Tracy Stobbe, PhD

Associate Professor of Business; Environmental Economist

Dr. Stobbe has taught at TWU since 2007 in the areas of economics, statistics, and the history of economic thought.  She holds a PhD in Economics (from the University of Victoria), a Master’s of Public Policy (from the University of California Berkeley), and an undergraduate degree from Carleton University (Honours Journalism).  Her past research (2005-2022) lay in the area of agricultural economics where she has published many papers on externalities at the urban fringe, agricultural land values, and on farmer’s markets.  Recently, her research has turned to focus on the history of economic thought – particularly concerning literature and the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Dr. Stobbe is also interested in the integration of Christian morals and free-market economics.  She runs a cross-disciplinary discussion and reading group of enthusiastic students called Morality of Markets and Economics (MOMAE).  In her free time, she plays the viola, is learning German, and enjoys travelling, reading, and spending time with her husband and son.

  • PhD Economics (University of Victoria; 2008)
  • MPP Public Policy (University of California, Berkeley; 2003)
  • BJ Journalism (Carleton University; 2000)

Expertise

Environmental and agricultural economics, Urban fringe externalities, Farmer’s markets, History of economic thought, British Industrial Revolution, Economics and literature, Teaching undergraduate economics and statistics, Markets and morality

Dr. Stobbe's current research relates to the interactions between literature and economics, specifically focusing on the Industrial Revolution. This includes studying the economic understanding of major fictional writers at the time, and the use of employing literature to teach economics.

Dr. Stobbe’s past research was focused on environmental and agricultural economics.  She published on the externalities and opportunities that occur in the urban fringe – the zone where country and city meet.  Her papers examined the prices of agricultural land, the effect of hobby farms on land prices and agricultural practices, the decision making by the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC), the effect of direct- and niche-marketing in the urban fringe, and policy options available to governments who are seeking to protect farmland and the farm economy.  Several projects also detailed farmers' markets in the Vancouver-area and the habits, attitudes and demographics of consumers.

Awards & Honors

  • Undergraduate Student Research Awards Supervisor - Each summer, a student worked full-time under my direction on a project related to literature and economics (2021, 2022)
  • Institute for Liberal Studies (ILS) - Funding for reading group - Valued at $7,500 (2019-2022)  
  • Center for the History of Political Economy (CHOPE), Duke University - One of 26 international scholars and faculty selected to participate in 10 days of seminars and discussions related to teaching the history of economic thought - Fully funded (June 2019)
  • TWU Internal SSHRC Grant - Principal Investigator - Valued at $3,000 (December 2010-Fall 2013)
  • Metro Vancouver (regional district) - Co-Investigator (with Deborah Curran) - Valued at $40,000 (September 2009-April 2010)
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MAL) and Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) grant - Principal Investigator - Valued at $15,000 (May 2009-January 2010)
  • Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Farm Level Policy (FLP) grant - Principal Investigator - Valued at $15,000 (June 2008-March 2009)
  • Ministry of Agriculture and Lands (MAL) and Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) grant - Principal Investigator -Valued at $5,000 (September-December 2008)
  • Agri-Food Canada Farm Level Policy (FLP) grant (PhD dissertation funding) - Valued at $60,000 (March 2005-March 2008)
  • Agricultural Institute of Canada - Douglas McRorie Memorial Scholarship - Valued at $1,500 (2007)
  • Phillips, Hager and North Doctoral Scholarship for Research in Environmental and Resource Economics - Valued at $9,777 (2006)
  • University of Victoria Ph.D. Fellowship - Renewed for the three-year maximum - Valued at $15,000 per annum (2003-2006)

Recent Publications

  • Stobbe, Tracy, 2022. "’Where Everybody Knows Your Name’: How regulars at farmer’s markets differ from less-frequent shoppers” under review at the Frontiers of Sustainable Food Systems.
  • Stobbe, Tracy, 2016. "Making Sense of the Dollars Spent at Farmers' Markets” Journal of Food Distribution Research, Vol. 47 (2), 138-161.
  • Eagle, Alison J., David E. Eagle, Tracy E. Stobbe, and G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2015. “Farmland Protection and Agricultural Land Values at the Urban-Rural Fringe”, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 97 (1), 282-298.
  • Stobbe, Tracy, 2014. “Green Noise: Measuring the Value of Agricultural Noise in the Urban Fringe”, BC Studies, no. 183, Autumn, 127-144.
  • Cotteleer, Geerte, (Tracy Stobbe) and G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2012. “Expert Opinion versus Actual Transaction Evidence in the Valuation of Non-market Amenities” Economic Modelling, Vol. 29 (1), 32-40.
  • Cotteler, Geerte, Tracy Stobbe and G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2011. “Bayesian Model Averaging in the Context of Spatial Hedonic Pricing: An Application to Farmland Values” Journal of Regional Science, Vol. 51 (3), 540-557.
  • Stobbe, Tracy, Alison Eagle, G. Cornelis van Kooten and Geerte Cotteleer, 2011. “Farmland Preservation Verdicts: Rezoning Agricultural Land in British Columbia”, Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 59 (4), December, 555-572.
  • Stobbe, Tracy, Alison Eagle and G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2010. “Niche and Direct Marketing in the Urban-Rural Fringe: A Study of the Agricultural Economy in the Shadow of a Large City”, BC Studies, no. 167, Autumn, 105-134.
  • Stobbe, Tracy, Geerte Cotteleer and G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2009. “Hobby Farms and Protection of Farmland in British Columbia”, Canadian Journal of Regional Science, Vol. 32 (3), Fall, 393-410.
  • Cotteleer, Geerte, Tracy Stobbe and G. Cornelis van Kooten 2009. “Farmland Conservation in The Netherlands and British Columbia, Canada: A Comparative Analysis Using GIS-based Hedonic Pricing Models”, forthcoming in Multifunctional Rural Land Management: Economic and Policies, eds Floor Brouwer and Martijn van der Heide, Earthscan, chapter 7.
  • Cotteleer, Geerte, Tracy Stobbe and G. Cornelis van Kooten, 2008. “Expert Opinion vs. Transaction Evidence: Using the Reilly Index to Measure Open Space Premiums in the Urban-Rural Fringe”, University of Victoria, REPA (Resource and Environmental Policy Analysis) working paper. 
  • Curran, Deborah and Tracy Stobbe, 2010. “Local Government Policy Options to Protect Agricultural Land and Improve the Viability of Farming in Metro Vancouver”, report submitted to Metro Vancouver, April. Available online at: http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/regional-pl...

Affiliations & Memberships

  • A Rocha Canada
  • Association of Christian Economists (ACE)
  • BC Studies
  • Canadian Agricultural Economics Society (CAES)
  • Canadian Economics Association (CEA)
  • Mensa Canada
  • Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (STLHE)
  • Western Regional Science Association (WRSA)

  • ECON 102 (now 202) Principles of Macroeconomics
  • ECON 201 Principles of Microeconomics
  • ECON/BUSI 275 Business Statistics
  • ECON/BUSI 276 Quantitative Methods II
  • ECON/BUSI 301 Managerial Economics
  • ECON/HIST 306 History of Economic Thought
  • GENV/ECON 357 Environmental Economics and Policy