Description
This course provides a deep understanding of the management of the environment and natural resources from an economic perspective. It builds on prior knowledge from the courses Sustainability and Resource Characterization and Conversion Technologies of Resources.The course covers core topics in environmental and natural resource economics, including externalities and environmental policy instruments such as Pigouvian taxes, standards, and tradable permits. It addresses instrument choice under uncertainty, information asymmetry, non-point pollution, and issues of monitoring and enforcement, as well as the practical choice of policy instruments.
It also introduces valuation methods based on revealed and stated preferences (e.g., hedonic pricing and contingent valuation), and examines optimal resource use over time through applications to oil, fisheries, and forestry. The course includes an obligatory seminar with students from the University of Kiel.
Students learn to identify, describe, and explain how economic policy instruments can be applied to environmental problems with externalities. They develop the ability to apply and evaluate policy instruments in practice, understand different valuation methods, and use dynamic analysis to study optimal resource use over time, including solving simple dynamic allocation problems.