GY426 One Unit
Environmental and Resource Economics
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Dr Sefi Roth
Availability
This course is compulsory on the MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change and MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environmental Economics and Climate Change) (LSE and Peking University). This course is available on the MPhil/PhD in Environmental Economics, MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics, MSc in Economics, MSc in Economics (2 Year Programme) and MSc in Geographic Data Science. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.
How to apply: Priority: MSc Environmental Economics & Climate Change, Geography & Environment, then other students. Priority is typically for students enrolled in Geography and Environment programmes, or joint degree programmes, however course specific availability is indicated via the 'Availability section' on the LSE course guide webpages. Guidance on how to apply to individual controlled access courses can also be found on LSE for You in the Graduate Course Selection system.
Please note: The number of students that can be accommodated is limited. If a course is over-subscribed, places will be allocated at the Department's discretion and a waiting list may be created. It is advised to have an alternative course in mind as a back-up in case you are unable to secure your first-choice course selection.
Deadline for application: Further guidance and information on course selection for Geography and Environment courses (GY4xx) will be available on the Geography and Environment Course Selection Moodle page which will go live from Monday 8 September and will be updated with course availability information daily throughout the course selection period. This page includes information on the timeline for course selection decisions in the Geography and Environment Department as well as the individual course application processes and requirements
A list of all taught master's courses in this Department are listed on LSE's course guide webpages.
For queries contact: geog.env@lse.ac.uk
The number of students that can be accommodated is limited. If the course is over-subscribed, places will be allocated at the Department’s discretion and a waiting list may be created. For further details, please contact your relevant Programme Coordinator.
Requisites
Additional requisites:
A background in economics and calculus is highly desirable.
Course content
Environmental and resource economics is at the forefront of the response to local, national and global environmental problems. As such, it has become an essential part of the thinking and actions of national and regional governments, as well as international agencies and organizations. This course seeks to develop a rigorous treatment of the theory of environmental and natural resource economics, and to show how formal economic thinking can assist real world policymaking in areas such as climate change, ecosystem & biodiversity conservation and water resource management.
The course consists of four components which cluster together the principal areas of interest and research in environmental and natural resource economics:
PART I: Environmental Economics and Pollution Control
PART II: Behavioural Economics, Evaluation and the Environment
PART III: The Economics of Natural Resources: Efficiency, Optimality and Sustainability
PART IV: Economics of Climate Change and Low-Carbon Transitions
Teaching
10 hours of seminars and 20 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
20 hours of lectures and 9 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.
This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.
In the Department of Geography and Environment, teaching will be delivered through a combination of classes/seminars, pre-recorded lectures, live online lectures and other supplementary interactive live activities.
Formative assessment
Students will be required to solve probelms sets that will be solved collaboratively during class sessions.
Indicative reading
Detailed reading lists will be provided to support each course component. The following texts will be particularly useful:
Autumn Term:
- Kolstad, C., Environmental Economics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, (2000).
- L. Perman, R., Y. Ma, J. McGilvray and M. Common, Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, Pearson Addison Wesley, Fourth Edition (2011), and Third Edition (2003)
- Bondy M, Roth S, and Sager, L. (2020) Crime Is in the Air: The Contemporaneous Relationship between Air Pollution and Crime, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 7:3, 555-585
- Dugoua E (2019) International Environmental Agreements and Directed Technological Change: Evidence from the Ozone Regime. Working Paper available at http://eugeniedugoua.com/papers/Dugoua2018_Montreal_Innovation.pdf
Winter Term:
- Conrad, J., Resource Economics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2005);
- L Perman, et al., Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, Pearson Addison Wesley, Fourth Edition (2011), and Third Edition (2003);
- Arrow et al. (2013). Determining Benefits and Costs for Future Generations. Science 26 Jul 2013:Vol. 341, Issue 6144, pp. 349-350.
Assessment
Assessment Pathway 1
Exam (50%), duration: 120 Minutes, reading time: 15 minutes in the January exam period
Exam (50%), duration: 120 Minutes, reading time: 15 minutes in the Spring exam period
Assessment Pathway 2
Exam (50%), duration: 120 Minutes, reading time: 15 minutes in the Spring exam period
Essay (50%, 6000 words)
Assessment Pathway 1: For all students NOT enrolled on MSc Economics or MSc Econometrics and Mathematical EconomicsAssessment Pathway 2: For MSc Economics and MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics students only.
Key facts
Department: Geography and Environment
Course Study Period: Autumn and Winter Term
Unit value: One unit
FHEQ Level: Level 7
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: 61
Average class size 2024/25: 20
Controlled access 2024/25: YesCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.
Personal development skills
- Self-management
- Team working
- Problem solving
- Communication
- Application of numeracy skills