Economics and Sustainability MSc
2 years full-time with Study Abroad | September Start

This module focuses on both microeconomics and macroeconomics while integrating opportunities to develop the workplace skills and behaviours that will support you in acquiring a future career. Course content is designed to highlight and illustrate the practical importance of economic knowledge in understanding today’s complex issues and to develop the applied skills and intellectual curiosity that are valued by employers. On this module you will be supported in a range of activities including engaging in tasks that you would be expected to perform in jobs that economics graduates typically occupy. You will undertake a research-based assignment during which you are provided with opportunities to lead and work in culturally diverse teams while focusing on problems and methodologies of practical and theoretical importance in economics. The module fosters intellectual openness and you will learn how to communicate your ideas effectively both to economists and non-economists and how to apply what you have learned in the context of the contested nature of the discipline. Additionally, you will engage in critical self-reflection which will enable you to explore your strengths, weaknesses and areas for development in relation to your career plans. A key outcome of this process is developing your ability to lead and manage more effectively in your future career. In so doing, this module is not only ideal preparation for your first job after you graduate but will also kickstart your commitment to life-long personal and professional learning.

This module will provide you with an understanding of the basic tools of econometrics, with emphasis on techniques and the interpretation of results. It will start with a review of probability and distribution theory, statistical hypotheses testing, and estimation and inference in classical linear regression models. This content will be followed by selected topics in applied econometrics, with a focus on connecting theory with practical application. The lectures will be supported by computer classes using secondary data to explore the various estimation techniques. The module will introduce you to the use of econometrics software packages. At the end of this module, you will be acquainted with a wide range of topics in modern econometrics, which are vital for doing and understanding empirical work. This will be useful to you in empirical work in any field of economics as well as many disciplines outside of economics.

This module is designed to focus on the growing challenge of the negative consequences of rising and unsustainable resource use. This module will provide you with the knowledge and understanding to critically analyse resource use and how a sustainable approach to production can create new opportunities for innovation. You will go beyond the Sustainable Development Goals and explore and analyse various international environmental agreements and national policies that seek to limit environmental damage and their impact on national micro- and macro-economic environments.



You will take a global perspective on sustainability and how it is affected by externalities, imperfect markets, and asymmetric information across a range of countries. The module will integrate economic geography, political science and business management to analyse how governments, firms and individuals respond innovatively to the economic issues and challenges that arise from globalisation and environmental protection.



The module will cover:

Understanding sustainable development and the interrelationship between the ecosystem and the economy.

Economic impact of net-zero and sustainable development.

Institutions, externalities, and sustainability.

Innovation for sustainability.

An introduction to cost-benefit analysis and other decision-making metrics.

Dynamic efficiency and sustainable development.

Strategies for sustainable international trade.

The circular economy and circular resource use.

Global welfare challenges and economic development.



At the end of this module you will have developed the skills and tools to critically analyse sustainable economic development and be able to identify the political-economic context of strategies for sustainable economic growth and development. By developing your conceptual view of the relationship between business, environment, and society, you will be able to critically examine the mutual dependence between the environment, society and economic systems and how they relate to real-world challenges of economic strategies for a sustainable future.

The module introduces you to applied methodologies and techniques for analysing and evaluating environmental problems from different economics and social perspectives. The module conceptualises pollution and other environmental issues as economic problems, exploring methods and tools that can be used to determine the appropriate level of environmental quality and choice of policy instruments for the attainment of environmental standards. You will examine several forms of pollution -- air, water, toxic wastes, global warming, ozone depletion -- and the polices that have been employed to control them. You will learn a range of advanced econometric models as well as their applications, developing a deep understanding of theoretical concepts underpinning many empirical research studies and acquiring the appropriate knowledge to apply these concepts to real data analysis. The module covers the analysis of cross-section, time series and panel data analysis with the specific focus on real-life applications.



Outline Syllabus:

The environment and its economics

Kuznets’ curve

Principle of cost-benefit analysis

Introduction to contingent valuation

Willingness to pay and willingness to accept

Discrete choice modelling



At the end of this module, you will be able to apply appropriate quantitative techniques to appraise and valuate a wide range of environmental problems and policies. By acquiring these critical skills, you will significantly enhance your employability and capacity to undertake a doctoral research programme with a significant empirical component.

Combatting climate change is one of the core developmental challenges of the 21st century. This module explores the inter-linkages between continued economic growth and environmental degradation from a political economy perspective. Specifically, you will focus on key debates surrounding the causes and consequences of the accelerating climate crisis and assess the strengths and weaknesses of different forms of remedial action. In so doing, you will develop an in-depth understanding of the political economy context for what is known as the Anthropocene: the era in which human activity has been the dominant influence on the climate and the environment.

You will be exposed to different theoretical paradigms that analyse the inter-relationships between economic markets and current ecological challenges facing humanity. These will include mainstream environmental economic perspectives, eco-socialist and eco-feminist frameworks, and degrowth theory. You will then proceed to examine some of the interconnected crises of climate change that are besetting the biosphere such as water scarcity, ecological pressures from modern food production, and biodiversity losses. The final part of the module will focus on appraising contemporary responses to these crises including the creation of green markets, carbon trading, renewable energy deployment and political economy transformation through social movements and a Green New Deal.

The module will be particularly useful to students wishing to pursue careers that address contemporary environmental challenges including impact investment; environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG); government climate policy; academic or consultancy-based research, environmental activism, and intergovernmental environmental diplomacy.

In this module you will learn about a comprehensive range of research methods and business analytics techniques. This will equip you with the knowledge and practical skills necessary for you to conduct research at Masters’ level and prepare you to complete a Master’s Dissertation, Consultancy Project or Management Enquiry. By the end of the module you will know how to apply both quantitative and qualitative data collection and business analysis techniques. In quantitative techniques you will learn about sampling, questionnaire design, statistical inference, and hypothesis testing while qualitative techniques covered will include methods such as interviewing and focus groups. Analysis methods such as content analysis and thematic analysis will also be covered. In addition, you will gain some understanding of research philosophy (positivism and interpretivism) and research ethics and you will be able to write a research proposal to bring these ideas together.
Furthermore, this module will provide clear, critical, and analysis of data, you will also be able to consider the use of analytics implementation skills, where you will be introduced to analytics software such as SPSS. SPSS statistics analysis is one of the powerful solutions that is designed to help businesses and researchers to solve problems by various methods (geospatial analysis, predictive analytics and hypothesis testing).

Studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This

module is designed to support your transition to postgraduate level study in the use and practice of subject specific skills around assessments

and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to further develop your abilities to read and study effectively

for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your

use and application of language and communications skills suitable for a postgraduate level of study.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding postgraduate assignment briefs.

• Developing advanced academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.

• Practising advanced ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’

• Planning and structuring postgraduate level academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).

• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.

• Speaking in postgraduate seminar presentations.

• Presenting your ideas

• Giving discipline-related postgraduate level academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.

• Postgraduate level speed reading techniques.

• Developing self-reflection skills.