Required in stage
First term
Second term
Both terms
Not organised
This year
Next year
Alternating years
External
Prerequisites
Language of instruction
Duration
Identical coursesSustainable Resource Economics (MMEng) (B-KUL-HMG20A)
Cannot be taken as part of an examination contract
Eyckmans Johan (coordinator) | Eyckmans Johan Aims
The course Sustainable Resource Economics aims to support students in acquiring a deeper insight in why and how environmental policy should be designed from a societal point of view and in what way businesses can deal with that policy. After this course, students should be able to:
- Identify market failures caused by environmental externalities and public goods,
- Determine the optimal level of environmental quality and public goods from a society point of view,
- Evaluate the pros and cons of the most common monetary valuation techniques for non-market goods and services,
- Identify market failures in the allocation of non-renewable and renewable resources and suggest policy interventions to address these failures,
- Determine a cost-efficient allocation of emission reduction efforts over different polluters,
- Describe in detail the advantages and disadvantages of different environmental policy instruments (emission / technology standards, liability; emission taxes / subsidies, tradable emission permits),
- Design a cost-minimizing sustainability strategy for a private business in a particular institutional setting,
- Use and describe the advantages and disadvantages of quantitative economic modelling techniques to evaluate economy wide impacts of environmental externalities and policy interventions,
- Recognize the importance of equity, uncertainty and imperfect information when designing policy interventions related to pollution and resource management.
The course covers environmental and resource economics in a formal and mathematical way making use of analytical, numerical and statistical modelling techniques. It includes applications to a variety of environmental challenges including local air pollution, climate change, biodiversity, and the transition to a more circular economy.
Previous knowledge
This course focuses on students with a strong quantitative and technical/scientific background.
Basic knowledge of micro-economics (supply, demand, price mechanism, (im)perfect competition, welfare, efficiency) is required.
Is included in these courses of study
- Master handelsingenieur (Leuven) 120 ects.
- Master handelsingenieur (Leuven) (Minor: Sustainable management) 120 ects.
- Master of Business Engineering (Leuven) (Minor: Sustainable Management) 120 ects.
- Master of Management Engineering (Brussels) 120 ects.
- Master of Management Engineering (Brussels) (Major Sustainable Management) 120 ects.
Activities
6 ects. Sustainable Resource Economics (MMEng) (B-KUL-HMG20a)
Content
Market failures as result of externalities, public goods and imperfect information
Valuing the Environment: Concepts and Methods
Environmental policy instruments: Coasean bargaining, liability, command-and-control (emission and technology standards) Pigouvian taxes and subsidies, tradable emission permits
Uncertainty and distributional concern in environmental policy design
Economic modeling techniques to assess economy-wide impacts of externalities and policy interventions (input-output, partial, general equilibrium and integrated assessment models)
Renewable resource economics (example fisheries and forests)
Non-renewable resources and circular economy
Economic (de)growth and sustainable development
Game theory and the environment
Economics of climate change
Transport economics and basic congestion models
Course material
Course material (powerpoints, academic papers, newspaper articles, podcasts, videos,…) will be provided on Toledo.
Format: more information
Business game - Interactive lecture
- Interactive plenary course sessions supported by Powerpoint presentations.
- Students are encouraged to participate actively in the sessions by means of, for example, a classroom game, class discussion, SMS voting, exercises etc.
- Optional exercises are made available for students regularly during the course. Solutions to these exercises are not provided in class but students can ask for individual or group feedback on their trial solutions. These exercises are meant to helps students prepare for the exam but are not part of the formal evaluation of the course (no marks can be earned with these exercises).
Evaluation
Evaluation: Sustainable Resource Economics (MMEng) (B-KUL-H75955)
Explanation
Students have to take a written, open book exam which tests their ability to apply the concepts of the course to real world environment / energy problems and cases. Thorough understanding of the subject matter is tested instead of the ability to reproduce it.
Information about retaking exams
The features of the evaluation and determination of grades are identical to those of the first examination opportunity, as described in the tab 'Explanation'.