Against the constantly changing background of economic and geopolitical international developments which impact the vulnerable economies of the Caribbean, new styles of management and professionalism are necessary in order to develop policy and practice that are truly informed. To help face these challenges, there is a clear and urgent need for citizens of the Caribbean to be grounded in the fundamentals of microeconomic theory.
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This course emphasizes the markets in which goods and services are traded and the implications, from a welfare perspective, of the various types of market structures. The models examined include perfect competition with an emphasis on General Equilibrium analysis and welfare maxima, market failures such as public goods and externalities, the welfare losses of tariffs, dead weight losses of monopoly, price discrimination and multiplant monopolies. The course is organized according to the following areas: Theory of the Firm, Theory of Perfect Competition, General Equilibrium and Market Failure, Theory of Monopoly and Monopolistic Competition, Theory of Oligopoly, Price Leadership and Limit Pricing and Theoretical Welfare Economics.
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This course examines the economic aspects of international relations. Special consideration is given to the position of developing countries within the international economic system.
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This course covers the concepts, principles, objectives and practical applications of sustainability and sustainable development from an environmental, social, economic, corporate and political perspective. It seeks throughout to identify and analyse relationships between environmental sustainability and socio-economic factors, most centrally, the relationship between resource consumption (individual and collective) and sustainable livelihoods.
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In this course students will learn to appreciate the value of qualitative research as it offers contextual meaning of social phenomena. Students will become familiar with the nature, assumptions and logic of qualitative research. They will understand the available techniques for designing a qualitative research study while identifying and constructing theory.
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This course is premised on the rationale that ethics can be learned. Ethical literacy is a critical priority in a world where some of the greatest challenges graduates will face will not be matters of fact but rather matters of value and judgement. Knowledge of the ethical rules associated with the Behavioural Sciences will equip students with the necessary tools to engage the moral self with professional rules of ethics. Included in the concept of a psychologically literate citizen, for instance, is an expectation that undergraduates will learn to behave ethically and humanely at work and in other everyday contexts. The same holds true for other Behavioural Science areas. Learners will therefore be given the opportunity to relate practical solutions to ethical dilemmas. Students will be able to distinguish ethics from ethical literacy, apply ethical skills to current situations and issues, Use ethical actions to resolve conflict.
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In this course students will learn to appreciate the value of qualitative research as it offers contextual meaning of social phenomena. Students will become familiar with the nature, assumptions and logic of qualitative research. They will understand the available techniques for designing a qualitative research study while identifying and constructing theory.
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This course covers the concepts, principles, objectives and practical applications of sustainability and sustainable development from an environmental, social, economic, corporate and political perspective. There is a natural environmental orientation to an overarching course of this nature, however, it seeks throughout to identify and analyse relationships between environmental sustainability and socio-economic factors, most centrally, the relationship between resource consumption (individual and collective) and sustainable livelihoods. The course examines, inter alia, the origins of sustainability, sustainability concepts, terms, standards and indicators, economic activity/output and sustainability, the role of industry and issue of waste, the issues of energy, water and clean air; environmental issues, political implications and decision-making and discourse/policy trends in energy, resource use, pollution, climate change and water; the three ‘E’s’ – environment, economics and equity; the environmental-social nexus – current and future resource availability and constraints, livelihoods and policy-making; sustainability in the business world – resource allocation, investment, stakeholders, shareholders, public and/v private-sector actors, the role of NGOs, multilaterals, bilaterals. The course also examines the global political economy of sustainability: individual versus collective state action, the tragedy of the commons, sustainable development, rights, obligations, sacrifices, opportunity costs as viewed by the developed and developing world.
