Environmental Economics (MSB350)

What is an appropriate level of pollution and how can it be achieved? What is the best management of renewable resources (e.g. fish, forests)? How much is a nature experience worth? Are policies like the EU ETS, the Norwegian strømprisstøtte, or the Norwegian salmon tax good policies? Environmental and resource economics is a branch of economics with explicit focus on the role of the environment and natural resources in the economy, and questions like those above are examples of questions that students will learn to address during this course.

NB! This is an elective course and may be cancelled if fewer than 10 students are enrolled by August 20th for the autumn semester.


Course description for study year 2024-2025. Please note that changes may occur.

Facts

Course code

MSB350

Version

1

Credits (ECTS)

10

Semester tution start

Autumn

Number of semesters

1

Exam semester

Autumn

Language of instruction

English

Offered by
Time table

View course schedule

Content

The contents relate to environmental and resource economics and may include topics such as:

1. Theory of environmental market failures

2. Valuing non-market environmental goods and services

3. Management of renewable natural resources

4. Global aspects of environmental economics

5. Current environmental policies, among others

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

Upon completion of the course, students will:

  • Have a fundamental understanding of central environmental economics and/or natural resource economics concepts, theories, and models that form the basis of the course and the science of economics.
  • Have an understanding of the complexity and scope of the determinants of economic behavior of microeconomic agents, their interactions, and their dependencies on natural resources and/or the environment.
  • Know how to read and comprehend published research in the field of environmental and/or resource economics.
  • Know different ethical policy objectives such as equality and pareto-optimality.

Skills:

Upon completion of the course, students will:

  • Have the ability to use different theories and models to analyze what drives economic agents in different situations as it relates to natural resources and/or environmental goods and services.
  • Be capable of implementing their own applied research in the field of environmental and/or resource economics.
  • Be able to apply tools from the field of environmental and/or resource economics as a basis for evaluating and developing economic decision-making strategies in both the private and public sectors of the economy.
  • Students will demonstrate the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of different sustainability policies based on economic theory.
  • Students will demonstrate the ability to present a scientific paper.

Required prerequisite knowledge

None

Recommended prerequisites

Microeconomics and econometrics at the master level.

Exam

Form of assessment Weight Duration Marks Aid
Folder evaluation 1/1 Letter grades

The evaluation may be based on problem sets, group work, individual work.It is not possible to resit the exam.

Coursework requirements

Presentation, Quizzes
Attendance is necessary in order to participate in some of the components in the assessment.

Course teacher(s)

Course coordinator:

Dora Zsuzsanna Simon

Study Program Director:

Ingeborg Foldøy Solli

Method of work

Lectures are delivered in English and correspond to a workload of 8 weeks of lectures at 3.5 hours per week. The total workload of the course is 270 hours and comprises lectures, seminars, independent study, or assignments.

Overlapping courses

Course Reduction (SP)
Environmental and Resource Economics (MØA350_1) 10

Open for

Admission to Single Courses at UiS Business School
Energy, Environment and Society - Master's Degree Programme Industrial Economics - Master of Science Degree Programme Master of Science in Accounting and Auditing Business Administration - Master of Science
Exchange programmes at UIS Business School

Course assessment

There must be an early dialogue between the course supervisor, the student union representative and the students. The purpose is feedback from the students for changes and adjustments in the course for the current semester.In addition, a digital subject evaluation must be carried out at least every three years. Its purpose is to gather the students experiences with the course.

Literature

The syllabus can be found in Leganto