Faculty of Arts

Department of Economics

ECN 511 Economy and Environment

Winter 2018
Mondays @ 6:00-9:00 PM @ ENG105

Upper Liberal Studies Course

Lectures are 3 hours per week
Anti-Requisites: ECN 510

Instructor Name: Bolor Narankhuu, Ph.D.

Office Location: TBD
Office Hours: Tuesdays at 4-6 PM (with appointments)
Phone: 416-979-5000
Website: my.ryerson.ca for courses using D2L
Email address: bnarankhuu@ryerson.ca

Ryerson e-mail accounts are to be used for communication between faculty and students.
Students are also reminded to use their professional judgment when e-mailing any instructor
regarding a course. This includes the structure and tone of e-mail.

Course Description

This course looks at the relationship between the economy and the environment. It discusses how
economics can help identify key issues in environmental problems. Economic concepts are used
to shed light on solutions to the problem of pollution, the management of common property, and
the possibility of “sustainable development”.

Course Textbook

Barry Field and Nancy Olewiler, (2015), Environmental Economics, 4th Canadian Edition,
McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

There are digital and print formats. Please visit the publisher’s website (the link below) to choose
your preferred format.
https://www.mheducation.ca/highereducation/products/9781259103711/connect+online+access+
for+environmental+economics/
Course Topics

Part 1: Introduction: The Economy and the Environment Chapters 1, 2

Part 2: Analytical Tools Chapters 3, 4, 5
Part 3: Cost Benefit Analysis Chapters 6, 7, 8
Part 4: Environmental Policy Chapters 9-13, 20

Weekly topical outline*

Week Dates Topics Chapters
1 15-Jan What is Environmental Economics? Chapter 1
22-Jan - Natural capital, Linkages between Chapter 2 & 3
Economy and Environment
2 - Benefits and Costs, supply and demand
29-Jan - Benefits and Costs, Supply and Chapter 3 Homework
Demand and Chapter 4
3 - Economic efficiency and Markets
05-Feb - Economic efficiency and Markets Chapter 4 Homework
4 - Economics of Environmental Quality and Chapter 5
12-Feb - Economics of Environmental Quality Chapter 5 Homework
5 - Framework of Analysis and Chapter 6
6 19-Feb Reading Week No Class
7 26-Feb Midterm Exam Chapters 1 - 6
8 05-Mar Benefit-Cost Analysis: Benefits Chapter 7
12-Mar - Benefit-Cost Analysis: Costs Chapter 8 & 9
- Criteria for Evaluating Environmental
9 Policies
19-Mar - Liability Laws, Property Rights, Moral Chapter 10 & 11
Suasion, Green Goods
10 - Standards
26-Mar - Emission taxes and subsidies Chapter 12& 13
11 - Transferrable emission permits
Canadian Environmental policy and Global
12 02-Apr problems Chapter 15 & 20
13 9-Apr Pollution control policies Chapter 16 & 17
14 TBA Final Exam
*Subject to change
Notes:
1. Students are responsible for all material covered in the text chapters. However, the
lecture material will have an emphasis on tests, assignments and the final exam.

Page 2 of 5
 2. Due to the time constraint, it is possible that some topics will not be covered. The
instructor maintains discretion regarding changes in this outline. Any changes will be
discussed in class and announced on the blackboard.

Attendance and Participation

Given that we will cover many materials outside the scope of the books, lectures are a critical
part of the course. Although attendance to lectures is not mandatory, students are responsible for
all material presented in the lectures. Students experiencing problems with (or having questions
about) the material should seek help from the professor via email, and should not leave questions
to just prior to the tests or exam.

Course Evaluation

The weights and scheduled dates for the term paper, mid-term exam and final exam are
following:

Activities Weight Dates

Term Paper 25% March 19
Midterm Exam 35% February 27
Final Exam 40% TBA

NOTES:

(i) If the Midterm exam is missed due to acceptable, documented circumstances (see
Common Departmental Course Management Policy below), please proceed the
procedures stated in the Student Handbook (see the pdf file below) and the professor will
schedule the makeup exam through the Make-Up Test Centre.
(ii) Students must hand back the Midterm exam paper.

Term paper guidelines:

Please refer to the term paper detailed guidelines posted on D2L Brightspace.

This course will utilize Turnitin for term paper submission. Turnitin.com is a plagiarism
prevention and detection service to which Ryerson subscribes. It is a tool to assist faculty
members in determining the similarity between student work and the work of other students who
have submitted papers to the site (at any university), internet sources, and a wide range of
journals and other publications. While it does not contain all possible sources, it gives faculty

Page 3 of 5
some assurance that students’ work is their own. No decisions are made by the service; it simply
generates an “originality report”. Faculty must evaluate that report to determine if something is
plagiarized. Students who do not want their work submitted to this plagiarism detection service
must, by the end of the second week of class, consult with the instructor to make alternate
arrangements.

Liberal Studies Writing Component

The Liberal Studies policy at Ryerson requires a significant writing component. See
www.ryerson.ca/arts/liberalstudies/faq/. Liberal Studies (LS) courses must conform to the
following assignment structure:
• includes one or more individually-written, out-of-class assignment(s) totaling in the
range of at least 1500-2000 words at the upper;
• requires the student to carry out an analysis of the assignment's subject, and make and
justify an evaluative, comparative or explicatory judgment;
• attaches a weight of 25-35% or higher to the contribution made the assignment(s) to the
student's final grade on the course;
• provides commentary on the clarity of organization, logic, syntax, and grammar of
student writing, and explicitly indicates that such attributes will form part of the basis
upon which the assignment will be evaluated.

Specific Course Management Policy

MISSED TERM WORK OR EXAMINATIONS:

Students are expected to complete all assignments, tests, and exams within the time frames and
by the dates indicated in this outline. Exemption or deferral of an assignment, term test, or final
examination is only permitted for a medical or personal emergency or due to religious
observance (request must be received within the first two weeks of the course). The instructor
must be notified by e-mail prior to the due date or test/exam date, or as soon as possible after the
date, and the appropriate documentation must be submitted.
• Medical certificates – If a student is going to miss a deadline for an assignment, a test, or
an examination because of illness, he/she must submit a medical certificate (see
www.ryerson.ca/senate/forms/medical.pdf for the certificate) AND an Academic
Consideration form (see
http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/senate/forms/academic_consideration_document_sub
mission.pdf) within 3 working days of the missed assignment deadline, test or
examination. If you are a full-time or part-time degree student, then you submit your
medical documentation to your own program school/department. On the other hand, if
you are a certificate or non-certificate student, then you submit your documentation to

Page 4 of 5
 the staff at the front desk of the Chang School. Your instructor can no longer accept your
documentation. If you need clarity, contact The Chang School.
• Religious observance – If a student needs accommodation because of religious
observance, he/she must submit a formal request to the instructor within the first two
weeks of the class or for a final examination within 5 working days of the posting of the
examination schedule.
http://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/senate/forms/academic_consideration_document_sub
mission.pdf)
• Students with disabilities – In order to facilitate the academic success and access of
students with disabilities, these students should register with the Access Centre
http://www.ryerson.ca/studentservices/accesscentre/index.html. Before the first graded
work is due, students should also inform their instructor through an “Accommodation
Form for Professors” that they are registered with the Access Centre and what
accommodations are required.

Common Departmental Course Management Policy

PLAGIARISM:
The Ryerson Student Code of Academic Conduct defines plagiarism and the sanctions against
students who plagiarize. All students are strongly encouraged to go to the
academic integrity website at www.ryerson.ca/academicintegrity and complete the tutorial on
plagiarism.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Ryerson University and The Chang School are committed to the principles of academic integrity
as outlined in the Student Code of Academic Conduct. Students are strongly encouraged to
review the student guide to academic integrity, including penalties for misconduct, on the
academic integrity website at www.ryerson.ca/academicintegrity and the Student Code of
Academic Conduct at www.ryerson.ca/senate/policies.

Common Departmental Course Management Policy

Please see the Department of Economics Student Handbook

http://www.economics.ryerson.ca/files/handbook.pdf

Page 5 of 5