UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA Department of Economics ECON 365 A1 Natural Resource Economics Fall 2016 Instructor: Heather Eckert Office: 9-26 Phone: 492-7648 Email: heather.eckert@ualberta.ca Class Schedule: Lectures: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 1:00-1:50 in TB 38 Office Hours: Thursday 10:30-11:30 and Friday 9:30-10:30 or by appointment Course Description: This course provides an introduction to the economic analysis of the use of natural resources such as minerals, fish, forests, and water. In the course, we will develop and apply economic models that help to explain the efficient and sustainable use of these natural resources. As well, we will examine government policies related to resource use. The economic analysis in the course will be based on graphical and algebraic techniques. By the end of the course, students should be able to i. demonstrate an understanding of the economic models and findings of the course (for example, the Hotelling rule, the Hartwick rule, and optimal harvest rules for renewable resources), and ii. assess the efficiency of observed natural resource policies. Prerequisites: ECON 281 or equivalent. Students may not receive credit for both ECON 365 and AREC 365. Course prerequisites and restrictions will be enforced and registration cancelled if the prerequisites are not met.
Evaluation: Problem Sets 10% Midterm 1 (Oct.5 in class) 20% Midterm 2 (Nov. 4 in class) 20% Final Exam (Thurs. Dec. 15, 2:00 pm) 50% The schedule for the six short problem sets (1 or 2 questions) is as follows. Problem Set Number Handout Date Due date 1 Sept. 15 Sept. 19 2 Sept. 26 Sept. 30 3 Oct. 13 Oct. 17 4 Oct. 24 Oct. 28 5 Nov. 21 Nov. 25 6 Dec. 1 Dec. 5 The problem sets will be posted on eclass by 12:00 p.m. on the handout date and are due by 12:00 p.m on the due date. Problem sets are to be submitted in the Econ 365 assignment box in the Department of Economics office, 8-14 HM Tory Building. Late assignments will not be accepted. Grades are not given for attendance or in-class participation. Midterm exams will not be cumulative. Midterm 1 will cover all material covered in classes between Sept. 2 and Sept. 30 inclusive. Midterm 2 will cover all material covered in classes between Oct. 3 and Oct. 31 inclusive. The final exam will be 2 hours in length. The exam will be cumulative with greater weight placed on material covered in classes between Nov. 2 and Dec. 7. Please confirm the final exam date when exam dates are finalized by the University. Students will receive raw grades for each component of the course. Following the final exam, a final percentage will be calculated for each student. In translating these numeric grades to letter grades, letter grades will be assigned in an attempt to achieve a grade point average between 2.9 and 3.1. Note however that, depending on circumstances, the grade point average of the class may lie outside of this interval. You are required to have your student ID with you for all exams. University policy on missed exams and term work can be found in Section 23.3 of the Calendar. Note that approval for missing a midterm exam is at my discretion. Students who offer a medical justification must submit the Request for Deferral of Examinations and/or Term Work form, available on eclass.
Students who miss a midterm for an approved reason will have the midterm weight placed on the final exam (75% final exam). Students who miss the final exam must receive faculty permission to defer the exam. The deferred examination date for the course is Friday, Jan. 8, at 9:00 a.m. Please note, as stated in 23.3(2)c of the Calendar, A deferred examination will not be approved if a student (a) has not been in regular attendance where attendance and/or participation are required, and/or, (b) excluding the final exam, has completed less than half of the assigned work. eclass I will be using eclass to post the course outline, slides, problem sets, previous exams, and readings not in your textbook or available online through the library. Grades will not be posted on eclass. Texts: The required textbook for this course is Tietenberg, T. and L. Lewis (2015) Environmental and Natural Resource Economics 10 th Edition, Pearson Education, Inc. Readings may be added or changed as the term progresses. Course Outline and Readings: I. Introduction Tietenberg and Lewis Ch. 1 & 2 II. Benefit Cost-Analysis Tietenberg and Lewis Ch. 3 III. Efficiency and Sustainability Tietenberg and Lewis Ch. 5 Solow, R. (1991) Sustainability: An Economist s Perspective, http://www.isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic203569.files/solow.sustainability_ An_Economists_Perspective._1993.pdf
IV. Extraction of Non-Renewable Resources Tietenberg and Lewis Ch. 6 Solow, R. (1974), The Economics of Resources or the Resources of Economics, The American Economic Review (Papers and Proceedings), 64(2), 1-14. V. Management of Resources a. Water Tietenberg and Lewis, Ch. 9 b. Land Tietenberg and Lewis, Ch. 10 c. Forestry Tietenberg and Lewis, Ch. 11 d. Fisheries Tietenberg and Lewis, Ch. 12 VI. Resources and Development Tietenberg and Lewis, Ch. 20 University Guidelines Policy about course outlines can be found in ' 23.4(2) of the University Calendar. (GFC 29 SEP 2003). The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of
Student Behaviour (online at www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University. (GFC 29 SEP 2003) The following is an excerpt from the Code of Student Behavior, which may be obtained from the University Secretariat web site: http://www.ualberta.ca/~unisecr/policy/sec30.html. 30.3.2 Inappropriate Academic Behaviour 30.3.2(1) Plagiarism No Student shall submit the words, ideas, images or data of another person as the Student s own in any academic writing, essay, thesis, project, assignment, presentation or poster in a course or program of study. 30.3.2(2) Cheating 30.3.2(2) a No Student shall in the course of an examination or other similar activity, obtain or attempt to obtain information from another Student or other unauthorized source, give or attempt to give information to another Student, or use, attempt to use or possess for the purposes of use any unauthorized material. 30.3.2(2) b No Student shall represent or attempt to represent him or herself as another or have or attempt to have himself or herself represented by another in the taking of an examination, preparation of a paper or other similar activity. See also misrepresentation in 30.3.6(4). 30.3.2(2) c No Student shall represent another s substantial editorial or compositional assistance on an assignment as the Student s own work. 30.3.2(2) d No Student shall submit in any course or program of study, without the written approval of the course Instructor, all or a substantial portion of any academic writing, essay, thesis, research report, project, assignment, presentation or poster for which credit has previously been obtained by the Student or which has been or is being submitted by the Student in another course or program of study in the University or elsewhere. 30.3.2(2) e No Student shall submit in any course or program of study any academic writing, essay, thesis, report, project, assignment, presentation or poster containing a statement of fact known by the Student to be false or a reference to a source the Student knows to contain fabricated claims (unless acknowledged by the Student), or a fabricated reference to a source.
30.3.2(3) Misuse of Confidential Materials No Student shall procure, distribute, or receive any confidential academic material such as pending examinations, laboratory results or the contents thereof from any source without prior and express consent of the Instructor. 30.3.2(4) Research and Scholarship Misconduct 30.3.2(4) a No Student shall violate the University of Alberta Research and Scholarship Integrity Policy, as set out in 96.2 of the GFC Policy Manual or any other University regulation concerning academic matters. 30.3.2(4) b Where a Student is charged with the academic offence of research and scholarship misconduct, the special requirements for communication and documentation imposed by 96.2 of the GFC Policy Manual shall constitute part of the procedures outlined below.