Economics Joint Honours Component (B.A.) (30 credits)
Offered by: Economics (Faculty of Arts)
Degree: Bachelor of Arts; Bachelor of Arts and Science
Program credit weight: 30
Program Description
Students wishing to study at the Honours level in two disciplines can combine Joint Honours program components in any two approved disciplines. For a list of available Joint Honours programs, see "Overview of Programs Offered" and "Joint Honours Programs" on the Economics Department webiste.
Joint Honours students should consult an adviser in each of the relevant departments to discuss their course selection and their interdisciplinary research project (if applicable) in each year of their program.
For the Economics component of this program, Joint Honours students should consult: http://www.mcgill.ca/economics/undergraduates/honours. For the current list of advisers in Economics and their advising times, see the website of the Department of Economics.
Continuation in the Economic component of this program from one year to the next requires a minimum grade of B- in ECON 250D1 Introduction to Economic Theory: Honours./ECON 250D2 Introduction to Economic Theory: Honours., and a minimum B- average in the required and complementary Honours Economics courses. Students failing to meet these requirements must switch out of the Honours program. If they continue to register in Honours, they will not be allowed to graduate with Honours. Note that graduation with Honours has more stringent requirements (see below) than these.
For graduation with the Economics component, a student must also obtain a 3.00 GPA in the required courses, a 3.00 average in the required and complementary credits in Economics, and a CGPA of 3.00. For a First Class Honours degree, the minimum requirements are a 3.50 program GPA in the required courses, a 3.50 average in the required and complementary credits in Economics, and a CGPA of 3.50. In cases where a student takes a Supplemental Exam in an Economics course, both the original and the Supplemental Exam grades will be counted in the calculation of the GPA and CGPA averages.
Students also have to meet the requirements of the other component of this program and of the relevant Faculty for Honours and First Class Honours.
Degree Requirements — B.A. students
To be eligible for a B.A. degree, a student must fulfil all Faculty and program requirements as indicated in Degree Requirements for the Faculty of Arts.
We recommend that students consult an Arts OASIS advisor for degree planning.
Note: For information about Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 course offerings, please check back on May 8, 2025. Until then, the "Terms offered" field will appear blank for most courses while the class schedule is being finalized.
Program Prerequisites (0-10 credits)
For entering the program:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MATH 133 | Linear Algebra and Geometry. 1 | 3 |
Linear Algebra and Geometry. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Systems of linear equations, matrices, inverses, determinants; geometric vectors in three dimensions, dot product, cross product, lines and planes; introduction to vector spaces, linear dependence and independence, bases. Linear transformations. Eigenvalues and diagonalization. | ||
| MATH 140 | Calculus 1. 2 | 3 |
Calculus 1. Terms offered: Summer 2025 Review of functions and graphs. Limits, continuity, derivative. Differentiation of elementary functions. Antidifferentiation. Applications. | ||
| MATH 141 | Calculus 2. 2 | 4 |
Calculus 2. Terms offered: Summer 2025 The definite integral. Techniques of integration. Applications. Introduction to sequences and series. | ||
- 1
Or equivalent (to be completed prior to U2)
- 2
Or equivalent
Required Courses (27 credits)
Please refer to the Department's document "Rules on Stats Courses for Economics Students" available at: http://www.mcgill.ca/economics/undergraduates/courses/. Students who have taken equivalent statistics courses may be waived the ECON 257D1 Economic Statistics - Honours./ECON 257D2 Economic Statistics - Honours. requirement. These students will normally be required to take ECON 469 Econometrics 2 - Honours. in addition to ECON 468 Econometrics 1 - Honours..
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ECON 250D1 | Introduction to Economic Theory: Honours. | 3 |
Introduction to Economic Theory: Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. An intermediate level microeconomics course. Includes theory of exchange, theory of consumer behaviour, theory of production and cost curves, theory of the firm, theory of distribution; general equilibrium and welfare economics. The assumptions underlying the traditional neo-classical approach to economic theory will be carefully specified. | ||
| ECON 250D2 | Introduction to Economic Theory: Honours. | 3 |
Introduction to Economic Theory: Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. See ECON 250D1 for course description. | ||
| ECON 257D1 | Economic Statistics - Honours. | 3 |
Economic Statistics - Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Stochastic phenomena; probability and frequency distributions, introduction to probability theory. Statistical inference about proportions, means and variances; analysis of variance; nonparametric statistics; index numbers and time series; economic forecasting; regression and correlation analysis; introduction to general linear models, its uses and limitations; uses and misuses of statistics. | ||
| ECON 257D2 | Economic Statistics - Honours. | 3 |
Economic Statistics - Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. See ECON 257D1 for course description. | ||
| ECON 353 | Macroeconomics - Honours 1 . | 3 |
Macroeconomics - Honours 1 . Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Basic macroeconomic theory, emphasizing the Classical and Keynesian ideas for the short-run determination of output, employment, interest rates and prices in the economy. | ||
| ECON 354 | Macroeconomics - Honours 2. | 3 |
Macroeconomics - Honours 2. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Elements of international economics, money and banking and growth theory. The structure of the Canadian economy. | ||
| ECON 450 | Advanced Economic Theory 1 - Honours. | 3 |
Advanced Economic Theory 1 - Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Selected topics in economic theory from recent periodical and monograph literature. | ||
| ECON 452 | Advanced Economic Theory 2 - Honours. | 3 |
Advanced Economic Theory 2 - Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Selected topics in economic theory from recent periodical and monograph literature. | ||
| ECON 468 | Econometrics 1 - Honours. | 3 |
Econometrics 1 - Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The statistical basis of econometric modelling and treatment of the linear regression model; simple time series models; procedures for inference in linear cases; an introduction to methods for dealing with endogeneity and non-constant variance. | ||
Complementary Course (3 credits)
3 credits from:
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| ECON 460 | History of Thought 1 - Honours. | 3 |
History of Thought 1 - Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The evolution of economic thought prior to the close of the 19th century, as reflected in the writings of prominent economists from the time of Adam Smith to the emergence of marginalism and neoclassical economics. | ||
| ECON 461 | History of Thought 2 - Honours. | 3 |
History of Thought 2 - Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. The evolution of economic thought in the 20th century, as reflected in the writings of prominent economists on equilibrium, dynamics, games, expectations, econometrics, industrial structure, economic policy and other primary areas of interest. | ||
| ECON 469 | Econometrics 2 - Honours. | 3 |
Econometrics 2 - Honours. Terms offered: this course is not currently offered. Treatment of asymptotic theory and classical inferential procedures, an introduction to the bootstrap, maximum likelihood, non-linear models, mis-specification testing, non-stationarity and limited dependent variable models. | ||