M.Sc. (Economics)

This programme has been offered by TERI SAS since 2009. The quality of students, their performance, cent percent placement and the expertise of the faculties make it one of the flagship programmes offered by the Department of Policy Studies as well as by the University.

The syllabus for the programme is frequently revised by bringing in updating the curriculum and introducing hands-on- practical session with the software packages like STATA and R as well as case studies and examples from policy making domains making domains. The quality of the curriculum is regularly evaluated by its stakeholders, peers, alumni and employers. The faculties are involved in active research with funded projects from SANDEE, DST, and several other funding agencies who regularly publish in the leading journals across the spectrum of economics. The programme also has a have received consistent appreciation from the students. Many of its alumnus have joined PhD programme in prestigious universities in India and abroad.

Programme Overview

• The pressure on the non-human component of the ecosystem that we witness today can largely be attributed to the intensified pursuit of material consumption by a growing mass of population in the post-war period. Environment and Resource Economics attempts to recognize, understand, analyse, and evaluate the nature-society exchanges towards their implication on human well-being. Towards addressing this, it aims to design and implement effective policy instruments that assist in sustaining a given quality of life on earth and its enhancement over a longer time horizon. It involves rigorous grounding in standard economic theory and techniques and a simultaneous exposure to a wide variety of economic challenges due to the ecological / environmental / natural resource constraints.

Programme specific outcome
At the end of pursuing the MSc (Economics) with specialization in Environment and Resource Economics program the students are expected to:

• Gain in-depth knowledge of the concepts and theories of Economics with core aspects of ecological, environmental, and natural resource economics.
• Receive hands-on experience in applying economic concepts, theories, and methods towards analysis, appraisal and evaluation of a wide range of economic problems and policies.
• Develop analytical and writing skills through preparation of critical review, literature survey, research proposal and Masters’ Thesis.
• Develop and apply quantitative skills including numerical, statistical and econometric analysis using packages such as STATA and R.

Programme Structure

• MSc (Economics) with a specialization in Environment and Resource economics is unique as it not only includes advanced graduate level exposure to microeconomics, macroeconomics, mathematics, development economics, growth economics, statistics, and econometrics, but our students also receive an in-depth knowledge of the concepts, theories, techniques, policies and other applications in ecological, environmental, and natural resource economics. It offers a wide choice of specialized optional papers as well.
• The Master’s Thesis is mandatory, if not the most important component of the programme. It provides a hands-on opportunity to the students to apply economic concepts, theories, and methods towards analysis, appraisals, and evaluation of a wide range of environmental problems and policies so as to demonstrate their ability as research professionals. All students are supervised by one or more faculty members and every thesis is reviewed extensively by a panel of experts to ensure quality, originality and rigour. The quality of the dissertations has been appreciated in various forums including national and international conferences. Some of these dissertations have also resulted in publications in peer- reviewed journals.

Career Prospects

• The students are encouraged to undergo a summer internship at the end of the second semester, which trains them to translate theoretical knowledge into applied research as conducted at think-tanks and industries. Desirous students are also provided with placement assistance. Our former students have obtained placements in the government, corporations, think-tanks, international organizations, civil society organizations, and research institutes of repute.
• Some students have also opted for higher studies in academic institutions like Centre for Development Studies, Delhi School of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, John Hopkins University, University of California, Riverside, University of Warwick, Vanderbilt University, and Yale University, university of Tennessee Knoxville , Drexel University and others.