BUEC 479 Government and Business in Canada Syllabus
Fall Semester, 2020
Instructor: Hailing Zang
Office Hours: By email request and meet through Google Meet Email: [email protected]
Office: BUS 340-C Phone: 780.492.7720
1. Course Overview
Rather than focus on what government should do or how business should react, this course will build more around economic principles to showcase how government should support a more functioning environment for business to flourish, and on the other hand, how would business react to different government policies. This course will use environmental policies as a showcase to illustrate. Other regulations will be discussed in the course as well and students are encouraged to explore more on their own about the effects and interactions between government and business.
2. Course Expectations
This course incorporates the learning goals of the BCom program, in particular critical thinking, quantitative skills, oral and written communications, and teamwork. By successfully completing this course, students will be able to, from the perspective of a business and/or industry, develop concepts as to how government should create policies to facilitate better business environment.
3. Required textbooks
There are no required textbooks for this class, most materials are available online. I will provide reading materials during the course of study.
4. Prerequisite
BUEC 311 or ECON 281
5. Evaluations
Exams (35%)
There will be one exam during the mid-semester.
Exam date: October 22
Missing exam policy: if 1) you are living a time zone where our lecture time is midnight at your time zone, or 2) you encounter physical difficulties such as illness, you will be allowed to submit an individual research paper as a replacement for written exam. Otherwise no
makeups for missing exams.
Presentations (35%)
There will be one group presentations during the course. The presentation topic can be of any policy issues that interests you.
Each group should give a peer review of the other groups for their presentations. Peer review mark is an average of all the reviewing groups’ marks, and will contribute to 25%
of the total presentation mark. The instructor gives the remaining 75% mark.
Assignments (30%)
We will have 3 assignments during the semester, each will be 10% of your total.
Letter Grade
The final letter grade will depend on your relative performance within the class. The letter grade assignment will be according to the School of Business guidance.
There is NO makeup or extra class work to improve your mark.
6. The Code of Student Behavior
The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behavior (http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/gfcpolicymanual/content.cfm?ID_page=37633) and avoid any behavior which could potentially result in suspicious of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.
Students should not post any recordings online via social media, YouTube or similar services unless expressly permitted by the instructor. Violations of this may be considered a violation of the Code of Student Behavior.
7. Course Outlines
Week 1: Course Introductions and Overview
Tuesday 9:30 for class objectives and requirements (syllabus) Rest of Tuesday and Thursday asynchronous video –
Concept for the relationship between government and business:
Adam Smith
Milton Friedman on the welfare state Week 2: Basic tools of economics (Asynchronous)
Tuesday and Thursday Asynchronous recorded lecture Week 3: Cost and Benefit Analysis framework
Tuesday 9:30 Q& A for Basic tools of economics
Asynchronous Lecture: Environmental Analysis framework Assignment 1 due on Thursday
Week 4: The Coase Theorem
Tuesday 9:30 environmental analysis frame Q&A
Asynchronous paper reading “The Problem of Social Cost”, Ronald Coase, the Journal of Law and Economics, October 1960, and lecture slides Week 5: A case study: Cap and Trade Policy study
Tuesday live lecture Coase Theorem Q&A and a numerical practice Thursday Asynchronous lecture: Emission permit trading, TEP calculations Week 6: Environmental Policy Analysis
Tuesday 9:30 Emission permit trading Q&A Asynchronous recorded lecture: Standard Assignment 2 due on Friday
Week 7: Environmental Policy Analysis Tuesday 9:30 Standard Q&A
Rest of Tuesday and Thursday: Tax and Subsidy Assignment 3 due on Friday
Exam: October 22 in class – Thursday in Week 8
Week 8: Wrap up first half of the semester
Tuesday: 9:30 wrap up and Q&A about exam
Thursday: Exam
Week 9: Energy policies
Tuesday: Prof. Andrew Leach about Alberta Climate Leadership Plan Thursday Asynchronous paper reading:
Emily Hammond and David B. Spence,The Regulatory Contract in the Marketplace, 69 Vanderbilt Law Review 141 (2019)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol69/iss1/3
David B. Spence & Robert Prentice, The Transformation of American Energy Markets and the Problem of Market Power,53 B.C.L. Rev.131 (2012), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/bclr/vol53/iss1/3
Week 10: US climate policies
Tuesday 9:30 live lecture about energy policies (electricity market as a show case)
Thursday paper reading “U.S. climate policy and the regional economics of electricity generation”, David E. Adelman, David B. Spence, Energy Policy 120 (2018), 268 – 275
Week 11: Reading Week (no classes)
Week 12: Renewable Issues in the Power Sector
Tuesday: paper reading “Challenges for Wholesale Electricity Markets with Intermittent Renewable Generation at Scale: The U.S. Experience”, Paul L.
Joskow, August 2018
“Setting With The Sun: The Impacts Of Renewable Energy On Wholesale Power Markets”, James Bushnell and Kevin Novan
Thursday 9:30 live lecture about impact of renewables to the electricity market
Week 13 -14: Presentation
