The First Year

The first year of the graduate program at ARE is spent studying microeconomic theory in the economics department, and survey courses in applied economics, and econometrics in our department.

The Second Year

In the second year, students decide on a major field of study, taking at least two courses in the field and preparing for the field exam at the conclusion of the second year. The following are the graduate course offerings in the Agricultural and Resource Policy Field for the 2004-2005 academic year.

ARE 241: Economics of Production, Technology, Risk, Agriculture and the Environment

Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ARE 201 and 202, or Economics 200A-B, or consent of instructor. Agricultural policy problems in developed and less developed economies. Cutting-edge theory, implementation and econometric implications of dynamic stochastic modelling of markets for agricultural and other commodities. Effects of shocks on dynamic behavior of markets. Welfare evaluation methodology and applications to policy interventions (research, price supports, market stabilization, environmental regulations, cartelization), and implications for efficiency and distribution.

ARE 242. Quantitative Public Policy

Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ARE 211 or consent of instructor. Public policy analytical frameworks typically focus on only one of four dimensions: incidence, mechanism design, political economy and governance structures. The four analytical dimensions can be distinguished in accordance with their imposed maintained hypotheses, or assumptions, and the type of failures that arise. The roles of public versus special interests are modelled to determine the degree and extent of organizational failures in collective group behavior. Each of the four analytical dimensions must be integrated in the design of public policies that are sustainable and robust to an evolving economy and society.