Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Spring 2006
Course description:
Updated Syllabus and other course information will be placed on WebCT at the URL:
(webct.utdallas.edu), you need your Net ID and password to get access to it.
Prerequisites:
This course is intended primarily for undergraduate students in economics, public policy,
political economy, or related fields with interests in applications in natural resources and
environmental area. Students should have taken Principles of Microeconomics for
preparation, and be familiar with basic economic concepts, such as: supply and demand
functions, consumers’ surplus, opportunity cost, marginal analysis, and time discounting.
It may be helpful to review a microeconomics textbook before taking this course. A
highly recommended textbook for review is: Principles of Microeconomics by Mankiw,
N. Gregory (Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College Publishers). Any edition of the book will
suffice.
Students are required to do problem sets or write short memos (1-3 pages) assigned in
classes. Doing problem set questions helps review materials learned in class; writing
short memos prepares for future class discussions. Assignments will be graded with a
check, a check plus or a check minus, which is equivalent to 4 points, 5 points and 3
points respectively. Only six out of seven highest assignment grades will be accounted
for the final grade.
There will be three exams for this class. The final grade will be calculated based on the
following allocation:
Exam I: 20%
Exam II: 20%
Exam III: 20%
Problem sets and memos: 30%
Class participation: 10% (This is a participatory class; while in class, you will frequently
be asked during class discussions to offer your opinions and draw on your personal
experience to offer insight into certain topics. These responsibilities are much easier to
meet if you have done the reading ahead of time.)
Academic Integrity:
You are expected and required to adhere to the highest standards of academic integrity.
With particular reference to the assignments you will complete for this course:
1. You are permitted and encouraged to work on problem sets in groups (up to three
students). However, each student must turn in her/his own problem set – direct use of a
group’s work or another person’s work, either through copying by hand or by
photocopying, is not permitted.
2. Any written materials that you turn in for course credit, including qualitative essay
questions on problem sets and the short memos, must be properly cited. Failure to
acknowledge ideas and phrases used in an essay or report that were gained from another
writer, including the Internet, will be considered plagiarism. Note that this includes
concepts taken from another source, even if you express them in your own words.
3. All exams are close-book, and it is not allowed to discuss with other students during
the exams.
Tentative Course Outline:
Exam I Feb 20
Exam II Mar 27