Applied Welfare Economics and Public Policy

Catalog description

Principles of welfare economics applied to policy issues in agriculture and natural resources. Review of measures of household welfare, willingness to pay, and notions of Pareto optimality, aggregate welfare and market failure. Practical methods of comparative statics analysis of the effect of public policies on consumer and firm behavior, and on market equilibrium. Theory of externalities and welfare implications of market versus non-market allocation of public goods examined. Applications include evaluation of such policies as taxes, price supports, quotas, pollution controls, environmental damage liability, and intellectual property rights.