Bachelor of Arts in Economics

While Economics may be called the dismal science, it is one of the most fundamental disciplines and essential to any faculty of Arts or Social Sciences. It is a degree that is always in demand, and is particularly popular among Asian students. Because of its fundamental nature, there is little room for variation from one economics undergraduate degree to another, all requiring basically the same courses. UCW's economics degree can be equally described as standard, although we do propose to pay particular attention to macro and global economics in our specialist courses, and have chosen global economic systems as one of our capstone courses.

Term-4: Business Courses

16. BUSM 206 Business Environment 17. ECON 201 Intermediate Microeconomics 18. ECON 207 Intermediate Macroeconimics 19. ECON 208 Money and Banking 20. ECON 302 Management of Financial Institutions

Term 5: Economics Courses

21. BUSM 208 Principles of Accounting 22. MATH 209 Statistics 23. ECON 209 Public Sector Economics 24. ECON 210 Financial Economics 25. MATH 210 Calculus

Term 6: Economics Courses

26. BUSM 300 Managerial Accounting 27. ECON 301 Techniques of Empirical Economics 28. GEOG 304 Urban and Economic Geography 29. ECON 304 Cost Benefit Analysis and Project Evaluation 30. BUSM 303 Finance

Term 7: Economics Courses

31. CDRS 313 Research Methodology 32. ECON 401 Government Regulation of Business and Labour 33. ECON 305 Public Sector Management: Health, Education, Welfare 34. ECON 306 Risk, Insurance and Financial Planning 35. BUSM 315 Investments

Term 8: Capstone Courses

36. CAPS 405 Communication and Behavior 37. CAPS 406 Financial and Non-Government Institutions 38. CAPS 407 Cultural and Political Systems 39. CAPS 408 Major Scientific and Technical Discoveries 40. CAPS 409 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

Concentration Course Descriptions:

16. BUSM 206 Business Environment

This course introduces students to the capitalist marketplace and the boundaries of the many interest groups that influence the outcome of economic activity. Included are Business and society issues, government policies, financial markets, ethics, and global factors. The related dynamics and their effect on enterprise is the foundation of investigation.

17. ECON 201 Intermediate Microeconomics

Continuing from principles of microeconomics, this course further explores consumer behaviour, exchange, production and cost, equilibrium of the firm in different market structures, competition, monopoly and oligopoly. Also addressed are price determination and the impact of government regulations and taxes, the implications of market failure, externalities and public goods. The analysis of investment decisions is a particular focus.

18. ECON 207 Intermediate Macroeconimics

Likewise continuing from Principles of Macroeconomics, this course analyzes in greater depth our measurement of national income, theories of employment, inflation, economic growth, regulation, balance of payments, and stabilization policy in an open economy. Impact of trade barriers and trade agreements, and alternative forms of taxation.

19. ECON 208 Money and Banking

This course is a study of capital markets and institutions in theory and practice, with a focus on the development and structure of the Canadian financial system, and comparisons with the US, Asian and European environments. Areas reviewed include regulation, taxation, competition and the relative risk and profitability environments of the various types of financial institutions.

20. ECON 302 Management of Financial Institutions

Regulatory environments of the different types of financial organizations. Analysis of the sources of revenue: commercial and instalment loans, advice, insurance, fees, and others. Types of liabilities and their pricing. Measuring and hedging against interest rate risk. Effective budgeting at the firm and branch levels. Public relations and marketing in a fiduciary environment with a large number of customers.

21. BUSM 208 Principles of Accounting

This course introduces the "language of Business" by way of accounting principles. Generally accepted accounting methods are presented and discussed. Techniques of accumulating and reporting financial data are investigated, as are formulas to evaluate the economic health of a company. Focus however is on financial systems rather than on diagnostic evaluation.

22. MATH 209 Statistics

This course's goal is to give students an appreciation of statistical thinking for Business applications. The need for an understanding of statistical methods increases as data-based decisions strengthen and the amount and availability of data increases. Students will be provided a statistical toolkit. The decision making process under uncertainty is largely based on application of statistics for probability assessment of uncontrollable events (or factors). Other applications focus on risk assessment of decisions.

23. ECON 209 Public Sector Economics

This course is a survey of public sector economics that, and emphasizes the fundamentals, such as the concept of market failure and the role of government in this arena: externalities, public goods, asymmetric information, non-competitive market structures; benefits and drawbacks of alternative approaches in the use of government to redistribute income; taxation; incidence, incentive effects, evasion and fiscal federalism in the Canadian context.

24. ECON 210 Financial Economics

Building on BUSM 206 (Business Finance), this course develops the theory, methods and analytical techniques of financial management. Topics include internal financial planning and corporate budgeting, the valuation of projects and firms, capital budgeting, optimal capital structure, the measurement and hedging of financial risk, methods of financial analysis under uncertainty, introduction to optimization, and multiple account analysis.

25. MATH 210 Calculus

Calculus of one variable with applications for students in the social and biological sciences. Includes topics such as limits, exponential functions, and exponential growth.

26. BUSM 300 Managerial Accounting

This course investigates the use of accounting information in the decisions made by management during the process of planning and controlling. Included is an understanding of the systems in place to measure the cost and profitability of products and services, and the related implications of change in investment and cost reduction strategies. Examinations of financial reporting guidelines, both formal and informal requirements, are evaluated within the context of how they affect managerial judgment. In particular, the focus will be on internal control mechanisms. This will include the implication of changes in accounting policy on investing, operating and financing choices.

27. ECON 301 Techniques of Empirical Economics

Much applied economics work is done using statistical projecting and hypothesis testing. This course explores the mechanics of the techniques involved, with many illustrations of these methods in the areas of finance, public policy analyses in healthcare, environmental economics, and social service programs. The emphasis is on how to be a discriminating analyzer of studies which have used these tools, and the conclusions they offer. Specific topics include multiple regression analysis, time series, simultaneous equation estimation.

28. GEOG 304 Urban and Economic Geography

The development and contemporary distribution of urban and economic activities. Central place hierarchies and contemporary urbanization, industrial and residential location, agricultural and urban land use, transportation and regional economic development will be described and discussed.

29. ECON 304 Cost Benefit Analysis and Project Evaluation

The practical use of economic theory to evaluate public sector regulations and projects. Topics include measuring social benefits and costs, shadow pricing, discount rates, consumer surplus, option demand, multiple account analysis and simulation.

30. BUSM 303 Finance

This course will introduce concepts of financial techniques necessary to assist the organization obtain capital and manage it effectively. Models of evaluating various returns will be based on accounting inputs. Underlying most analysis will be net present value theory. Critical to the course will be decision-making in relation to the cost and availability of funds, and maximizing economic returns.

31. CDRS 313 Research Methodology

The course will examine research methodologies appropriate for business research. Topics examined include attributes of a good research topic, critical literature reviews, formulating the research design, primary vs. secondary data, negotiating access to data, research ethics, selecting samples, data collection methods, writing and presenting results. The intended outcome of this course is for the student to pick a topic for study, produce a written research proposal and prepare and submit a UCW Research Ethics Proposal within one month following completion of the course period, in preparation for CDS 410/411 Directed Research Project.

32. ECON 401 Government Regulation of Business and Labour

The government often intervenes directly into private markets to achieve various goals. This course explores the theories behind this intervention, the techniques that have been employed, and the history of the outcomes that have been generated. Topics include natural monopoly, competition policy, analysis of labour regulations, economic effects of unions on wages, prices and employment, and the concept of industrial policy in an increasingly open economy.

Further supervised research, and written critical reports on a student-selected topic within a specialty concentration in consultation with faculty. Learning teams organized according to specialty concentrations.

33. ECON 305 Public Sector Management: Health, Education, Welfare

A detailed look at the theory and the practicalities of government involvement in these areas, comparing the Canadian experience with selected other countries. Private versus public delivery will be investigated. Implications of demographics will underlie some models. Additionally, the politics of social support systems will be detailed.

34. ECON 306 Risk, Insurance and Financial Planning

This course covers the types of risks facing consumers and firms, the nature of insurance, and its many formats, as well as implications of self insuring. It will also explore a wide range of financial planning options for optimal returns, given well defined risk parameters. An overview of the tax, legal and regulatory environment affecting financial strategy development is reviewed.

35. BUSM 315 Investments

The many types of investments, and their respective risks, historical yields, and regularion: Stocks, bonds, options, annuities, insurance, foreign exchange, precious metals, real estate and other avenues are considered. Advantages and disadvantages of domestic vs international markets. Review of the major alternative approaches for selecting specific investment instruments.

Capstone Courses

36. CAPS 407 Cultural and Political Systems

The major religious, philosophical, historical and economic underpinnings of modern cultural and political systems will be evaluated in this course. The dynamics of religion and culture will be reviewed in the context of contemporary problems in diplomacy, including terrorism and military responses to current problems.

37. CAPS 408 Major Scientific and Technological Discoveries

This course will investigate broad issues such as evolution, relativity, geomics, plate techtonics, earth systems, digital technologies and leading edge discoveries and how they interact within a modern society.

38. CAPS 409 Ecosystems and Sustainable Development

The ecology and interaction of natural and human ecosystems, including energy systems and global climate change, world fisheries, rain forests, deserts and their implication for economic sustainable development.

39. GRES 400/401 Graduation Essay

GRES 400/401 is an original essay on an approved topic related to the student’s degree program. It will be of a standard format, described at the beginning of the class. Normally, the essay will be 8,000 to 10,000 words long and, upon completion, will be presented live by the student towards the end of the term during a finishing residency experience.