international environmental treaties.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 679       Health Economics
An overview of topics in health economics. An introduction to economic principles and techniques used in analysing and planning health policy, in particular the delivery of health services, and for understanding the health behaviour of individuals.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Also known as: (Community Health Sciences 661)
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Economics 691       Research Methods I
Survey of research methods in economics. For course-based MA students.
Course Hours: 1.5 units; Q(3-0)
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Economics 693       Research Methods II
Survey of research methods in economics. For course-based MA students.
Course Hours: 1.5 units; Q(3-0)
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Economics 695       Research Methods III
Master's research project. Identify an interesting and feasible research question, carry out an extensive literature review of the problem area, develop an economic/econometric model to address the problem, identify and collect appropriate data for empirical research.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Admission into the Master of Arts Economics (course-based) program.
Antirequisite(s): Credit for both Economics 695 and 611.55 will not be allowed.
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Economics 697       Research Methods IV
Master's research project. Continuing from Research Methods III, the economic/econometric model is fully developed with specific attention to identification issues and testable hypotheses. Appropriate econometric analyses, validation and testing are carried out, leading to a research paper reporting the problem, the model and the results.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Admission into the Master of Arts Economics (course-based) program.  
Antirequisite(s): Credit for both Economics 697 and 611.57 will not be allowed.
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Economics 707       Advanced Microeconomic Theory I
Introduction to advanced microeconomic theory. Topics include consumer theory, theory of the firm, and general equilibrium.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 709       Advanced Macroeconomic Theory I
Introduction to the basic structure of the dynamic general equilibrium framework that forms the backbone of most modern macroeconomics research. Selected topics include growth, business cycles, and monetary and labor economics.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 711       Independent Study

Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
MAY BE REPEATED FOR CREDIT
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Economics 715       Econometrics II
Selected topics in applied econometrics geared at developing econometrics techniques needed to approach empirical problems in microeconomics. The focus is on understanding how data, econometric methodology and assumptions combine to address an economic question. An emphasis is placed on understanding the validity and critical role of assumptions. Covers econometric methods for linear and non-linear models using both cross-section and panel data.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
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Economics 717      
Addresses the use of data to answer counterfactual policy questions in economics. While part of the course will be devoted to identification and estimation of economic models of behaviour, the primary focus will be on how a researcher can use the estimated model to evaluate policies that have never occurred. To this end, the course will emphasize the use of computational methods.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Economics 615.
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Economics 723       Trade, Growth and the Environment I
Covers relevant theoretical work on the environmental consequences of trade liberalization and economic growth, and the relationship between resource use and globalization, focusing on newly published research. Participants are expected to present and discuss research. The specific choice of topics will be based on research interests of the class.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3S-0)
Antirequisite(s): Credit for both Economics 723 and 611.10 will not be allowed.
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Economics 725       Trade, Growth and the Environment II
Covers relevant empirical work on the environmental consequences of trade liberalization and economic growth, and the relationship between resource use and globalization, focusing on newly published research. Participants are expected to present and discuss research. The specific choice of topics will be based on research interests of the class.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3S-0)
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Economics 757       Advanced Microeconomic Theory II
Building on Economics 707,  a comprehensive treatment of game theory, the economics of uncertainty and information, and the theory of incentives will be introduced.  Other topics may be included as time and interest allow.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Economics 707.
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Economics 759       Advanced Macroeconomic Theory II
Building on Economics 709, a survey of the ideas, controversies, and techniques that constitute modern macroeconomics. The principal issues it covers lie at the heart of monetary and fiscal policy and of such important social problems as business cycles and unemployment. The empirical study of key issues raised in theoretical and political debates is also emphasized.
Course Hours: 3 units; H(3-0)
Prerequisite(s): Economics 709.
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