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ECOS3013 Environmental Economics
This assignment is eligible for a 5-day simple extension.
For assignments received after Saturday 21 October, a penalty of 10 percentage points per day after
that date will be applied.
Option to work in pairs
This assignment may be completed individually, or in a group of two.
Groups of more than two are not permitted.
If you wish to work in a group, please email Kelly before 11 October to register your group. Please
include the names and student numbers of both group-members in your email, and cc your partner.
Essay question
Find a news article about any pollution problem.
For this pollution problem, how should we determine the socially-desirable level of pollution?
In your essay, discuss the following:
1. How do we determine the socially-desirable level of this particular pollution according to the
Pareto Criterion?
2. What information do you require to determine the socially-desirable level? EG: For each
group that may be affected, what are the specific costs and benefits that you would need to
measure? EG: If damages that occur in the future are important, what discount factor do you
recommend?
How would you use this information to determine the socially-desirable level of this
pollution?
3. Are there any distributional consequences from reducing this pollution? If so, how should we
respond to these (if at all)?
4. Consider one other criteria that we might use to assess the socially-optimal level of this
pollution (For example: Sustainability (weak or strong), Biocentric, Anthropocentric,
Precautionary Principle). How would this change the socially-desirable level of pollution?
Which criteria do you consider to be more appropriate? Explain why.
Your audience is a government decision-maker, who is trying to decide whether or not to regulate
polluters. A non-economist should be able to understand your essay.
Marking criteria
You are being asked to make a normative judgement. Therefore, there is no correct or incorrect
answer. Instead, marks will be allocated for how well you justify and explain the judgement that you
have made.
The best essays will have the following features.
1. It is clear what pollution issue and news article is being examined. Article and link to article is
included at the end of the essay.
2. Specifically addresses the particular pollution problem mentioned in the news article, rather
than discussing the pollution in general terms.
3. Considers a range of arguments for and against the approach recommended in the essay.
4. Supports arguments using facts and statistics from reputable sources.
5. References all sources.
6. Sticks to the word limit.
7. Explains the author’s position in a way that non-economists can understand. To do this, it will
avoid:
a. technical language and jargon
b. supply and demand diagrams
c. equations
8. Contains a first paragraph that introduces the issue and states an opinion, and a concluding
paragraph that summarizes the arguments and leaves a lasting impression.
Length
Your essay must be 500-1000 words. It must not be longer than 2 pages.
References and any diagrams are not included in the 2 page limit.
You must include a link to your news article, and attach a copy of it at the end of your essay (not
included in the 2 page limit). Please ensure that your essay and article are in one file because only one
file upload is permitted.
Suggestions
If you are stuck, here are some examples of some pollution problems that you could find articles on:
Release of nuclear waste-water into Pacific Ocean from Japan
Dust from gold mine near Orange, NSW
Single-use plastic bags (which have been banned in some places)
Dredging to expand ports in Gladstone, near Great Barrier Reef
Air pollution in New Delhi
Submission
Submit your essay on Canvas. Submit one essay per group, as a pdf or doc file.