1. Theory of the Firm, Market Structure and Managerial Economics (continued)
Present value maximization and other objectives of the firm, its owners and its managers; perfect competition, monopoly and intermediate market structures
Other possible objectives of the firm, its owners and its managers;
2. Non-price Competition and Strategy
3. Competition through Product Innovation – R&D and Product Differentiation
4. Competition through Advertising, Promotion and other marketing Strategies
5. Insights from Game Theory and more recent research in mainstream Industrial and Managerial Economics
6. Abiotic and Biotic Natural Resources – Fundamental Characteristics
7. Rival and Non-rival and Excludable and Non-excludable goods and services
8. External Costs and Benefits (externalities), Bilateral and Multi-lateral externalities
9. The risk of depletion and abuse of non-rival, non-excludable (and often common property) resources
10. Public Goods and the risk of them being under-supplied due to weak incentives
11. Public “Bads” and the risk of them being over-supplied due to weak legal and regulatory frameworks
Initiatives to date - Corporate Social Responsibility, the focus on “Green Tech”, and the concept of the “Triple Bottom Line”
Can the pursuit of “Sustainability” be a private value-maximizing business strategy? Under what conditions?
Beyond private profit and shareholder value maximization - The idea of Regenerative Enterprise Ecosystems
Industrial Ecology, Biomimicry and Regenerative Enterprise as a possible framework for both product/service development and public industrial policy
[Class 5 may include one or more guest presenters]
Class # 6 - January 13th 2015
The “Porter Hypothesis” and “Funnel Theory”
Business and Public Policy – Legislative and regulatory mandates and prohibitions, product and service standards, design and details of tax systems – The idea of the national tax system as a critical part of the “DNA of Business”
Can we increase the tax burden on the resource-extracting sector without setting a dangerous precedent or causing adverse, unintended consequences ?
Would an increased tax burden on the resource-extracting sector actually aid the innovative, value-adding sector?
Macroeconomics and Money, International Trade, Capital Mobility, International Finance, and Bioregionalism
Viable strategies for conscientious enterprises and for ecological-economic development in advanced industrial economies, in First Nations Communities and in lower income countries
Case Studies at enterprise and economy levels
Class # 8 - February 3rd
Summary, Review and Discussion of Applications and Strategy
Two Guest Lectures
Two guest lectures (hopefully) to follow, no earlier than February 17th (for first) and March 3rd (for second). [I plan to invite Toby Barazzuol of Eclipse Awards, Strathcona BIA and BALLE and Tracy Casavant, ED of Lighthouse Sustainability Building (Green Building) Centre (who is also an Chemical Engineer and a local Industrial Ecologu pioneer and consultant]
Notes and slides from classes:
Class # 1 - October 14th 2014
Class # 2 - October 28th
BoC-Course-2014-PPT-Slides-that-may-be-useful.pptx
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- 107 KB
1. Essentials of Ecological Economics
- – Fundamental sources of value – solar energy and photosynthesis, human innovation and effort
- – The Entropy “Law” and Limits to Substitutability amongst economic inputs
- – The finite ability of Planet Earth to detoxify and absorb wastes,
- – Emerging limits with respect to low entropy sources
2, The concepts of Carrying Capacity and the Ecological Footprint3. The idea of Ecosystem Services
- – as flows of inputs into the present industrial economy
- – as “funds” constituting minimal “system conditions”
4. The vision of a truly Sustainable Economy5. Basic Tools of Mainstream (primarily micro) Economics (ME)
Class # 3 - November 12th (Wednesday)
BoC Course Slides for Class 3.pptx
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- 4 MB
1. Theory of the Firm, Market Structure and Managerial Economics (continued)
- Present value maximization and other objectives of the firm, its owners and its managers; perfect competition, monopoly and intermediate market structures
- Other possible objectives of the firm, its owners and its managers;
2. Non-price Competition and Strategy3. Competition through Product Innovation – R&D and Product Differentiation
4. Competition through Advertising, Promotion and other marketing Strategies
5. Insights from Game Theory and more recent research in mainstream Industrial and Managerial Economics
6. Abiotic and Biotic Natural Resources – Fundamental Characteristics
7. Rival and Non-rival and Excludable and Non-excludable goods and services
8. External Costs and Benefits (externalities), Bilateral and Multi-lateral externalities
9. The risk of depletion and abuse of non-rival, non-excludable (and often common property) resources
10. Public Goods and the risk of them being under-supplied due to weak incentives
11. Public “Bads” and the risk of them being over-supplied due to weak legal and regulatory frameworks
Class # 4 - November 25th
- Neoclassical environmental microeconomics – The Coase Theorem and Pigouvian Taxes
- Summary and overview of some fundamental flaws in mainstream economic theory
- How Ecological Economics might offer a more general perspective and more holistic solutions
- Introduction to Industrial Ecology and Biomimicry
- The aspiration to “Closed Loop” and “Zero-waste” industrial production
- Is this an attempt to defy the Second Law of Thermodynamics (The Entropy Law) ?
[we are hoping to have our first guest presenter in class 4]Class # 5 - December 9th 2014
- Moving towards an ecologically healthy economy:
- Initiatives to date - Corporate Social Responsibility, the focus on “Green Tech”, and the concept of the “Triple Bottom Line”
- Can the pursuit of “Sustainability” be a private value-maximizing business strategy? Under what conditions?
- Beyond private profit and shareholder value maximization - The idea of Regenerative Enterprise Ecosystems
- Industrial Ecology, Biomimicry and Regenerative Enterprise as a possible framework for both product/service development and public industrial policy
[Class 5 may include one or more guest presenters]Class # 6 - January 13th 2015
The “Porter Hypothesis” and “Funnel Theory”
Class # 7 - January 20th
Class # 8 - February 3rd
Two Guest Lectures
Two guest lectures (hopefully) to follow, no earlier than February 17th (for first) and March 3rd (for second). [I plan to invite Toby Barazzuol of Eclipse Awards, Strathcona BIA and BALLE and Tracy Casavant, ED of Lighthouse Sustainability Building (Green Building) Centre (who is also an Chemical Engineer and a local Industrial Ecologu pioneer and consultant]