Introduction

• Chapter 1 Introduction to Ecological Economics (what ecol econ aims to achieve)
• Chapter 2 The Environment (the ways in which the natural environment functions and sustains life; first and second laws of thermodynamics; energy and nutrient flows in ecosystems; how did fossil fuels came into existence; population dynamics; ecosystem resilience; global nutrient cycles; evolutionary processes)

Classic reading

Martinez-Alier, J. (1987). "Ecological economics: Energy, Environment and Society." Blackwell

Røpke, I. (2004). "The early history of modern ecological economics." Ecological Economics 50(3): 293-314.

Recent contributions

Spash, C. L. (2017). Social ecological economics. Routledge Handbook of Ecological Economics, Routledge: 3-16.

The Economy in the Environment - Conceptual Framework

• Chapter 3 Broad outlines of human history; growth of the size of the human population and per capita energy use during that history; major historical changes in the way humans feed themselves; ways how the human species now dominates ecosystems
• Chapter 4 Ways in which the economy and the environment are interdependent; classification of natural resources; waste flows and pollution; relationship of the use of natural resources and waste generation; amenities and life support services that the environment provides; functions that the environment performs for the economy interact with one another, and may be competitive;  threats to sustainability that originate in economy-environment interdependence

Classic reading

John Gowdy, Jon D. Erickson, The approach of ecological economics, Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 29, Issue 2, March 2005, Pages 207–222, https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/bei033

Power, M. (2004). "Social provisioning as a starting point for feminist economics." Feminist Economics 10(3): 3-19.

Recent contributions

Plank, C., et al. (2021). "Doing more with less: Provisioning systems and the transformation of the stock-flow-service nexus." Ecological Economics 187: 107093.

Economic growth

• Chapter 6: how GDP per capita differs across countries; extent of poverty in the world; why are some countries are rich and others are poor; standard theories of economic growth; why is economic growth a major objective of economic policy; relationship between economic growth and the satisfaction of needs and desires
• Chapter 7: construction of scenarios for the environmental impact of economic and population growth; effect of the composition of GDP on the environmental impact of economic growth; models of economic growth and resource availability; importance of substitution possibilities in production and technological change for growth prospects when there are natural resource constraints; The Limits to Growth controversy; ways in which economic growth can be good for the environment; what sustainable development would involve

Classic reading

Daly, HE 1974: The Economics of the Steady State. The American Economic Review , May, 1974, Vol. 64, No. 2, Papers and Proceedings of the Eighty-sixth Annual Meeting of the American Economic Association, pp. 15-21

Daly H.E. (2005) - Economics in a full world, Scientific American, Vol. 293, No. 3, Sep 2005, pp. 100-107

Recent contributions

Victor, P. A. (2010). "Ecological economics and economic growth." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1185(1): 237-245.

Exchange and markets & Limits to Markets

• Chapter 8: benefits of exchange based on the specialisation of production; how the use of money facilitates exchange and specialisation; how markets work in terms of demand and supply functions; introduction to elasticities of demand and supply; distinction between short and long run market adjustments; what determines who - buyers or sellers - pays most of the tax on a commodity; financial markets and how the rate of interest is determined
• Chapter 9: what would the 'invisible hand' of market forces do in an 'ideal' world; how and why the 'invisible hand' does not work in fact; distinction between efficiency and equity; the role of property rights in the functioning of markets; how well markets look after the environment; efficiency is not the same as sustainability

Classic reading

Hodgson, Geoffrey: Markets. In: Davis, J. B., et al. (2015). The Elgar Companion to Social Economics, Second Edition, Edward Elgar Publishing.

Recent contributions

Bliss, S. and M. Egler (2020). "Ecological Economics Beyond Markets." Ecological Economics 178: 106806.

Brockway, P. E., et al. (2021). "Energy efficiency and economy-wide rebound effects: A review of the evidence and its implications." Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 141: 110781.

Sustainable Development & Environmental Policy Instruments

• Chapter 10: how the principle of sustainable development was put on the policy agenda; how researchers from different academic fields have suggested operationalizing the principle of sustainable development; why imperfect knowledge makes scientific analysis and decision making much more difficult; Precautionary Principle; how policy objectives are set in democratic societies.
• Chapter 11: what needs to be considered for implementing environmental policy; instruments available to attain environmental goals; their respective merits and limitations; why uncertainty complicates the implementation of environmental policy immensely?

Classic reading

Costanza, R. (1992). Ecological economics: the science and management of sustainability, Columbia University Press.

Rees, W. E. (2002). "An Ecological Economics Perspective on Sustainability and Prospects for Ending Poverty." Population and Environment 24(1): 15-46.

Recent contributions

D'Amato, D. and J. Korhonen (2021). "Integrating the green economy, circular economy and bioeconomy in a strategic sustainability framework." Ecological Economics 188: 107143.