Unit convenor and teaching staff |
Unit convenor and teaching staff
Unit Convenor
Ram Ranjan
Contact via ram.ranjan@mq.edu.au
Building E7A, Room 730
strictly by appointment
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Credit points |
Credit points
3
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Prerequisites |
Prerequisites
12cp
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Corequisites |
Corequisites
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Co-badged status |
Co-badged status
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Unit description |
Unit description
This unit is designed to provide students with an introductory exposure to environmental economics. In addition to dwelling on the key concepts, tools and methods used in environmental economics, the unit provides an understanding as to why it is crucial to incorporate the environment as a factor of production in our economy, what the key challenges are in doing so and how effective the available policy instruments are. Several topics such as the economics of climate change, economics of land use development and urban planning, and sustainable development will be covered in order to highlight the role environmental economics plays in addressing contemporary societal challenges. The emphasis of this unit is also on helping students develop a set of basic analytical and mathematical tools that could be used to assess and derive practical policy recommendations. The unit builds on several real case studies that provide students with a hands-on introduction to basic cost-benefit analysis (using Excel) involving future discounting and uncertainty.
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Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
Name | Weighting | Due |
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Assignment 1 | 15% | March 28 |
Mid-Term Exam | 30% | April 11 |
Assignment 2 | 15% | May 30, June 6 |
Final Exam | 40% | June 13 |
Due: March 28
Weighting: 15%
The First assignment involves cost-benefit/wtp analysis through the use of excel (15 marks out of 100)--This assignment is given after the first (or second) lecture when students are made familiar with CBA and willingness to pay (wtp) techniques in Excel.
A hard copy of the assignment is due on March 28. An electronic copy detailed all calculations in excel, must be submitted by email by the due date.
Due: April 11
Weighting: 30%
covers course material in lectures 1-5.
This is a closed book exam. Maximum time allowed will be 90 minutes.
Due: May 30, June 6
Weighting: 15%
The second assignment has two parts: first part-- project report preparation (10 marks out of 100) and second part-- presentation (5 marks out of 100)--This assignment is handed out in the post-mid term session and students normally have 3-4 weeks to work on the report.
A hard copy of the project report will be due in class on May 30 (an electronic copy must be submitted by email as well).
The report must not exceed 2 pages in length (single spaced and 12 font size). References will not count towards the page limit.
Additional rules over how to allocate individual contributions on the project within the group and details over topics to be worked on will be provided on iLearn.
Each student within a group must present a part of the project findings.
Presentations are due in class on June 6.
Due: June 13
Weighting: 40%
mostly covers post-mid term course materials. May cover one or two topics from the pre-mid term.
This is a closed book exam, maximum time allowed will be 100 minutes.
Reading materials including lecture notes are provided on iLearn.
Note: iLectures are not provided for this course and students are required to attend ALL lectures, as most of the learning takes through classroom interactions.
Technology used: iLearn, computers for performing excel examples, MS office software, etc.
Please refer to MQ timetable for teaching dates and location
(This is tentative schedule as some topics may require more than a week to cover)
Week 1---Introduction to basic microeconomics.
Economy and the Environment: Production Function, GDP and Sustainability
Green Accounting: The case for counting environmental degradation as capital depreciation
Case Study: Are we being served, Economist article
Week 2---Environmental Challenges: Market Failure, Externalities, Property Rights
Case Study: Paul Krugman: California Death Spiral
Week 3---Valuing the Environment, CBA, value of water
Case Study: Valuing Biodiversity By Partha Dasgupta
Week 4---Industry production and pollution abatement costs; Health impacts of industrial/environmental pollution, Environmental Kuznets Curve
Case Study: The Economics of Pollution Control, by Daniel Phaneuf
Week 5---Policy Instruments: Taxes/Quotas, Subsidies and Regulations: Controlling point and non-point sources of pollution
Case Study TBA
Week 6---Mid Term Exam
Week 7---The Economics of Climate Change: Environmental damages and cost benefit accounting.
Case Study TBA
Week 8---Understanding and managing catastrophic possibilities: Risks: objective versus subjective risks, mitigation versus adaptation tradeoffs, role of risk perception in decision making
Case Study TBA
Week 9---Urban Growth and the Environment: The political economy of urbanization, role of property taxes, environmental impacts
Case Study TBA
Week 10---Economics of Transport/Infrastructure: Sustainable options, renewable and non-renewable resources, Fuel Efficiency and Rebound effect
Case Study TBA
Week 11---Economics of Land use Planning: Urban sprawl, land use and water scarcity—agriculture versus urbanization
Case Study TBA
Week 12---Urbanization, energy dependence and health impacts of urban sprawl
Economics of renewable and non-Renewable Resources: Fisheries/Oil
Week 13---Final Exam
Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:
Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html
Assessment Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html
Grading Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html
Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html
Grievance Management Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grievance_management/policy.html
Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.
In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.
Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/
Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/
Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.
Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.
For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au
For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://informatics.mq.edu.au/help/.
When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.
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