Course:FRE503

Agricultural and Resource Policy Analysis
FRE 503
Section:
Instructor:	Rick Barichello
Email:	rick.barichello@ubc.ca
Office:	MCML 339
Office Hours:	12:00-13:00
Class Schedule:	10:30-12:00
Classroom:	MCML 366
Important Course Pages
	Syllabus
	Lecture Notes
	Assignments
	Course Discussion

Course Overview

The purpose of this course is to learn how to undertake economic analysis of government policies and institutions that are found in the agriculture, food, and resource sectors. This will include both domestic and trade policies and institutions. As policies are somewhat unique to countries, our focus will be on Canada with periodic examples from other countries, including the U.S., the EU, and from a sample of Asian countries. The major topics following an introduction will include welfare cost analysis and measurement, applying the policy analysis matrix, an introduction to project evaluation, and attention to the formation and choice of policies by politicians to reflect the various interest groups and their pressure. The course will also include attention to issues of implementation, and to that end we may be fortunate to have a selection of senior government economists who will come to lecture to our class, possibly after the midterm break.

Course website: UBC Connect

Course Grading

Activity	Percent of Grade
Midterm	20%
Final Exam	40%
Policy Briefs (2) Done individually	10%
Policy Paper Done in teams of 3 people each	30%
TOTAL:	100%

Lecture and Topic Schedule

1. Overview of Policy Issues (3 lectures)
   • Multiple Objectives
   • Economic Efficiency
   • Normative vs. Positive
   • Instruments and Objectives
   • Endogeneity of policies
   • Capitalization of government programs
2. Introduction to WC Analysis
   • Sumner, Alston and Glauber, AJAE pp. 403-424, April 2010
   • Consumer and Producer Surplus
   • Calculation of Welfare Costs; Harberger Approach; Summation of distributional effects (Harberger, JEL, 1971)
   • Analysis of tax, two kinds of subsidy, quotas
3. Welfare Cost Analysis of Policies
   • Input subsidies (and taxes)
   • Fixed, minimum prices
   • Supply Management
   • Trade policies: tariffs, import quotas, sole importers
   • Domestic purchase requirements
4. Policy Analysis, cont.
   • NISA and stabilization policies, not commodity market based
   • Welfare costs in ED, ES framework
   • Case Study of welfare costs and transfers of Canadian dairy policy
5. Policy Analysis Matrix
   • Module 1
6. Policy Analysis Matrix
   • Module 2
7. Policy Analysis Matrix
   • Empirical Implementation with Excel
8. Political Economy of Agricultural Policies
   • Schmitz, Furtan, and Baylis
   • Jo Swinnen; Harry de Gorter
9. Project Evaluation Module 1
10. Project Evaluation Module 2
11. Project Evaluation Module 3
12. Trade Policy: Key Issues I and II (2)
13. Added Topics TBA

Note: Midterm Exam - February 10, 2015