This course is available for on-campus & remote (online) learning. All students participate in interactive, real-time classes.
This course provides advanced training in agricultural and resource economics, with a focus on economic development, food security, natural resource management, and sustainability. The first part examines the economics of food demand, agricultural production, technological change, productivity growth, and climate resilience, with policy-focused applications in both developed and developing economies. The second part introduces the economics of natural resource management, covering non-renewable resources, renewable resources, land and water use, and environmental sustainability. Students will learn how economic theory, structural equation estimation, and dynamic optimisation can be applied to analyse intertemporal resource allocation and evaluate resource and environmental policies. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on applying economic concepts and quantitative methods to contemporary challenges, including global food security, climate change, agricultural trade, rural transformation, and sustainable development.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the core principles and theories underpinning agricultural and resource economics.
- Apply core principles and theories to analyse issues related to food security, economic development, natural resource management, and sustainability.
- Display proficiency in applied microeconomic methods, including structural model estimation, dynamic optimisation, and other quantitative approaches.
- Employ advanced mathematical and econometric techniques to formulate and resolve complex quantitative problems in agricultural economics and natural resource management.
- Critically evaluate research evidence and effectively communicate findings to inform policy development and decision-making in agricultural and resource economics.
Indicative Assessment
- Assignment 1: Agricultural economics (10) [LO 1,2,3]
- Assignment 2: Food security, economic development, natural resource management and climate change (10) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Assignment 3: Resources (10) [LO 1,2,3,4]
- Essay (2,500 words) (30) [LO 1,2,4,5]
- Final examination (40) [LO 1,2,3,4]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
A standard workload for a 6 unit course is 130 hours including class time and independent study.
Inherent Requirements
Not applicable.
Prescribed Texts
Roger Perman, Yue Ma, Michael Common, David Maddison, Jame McGilvray (2011), Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, 4th edition, Pearson Education Limited.
George Norton, Jeffrey Alwang, William Masters (2021), Economics of Agricultural Development: World Food Systems and Resource Use, 4th edition, Routledge.
Preliminary Reading
Jon M. Conrad (2010) Resource Economics, 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press. https://www.cambridge.org/highereducation/books/resource-economics/67D26E3AA7F0963916BF91C7D97F8F2F
Robert G. Chambers, Applied Production Analysis: A Dual Approach, Cambridge University Press.
Bruce Gardner and Gordon Rausser, Handbook of Agricultural Economics, vol. 1A, North-Holland Limited.
Assumed Knowledge
Knowledge of microeconomics and econometrics and calculus equivalent to what would be obtained by completing IDEC8015 and IDEC8016 is assumed.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 34
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.