chvandewaal@uwaterloo.ca
519-888-4567 x42463
BA; MA (Waterloo)
Areas of specialization: Labour economics; Public policy; Economics of education; Economics of sport
Research interests
My research interests involve using empirical methods to study how government policies affect low wage labour markets and household transitions into and out of poverty. I am also keenly interested in the various determinants of educational attainment and the effects of education on employment outcomes.
Biography
The oldest of seven children, I was born and raised in the rural south western Ontario town of Woodstock. I completed my secondary school education and became an industrial baker. After a dozen years toiling on the bakery “graveyard” shift; I decided that, for the sake of my back and my sanity, a new career was in order.
I began my studies as an undergraduate at Waterloo in 1999 at the age of (nearly) thirty-one. As an undergraduate economics co-op student, I benefited greatly from knowledge attained both in the classroom and in the workplace. I continued with my graduate studies in economics at Waterloo specializing in public policy and microeconomic theory. In 2006, during my graduate studies, I was given the opportunity to teach a section of ECON 201 and I was hooked! I have been teaching microeconomics at various levels ever since. In the fall term of 2007, I initiated what is now known as the “ECON Clinic”; a place where first and second year economics students can visit for help with their foundational economics courses. From the fall term of 2010 to the spring term of 2012, I served in the role of Undergraduate Advisor for the Department of Economics and in the fall term of 2012 I am introducing an exciting new course to our curriculum – the economics of sport.
Selected publications
- Rybczynzki, K., A. Sen and C. Van de Waal, “Teen employment, poverty, and the minimum wage: evidence from Canada,” Labour Economics, 18(1), 36-47, 2011.