This course examines the economic basis for law and legal institutions. The topics covered include the microeconomic analysis of property rights, contract law, tort law, crime, and the limitations of economic analysis. The appropriate economic measures of damages in tort and contract cases will be discussed. No previous familiarity with the law is assumed. (This is an economic analysis of legal issues, not a course in law.)
This course is a continuation of ECO320H5 An Economic Analysis of Law: Part 1. The topics covered include the microeconomic analysis of corporate law, law and financial markets, bankruptcy law, intellectual property law, marriage and divorce law and the choice between regulation and the common law.
Economic development and transformation of the low-income countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia. Theory and policy analysis relating to the following economic issues in these countries: higher rates of economic growth, the role of the government in resource allocation, the industrial-agricultural sector interface, inward versus outward looking trade strategies, and the international debt problem. The following problems will also be addressed: food supply, domestic savings, tax revenue, foreign exchange, foreign direct investment, high rates of inflation, benefit-cost analysis and economic planning.
This course studies the economic foundations of macroeconomic theory and develops analytical skills in constructing and solving macroeconomic models. This course is recommended for students contemplating graduate studies. This course is part of the Certificate in Advanced Economics.
This course is an advanced analysis of microeconomic theory, including the behaviour of consumers under uncertainty; issues in poverty, inequality and social welfare; game theory and its applications to economics and political economy. This course is recommended for students contemplating graduate studies. This course is part of the Certificate in Advanced Economics.
This is a course on the application of economic analysis to four major areas of urban activity. The areas are land markets, housing and buildings, transportation, and public finance. In each area, we will consider the role of the government and attempt to understand the source of many current urban economic problems.
Public Economics I focuses on contemporary public policy questions. The goal of the course is to help students develop and apply analytical tools, such as cost-benefit analysis, to examine pressing policy issues of our time. Issues include responses to global warming, preserving biodiversity, combating growing inequality, and the regulation of addictive substances. Students will learn how to use empirical evidence to examine these issues. The course places a strong emphasis on discussion, debate, and effective writing about policy issues from an economics perspective.
Public Economics II builds on Public Economics I (although the latter is not a prerequisite). The course focuses on externalities and market failure, and the appropriate role of government in response. Students will study the actual role of government in a variety of settings, with a view to identifying ways of improving economic efficiency and the quality of the environment (among other desirable ends) through different types of policy reform. The course should appeal to students who would like to learn more about applied microeconomic analysis and/or who are interested in public policy issues. The course will provide students with a useful set of microeconomic tools for analyzing public policy questions. Students will also learn basic empirical methods, develop effective writing skills, and apply the techniques learned to examine a variety of interesting current policy issues.
This course uses both applied microeconomic theory and empirical analysis to examine labour markets in Canada. The course is especially focused on the link between research and public policy. Topics to be covered include: labour supply and demand, minimum wages, immigration, human capital, education production, inter- and intra-generational equality, and peer effects. At the end of the course, students should have a firm grasp of key policy issues involving Canada's labour market and be able to critique the quality of other empirical studies.
This course studies the economic behaviour of employers and employees as they interact in the labour market. The class extends beyond basics of labour supply and demand to consider cases when markets are not always perfectly competitive. The course will cover such topics as segmented labour markets, unionization and collective bargaining, unemployment, monopsony, and discrimination.
This course aims to provide students with an overview of recent macroeconomic research on the labour market. Discussion includes theoretical models as well as empirical evidence. Topics include: search frictions, labour market flows, sorting, inequality, occupational mobility, human capital accumulation, and intergenerational mobility.
The strategy of the course is to develop a series of models to examine the importance of money and banks. The topics examined in this framework include: the role of money and the financial system, effects of inflation, public pensions and national debt, and the role and importance of banks.
This course explores a wide range of topics on the theories of money and banking. The strategy of the course is to develop a series of models to examine the importance of money, banks, and other financial institutions in the way economies work. The topics examined in this framework include: the role of money and the financial system, effects of inflation, bond and stock markets, banks, control of the money supply, and international monetary systems.
This course covers a special topic in Economics. Content relates to instructor's area of interest, thus the course varies in focus from year to year. Students require specific prerequisites for each course. Details are available from the academic advisor or departmental website. Limited Enrolment. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.
This course covers a special topic in Economics. Content relates to instructor's area of interest, thus the course varies in focus from year to year. Students require specific prerequisites for each course. Details are available from the student advisor or departmental web site.
This course covers a special topic in Economics. Content relates to instructor's area of interest, thus the course varies in focus from year to year. Students require specific prerequisites for each course. Details are available from the student advisor or departmental website. The contact hours for this course may vary in terms of contact type (L,S,T,P) from year to year, but will be between 24-36 contact hours in total. See the UTM Timetable.
This course provides an introduction to capital markets and asset pricing. We will cover the role of financial markets, project valuation, expected utility and risk aversion, financial risk, general equilibrium pricing, the Capital Asset Pricing Model, Arbitrage Pricing Theory, derivatives, option pricing, term structure of interest rates, foreign exchange markets, and market efficiency.
This course provides an introduction to Corporate Finance. Topics covered include: project valuation, firm's capital structure, dividend policy, management control and agency problems, public share offerings, debt offerings and auctions, mergers and acquisition, bankruptcy costs, tax-influences and bank runs. This course is the sequel to ECO358H5.
Differences in income per capita levels and growth rates across countries are large. Understanding the causes behind these differences is a fundamental question in economics. The main objective of this course is to apply economic theory to understand and interpret empirical observations on economic development and growth. By the end of this course students will have a basic knowledge of the main facts characterizing economic development and growth over time and across countries, as well as the ability of theoretical models to account for these facts. The topics that will be covered in the course include the role of physical and human capital accumulation in growth and income differences, the reallocation of factors across sectors (structural transformation) and aggregate productivity, the importance of the misallocation of resources across heterogeneous firms in aggregate productivity. Key empirical applications include the growth performance of industrialized countries since World War II and the productivity slowdown observed in recent decades, the stagnation of living standards in many developing countries, and the role of automation and artificial intelligence in growth and development.
An analysis of the nature, effects and policy implications of international trade theory; the theories of comparative costs and reciprocal demands, factor reward equalization, international tariffs and customs unions.
An analysis of the nature, effects and policy implications of international finance; balance-of-payments and foreign exchange analysis; liquidity problems and topics related to current problems in international finance.
The determinants of the boundary between organizations and markets. Problems of centralization vs. decentralization, authority, coordination and motivation within organizations. Incentives, ownership and property rights. The nature of the employment relationship: explicit and implicit contracts, compensation, relative performance evaluation, career paths, job assignments and promotion.
(Formerly ECO373H5) The course examines the basic principles of environmental economics and ecology and the interaction between ecological and economic factors. It assesses alternative criteria and objectives for environmental policy. Problems associated with the implementation of environmental policy are analyzed and examined through case studies.
(Formerly ECO327Y5) This course is an introduction to econometrics. Statistical foundations and the interpretation of multiple regression models, with an emphasis on cross-sectional data. Application of regressions to a wide variety of economic questions and data sources, including the use of statistical software. Problems in the identification of causality, and an introduction to methods of addressing common statistical issues. This course is recommended for students contemplating graduate studies. This course is part of the Certificate in Advanced Economics.
This is a course in applied microeconomics. This course will use a series of real world examples, together with theoretical insights from game theory, to answer questions like, why are some industries more profitable than others? Why are some firms profitable while others are not? How can firms create, capture and maintain their profits in the face of competition? The first part of the course will be devoted to the building blocks of strategy, including industry analysis, positioning, and sustainability of competitive advantage. Next we will use game theoretical tools to analyze strategic interaction among firms, such as strategic pricing, entry and competitive bidding. Lastly, the course will cover the scope of the firm and technologic competition. Students shall learn from the course, the ability to identify and categorize major strategic problems, and suggest and evaluate candidate strategies.
This course examines 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.
(Formerly: Economics of Education) For students who would like to learn more about economics data analysis - this course provides an intuitive introduction to empirical methods in microeconomics. The class begins with a self-contained and intuitive treatment of modern methods used in microeconomic data analysis. We then go on to study some interesting current empirical research, focusing on the education field, to see how those methods are applied. The course should prepare you to read current empirical research in microeconomics -- without any preparation, empirical papers can seem rather impenetrable. This course serves as a complement to and a foundation for 'Applied Econometrics I' (ECO375H5).
This course analyses how markets function when market participants have asymmetric information. We will show how asymmetric information may lead to market breakdown and how an appropriately designed contract can help alleviate the adverse effect of asymmetric information on market efficiency. We will cover three types of models: moral hazard, screening and signaling. There are a wide variety of applications, including labour contracts, price discrimination, insurance markets, and marketing.
This course provides senior undergraduate students who have developed some knowledge of a discipline and its research methods, an opportunity to work in the research project of a professor in return for course credit. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, develop their research skills and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Project descriptions for participating faculty members for the following summer and fall/winter sessions are posted on the ROP website (www.utm.utoronto.ca/rop/research-opportunity-program) in mid-February and students are invited to apply at that time. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.
This course provides senior undergraduate students who have developed some knowledge of a discipline and its research methods, an opportunity to work in the research project of a professor in return for course credit. Students enrolled have an opportunity to become involved in original research, develop their research skills and share in the excitement and discovery of acquiring new knowledge. Project descriptions for participating faculty members for the following summer and fall/winter sessions are posted on the ROP website (www.utm.utoronto.ca/rop/research-opportunity-program) in mid-February and students are invited to apply at that time. See Experiential and International Opportunities for more details.