Environmental and Natural Resource Economics

What you will learn

The course gives a comprehensive introduction to the principles of environmental and natural resource economics. It will provide the participants with the knowledge needed to understand the economic aspects of environmental policy issues and the theoretical basis required to take advanced courses in environmental and natural resource economics at the graduate level.

Having completed the course it is expected that the student is able to: Knowledge:

• Define externalities.
• Understand the economic principles behind the design of environmental policy instruments.
• Understand the issues associated with regulation of international environmental problems.
• Understand the welfare economic principles behind social discounting.
• Understand the principles underlying non-market economic valuation methods and cost-benefit analysis.
• Understand the principles behind optimal utilization of renewable and non-renewable natural resources.
• Understand the ethical positions underlying environmental sustainability concepts and discounting.

Skills:

• Identify relevant policy instruments to internalize different types of externalities.
• Evaluate the consequences of applying a policy instrument to address an environmental problem.
• Identify relevant project and policy appraisal methods.
• Evaluate alternative approaches to renewable and non-renewable natural resource utilization.

Program overview

This course is an intermediate level course intended to provide students with a comprehensive introduction to environmental and natural resource economics. It is assumed that students have a good grounding in basic microeconomics.

Core components of the course are:

• Environmental sustainability concepts and ethics.
• The welfare economic foundation of environmental economics.
• Externalities and the design of policy instruments to address environmental problems.
• The economic concept of value and measurement of environmental benefits using non-market valuation methods.
• Optimal utilisation of renewable and non-renewable natural resources.

During the course students will develop a systematic understanding of the economic rationale behind the use of environmental policy instruments, economic valuation principles, and criteria for optimal use of natural resources.

Meet your instructor

FAQs