Foundations of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

Course aim

This course provides a rigorous introduction to the fundamental concepts and current theoretical and empirical work in environmental and natural resource economics, the basic disciplinary framework within which modern sustainable business is understood and practised.

Course content

This course provides an introduction to the foundational concepts of environmental and natural resource economics, which is the disciplinary foundation for sustainable business. It presents the basic principles of welfare economics, on which these disciplines are based, within economics and in its application to the environment; the physical and economic impact of a business enterprise on the environment, analysed in terms of pollution, through the different categories of pollutants, the way in which pollution targets are set, and the economic instruments, such as permits or trading, that can be used to attain them; cost-benefit analysis, a central tool of economic analysis in both the private and public sector, with a critical examination of debates on social discounting, and on the limitations of and alternatives to CBA; the theory and practice of valuing the natural environment, particularly the categories of value, and the empirical methods used to assign monetary value; the economics of natural resource extraction, and its direct link to sustainability; and the nature and dynamics of renewable resources, with examples of open-access and private-property models in fisheries and forests, the distinction between economic and social efficiency, and the determination of resource use limits.

Textbook(s)

Wills, I 2006, Economics and the environment: a signalling and incentives approach, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW

Prerequisite(s)

Nil

Corequisite(s)

Nil

Teaching method

Note: These components may or may not be scheduled in every study period. Please refer to the timetable for further details.

Assessment

Group project, Group project: written paper and class presentation, Individual written project, Individual Written project, Online responses posted to selected questions, Responses in class small group

Fees

EFTSL*: 0.125
Commonwealth Supported program (Band 3)
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Fee-paying program for domestic and international students
International students and students undertaking this course as part of a postgraduate fee paying program must refer to the relevant program home page to determine the cost for undertaking this course.

Non-award enrolment
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* Equivalent Full Time Study Load. Please note: all EFTSL values are published and calculated at ten decimal places. Values are displayed to three decimal places for ease of interpretation.