Undergraduate - UnitECC2360 - Environmental economics

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Business and Economics
Organisational Unit	Department of Economics
Offered	Clayton Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Edwyna Harris

Synopsis

Application of microeconomic theory to environmental problems; the relationship between the economy and the environment; markets and governments as alternative signalling and incentive mechanisms; limitations of market and government coordination of natural resource use. Policy options for solid wastes and recycling, local and global pollution problems, protection of biodiversity, management of stocks of fish and other 'commons' resources. Valuation of unpriced environmental goods and cost-benefit analysis of environmental changes.

Outcomes

The learning goals associated with this unit are to:

explain how the economy and the environment interact
understand the economic concepts of property rights, externalities and non-excludability, and how they are linked to environmental problems
appreciate that deficiencies in both market and government coordination of resource use contribute to environmental problems.

Assessment

Within semester assessment: 40%
Examination: 60%

Workload requirements

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities. The unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Chief examiner(s)

Dr Edwyna Harris

Prerequisites

ECC1000 or equivalent