Module description
Environmental economics is a comparatively young, but by now well-established, branch of economics, which has attracted more and more students. Environmental economics provides theories and techniques, which help students understand some important and controversial issues, such as climate change, nuclear power, recycling policy, and traffic congestion charging. Frameworks taught at the course can be used to evaluate various important policy questions such as: should air regulations be tightened or loosened? Does economic development necessarily result in a high environmental price? Is there a "Race to the Bottom" in environmental regulation? Are we running out of oil and other natural resources? What are the costs of climate change in the UK and other countries?
Environmental economics has much to say about the design of efficient and effective policy measures for protecting the environment. But when we turn to actual policy, we find quite often that existing measures of institutions do not stack up at all well in terms of these theoretical guidelines. How should we understand such political failures? Analysis of various political facets of environmental policymaking will be an important part of the course.
Assessment details
2-hour written exam (70%) & 2,000-word essay (30%)
Educational aims & objectives
- Provides students with a comprehensive account of the application of economic analysis to environmental issues
- Teach students several real-world environmental policy problems and how they can be solved
- Discuss limitations of economic analysis to provide guidance on environmental issues
- Study theories related to natural resource management, with an emphasis on the strengths and weaknesses of alternative viewpoints
- Discuss if economic objectives conflict with environmental goals and if markets can be harnessed to improve environmental quality
Learning outcomes
- Understand how economic methods can be applied to environmental issues facing society
- Understanding difficulties arising in using economic analysis in environmental policy design
- Solving and manipulating a variety of diagrammatic and algebraic models in environmental economics, and critically evaluate those models
- Prepare an essay that develops knowledge and understanding how economic theory can be applied in understanding and addressing environmental policy problems
- Ability to express an informed view regarding the potential of economics to help societies achieve their environmental goals
- Demonstrate good inter-personal and communication skills through writing an essay and contributing to critical discussion
Teaching pattern
Provisional Lecture Outline
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Environmental externalities and the theory of market failure
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Economics of pollution control
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Economics of natural resource use
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The environmental consequences of economic growth
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Evolving issues in environmental economics: health and the environment; insights from behavioral economics