The Economics of Sustainable Development
Information from the course leader
A warm welcome to the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the course The Economics of Sustainable Development!
Below, you will find general information about the student account, registration for the course and other practical information.
The student account
You will need your student account to access e.g. your e-mail, Ladok and Canvas. For information regarding how to create your student account, follow this link: https://student.slu.se/en/study-support/it-support/support/new-student---start/
Registration for the course
Self-registration for the course is done in Ladok between 2023-10-17–2023-10-31. Remember that you must be admitted and registered in Ladok to be able take the course. Having access to Canvas does not mean you are registered in the course and without registration, you are risking losing your place in the course. If you have been admitted to the course with conditions, you need to send your credit list to the course leader who will review it and decide if you can register. Do this as soon as possible as reviewing credits may take a few days due to the course start.
Educational support
If you are entitled extra educational support, please inform the course leader at the start of the course so that special arrangements can be made.
For educational support for an exam, see instructions in the exam registration in Ladok Student. You need to register for alternative exam arrangements no later than 10 workings days prior to the examination day. More information here: https://student.slu.se/en/study-support/study-support/funka/.
Discontinuation of a course
If you want to discontinue the course, you should immediately notify the educational administrators at econ-edu@slu.se, who in turn will inform the course leader and register a non-completion of the course in Ladok after your approval. You are also able to register an early non-completion of the course (within three weeks after course start) in Ladok yourself.
Exams
You need to register for exams in Ladok. The registration closes 10 working days prior to the exam. You can find your anonymity code in Ladok Student. It's not possible to register for the exam after the deadline has passed.
On Wednesdays between 12:30-14:30 we have an exam hand out at the department (Ulls hus, 4th floor). Please remember to bring your ID-card.
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Do not hesitate to contact us at econ-edu@slu.se if you have any questions!
Kind regards,
The educational administrators
Course evaluation
The course evaluation is now closed
HU0009-20185 - Course evaluation report
Once the evaluation is closed, the course coordinator and student representative have 1 month to draft their comments. The comments will be published in the evaluation report.
Additional course evaluations for HU0009
Academic year 2024/2025
The Economics of Sustainable Development (HU0009-20135)
2024-11-01 - 2025-01-19
Syllabus and other information
Syllabus
HU0009 The Economics of Sustainable Development, 15.0 Credits
Nationalekonomisk analys av hållbar utvecklingSubjects
Sustainable DevelopmentEducation cycle
Bachelor’s levelModules
| Title | Credits | Code |
|---|---|---|
| Single module | 15.0 | 0001 |
Advanced study in the main field
First cycle, has less than 60 credits in first-cycle course/s as entry requirementsBachelor’s level (G1F)
Grading scale
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.
Language
EnglishPrior knowledge
Knowledge equivalent to30 credits sustainable development
English 6
Exemption granted from the general entry requirement of Swedish.
Objectives
The aim of the course is for students to gain a broad understanding of how the tools of economic analysis can be used to help us to understand sustainable development in all three dimensions – ecological, social, and economic. This includes understanding historical developments, interpreting the current global situation, predicting future developments, and analyzing how the current trajectory of sustainability can be changed through policy interventions. Students will also gain a critical understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of economic analysis in relation to other methodologies, and hone their skills in data analysis, scientific writing, and presentation.
After completing the course, the student should be able to:
- describe the fundamental mechanisms in the malthusian economy, link these mechanisms to real-world examples, and simulate them in a simple computer model
- explain the historical links between technological progress and economic growth, and their combined effects on natural resource extraction and energy use, biodiversity, and inequality both within and between nations
- detail the broad contours of quantitative data regarding the current global situation (including the direction of change) in relation to sustainable development, in particular population, income, health, happiness, non-renewable natural resources, biodiversity, and inequality
- explain how different researchers draw different conclusions on the basis of these data, in relation to the three dimensions of sustainability
- explain the mechanism behind the frequently-observed rise and fall of emissions of specific pollutants in specific places, and critically analyze the implications of this mechanism for future global sustainable development
- discuss the mechanisms behind changes in inequality both within and between nations, including both income and health outcomes, and discuss possible future scenarios regarding both policy and outcomes
- discuss the future of work, consumption, and economic growth from the perspective of the three dimensions of sustainability
- analyze the role of individuals, states (including sweden in particular), and multilateral organizations (including the un, imf and the world bank) in relation to sustainability in all three dimensions, accounting for the importance of economic instruments
- discuss in depth a specific question related to sustainability in relation to literature from different perspectives, and through the lens of the methods learned in the course.
Content
Subject content:
Part 1, How we arrived at our current position: (i) the Malthusian economy, population dynamics, and interlinkages with nature; (ii) technological innovation, the demographic transition, and industrialization.
Part 2, Where are we now: (i) study of data on technology and population, health, wealth, happiness, environment and natural resources, and inequality; (ii) alternative interpretations of the data, exemplified by for instance Gapminder and the late Hans Rosling, and Johan Rockström and the idea of planetary boundaries.
Part 3, Projecting future trends with the help of theory and data: (i) technological progress, labour supply, and economic growth; (ii) polluting emissions and the degradation of natural resources and nature, including the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis; (iii) health and inequality, both between countries and individuals.
Part 4, Where we should be heading, and how to get there: (i) the role of policy with regard to the rate and direction of technological change, firms’ production choices, and household labour supply and consumption patterns; (ii) the keys to reaching the SDGs and other sustainability goals.
Course implementation:
The course uses different teaching methods to promote students’ learning and discussions through:
Lectures, literature studies, seminars and project work.
The course focuses on the following general competences:
Critical thinking, problem solving, scientific methods, oral communication, written communication.
The following components are compulsory:
Attendance at seminars and guest lectures.
Grading form
The grade requirements within the course grading system are set out in specific criteria. These criteria must be available by the course start at the latest.Formats and requirements for examination
Passed written examination.
Approved written presentation of project work.
Approved oral presentation.
Approved participation in compulsory components.
If a student has failed an examination, the examiner has the right to issue supplementary assignments. This applies if it is possible and there are grounds to do so.
The examiner can provide an adapted assessment to students entitled to study support for students with disabilities following a decision by the university. Examiners may also issue an adapted examination or provide an alternative way for the students to take the exam.
If this syllabus is withdrawn, SLU may introduce transitional provisions for examining students admitted based on this syllabus and who have not yet passed the course.
For the assessment of an independent project (degree project), the examiner may also allow a student to add supplemental information after the deadline for submission. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Other information
The right to participate in teaching and/or supervision only applies for the course instance the student was admitted to and registered on.
If there are special reasons, students are entitled to participate in components with compulsory attendance when the course is given again. Read more in the Education Planning and Administration Handbook.
Responsible department
Department of Economics
Litterature list
Economics of Sustainable Development - Literature
Instructors: Rob Hart and Pedro Naso
November - January 2023
The following literature will be used during the course. References marked with an asterisk are recommended but not required reading. Note that for some of the topics lecture notes – which will be published at the beginning of the course period – will also be essential reading.
Module 1 – Malthus
Oded Galor, The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality. Penguin, 2022. Chapters 1–3.
Our World in Data – Population Growth. https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth.
*Our World in Data – Demographic Transition https://ourworldindata.org/age-structure#:~:text=In%201950%20there%20were%202.5,understand%20this%20enormous%20global%20transformation.
Module 2 – Technological Progress
Basic level background on economic growth from Our World in Data: https://ourworldindata.org/what-is-economic-growth.
Advanced background on the theory of economic growth and technological progress: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/sjoe.12370.
Module 3 – Data Knowledge
Our World in Data – Population Growth: https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth.
Our World in Data – Economic Growth: https://ourworldindata.org/economic-growth.
Our World in Data – Life Expectancy: https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy.
Our World in Data – Life Satisfaction: https://ourworldindata.org/happiness-and-life-satisfaction.
*Andrew Oswald, The Economics of Happiness (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1JUAC_UkDk&ab_channel=FullCircleBrussels).
Module 4 – Data Interpretation
The Limits to Growth, Meadows. See especially the Introduction, and Figure 35 on page 124: https://www.donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Limits-to-Growth-digital-scan-version.pdf.
The Population Bomb, Ehrlich. See for instance the prologue, and pages 1–33: http://pinguet.free.fr/ehrlich68.pdf.
Solow 1973, Is the end of the world at hand? https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40719094.pdf.
Planetary boundaries: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1259855.
Doughnut economics, Raworth. See especially pages 42–50 of the following download: https://fenix.tecnico.ulisboa.pt/downloadFile/845043405579281/Raworth%20(2017)%20Doughnut%20Economics.pdf.
Toll, Costs and benefits of the Paris climate targets. https://www.worldscientific.com/doi/epdf/10.1142/S2010007823400031.
Pindyck, Climate change policy. ‘Official’ link: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.51.3.860. Downloadable version: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w19244/w19244.pdf.
Module 5 - Social sustainability, focus on inequality, population, and health
Our World in Data – Global Economic Inequality: https://ourworldindata.org/economic-inequality.
United Nations, World Population Prospects 2022: https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/wpp2022_summary_of_results.pdf. Only the ‘Key Messages’ Section and pages 13–25.
World Inequality Lab, World Inequality Report 2022: https://wir2022.wid.world/www-site/uploads/2022/03/0098-21_WIL_RIM_RAPPORT_A4.pdf. Only the ‘Executive Summary’.
*Branko Milanovic, Global Inequality (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMsirg7Z0bU&ab_channel=NewEconomicThinking).
Module 6 – Environmental sustainability, focus on natural resources, pollution, and biodiversity
Non-renewable resources. Hart (2016), https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016518891630118X, first 9 paragraphs.
Pollution and the EKC. Lecture notes (forthcoming). Kovarik (2005), Ethyl-leaded gasoline, https://environmentalhistory.org/about/ethyl-leaded-gasoline/. Sunstein (2007), Of Montreal and Kyoto: A tale of two protocols. https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12377&context=journal_articles.
Biodiversity. When and where to protect forests, Luby et al 2022: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05096-z. State of world fisheries and aquaculture, FAO 2022, pages 1–4: https://www.fao.org/3/cc0461en/cc0461en.pdf.
Module 7 – Economic sustainability, focus on work, consumption, and (de)growth
Keynes (1930), Economic possibilities for our grandchildren. http://www.econ.yale.edu/smith/econ116a/keynes1.pdf.
What does degrowth mean? A few points of clarification. Hickel 2020. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14747731.2020.1812222.
**Module 8 – Policy **
Sustainable Development Goals, https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals. You do not read everything in this webpage, but you should have a basic knowledge of all the SDGs.
Moyer, Jonathan D., and Steve Hedden. "Are we on the right path to achieve the sustainable development goals?" World Development 127 (2020): 104749. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X19303985.
International Cooperation for Economic Development, World Bank Projects’ Evaluation: Ghana (https://blogs.worldbank.org/impactevaluations/maybe-money-does-grow-trees) and Rwanda (https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/764031553712106266/Estimating-the-Impact-of-Rural-Feeder-Roads-in-Rwanda.pdf).