1
Alberta School of Business
BUEC 564 Environmental Management: Syllabus Winter 2010
This syllabus will be revised periodically with new information. This version:
December 31 2009
Instructor: Professor Ujjayant Chakravorty Office: 4-30L Business Building
Phone: 780 248 1374 email: [email protected],
Class: Tue 630-930 Bus 2-09
Office Hours: TTh 3-4 and by appointment. I check email frequently.
Course Overview: This course introduces the basic concepts of
environmental economics and examines their role in environmental policy and decision-making. We will adopt a managerial perspective and discuss how environmental considerations affect resource allocation and decision- making at the firm, government and global levels. The goal of the course is not to teach you environmental economics but to make sure you understand the key economic principles that drive the relationship between business and environment, and help you think analytically through some key issues.
Textbooks: There is one required textbook for this course. It is
Barry Field and Nancy Olewiler, Environmental Economics, McGraw Hill Ryerson, Second Canadian Edition (1995). This book is more precise and is especially suited to Canadian environmental issues.
2
The following book can be used for additional reading. It is more detailed especially in its discussion of the economics of pollution. I will not require its purchase.
Tom Tietenberg, Environment and Natural Resource Economics, Seventh Edition, Pearson: Addison Wesley. This book is good for a general overview of environmental economics and a discussion of specific resource and
pollution problems as well as the concepts of poverty and sustainable development, etc.
Grading: The weights are as follows:
In-class Test: 20%; Case Studies (2): 40%; Term Paper: 20%; Class Participation: 20%
The assignment of letter grades is as follows: The top third of the scale gets a plus (+), the bottom third a (-). Example, 97-100 is an A+, 94-96 is an A and 90-93 is an A-.
Letter Grade Grade Range
A 90-100
B 80-89
C 70-79
D 60-69
F <60
Case Studies: A large part of the course will focus on discussion of case studies of specific environmental problems, corporate environmental
strategy, sustainable development and green accounting issues. I will post these cases on the course website at Harvard Business Online. I suggest you buy these cases for your preparation and use in the classroom. I will post
3
discussion questions for the cases we study in class. I expect students to be well prepared before they come to class. In general, the first half of the lecture will be introducing some basic concepts, and the second half will discuss the case study (or studies) assigned. But we will not always follow this rule.
I will also assign two case studies that will test your understanding of a problem and your ability to apply the concepts to real world situations.
These will be group assignments and will need to be presented in class. I will make groups of 4-5 depending on the exact enrolment. You will get about 2 weeks to write your solutions and these will be presented in class by groups on Feb 2 and April 6 in class. Written reports can be emailed to me or posted on the Web that day for which instructions will follow. Each group will
receive about 10 minutes to present.
Term Paper: The term paper will be individual work and will be a more in- depth treatment of a topic that is related to the material we cover in the course. It can be 10-15 pages double spaced and will be due on April 8 by 5 pm. I will require a proposal for the term paper which will be due on
February 23. The proposal may be a half a page of an outline of the
proposed topic and your approach. The term paper should be a professional document with a title, executive summary, introduction, analysis and
conclusion. The paper need not be a case study of a company although it could well be if a student is privy to good quality information on a case. The term paper is a briefing document, which can be used to address some important environment-related topic and investigate the scope of the
problem, likely solutions, the potential implications of the solutions, and an examination of current policy. In essence, a term paper on a specific topic could be a balanced analysis of an issue. The evaluation will be based on the
4
quality of information, organization of material, analytical content and exposition.
There will be penalties of up to 50% for any late submissions for the case studies and the term paper.
Test: There will be a test on the basic materials covered in the course. The test will be held on Friday March 19. I will announce the room and time after discussion in class. It will be an in-class closed book test. In order to prepare for the test, I suggest you read the lecture notes and then supplement the reading by going through the requisite chapters form the text. The test will be short multi-part questions that require clear logical answers. There will be no essay-type questions. I will provide statements or present situations which will require your informed and analytical response. The goal is to test your knowledge of the basic economic principles that govern environmental management and ability to apply them. The questions will not be technical or require computation.
Academic Misconduct: “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 Behavior (www.ualberta.ca/secretariat/appeals.htm) and avoid any behavior 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)
5
I will take any and all incidents of plagiarism seriously. It is your
responsibility to ensure that you are familiar with the rules that govern academic misconduct, in particular the following section:
“30.3.2 Inappropriate Academic Behavior, 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.”
(http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/gfcpolicymanual/policymanualsection30-3- 2.cfm)
More information is available at:
http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/gfcpolicymanual/content.cfm?ID_page=376 33
6
Tentative Dates and Topics
Jan 5 No Class, to be compensated with test on Friday March 19.
Jan 12 Introduction to Environmental Economics: Basic Concepts Field and Olewiler Chapters 3,4
Jan 19 Economics of Pollution Control: Standards Field and Olewiler Chapter 11,13
Case Study: Acid Rain
Jan 26 Economics of Pollution Control: Permit Markets Field and Olewiler Chapter 12
Case Study: Spotted Owl
Feb 2 Case Study I Group Presentations
Feb 9 TBA
7 Feb 16 Readings Week
Feb 23 Emissions Taxes and Subsidies Case Study: Du Pont Freon Products
Mar 2 Benefit-Cost Analysis : Concepts Fields and Olewiler Chapter 6
Case Study: Stone Container in Honduras
Mar 9 Benefit Cost Analysis: Measuring benefits Fields and Olewiler Chapter 7
Mar 16 Benefit Cost Analysis: Measuring Costs Fields and Olewiler Chapter 8
Case Study: E.ON Corporate Strategy
Mar 19 Test
Mar 23 Property Rights, Coase Theorem and Green Goods Fields and Olewiler, Chapter 10
8
Mar 30 Sustainability and Green Accounting; International Environmental Conflicts
April 6 Case Study II Group Presentations
