Environmental Economics and Policy

Catalog description

This course introduces the ways in which economic theories and scientific methods used in economic research are applied to understand and solve environmental problems, including climate change, ozone depletion, global warming, air and water pollution, problems of solid and toxic wastes, sustainable development and international trade. The course investigates why markets can fail when the environment is involved (externalities and common property resources), the possible policy tools that can correct the market failure, and how we determine the optimal level of pollution and choose policies that efficiently achieve it. The course evaluates different regulatory instruments for controlling pollution such as emission taxes and subsidies, tradable permits and pollution standards; and discusses the targets for environmental policy and their impact on resource allocation. In this course, the analytical tools such as risk assessment, cost-benefit analysis for environmental decision-making and various valuation techniques to investigate effects from changes in environmental quality will be introduced.