ECON10040 Economics and Sustainability

Academic Year 2024/2025

This module is about learning how economists think, how environmental and sustainability issues are viewed from an economics lens, and how to apply economics to understand the world around us. The course requires no previous knowledge of economics and it caters also to those who may never take another course in economics. The focus is on providing an introduction to the discipline that is practical and relevant to understand the sustainability challenges of our time. We will discuss topics such as how insights from economics can be used to understand the causes of climate change and environmental degradation and then design solutions to address them, how incentives affect individuals' and firms' behaviour, GDP and alternative measures of welbeing, and learn about keywords and key concepts in economics such as opportunity costs, demand and supply, elasticities, efficiency, market failures, externalities and public goods.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of this module students should be able to:
1. have an understanding of the basic tools of economic analysis,
2. apply those tools to practical situations related to sustainability,
3. understand the contributions economics can make to the discussion on sustainability issues, their causes and their solutions.

Indicative Module Content:

The main topics covered in this module are the following:

INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Economics as a discipline. The economy and the biosphere. Climate change, planetary boundaries, and tipping points. How to define sustainability. Sustainable Development Goals.

MEASURING WELLBEING
Measuring the aggregate economy. GDP. Inequality. Alternative measures: HDI, genuine savings, System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). Natural Capital.

ECONOMIC DECISIONS, INCENTIVES, AND TECHNOLOGY
Economic decisions: opportunity costs and incentives. Trade and specialization: absolute and comparative advantage. Use of models in economics. Technology, production, population, and growth. Application to the industrial revolution.

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS & SOCIAL DILEMMAS
Public goods. The Tragedy of the Commons. Social Interactions and game theory. The invisible hand v. the prisoners’ dilemma. Social norms and social preferences. Bottom-up and top-down solutions to foster cooperation and sustainability. Climate change and climate negotiations as an application.

HOW MARKETS WORK: PRICES & QUANTITY; SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Suppliers and Consumers. Economies of scale, production and costs. Competition & market power. Demand and elasticity. Producer and consumer surplus as a measure of the gains from market exchanges. Supply and Demand models. Understanding what incentives emerge when rent ceiling or price floor are used. Understanding Taxes.

MARKET EFFICIENCY AND MARKET FAILURES
Market Efficiency and the First Fundamental Theorem of Welfare Economics. Market Failures and what to do about them. Externalities: the side-effects of production and consumption (eg pollution, climate change, health problems). Public Goods and Property Rights. Case studies and applications to Sustainability, Climate Change and the Environment.

INTERTEMPORAL CHOICES
Intertemporal choices. Banking. Interest rates and discounting. Normative and positive views on discounting. Why discounting is a key concept when making decisions about the future of the planet. What are the barriers to achieve more sustainable economic systems and what can we do about it.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Autonomous Student Learning

80
Total

104
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This is a lecture-based module, complemented by independent study. Lectures are meant to introduce the topics, clarify the learning objectives, and cover key content. Students are then asked to complement the lectures with the assigned readings and self-assessment exercises. The readings provide clarifications, examples, applications and additional content on the topic. Self-assessment exercises help the students track their progress and apply what they have learnt with the objective of activating critical thinking and consolidating their knowledge of the topic. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Requirements:

There are no pre-requisites for this course, and this course is not a pre-requisite for moving into Level Two Economics


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Incompatibles:
ECON1046J - Economics and Society, ECON10770 - Introduction to Economics


 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Exam (In-person): The final exam will assess understanding of all the topics covered in the module. n/a Alternative linear conversion grade scale 40% No

60
Quizzes/Short Exercises: The module has a continuous assessment component in the form of a series of quizzes throughout the term. n/a Alternative linear conversion grade scale 40% No

40

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Summer No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Group/class feedback, post-assessment
• Online automated feedback
• Self-assessment activities

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students will receive their grade and answer key so they can determine what they got wrong in the assessment.

CORE The Economy 2.0: Microeconomics
CORE The Economy 1.0
Articles, blogs, videos provided on Brightspace
Name Role
Dr Guohao Yang Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Johannes Scheuerer Tutor