Department of Economics & International Development, Unit Catalogue 2006/07

EC30028 Economic growth & natural resources

Credits: 6

Level: Honours

Semester: 1

Assessment: EX100

Requisites:

Before taking this unit you must take EC20010 and (take EC20011 or take EC20156)

Aims: The aim of the Unit is to provide a fairly sophisticated account of theories of economic growth and of natural resource use, leading on to a discussion of the concept of sustainable development. Though the unit draws on some techniques of dynamic optimisation, the emphasis is on economic intuition and empirical relevance rather than rigorous mathematical proof.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of the Unit students should be able to critically appraise the analytical models and empirical evidence used by economists relating to:
* the causes of differences in long-term comparative growth performance across countries and regions;
* the determinants over time of the available stocks and prices of various natural resources, such as fossil fuels, metals, fish and timber;
* the efficiency and equity of various ways of managing natural resources, including the implications of these for biodiversity;
* the likelihood of economic growth being sustainable in the long-term, taking into account the effects of population growth, technical progress and natural resource depletion. Although the unit can be studied as a self-contained module, it forms part of a specialist stream in the Economics of Natural Resources and the Environment, with EC30029 Environmental Economics.
Skills:
Development of advanced level reasoning with respect to modelling economic growth and natural resource use. Application of economic analysis and modelling to very important areas of economic policy.
Content:
The Unit covers the following topics: The neo-classical model of growth and the empirical record; savings and optimal growth; endogenous growth; depletion of exhaustible resources; management of renewable resources; intergenerational equity; sustainable development. Key texts: Perman, Ma , McGilvray and Common Natural Resource and Environmental Economics Charles I. Jones Introduction to Economic Growth

University | Catalogues for 2006/07