research groups and Labs

Our working groups and labs form the foundation of our research eff­orts, where our faculty work with a number of community partners to advance knowledge and provide hands-on research and learning opportunities for students.

The UBC Research Group for Constitutional Law and Legal Studies serves as an intellectual home to UBC faculty and others who are working on research connected to constitutional law, constitutionalism, the rule of law, the separation of powers, rights and liberties, the philosophy of law, and related legal topics. The Research Group is committed to the academic exchange of heterodox ideas and diverse viewpoints at a time where reasonable disagreement and debate are endangered by political polarization.

Chair Holder: John Janmaat

Partners: Leading Edge Innovation Fund (Province of British Columbia), Okanagan Basin Water Board, Real Estate Foundation

The research program of the RIC Chair in Water Resources and Environmental Sustainability focuses on the sustainable management of water and the services provided by water in the Okanagan region and beyond.  What sustainability is is continually negotiated within and between affected communities, requiring ongoing engagement.  Climate change, together with ongoing population and economic growth in the region, are putting increasing pressure on water and other environmental resources.  Management of these pressures requires coordination and cooperation among a variety of communities, with these communities having differing relationships with the shared land.  The research activities involve diverse disciplinary perspectives and engagement with multiple communities and viewpoints.

Researchers from Economics, Philosophy, and Political Science come together each month to engage in dynamic discussions and presentations of ongoing projects.  Our group fosters a collaborative environment to refine ideas, challenge assumptions, and advance knowledge across these interconnected fields.

Please contact rallye.shen@ubc.ca for more information.

UBC Okanagan’s Research Data Centre (RDC) provides secure access to survey and administrative data from Statistics Canada, covering a wide range of topics including education, health, and housing. Economists at UBC Okanagan access these datasets to analyze the impact of tax credits on charitable giving (Hickey et al., 2023), health inequalities across Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations (Hu and Hajizadeh, 2023), and who benefits from rapid transportation investments (Chernoff and Craig, 2022).

References:
Chernoff, A., & Craig, A. N. (2022). Distributional and Housing Price Effects from Public Transit Investment: Evidence from Vancouver. International Economic Review, 63(1), 475–509. https://doi.org/10.1111/iere.12556

Hickey, R., Minaker, B., Payne, A. A., Roberts, J., & Smith, J. (2023). The Effect of Tax Price on Donations: Evidence from Canada. National Tax Journal. https://doi.org/10.1086/724588

Hu, M., & Hajizadeh, M. (2023). Mind the Gap: What Factors Determine the Worse Health Status of Indigenous Women Relative to Men Living Off-Reserve in Canada? Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 10(3), 1138–1164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-022-01301-x

Research themes

Labour, Housing, and Migration

Housing and Migration:
Rallye Shen, Andrea Craig
Public Transportation:
Andrea Craig
Labour Markets:
Min Hu, David Macdonald,
James Johnson, Julien Picault
Labour Movements:
Manfred Elfstrom
Critical Migration Studies:
James Rochlin

Logic and Epistemology

Philosophical Logic and Formal Epistemology:
Holger Andreas, Andrew Irvine
Theories of Causation:
Holger Andreas
Epistemology, Perception and Language: Madeleine Ransom, Manuela Ungureanu
Social Epistemology:
Renaud-Philippe Garner,
Pamela Robinson
Rationality: Pamela Robinson

International Relations and Development

International Development:
Helen Yanacopulos
Global Governance: Wendy Wong, Helen Yanacopulos
International Organizations:
Wendy Wong
International Human Rights:
Wendy Wong
Global Civil Society and NGOs:
Helen Yanacopulos, Wendy Wong

Population, Health and Inequality

Inequality:
Min Hu, Andrea Craig

Population and Fertility:
Min Hu, Rallye Shen

Indigenous Health:
Min Hu

AI: Normative & Cognitive

AI, Wellbeing and Ethics:
Madeleine Ransom

AI: Politics and Human Rights:
Wendy Wong

Automated Reasoning:
Holger Andreas

Ethics, Safety and Decision-making:
Pamela Robinson

Democracy and Autocracy

Democratic Backsliding:
Brad Epperly
Chinese Politics:
Manfred Elfstrom
Populism and Authoritarianism:
Thomas Heilke
Ancient Democracy:
Catherine Craig
Constitutionalism:
Andrew Irvine, Geoffrey Sigalet

 

Empirical Analysis of Public Policy

Economics of Education:
James Johnson
Criminal Justice Policies:
David Macdonald
Charities & Non-Profit Organizations: Ross Hickey
Government Expenditure & Taxation: Ross Hickey
Sustainability & Resource Policy:
John Janmaat
Industrial Policy and Innovation Policy: Kenneth Carlaw

History of Ideas

17th and 18th century Philosophy:
Giovanni B. Grandi
History of philosophy science:
Manuela Ungureanu
History of Political Thought:
Thomas Heilke, Catherine Craig
Plato:
Andrew Irvine, Catherine Craig
American Economic History:
Rallye Shen

Courts, Crime, and Constitutions

Comparative Courts:
Brad Epperly

Economics of Crime:
David Macdonald

Constitutions:
Geoffrey Sigalet, Andrew Irvine

Evolutionary Economics, System Dynamics

Systems of technology-induced economic transformation:
Kenneth Carlaw

Systems of Regulation and Deterrence:
Kenneth Carlaw

Systems of innovation, industrial and economic policy:
Kenneth Carlaw

Data and Quantitative Analysis

Survey Experiments:
Brad Epperly,
Maxime Heroux-Legault
Politics of Data: Wendy Wong
Voting and Public Opinion:
Maxime Heroux-Legault
Applied Econometrics:
David Macdonald, Andrea Craig
Time-Series Analysis: Wei Dai

Security, War and Genocide

Just War Theory:
Renaud-Philippe Garner

Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity:
Adam Jones

Conflict and Civil Wars:
Helen Yanacopulos

Inter-American Security:
James Rochlin

Money, Commodity and Financial System

Monetary Policy:
Wei Dai

Commodity Market Analysis:
Wei Dai

International Finance:
Kit Pasula

Financial Inclusion:
Khan Jahirul Islam, Julien Picault

Political Economy

Critical Political Economy:
James Rochlin

Positive Political Economy:
Brad Epperly, Ross Hickey

Opportunities for Undergraduate Students

The Department of Economics, Philosophy, and Political Science offers many opportunities for undergraduate students to gain valuable research experience. You can participate in research either as a volunteer research assistant, or through Directed Studies and/or Honours opportunities. Explore your options below.

The opportunity: Get experience helping faculty members, graduate students, or a mixture of the two, with their research projects. This is a non-paid, non-credit based opportunity that will give you the chance to participate in various elements of conducting research. The duties and length of the opportunity is determined by the supervising faculty member.

Prerequisites: Typically, no experience is required, but some opportunities may require the completion of certain courses prior to volunteering.

Consult your program advisor or a faculty member for more information.

The opportunity: Carry out your own research project under the supervision of a faculty member. You can earn three or six credits, depending upon the project.

Prerequisites:

  • Economics: ECON 204 and 205, permission of a supervising faculty member and the department
  • Philosophy: fourth-year standing; 12 credits of PHIL; a minimum grade average of at least 72% in all completed PHIL courses; and permission of the department head
  • Political Science: fourth-year standing; 12 credits of POLI; a minimum grade average of 72% in all completed POLI courses; and permission of the department head
  • PPE: fourth-year standing in the PPE program and permission of the supervising faculty member

Consult your program advisor or a faculty member for more information.

The opportunity: Economics students can research and write a research paper under the supervision of a faculty member. You will be involved in all aspects of the research process, including a formal presentation of findings.

Prerequisites: Acceptance into the Honours in Economics program. See detailed admissions requirements in the Academic Calendar.

Consult your program advisor or a faculty member for more information.

Awards for Undergraduate Students

The Undergraduate Research Awards (URA) provide exceptional research experiences for students at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

The purpose of the awards is to encourage undergraduate students to pursue innovative and original research as part of their learning experience.

Our Partners and Donors

Together, we are making a difference, locally and around the world. Our partners and donors allow us to carry out our mission of helping the community, making advancements in psychological research, and providing quality education in the fields of economics, philosophy, and political science.

If you are interested in becoming a partner or donor, we would love to hear from you.