Business Economics & Policy

Programs & Courses › Specializations

The Business Economics & Policy specialization focuses on explaining the economic and social interactions of individuals, firms and governments in the global environment. Schulich’s economics electives provide a framework for analyzing economic and business factors that affect corporations and day-to-day management problems.

This specialization requires that students complete a series of elective courses from a number of areas including international economics, money and banking, industrial economics, markets and regulations, and economic forecasting. Students will learn to use economic tools to explain movements in critical variables such as interest rates, exchange rates, unemployment and economic growth.
Professor Irene Henriques, Area Coordinator

Specialization Details by Category

Study Options

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Available delivery options

Direct-Entry 48 to 60 months
Delayed-Entry 36-48 months

Location(s)

Schulich School of Business - Keele Campus

Graduation Requirements

The successful completion of 120.00 credits of university-level study, with a minimum cumulative GPA of 5.00.
The completion of specific courses within the required 120.00 credits listed in the Curriculum Overview Charts section of the Undergraduate Academic Handbook.
Students with a cumulative GPA of 7.50 or above will be awarded their degree “with distinction” (this will appear on both the transcript and the degree parchment).
Fourth year BBA and iBBA students who have completed the required 120.00 credits to graduate from the program by the end of the Winter term of their 4th year of study will be required to convocate in the Spring. Courses taken in the summer following Year 4 will not be counted towards the degree requirements or used to calculate the overall GPA.

Courses

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Students specializing from Fall 2024

To specialize in Business Policy & Economics, enrol in four of the Elective Courses listed below, for a total of 12.00 credits of Elective Courses.

A minimum of two courses (6.00 credits) must come from the Schulich Elective Courses list.

Note: The Economics (ECON) area has be renamed Business Economics & Policy (BEAP) effective Fall 2026. This change will be reflected in the Fall 2026 BBA Handbook, which will be published in August 2026. In the meantime, please see below for the most current requirements.

Schulich Elective Courses

BEAP 3200 3.00 ECONOMICS OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
Application of economic theory to provide guidance for business managers and to facilitate complex decision making in an environment of risk and uncertainty. This course is concerned with the firm’s competitive positioning and as such is designed as an integrative course to integrate into economics a variety of concepts from marketing, finance and accounting. Topics include firms’ boundaries; horizontal and vertical integration; market and competitive analysis; pricing decisions, advertising and promotional decisions; product quality and competitive strategy; and investment decisions.

Prerequisite: SB/BEAP 1000 3.00 (previously offered as SB/ECON 1000 3.00) or AP/ECON 1000 3.00 or SB/INTL 1200 3.00; Year 3 BBA/iBBA standing required
Course Credit Exclusions: AP/ECON 2300 3.00, AP/ECON 3411 3.00, SB/ECON 3200 3.00
BEAP 3510 3.00 APPLIED INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
This course examines international economics from the viewpoint of the firm and the nation. International trade, foreign investment, tariffs, economic integration, the balance of payments, the foreign exchange market and the international system are among the topics studied.

Note: Not open to iBBA students for credit.

Prerequisite: SB/BEAP 1010 3.0 (previously offered as SB/ECON 1010 3.00); Year 3 BBA standing required
Course Credit Exclusions: SB/INTL 2200 3.00, AP/ECON 3150 3.00, SB/ECON 3510 3.00, AP/ECON 3580 3.00, AP/ECON 4129 3.00, AP/ECON 4190 3.00, GL/ECON 4290 3.00
BEAP 4010 3.00 DIGITAL ECONOMICS
This course explores the economic foundations and real-world applications of digital goods and services. Students examine how digital technologies reshape firms, markets, and consumer behavior, with topics including market structures, pricing, platform economies, and digital transformation. Emphasis is placed on applying economic principles to understand the distinctive features and policy implications of the digital economy.

Prerequisites: SB/BEAP 1000 3.00 [previously offered as SB/ECON 1000 3.0 or equivalent], SB/BEAP 1010 3.00 [previously offered as SB/ECON 1010 3.00 or equivalent].

Note: Open to Schulich undergraduate students with a minimum year 3 academic standing
BEAP 4050 3.00 BEHAVIOURAL ECONOMICS INSIGHTS: CONSUMERS, BUSINESS AND MARKETS
Many business textbooks assume that consumers and businesses make rational decisions: making optimal purchases, and maximizing profit. Instead, in this course we use insights from behavioural economics to examine the biases that individuals hold to better understand decision-making. We study phenomena such as why we pay for gym memberships we rarely use, and how companies use loss-aversion to increase sales.

Prerequisites: SB/BEAP 1000 3.00 (previously offered as SB/ECON 1000 3.00) or AP/ECON 1000 3.00, SB/BEAP 1010 3.00 (previously offered as SB/ECON 1010 3.00) or AP/ECON
1010 3.00
For IBBA students: SB/INTL 1200 3.00 (or equivalent), SB/INTL 1210 3.00 (or equivalent)
Course Credit Exclusion: SB/ECON 4050 3.00

Note: Open to Schulich undergraduate students with a minimum of year 3 academic standing.
BEAP 4210 3.00 ECONOMIC FORECASTING & ANALYSIS
An increasing number of organizations make explicit forecasts of the economic environment within which they will be operating as a basis for forward-looking plans. This course assesses the main forecasting methods in relation to the length of the forecasting time horizon. Several systematic appraisals of past forecasts are reviewed.

Prerequisites: SB/BEAP 1000 3.00 (previously offered as SB/ECON 1000 3.00) or AP/ECON 1000 3.00, SB/BEAP 1010 3.00 (previously offered as SB/ECON 1010 3.00) or AP/ECON
1010 3.00
Course Credit Exclusion: AP/ECON 3210 3.00, SB/ECON 4210 3.0

Note: Open to Schulich undergraduate students with a minimum of year 3 academic standing

Approved Non-Schulich Elective Courses

AP/ECON 3200 3.00: Industrial Organization

AP/ECON 3240 3.00: Labour Economics: Theory

GL/ECON 3370 3.00: Industrial Organization I

GL/ECON 3390 3.00: Monetary Theory and Policy in Canadian Context

AP/ECON 3430 3.00: Monetary Economics I: Financial Markets and Institutions

AP/ECON 3440 3.00: Monetary Economics II: Theory and Policy

AP/ECON 3500 3.00: Introductory Mathematical Statistics for Economists

AP/ECON 3590 3.00: Economics of Education and Training

GL/ECON 3570 3.00: Introduction to the Economies of the Public Sector

GL/ECON 3670 3.00: Mathematical Statistics

AP/ECON 3810 3.00: The Economics of Project Appraisal and Feasibility

AP/ECON 4010 3.00: Advanced Microeconomic Theory

AP/ECON 4020 3.00: Advanced Macroeconomic Theory

AP/ECON 4070 3.00: Public Finance I

AP/ECON 4080 3.00: Public Finance II

AP/ECON 4140 3.00: Financial Econometrics

AP/ECON 4210 3.00: Econometrics

AP/ECON 4220 3.00: Topics in Econometrics

GL/ECON 4230 3.00: Advanced Economic Theory

Please Note: Courses taken from the Approved Non-Schulich Elective course list will satisfy specialization requirements; however, they will be counted towards your non-business elective requirement.

Faculty

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Career Opportunities

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Graduates specializing in economics have followed career paths leading to senior executive positions in investment banks, merchant banks, venture capital firms, management consulting firms, federal and provincial governments, multinational corporations and product or service companies.

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