Department of Economics and Finance, Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics

The Government, Economics and Management major is designed to lead to an understanding of public sector administration and management from the "inside" - as an integrated enterprise - as well as from the outside - as a series of policy decisions and outcomes. Characterized by a multi-disciplinary approach employing political, economic and business-oriented analysis, students will confront questions of why politicians and public servants behave the way they do, and how their policy choices and processes can be optimized. Management of public entities features a unique set of challenges that arise from and interact with basic political issues like democracy, accountability, equity, fairness, and justice. At the same time, it necessarily faces concerns common to all organizations, such as efficiency, human and capital resource management, morale, planning, and adaptation to change.

The major will appeal to students interested in the public service, public sector businesses or business-government relations.

Students enrolled in the GEM major can choose to complete three of the five required courses for the Certificate in Leadership as part of their requirements for the major if they choose the appropriate restricted electives.  See http://www.leadershipcertificate.com/ for information regarding this Certificate and its course requirements.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the Bachelor of Commerce program, graduates will be able to:

• Demonstrate the ability to think critically by identifying, evaluating and integrating relevant information from a variety of sources to solve complex business problems
• Demonstrate an ability to work effectively in teams, through the application of appropriate knowledge and skills such as responsible decision-making and personal accountability
• Identify and professionally respond to team issues and develop a new approach to enhance team performance
• Discuss and apply principles of corporate social responsibility to business issues and operations. 
• Communicate effectively in a business context through written documents to a variety of audiences
• Communicate effectively in a business context through oral communication to a variety of audiences
• Demonstrate competency and understanding of core business knowledge and concepts.
• Demonstrate proficiency in the ability to integrate knowledge and understanding within specific majors through analysis and recommendation of solutions to ‘major specific’ business problems and business decision-making.  

Government, Economics and Management major graduates will also be able to:

• Understand political culture and institutions and how they relate to private and public sector entities.
• Understand the policy making process and how government is organized to deliver programs and services to Canadians.
• Learn basic problem-solving techniques using tools acquired in microeconomics. This includes, for example, techniques to calculate tax rates, determine dead weight losses of government policies, fiscal equalization payments under Canada's federal system.
• Apply the principles learned in this course to critically examine economic policies like Ontario Harmonized Sales Tax, why it was implemented; the rationale for HST refunds, etc.

Degree Requirements

(20.00 Total Credits)

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Required Core Courses		12.50
Restricted Electives (from lists)		4.50
MGMT*1100	Business Career Preparation	0.00
Liberal Education Electives		1.50
Free Electives		1.50
Total Credits		20

Major

Course List

Code	Title	Credits
Semester 1
ECON*1050	Introductory Microeconomics	0.50
MATH*1030	Business Mathematics	0.50
MCS*1000	Introductory Marketing	0.50
MGMT*1000	Introduction to Business	1.00
Semester 2
ECON*1100	Introductory Macroeconomics	0.50
HROB*2090	Individuals and Groups in Organizations	0.50
POLS*2230	Public Policy	0.50
POLS*2300	Canadian Government and Politics	0.50
0.50 electives		0.50
Semester 3
ACCT*1220	Introductory Financial Accounting	0.50
ECON*2310	Intermediate Microeconomics	0.50
ECON*2740	Economic Statistics	0.50
POLS*3250	Public Policy: Challenges and Prospects	0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
ECON*2100	Economic Growth and Environmental Quality	0.50
ECON*2650	Introductory Development Economics	0.50
ECON*2720	Business History	0.50
Semester 4
ACCT*2230	Management Accounting	0.50
ECON*2410	Intermediate Macroeconomics	0.50
MGMT*1100	Business Career Preparation	0.00
POLS*2250	Public Administration and Governance	0.50
0.50 electives		0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
PHIL*2120	Ethics	0.50
PHIL*2600	Business and Professional Ethics	0.50
PHIL*3040	Philosophy of Law 1	0.50
Semester 5
FARE*3310	Operations Management	0.50
FIN*2000	Introduction to Finance	0.50
MCS*3040	Business and Consumer Law	0.50
or REAL*4840	Housing and Real Estate Law
MGMT*3320	Financial Management	0.50
0.50 electives		0.50
Semester 6
ECON*3610	Public Economics	0.50
MCS*2020	Information Management	0.50
0.50 credits at the 3000 level in Economics		0.50
0.50 electives		0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
POLS*3210	The Constitution and Canadian Federalism	0.50
POLS*3130	Law, Politics and Judicial Process	0.50
POLS*3270	Local Government in Ontario	0.50
POLS*3670	Comparative Public Policy	0.50
Semester 7
MGMT*3020	Corporate Social Responsibility	0.50
POLS*3470	Business-Government Relations in Canada	0.50
0.50 credits at the 3000 level in Economics		0.50
0.50 electives 2		0.50
Select one of the following: 3
0.50 credits at the 3000 or 4000 level in Economics or Political Science		0.50
POLS*4160	Multi-Level Governance in Canada	1.00
POLS*4250	Topics in Public Management	1.00
POLS*4270	Advanced Lecture in Public Management	0.50
POLS*4970	Honours Political Science Research I	0.50
Semester 8
ECON*4400	Managerial Economics	0.50
MGMT*4000	Strategic Management	0.50
0.50 electives 2		0.50
Select one of the following: 3
0.50 credits at the 4000 level in Economics		0.50
POLS*4160	Multi-Level Governance in Canada	1.00
POLS*4250	Topics in Public Management	1.00
POLS*4980	Honours Political Science Research II	0.50
Select 0.50 credits from the following:
POLS*3130	Law, Politics and Judicial Process	0.50
POLS*3210	The Constitution and Canadian Federalism	0.50
POLS*3270	Local Government in Ontario	0.50
POLS*3670	Comparative Public Policy	0.50

¹

This course may be offered in the fall and can be taken later in the program

²

The number of electives will change if a 1.00 credit POLS course is taken in semester 7 or 8 

³

If a 1.00 credit POLS is taken in either semester 7 or 8 this will meet the restricted elective requirement for both semesters POLS*4250 Topics in Public Management is recommended