Economics and Sustainable Development

Economics and sustainable development is a combination that addresses one of the defining intellectual and practical challenges of our time: how to understand and apply economic analysis to the goal of creating societies and economies that meet human needs without undermining the ecological foundations on which all life depends. Economics provides the rigorous analytical framework: the theory of how markets work, how incentives shape behaviour, how growth and distribution are determined, and how policy can be designed to improve outcomes. Sustainable development adds the normative dimension: a commitment to long-term wellbeing across generations and across the global community.

At the University of St Andrews, this four-year full-time programme leads to an MA (Hons) and is built on the structured, cumulative, and rigorous foundation in economic concepts, principles, analysis, and techniques that the St Andrews economics programme provides. You will develop analytical and decision-making abilities through training in quantitative and model-based methods, while also engaging with the economics of environmental policy, natural resource management, development economics, and the institutional dimensions of sustainability. A year abroad is incorporated into the programme, giving you the opportunity to study in another country and to encounter different approaches to the economics of development and sustainability.

You will develop strong quantitative skills alongside the theoretical and policy understanding needed to engage seriously with questions about how economies can be made more sustainable and equitable.

Graduates go on to careers in environmental economics, development organisations, international institutions, the civil service, policy research, financial services, consultancy, and a range of other fields. Postgraduate study in economics, environmental economics, development studies, or public policy is a natural continuation.