The Vancouver School of Economics (also known as VSE ) is a school of the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

located in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, BC, Canada. The school ranks as one of the top 25 in the world and top in Canada. The school exhibits high research activity and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees.

International rankings and recognitions

The Vancouver School of Economics is ranked: * first in Canada, according to a November 2013 study done by IDEAS *16th in the world (1st in Canada) by the

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

ranking for the social sciences category, which includes economics. * 23rd in the world (2nd in Canada) by

Tilburg University Tilburg University is a public research university specializing in the social and behavioral sciences, economics, law, business sciences, theology and humanities, located in Tilburg in the southern part of the Netherlands. Tilburg University h ...

based on research contribution from 2007 to 2011. * 24th in the world (1st in Canada) by the

Academy Ranking of World Universities An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

(ARWU) for the economics/business category in 2010. * 24th in the world (1st in Canada) from 1990 to 2000 period by Dr. Tom Coupe, director of the

Kyiv School of Economics Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) is an undergraduate and graduate school of economics and management in Kyiv, Ukraine, founded in 1996 by the Economics Education and Research Consortium (EERC) and the Eurasia Foundation. KSE has an agreement with ...

in an independent study that included the use of 11 methodologies. * 25th in the world (1st in Canada) as of June 2012 by the

Research Papers in Economics Research Papers in Economics (RePEc) is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in many countries to enhance the dissemination of research in economics. The heart of the project is a decentralized database of working papers, preprints, ...

. *25th in the world (2nd in Canada) by the Tilburg University Top 100 Worldwide Economics Schools Research Ranking based on research contribution 2007–2011. The school's faculty have won five of the eleven John Rae Prizes given by the

Canadian Economics Association The Canadian Economics Association (CEA) is the academic association of Canadian economists. Its object is to advance economic knowledge through study and research, and to encourage informed discussion of economic questions. The Association will no ...

. This prize is awarded to the Canadian economist with the best recent research. In 2018, Siwan Anderson, a development economist at the VSE, received the Rae prize, becoming its first woman recipient.

Research

The School manages the British Columbia Inter-University Research Data Centre. The RDC provides access, for approved projects, to selected confidential Statistics Canada micro-level data. Additionally, the School operates the Experimental Lab, an active hive for research in the emerging field of experimental economics; and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Economics, a collaborative teaching and research initiative by the Vancouver School of Economics and the Strategy and Business Economics Division, Sauder School of Business.

Academic

Programs

Bachelor of Arts in Economics Programs: Honours, Major/Combined Major, Minor, and Second Degree (third year entry into programs) Bachelor of International Economics Program (direct entry, 4-year, cohort-based degree) Master of Arts in Economics Program (12-month program) Doctoral Program

2013/14 Academic Year enrolment statistics

In 2002, UBC's Faculty of Arts expanded the number of full-time equivalent undergraduate student spaces in economics by 50%, as it is one of the most popular areas of study at UBC. Admittance to an academic program in economics at UBC is highly competitive. Academic programs in economics in UBC's Faculty of Arts are all administrated by the Vancouver School of Economics (formerly the Department of Economics). For instance, for the September 2013 intake for the 85 spaces in the BIE program over 2,100 applications were received; and over 480 applications were submitted for the 284 third-year spaces available in the Majors program. Undergraduate BA programs (honours, major/combined majors, minors, dual degrees) – 1,042 students. Additionally, several hundred students take undergraduate BA courses in economics each term as general electives. Undergraduate BIE program – 84 students for the inaugural year of the program. Graduate MA program – 45 students in the 2013/14 academic year Graduate PhD program – 67 students in the 2013/14 academic year; admits an entering class of about 15 students annually.

Faculty and alumni

The VSE (and its predecessor, the Department of Economics) has many reputable faculty and alumni, including: * Nobel Prize-winning economist,

Robert Mundell Robert Alexander Mundell (October 24, 1932 – April 4, 2021) was a Canadian economist. He was a professor of economics at Columbia University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences i ...

, who studied economics as an undergraduate at UBC. Mundell received the

Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel ( sv, Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is an economics award administered ...

in 1999 for his pioneering work in monetary dynamics and optimum currency areas. Mundell laid the groundwork for the introduction of the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

through this work and helped to start the movement known as supply-side economics. Mundell is also known for the

Mundell–Fleming model The Mundell–Fleming model, also known as the IS-LM-BoP model (or IS-LM-BP model), is an economic model first set forth (independently) by Robert Mundell and Marcus Fleming. Reprinted in Reprinted in The model is an extension of the IS–LM ...

and

Mundell–Tobin effect The Mundell–Tobin effect suggests that nominal interest rates would rise less than one-for-one with inflation because in response to inflation the public would hold less in money balances and more in other assets, which would drive interest rates ...

. *

Dominic Barton Dominic Barton (born 1962), known as Bao Damin ( zh, 鲍达民) in China, is a Ugandan-born Canadian business executive, author, and diplomat. He is the current chairman of the private investment firm LeapFrog Investments as well as the chancellor ...

is the worldwide managing director and head of McKinsey & Company. Graduating with an undergraduate degree in economics at UBC in 1984, Barton received the Rhodes Scholarship to attend the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

. He was previously McKinsey’s chairman in Asia from 2004 to 2009, based in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

and led McKinsey's office in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

from 2000 to 2004. Barton is an established author in topics of financial services and economic development in Asia. He is also a trustee of the

Rhodes Trust Rhodes House is a building part of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on South Parks Road in central Oxford, and was built in memory of Cecil Rhodes, an alumnus of the university and a major benefactor. It is listed Grade II* ...

and the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

, and an honorary fellow at Brasenose College, Oxford. *

James Brander James Alan Brander (born 1953) is a Canadian economist and a professor of Asia-Pacific International Trade, University of British Columbia. He is known as co-author of a seminal 1986 article in ''The American Economic Review'', with Tracy R. Lewis ...

graduated from UBC in 1975 with a degree in economics. He is known as co-author of a seminal 1986 article in ''

The American Economic Review The ''American Economic Review'' is a monthly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Economic Association. First published in 1911, it is considered one of the most prestigious and highly distinguished journals in the field of eco ...

'', with Tracy R. Lewis, on “ Oligopoly and Financial Structure: The Limited Liability Effect”, as well as his work in international trade with

Barbara Spencer Barbara J. Spencer is an Australian-Canadian economist. Spencer received her Bachelor of Economics in 1967 at Australian National University, her Masters of Economics in 1970 at Monash University, and her Ph.D. in 1979 at Carnegie Mellon Unive ...

, particularly the Brander Spencer model. *

Paul Beaudry Paul Beaudry (born 1960) is Professor and Canada Research Chair in the UBC Department of Economics at the University of British Columbia. His main fields of research are macroeconomics, the economics of technical change and labour economics. He is ...

is a professor and

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

in the UBC VSE at the

. His main fields of research are macroeconomics, the economics of technical change and labour economics. He is also a Fellow of the Bank of Canada.Bank of Canada
Accessed Oct 2010) * Marina Adshade is a lecturer at VSE and is the author of The Love Market: What You Need to Know About How We Date, Mate and Marry and Dollars and Sex: How Economics Influences Sex and Love. She has also written a chapter titled Sexbot-Induced Social Change: An Economic Perspective in Robot Sex: Social and Ethical Implications by John Danaher and Neil McArthur. * Gideon Rosenbluth (born 1921), Canadian economist and professor at the department (his concentration ratio

Rosenbluth index Rosenbluth is a German ornamental surname, which means "rose bloom", from the Middle High German ''rosenbluota''.''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Rosenbluth Family History" Oxford University Press, 2013. Retrieved on 16 January 2018. Variant ...

) * Chris Fowler is an alumnus from the department. He is the

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

of the

Canadian Western Bank Canadian Western Bank (CWB; french: Banque canadienne de l'Ouest), also operating as CWB Financial Group, is a Canadian bank based in Edmonton, Alberta. The bank serves clients both in Western Canada and in other provinces. The CWB Financial Gr ...

, a multi-billion asset Canadian bank. * Robert C. Allen was a professor in the VSE from 1980 to 1985 and 1985–2000. He is a professor of economic history at

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

. He is the author of: 'Enclosure and the Yeoman: The Agricultural Development of the South Midlands, 1450–1850'' (1992), ''Farm to Factory: A Re-interpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution'' (2003), ''The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective'' (2009). He was awarded the Ranki Prize of the Economic History Association for his 1992 and 2003 works. * Thomas Fujiwara is an alumnus from the VSE. He is a professor at the Department of Economics at Princeton University, as well as a Faculty Research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Students

Students in the VSE come from many backgrounds and represent diverse and international backgrounds. The undergraduate students are represented to the school by the Vancouver School of Economics Undergraduate Society (VSEUS.) The graduate students also have representatives (1 in Masters and 1 in PhD) that represent their respective needs to appropriate bodies within the university. Student activities supported by the Vancouver School of Economics include the Iona Journal of Economics, an undergraduate economic research journal published annually.

Faculty

In September 2013, the school had 67 faculty members specialize in a wide range of topics, including banking policy, taxation effects, global macroeconomics, labour market and skills development, gender and environmental economics, developmental economics, economic history, and the emerging field of experimental economics. Faculty members include eight researchers affiliated with the National Bureau of Economic Research, six researchers affiliated with the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, two current and one former research fellow of the Bank of Canada, two elected fellows of the Econometric Society, four fellows of the Royal Society of Canada, and one of the Distinguished Fellows of the American Economic Association. Professors Emeritus – 16 Professorial Faculty (Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors) – 38 Lecturers, Instructors and Visiting Faculty – 13 Affiliated Economics Faculty (Strategy and Business Economics Division, Sauder School of Business) – 7

References

{{UBC University of British Columbia Economics schools 1915 establishments in British Columbia Educational institutions established in 1915