Economics

Year:                   

Student Name:

Title:

The Welfare Effects due to Canadian Dairy Supply Management 

Supervisor:

Since the early 2000s, the price of dairy products in Canada has been increasing significantly.  Moreover, relative to other major economies such as the United States, the European Union and the Oceania region, Canada's dairy products are consistently the most expensive.  

This paper will analyze the welfare effects due to Canadian dairy supply management through measuring the Dead-Weight Loss (DWL) for the year 2010.  Data such as blend prices, total production and quota values are obtained through the Canadian Dairy Commission and the Canadian Dairy Informatio Center.  Other required data, such as the demand elecsticities, are obtained through a technical report by Moschini and Moro (1993).  Other data such as teh supply elasticity and total discount rate is observed and/or assumed from past work.

Based on the calculated results, it is concluded that there was DWL ranging from $307 million to $555 million in the year 2010.

Year:                   

Student Name:

Title:

The Cost-Benefit Analysis of Building Bicycle Lanes in Truro, Nova Scotia 

Supervisor:

With rising gas prices, the threat of climate change, and the growing problem of obesity, bikeway networks have become increasingly popular over the past few years as an infrastructure to encourage bicycling.  This thesis examines the feasibility of building bicycle lanes in the town of Truro.  The costs of building a bicycle lane network in Truro are compared with the benefits.  The benefits of building bicycle lanes are the benefits of switching from car travel to bicycle travel.  The internal and external costs and benefits are quantified follwoing Litman (2009).  To compute these benefits, it is necessary to estimate how many people would be likely to switch from using a motor vehicle to using a bicycle if indeed a bicycle lane was in place, and how many additional kilometres would be traveled by bicycle if there was a bike lane.  These estimates are found using Statistics Canada census data on number of commuters on each mode of transportation, data on average commuting distance, and previous research on the impact of bicycle infrastructure on bicycle commuting.  Once these estimates have been completed, the benefits of bicycling are compared with the cost of construction of the bicycle lane network to find the estimated net benefits.  Result show that when only commuters are taken into account, costs of building a bicycle lane network exceeds benefits.

Year:                   

Student Name:

Title:

Ocean Acidification Effects on the Mollusk Industry in Atlantic Canada

Supervisor:

Prof. Scott Skkjei

Dr. Brian VanBlarcom

This thesis examines how will ocean acidification impact the mollusk industry of Atlantic Canada. Analysis of the industry over a fifteen-year period is averaged and then assessed using a net present value approach. Predicted impacts of ocean acidification are then combined with revenues in the mollusk industry, different environmental scenarios and discount rates are also considered. The information is then combined and equated with a net present value approach to estimate possible direct economic losses to the industry. Results show that economic loss expected for the mollusk industry in Atlantic Canada ranges between $600 thousand and $2.5 million 2010 constant Canadian dollars for the year 2060, at a 3.5% discount rate. For 2100, the expected economic loss for Atlantic Canada’s mollusk industry ranges between $350 thousand and $1.5 million 2010 constant Canadian dollars. The results represent a potential 5-22% decrease in the Atlantic Canada mollusk industry, and imply that mitigation processes on carbon emissions should be introduced as soon as possible. 

Year:                   

Student Name:

Title:

Supervisor:

Dr. Burc Kayahan

Dr. Brian VanBlarcom