Program Description
The sustainable business and economic policy minor equips students with frameworks and tools to understand the interrelationship between the economy and the environment. You will learn about the role of government in addressing environmental problems as well as emerging opportunities for private businesses as we transition to more sustainable economic development.
After completing foundational coursework in microeconomics and data analysis, you'll dive into core coursework that studies the root causes and potential solutions to a wide range of economic problems related to the environment, energy, and natural resources. Elective courses build on these ideas while focusing on specific topics, such as: sustainable business practices, renewable energy, and climate change.
Eligibility
All Cornell undergraduates except students enrolled in Dyson or in the Sustainable Business & Environmental Economics Concentration of the Environment & Sustainability major, and any majors that include overlap of two or more core courses. Students are eligible to sign up for the minor as early as their first year and no later than their sixth semester.
Academic Policies
A minimum of 12 unique credits (outside of major's core requirements) must be taken to complete any/all minors. Some majors may be required to take an additional course to satisfy this requirement. All courses must be taken for a letter grade, and a grade of C or better is required.
Minor Requirements
Required Credits
This minor requires 18 credits to complete, which includes 6 foundation credits and 12 core credits. From the total credits, 9 must be taken at Cornell University, and 9 must be Johnson College of Business (JCB) courses, which include any course code of AEM, HADM, NBA, or NCC. *Note - in many cases, the Cornell and JCB requirements will overlap (e.g. AEM 2600 Managerial Economics is a JCB course and a Cornell course, so it will satisfy 3 credits for each requirement).
Foundation Courses
This minor requires 3 credits in microeconomics and 3 credits in data analysis/econometrics/statistics before taking the minor's core courses. A letter grade of C or better is required.
Introductory Microeconomics (3 credits)
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
ECON 1110 | Introductory Microeconomics | 3 |
Data analysis | Econometrics | Statistics (3 credits)
One of the following courses is required:
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 2770 | Excursions in Computational Sustainability | 3 |
AEM 2830 | VBA for Data Analysis and Business Modeling | 3 |
AEM 2840 | Python Programming for Data Analysis and Business Modeling | 3 |
AEM 2850 | R Programming for Business Analytics and Data Visualization | 3 |
AEM 3100 | Business Statistics | 3 |
AEM 4110 | Introduction to Econometrics | 3 |
AEM 6850 | Empirical Methods for Applied Economists | 3 |
ECON 3120 | Applied Econometrics | 4 |
ECON 3140 | Econometrics | 4 |
ILRST 2110 | Statistical Methods for the Social Sciences II | 4 |
HADM 3740 | Fundamentals of Database Management and Data Analysis | 3 |
HADM 4010 | Data Driven Analytics | 3 |
PLSCI 2200 | Introduction to Mapping and Spatial Analysis with GIS | 3 |
PLSCI 4200 | Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Concepts and Application | 3 |
STSCI 4060 | Python Programming and its Applications in Statistics | 4 |
AEM 2100 | Introductory Statistics | 4 |
BTRY 3010 | Statistics I | 4 |
BTRY 3080 | Probability Models and Inference | 4 |
CEE 3040 | Uncertainty Analysis in Engineering | 4 |
CRP 1200 | Introduction to Statistics for Urban Studies | 3 |
ECON 3110 | Applied Probability and Statistics | 4 |
ECON 3120 | Applied Econometrics | 4 |
ECON 3130 | Probability and Statistics | 4 |
ENGRD 2700 | Eng Probability and Statistics: Modeling and Data Science | 4 |
ILRST 2100 | Introductory Statistics and Data Science | 4 |
ILRST 3080 | Probability Models and Inference | 4 |
ILRST 3110 | Applied Probability and Statistics | 4 |
MATH 1710 | Statistical Theory and Application in the Real World | 4 |
MATH 4710 | Basic Probability | 4 |
MATH 4720 | Statistics | 4 |
PUBPOL 2100 | Introduction to Statistics | 4 |
PUBPOL 2101 | Statistics for Public Policy | 4 |
PSYCH 2500 | Statistics and Research Design | 3 |
SOC 3010 | Statistics for Sociological Research | 4 |
STSCI 2100 | Introductory Statistics and Data Science | 4 |
STSCI 2150 | Introductory Statistics for Biology | 4 |
STSCI 2200 | Statistics I | 4 |
STSCI 3080 | Probability Models and Inference | 4 |
STSCI 3110 | Applied Probability and Statistics | 4 |
Core Requirements
The minor's core requirements (12 credits) must be fulfilled by taking courses from the list below. Please note that 9 credits must be Johnson College of Business (JCB) courses.
A letter grade of C or better is required.
Advanced economic theory (6 credits)
The following course is required1:
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 2600 | Managerial Economics | 3 |
The following course is also required2:
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 2500 | Environmental and Resource Economics | 3 |
Environmental and resource economics (6 credits)
Two of the following courses are required:
Course List Code | Title | Hours |
AEM 2555 | Corporate Sustainability | 3 |
AEM 3115 | Evaluation of Green Energy Strategies and Markets | 3 |
AEM 4090 | Environmental Finance and Markets | 3 |
AEM 4490 | Financial Markets and Sustainability | 3 |
AEM 4500 | Resource Economics | 3 |
AEM 4510 | Environmental Economics | 3 |
AEM 4515 | | 3 |
AEM 4580 | The Economics and Psychology of Sustainable Business | 1.5 |
AEM 4585 | Sustainable Business | 3 |
AEM 4880 | Global Food, Energy, and Water Nexus – Engage the US, China, and India for Sustainable Future | 3-4 |
HADM 4315 | Nonprofit Social Enterprise and Food Justice | 3 |
HADM 4500 | Sustainable Development | 4 |
NBA 6030 | Strategies for Sustainability | 1.5 |
NBA 6380 | Finance and Sustainable Global Enterprise Colloquium | 1 |