Economics and Environmental Policy

Catalog description

The goal of this course is to provide extension and empirical application of microeconomic and econometric theories already studied in the MSQE program. The class will focus on the theory of public bads/externalities, regulation theory and empirical analysis in the context of environmental problems. We will examine when markets maximize net benefits to society and under what conditions they fail to do so. Market failures that we will discuss include public goods, externalities, and common pool problems. We will study non-market valuation of environmental goods and a few important econometric tools that are used to conduct policy analysis. The last part of the class will focus on the design of environmental policies to improve the performance markets. In addition to completing problem sets and 2 exams, each student will be responsible for 3-4 policy briefs, each of which involves writing and presenting economic analysis of specific environmental policies. Prerequisites: ECON-520 and ECON-521