This is a graduate-level course in environmental economics designed to help
students understand how to analyze and conduct empirical research. The first half of the
course will focus on conceptual treatments of externalities, public goods, and the policies of
environmental regulation. Restricted to M.A. ECON, Ph.D. ECON. External students may request permission to take this course from the ECON graduate program office. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. Prerequisite: All of ECON 500, ECON 502, ECON 526, ECON 527.

This course introduces the measurement and analysis of income and wealth inequality, with a strong emphasis on its practical application. The course will cast a wide view of the evolution of income distributions around the world, but it will take a closer look at inequality in Canada, the United States, and other OECD countries. The course covers the measurement of inequality in income and wealth. It will delve into the causes and consequences of inequality, as well as public policies toward redistribution as potential remedies. The course will be divided into five broad topics: 1) measurement of inequality in income and wealth, including trends in the bottom (poverty) and top incomes; 2) wealth inequality; 3) intergenerational mobility; 4) decomposition methodologies; and 5) redistribution through tax and transfers. The goal of this course, however, is not to resolve the issues of income and wealth inequality but to demonstrate their complexity. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with the knowledge and skills to apply their learning in real-world scenarios, becoming stronger analytical and critical thinkers and much more adept at assessing the meaning and limits of arguments based on statistics. Restricted to M.A. ECON, Ph.D. ECON. External students may request permission to take this course from the ECON graduate program office.
This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

The impact of climate change as examined through economic thinking and research. Social and economic outcomes, social cost of carbon, policies to mitigate or adapt to climate change, and climate justice. Prerequisites: One of ECON_V 301, ECON_V 304, ECON_V 315, COMM_V 295 or FRST_V 318; and one of ECON_V 326, ECON_V 328, STAT_V 306, or FRE_V 326.

Economic analysis of taxation. Equity, efficiency, and incidence of government revenue sources such as personal and corporate income taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, payroll taxes, and environmental taxes. Prerequisite: One of ECON 301, ECON 304, ECON 315, COMM 295 and one of ECON 302, ECON 305, ECON 309.

Industrialization of an agrarian economy; how the West grew rich; history of Japanese development; technical progress and growth; evolution of the patterns of income distribution; role of international trade in development; environment and development. Prerequisite: One of ECON 301, ECON 304, ECON 315, COMM 295.