Course

Introduction to Model Building in Economics and Commerce

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Economics
Course code
ECON 4412
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks X 4 Hours per Week = 60 Hours
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course will involve the student in the task of forming explicit quantitative models as they are used in economics and commerce. Quantification and types and sources of data available to economics and commerce students are considered. Emphasis is on the development of the skills needed in empirical model building.
Course content
  1. Properties of models.
  2. Nature of modeling processes.
  3. Deductive logic and syllogisms.
  4. Probability.
  5. Source of data.
  6. Data quality.
  7. Decision trees and utility.
  8. Indifference curve models.
  9. Linear programming models.
  10. Exchange models.
  11. Learning models.
  12. Diffusion models.
Learning activities

Lectures and a weekly seminar, which will be devoted to problems.

Means of assessment
Final examination 30% - 40%
Mid-term examination 30% - 70%
Assignments (3 or more)           0% - 30%
Participation   0% - 15%
Total         100%

THERE WILL BE A MINIMUM OF THREE (3) EVALUATIONS.

Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  1. demonstrate the ability to think analytically about human behaviour;
  2. develop models relevant to economic analysis;
  3. evaluate a model’s implications and quantitatively confirm or refute the model’s consequences.
Textbook materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students

Love, Charles A., and James G. March, An Introduction to Models in the Social Sciences, Latest Edition.  Harper and Row, New York.

Requisites

Prerequisites

(MATH 12 or MATH 102) and ECON 1150 and ECON 1250

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

Courses listed here are equivalent to this course and cannot be taken for further credit:

  • No equivalency courses

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for ECON 4412
Langara College (LANG) LANG ECON 2XXX (3)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025