Department of Economics
C870 Loeb Bldg.
613-520-3743
http://carleton.ca/economics
- M.A. Economics
-
M.A. Economics with Specialization in African Studies (Specialization requirements listed under African Studies )
- Ph.D. Economics
M.A. Economics
About the Program
Master's students in economics undertake a thorough review of economic theory, together with an analysis of the Canadian economy, its institutions and history, and the working of public policy. Stress is placed on the understanding and application of quantitative methods to all aspects of economics. Although the program is generally oriented towards policy problems, there is considerable opportunity for the development of specialized interests.
Academic Regulations
See the General Regulations section of this Calendar.
A grade of B- or higher must normally be received in each credit counted towards the master's degree. With respect to the required core credits in the program, ECON 5020, ECON 5021, ECON 5027, and ECON 5029, there will be no exceptions. A candidate may, with the recommendation of the Department and the approval of the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs, be allowed a grade of C+ in up to 1.0 credit.
Admission Requirements
The normal requirement for admission to the master's program is a B.A. (Honours) (or the equivalent) in Economics, with an average grade of B+ or higher.
Applicants are expected to have had adequate preparation in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory, econometrics, and mathematics. This could be satisfied, for example, by having completed undergraduate courses in the following areas: advanced microeconomic theory, advanced macroeconomic theory, econometrics, mathematical analysis in economics, and statistical analysis in economics. Students with deficiencies in their preparation may have their program requirements extended accordingly.
The Department may require certain applicants to write the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test and the Advanced Test in Economics offered by the Educational Testing Service.
Qualifying Year: Applicants who lack the required undergraduate preparation may be admitted to a qualifying-year program designed to raise their standing to honours status. If successful, they may be permitted to proceed to the master's program the following year.
Refer to the General Regulations section of this Calendar for details of the regulations governing the qualifying year.
Program Requirements
All master's students in economics must fulfil the following requirements:
ECON 5020 [0.5] | Microeconomic Theory | |
ECON 5021 [0.5] | Macroeconomic Theory | |
ECON 5027 [0.5] | Econometrics I |
In addition, each candidate must select and complete one of the following:
- ECON 5029 and approved courses for 2.0 credits, 1.0 of which may be selected from among those offered in a related discipline, with approval of the Department, through the M.A. Supervisor, or
- A thesis equivalent to 1.5 credits and approved courses for 1.0 credit.
Concentration in Financial Economics
Master's students in economics may pursue a concentration in financial economics, in which case they must fulfill the following requirements:
| ECON 5020 [0.5] | Microeconomic Theory | |
| ECON 5021 [0.5] | Macroeconomic Theory | |
| ECON 5027 [0.5] | Econometrics I | |
| ECON 5051 [0.5] | Asset Pricing | |
| ECON 5052 [0.5] | Financial Markets and Instruments |
In addition, each concentration candidate must select and complete one of the following options:
- ECON 5029 and approved courses for 1.0 credit, including at least one of ECON 5055, ECON 5058, ECON 5602, ECON 5608; or
- A thesis equivalent to 1.5 credits.
All approved courses will normally be taken at the 5000 level.
Guidelines for Completion of Master's Degree
Full-time master's students are expected to complete their requirements within two terms. Part-time students will take a minimum of five terms but must complete within an elapsed period of six calendar years, as set out in Section 13 of the General Regulations of this Calendar.
Internship Placement
An Internship option is available to full-time students in the M.A. program who are eligible to work in Canada. Registration in the Internship option requires departmental permission and is limited by availability of placements. Application for an internship placement will be considered after the student completes ECON 5020, ECON 5021, ECON 5027, and ECON 5029 the following courses, or after completion of 3.0 credits.
Internship placements will locate students for at least one term in the public service, the private sector, or non-governmental organizations. Students will integrate theoretical and applied economic analysis in their work experience. During their work term, students are required to register in ECON 5902 (Internship Placement), which is additional to the program requirements described above. While taking ECON 5902, students are considered to be part-time, and may register for at most 1.0 credit in total.
Ph.D. Economics
About the Program
The doctoral program is offered jointly by the Departments of Economics at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.
The Ph.D. program stresses the application of economic theory to the analysis of Canadian economic policy and economic development. Eight areas of specialization are available for intensive study and thesis research: econometrics, economic development, economics of the environment, industrial organization, international economics, labour economics, monetary economics, and public economics. The program of courses and thesis guidance, drawing upon the faculty of the two departments, will encompass course requirements, policy-oriented workshops, comprehensive examinations, and a thesis. Students are expected to have, or to acquire, proficiency in mathematics and statistics before proceeding with the program.
Academic Regulations
See the General Regulations section of this Calendar.
Doctoral students must normally obtain a grade of B- or higher in each credit counted towards the degree.
Admission Requirements
The normal requirement for admission into the Ph.D. program is a master's degree (or the equivalent) from a recognized university with high honours standing. The Department may require certain applicants to write the Graduate Record Examination Aptitude Test and the Advanced Test in Economics offered by the Educational Testing Service.
In cases of exceptional merit, Ph.D. candidates may be accepted on a part-time basis.
Transfer from Master's to Ph.D. Program
A student who shows outstanding academic performance and who demonstrates high promise for advanced research during the master's program may, subject to meeting the requirements below, be permitted to transfer into the Ph.D. program without completing the M.A. program:
- The student will have completed ECON 5020, ECON 5021, ECON 5027
- The student must make formal application to the graduate studies committee.
- Students permitted to transfer into the Ph.D. program will be required to complete the equivalent of 13.5 credits of which 6.0 or 7.0 credits will be assigned to the Ph.D. Thesis, depending on the student's background and grades at the time of the transfer.
- Students who have taken ECON 6020 and/or ECON 6021 as part of the M.A. curriculum will be granted advanced standing in these courses.
Program Requirements
Notwithstanding additional course work that may be required by the admissions committee as a condition of entry, students admitted to the Ph.D. program are required to complete:
- 4.5 credits in ECON 6019,ECON 6020, ECON 6021, ECON 6027, ECON 6900, ECON 6902, ECON 6905, ECON 6907, ECON 6908; and
- 2.0 credits in economics electives; and
- a thesis equivalent to 5.0 credits
Students are also required to do course work in two of eight fields of specialization leading to a field comprehensive examination and the writing of a thesis. To fulfill this requirement, students must pass, within twenty-four months of beginning full-time study, at least two of the three courses associated with each of two chosen fields as well as a comprehensive examination in one of them (ECON 6905).
The courses in the eight fields of specialization are:
| Econometrics | ||
| ECON 5712 [0.5] | Micro-Econometrics | |
| ECON 5713 [0.5] | Time-Series Econometrics | |
| ECON 6714 [0.5] | Advanced Topics in Econometrics | |
| Economic Development | ||
| ECON 5500 [0.5] | Theory of Economic Development | |
| ECON 5504 [0.5] | Economic Development: Domestic Aspects | |
| ECON 5505 [0.5] | Economic Development: International Aspects | |
| Economics of the Environment | ||
| ECON 5803 [0.5] | Economics of Natural Resources | |
| ECON 5804 [0.5] | Economics of the Environment | |
| ECON 5805 [0.5] | Topics in Environmental and Resource Economics | |
| Industrial Organization | ||
| ECON 5301 [0.5] | Industrial Organization I | |
| ECON 5303 [0.5] | Industrial Organization II | |
| ECON 5304 [0.5] | Topics in Industrial Organization | |
| International Economics | ||
| ECON 5601 [0.5] | International Trade: Theory and Policy | |
| ECON 5602 [0.5] | International Monetary Theory and Policy | |
| ECON 5603 [0.5] | Topics in International Economics | |
| Labour Economics | ||
| ECON 5361 [0.5] | Labour Economics I | |
| ECON 5362 [0.5] | Labour Economics II | |
| ECON 5363 [0.5] | Advanced Topics in Labour Economics | |
| Monetary Economics | ||
| ECON 5606 [0.5] | Foundations of Monetary Economics | |
| ECON 5607 [0.5] | Topics in Monetary Economics | |
| ECON 5609 [0.5] | Explorations in Monetary Economics | |
| Public Economics | ||
| ECON 5401 [0.5] | Public Economics: Expenditures | |
| ECON 5402 [0.5] | Public Economics: Taxation | |
| ECON 5403 [0.5] | Public Choice | |
Comprehensive Examinations
Theory: Each student will register in ECON 6900 and ECON 6902 in order to write the comprehensive examinations in microeconomic theory and macroeconomic theory. Both of these examinations must be successfully completed within twelve months of beginning full-time study. Students who fail to meet this requirement will normally be withdrawn from the Ph.D. program.
Primary Field: Each student will register in ECON 6905 in order to write a comprehensive examination in his or her chosen primary field. This examination must be successfully completed within twenty-four months of beginning full-time study. Students who fail to meet this requirement will normally be withdrawn from the Ph.D. program.
Although not compulsory, a candidate may be required by an examining committee to sit an oral examination.
Seminar Attendance
Students who have completed the comprehensive examinations in microeconomic and macroeconomic theory will be required to attend a minimum of eight departmental seminars in economics during each academic year until they have submitted their thesis to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs.
Thesis Requirements
Doctoral students will write and defend a Ph.D. thesis. In preparing the thesis, the student is required to give two thesis workshops. In the first (ECON 6907), a research proposal for the thesis will be presented for evaluation by at least three faculty members. In the second (ECON 6908), a substantial portion of the research for the thesis will have been completed and will be presented and evaluated by at least three faculty members.
Guidelines for Completion of Ph.D. Degree
Full-time Ph.D. students are expected to complete their requirements within four calendar years. Students who undertake the program by a combination of full-time and part-time study must complete their degree requirements within an elapsed period of eight calendar years, as set out in the General Regulations section of this Calendar.
Economics (ECON) Courses
Mathematical Economics
General equilibrium; dynamic optimization; game theory.
Microeconomic Theory
An introduction to graduate-level microeconomic theory, including topics such as utility maximization and individual choice, decision-making under uncertainty, producer theory (technology, costs, and profit maximization), alternative market structures (competition, monopoly, and oligopoly), general equilibrium, and the economics of information.
Macroeconomic Theory
An introduction to graduate-level macroeconomic theory, including topics such as economic growth, consumption, investment, real and nominal frictions in the goods, labour, and credit markets, models of short-run economic fluctuations, and monetary and fiscal policy design.
Econometrics I
An introduction to econometrics at the graduate level. Topics include the analysis and treatment of univariate and multivariate regression models, GLS, IV, and maximum likelihood estimation, hypothesis testing, seemingly unrelated regression models, and simultaneous equations models, together with relevant economic applications.
Methods of Economic Research
Formulation, specification, and analysis of economic and econometric models; derivation of policy implications; communication of results and economic methodology.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 5020 (ECON 5000 if taken before 2012-2013, ECON 5001 if taken before 2007-2008) and ECON 5027 (ECON 5005 if taken before 2012-2013), or permission of the Department.
Asset Pricing
Value, the dynamic optimization problems of firms and investors, risk-neutral pricing, and related topics.
Financial Markets and Instruments
Capital structure, debt financing, options, financial planning, corporate governance, and related topics.
Financial Econometrics
The econometrics of empirical finance including parametric and nonparametric models of volatility, evaluation of asset-pricing theories, and models for risk management and transactions data.
Advanced Topics in Financial Economics
Current research in financial economics. Topics may include theoretical analysis, quantitative methods, policy issues, and applications to the financial industry.
Selected Topics in the History of Economic Thought
The development of economic thought through time in relation to selected economic problems.
Also offered at the undergraduate level, with different requirements, as ECON 4209, for which additional credit is precluded.
Economic History
The application of economic theory and quantitative techniques to selected topics in economic history, which may include historical patterns of growth and welfare, nineteenth-century globalization, technological change, the development of agriculture, industrialization, the Great Depression, and the origins of central banks.
Industrial Organization I
An examination of theories pertaining to industrial organization and their application by way of empirical studies. Topics include oligopoly theory, product differentiation, and strategic behaviour.
Industrial Organization II
Regulation and competition policy as alternative approaches for influencing industry conduct and performance and correcting market failures. Topics may include incentive regulation under asymmetric information, cost-based pricing, second-best pricing, peak-load pricing, rate-of-return regulation, price-cap regulation, access pricing, and regulatory capture.
Topics in Industrial Organization
Topics may include vertical restraints and vertical integration, innovation and research and development, network economics, contract theory, search theory and advertizing, and industry studies.
Applied Industrial Economics
The application of industrial economics, with special emphasis on Canada and the rest of North America. Topics include the structure of consumer demand, firm production and investment, industrial structure and international trade, and the effect of government policies on industrial development.
Labour Economics I
The application of microeconomic and macroeconomic theory to the labour market. Topics include labour supply and labour demand, wage determination, human capital, and the economics of education, and unemployment.
Labour Economics II
Personnel economics and contract theory. Topics include the economics of unions, discrimination, the economics of the household, gender and fertility, and labour mobility.
Advanced Topics in Labour Economics
Topics may include program evaluation, inequality, labour markets and health, labour markets and crime, and the structural estimation of labour market models.
Public Economics: Expenditures
A discussion of the role of government expenditures, both in theory and with reference to the Canadian economy.
Public Economics: Taxation
Analysis of the effects of various forms of taxation on economic performance.
Public Choice
The integration of economics and politics to provide a broader understanding of the evolution of the public sector. The consequences of political institutions for the allocation and distribution of resources. Applications to a variety of Canadian and international policy issues.
Fiscal Federalism
Economic aspects of federalism, including efficiency, redistribution, consideration of a federal system of government, intergovernmental grants, and problems of stabilization policy in a federal context.
Cost-Benefit Analysis and Project Evaluation
Techniques and problems in cost-benefit analysis and the evaluation of public and private projects. Topics may include surplus measurement, investment decision rules, shadow pricing, the valuation of non-marketed goods, distributive weights, and the evaluation of projects involving uncertainty, loss of life, and/or population change.
Theory of Economic Development
Theoretical approaches of the economic development literature in relation to the historical, economic, environmental, social, and political dimensions of the development process.
Economic Development: Domestic Aspects
Major domestic problems of economic development. Topics may include employment, income distribution, choice of technology, sectoral allocation of resources, human resource development, and domestic environmental issues.
Economic Development: International Aspects
Key problems of international economic development such as trade in primary commodities and manufactures, financial flows and debt, the role of multinational corporations, the transfer of technology, and the international dimensions of environmental issues as they relate to developing countries.
Environmental Aspects of Economic Development
Policy aspects of sustainable economic development and environmental quality in developing countries. Topics may include energy use, deforestation, drought and desertification, depletion of natural resources, debt, environment and poverty, sustainable industrial and agricultural development, conservation policies, pollution control, and global environmental issues.
International Trade: Theory and Policy
International trade theory and its implications for economic policy, with emphasis on topics such as determinants of trade and specialization, gains from trade and commercial policy, international factor mobility, growth, and development.
International Monetary Theory and Policy
International monetary theory and its implications for economic policy, with emphasis on topics such as sources of equilibrium and disequilibrium in the balance of payments, balance-of-payments adjustment under fixed versus flexible exchange rates, international capital movements, and recent issues in the international monetary system.
Topics in International Economics
Selected topics in international economics, including theoretical analysis, quantitative methods, and policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation.
Foundations of Monetary Economics
Microeconomic foundations of monetary theory. Alternative theories of the existence of money and the micro-foundations for how money is integrated into aggregate macroeconomic models.
Topics in Monetary Economics
Coverage of one or more areas of current research on the frontiers of monetary economics.
Monetary Economics and Financial Intermediation
The evolution of the financial system and its interrelationship with the money supply process. Monetary and finance theory and empirical research applied to institutional problems in both historical and contemporary settings. Topics may include credit markets, financial instability, bubbles, and links to central bank policy.
Explorations in Monetary Economics
Explorations in theory, policy recommendations, and empirical study. Course material challenges traditional approaches by examining such topics as the endogeneity of money, the role of credit, financial instability, the circuit approach, flow-of-funds analysis, sectoral stock-flow coherence, and functional finance.
Social and Economic Measurement
Index number theory and national accounting. Topics may include: biases in indexes, inflation accounting, the theory of international comparisons, and the measurement of business and personal income, capital and depreciation, and productivity.
Micro-Econometrics
Analysis of the concepts and tools used in micro-econometrics with particular focus on empirical applicability. Topics may include discrete choice models, limited dependent variables, panel data, duration models, and program evaluation, together with relevant economic applications.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 5027 (or equivalent).
Time-Series Econometrics
Analysis of the concepts and tools used in time-series econometrics with particular focus on empirical applicability. Topics may include cointegration analysis, error-correction models, VAR models, volatility analysis, and non-linear time-series models, together with relevant economic applications.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 5027 (or equivalent).
Regional Economics
Regional economic disparities in Canada, theories and public policy relating thereto. Consideration will be given to the concept of regions, location of industry and industrial structure, and to growth determinants.
Urban Economics
The economic properties of urban areas. Attention will be focused on the macrodynamics of urban development, together with the microstatics of the equilibrium properties of the urban land market.
Economics of Natural Resources
The concept of scarcity rents in static and dynamic settings. Basic property regimes: open access, exclusive access and common property. Policy instruments. The importance of transaction costs. General-equilibrium and political-economic aspects of property regimes. Conflict. Elements of dynamic optimization. Renewable and non-renewable resources.
Economics of the Environment
Theory of environmental regulation, including command and control, incentive based mechanisms, effects of market structure, and interactions with pre-existing taxes. Valuation of non-marketed goods, including existence value, contingent valuation, hedonic price methods, health impacts, irreversibility, and recreational benefits.
Topics in Environmental and Resource Economics
Topics may include: international dimensions of environmental regulation, including treaties, competitiveness, and the effects of trade liberalization; development issues, including fiscal sustainability, Dutch disease, the resource curse, and population growth; resource topics, including optimal taxation, green national accounts, sustainability theory, and scarcity of extractive resources.
Canadian Economy I
Aspects and problems of the Canadian economy. Topics may include the economic development of Canada, regional development, industrial organization, factor markets, income distribution, international trade and capital flows, and macroeconomic stability.
Canadian Economy II
Economic theory applied to the workings of the Canadian economy. Empirical estimation of various aspects of factor market operation, production, distribution, and aggregate economy.
Law and Economics
The interrelationships between law and economics, emphasizing transaction costs and property rights. Economic analysis of such topics as the allocative effects of alternative property rights, contract, tort, and nuisance law, and the economics of crime, pollution, pay television, and eminent domain.
Special Topics
Topics may vary from year to year and are announced in advance of the registration period.
Internship Placement
Internship students are required to register in this course during their work term.
Directed Research
A substantial research paper is required of any student enrolled in this course, which is designed to facilitate the pursuit of research on a topic chosen in consultation with a faculty member and the relevant Graduate Supervisor.
M.A. Thesis
Mathematical Foundations for Economic Theory
Mathematical techniques needed to understand micro- and macro-economic theory at the Ph.D. level, and to carry out research. Real analysis. Review of static optimization. Continuous- and discrete-time dynamic optimization in deterministic and stochastic environments. Applications to economic theory are presented.
Economic Theory: Microeconomics
Advanced graduate-level microeconomic theory, including topics such as game theory, externalities and public goods, general equilibrium, and welfare.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 5020 (or equivalent) and ECON 6019.
Economic Theory: Macroeconomics
Advanced graduate-level macroeconomic theory with particular focus on dynamic general equilibrium models. Exposition of the main theoretical concepts and exploration of the basic structure underlying these models. Application to the study of household consumption decisions, firm investment decisions, and economic growth.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 5021 (or equivalent) and ECON 6019.
Econometrics II
Statistical foundations of econometrics: estimation, inference, and decision theory. Topics may include likelihood and moment-based inference, asymptotic theory, semi-parametric and non-parametric models, Bayesian approaches, and structural models, together with relevant economic applications.
Prerequisite(s): ECON 5027 (or equivalent).
Advanced Topics in Econometrics
Coverage of one or more areas of current econometric research.
Comprehensive Examination in Microeconomic Theory
Comprehensive Examination in Macroeconomic Theory
Seminar Attendance
Directed Readings
This course is designed to permit students to pursue research on topics chosen in consultation with faculty members and the Ph.D. Supervisor.
Comprehensive Examination in Primary Field
Thesis Workshop I
Thesis Workshop II
Ph.D. Thesis
Summer session: some of the courses listed in this Calendar are offered during the summer. Hours and scheduling for summer session courses will differ significantly from those reported in the fall/winter Calendar. To determine the scheduling and hours for summer session classes, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca
Not all courses listed are offered in a given year. For an up-to-date statement of course offerings for the current session and to determine the term of offering, consult the class schedule at central.carleton.ca