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Environmental Economics and Sustainability

Module description

This is a module about the economics of sustainability and the links between the environment and the economy for Master’s students seeking to develop the skills to address real-world sustainability challenges and their ability to work across sectors and disciplines. We will apply economic principles to answer questions about 1) how to allocate scarce resources across individuals and through time, 2) what sustainability means, and 3) how to assess our progress toward sustainable development.  Students will apply advanced concepts from the module to critically engage with sustainability case studies through fortnightly discussion sessions.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims to equip you with the economic skillset to assess policies through the lens of sustainability. By the end of the module, you should be able to differentiate between normative and positive criteria, apply the fundamentals of welfare and growth economics (including the notion of inclusive wealth) to the theory of sustainable development, understand what macroeconomic indicators like GDP do and do not capture, and interrogate the use of the term “sustainable” in business and policy contexts. You will also be able to develop sustainability policy goals and recommendations informed by economic principles.  Finally, you will develop a novel sustainability indicator and a bespoke dashboard for a country, region, or organisation of interest.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Interrogate whether headline economic indicators comport with notions of sustainability and propose solutions from the forefront of scholarship to fill gaps
• 2. Analyse economic growth through a detailed understanding of current scholarship in inclusive/comprehensive wealth theory
• 3. Apply economic principles to identify resource allocation problems and critically evaluate potential solutions against efficiency and equity criteria

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Apply normative and positive analysis methods to contemporary global issues and recognize their use
• 5. Discuss intertemporal and interpersonal comparisons implicit in the full range of policy decision-making contexts
• 6. Critically engage with a variety of sources in the primary and grey literatures to relate the fundamentals of economic growth and welfare in detail to the challenges of sustainability

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Gather, interpret and use appropriate data across disciplinary boundaries to make evidence-based assessments of the sustainability of a country, region or business
• 8. Critically evaluate and challenge economic arguments related to resource allocation and sustainability
• 9. Synthesize novel arguments for or against sustainability goals and policies for a country, region or business

Syllabus plan

• Normative and positive analysis

• Welfare economics (Welfare theorems, Coase Theorem)

• Defining sustainability (Weak vs Strong)

• Comprehensive and Inclusive wealth; the productive asset base

• National and international policies, agreements and action toward sustainability

• National accounts, Measurement and Capabilities

• National accounts, Sustainability in Practice, Informing Action

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Matson, P., Clark, W. C., & Andersson, K. (2016). Pursuing Sustainability. Princeton University Press.

• Coyle, D. (2015). GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History. Princeton University Press.

• Stiglitz, J., Sen, A., Fitoussi, J., (2010). Mis-measuring our lives: Why GDP doesn’t add up. The New Press.

Selected readings from the primary literature, e.g.

• Banzhaf, S., Ma, L., Timmins, C. (2019). “Environmental justice: The economics of race, place, and pollution”. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 33, 185-208

• Coase, R. (1960) “The Problem of Social Cost.” The Journal of Law and Economics.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE

• OECD Better Life Index http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/#/11111111111

Key words search

Sustainability, environment, economics, resource management