Environmental Economics

Applying introductory microeconomic principles to environmental and natural resource policy, this course addresses issues including air pollution, global climate change, population growth, forest management, and endangered species protection. Key concepts covered include externalities, public goods, property rights, and cost-benefit analysis. Policy approaches examined range from regulatory measures to market-based solutions such as taxes and tradable permits. The course also covers sustainable development, the clean energy transition, and non-market valuation methods. Instruction draws on reading material, lectures, case studies, and homework assessments.

In this course, students will apply introductory microeconomic principles to contemporary environmental and natural resource policy issues such as air pollution, global climate change, population growth, forest management, and endangered species protection. The course covers key concepts including externalities, public goods, property rights, and cost-benefit analysis. Students will explore various policy approaches to environmental problems, including regulatory measures and market-based solutions like taxes and tradable permits. The course also addresses topics such as sustainable development and the clean energy transition as well as introduces methods on non-market valuation. The curriculum includes reading material, lectures, case studies, and homework assessments to evaluate students’ understanding and application of the material.

• Apply solutions from environmental theory to real-world environmental problems and challenges.
• Understand environmental policy instruments and the basic economic rationale behind them.
• Discuss various approaches developed for valuing environmental goods and services.
• Examine contemporary environmental issues from an economist’s lens.

• Goodstein, Eban S. and Stephen Polasky. Economics and the Environment, 9th Edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2020. ISBN 9781119693505.

• Tietenberg, Thomas H., and Lewis, Lynne. Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, 11th Edition. Taylor & Francis, 2018. ISBN 9781351803373.
• Additional required readings for each week will be uploaded on LMS. These will be academic (published or working) papers related to the topic being discussed in class that week. Students are responsible for completing the readings prior to class. Most of the course material will be taken from the textbooks. Other materials and readings will be provided.