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Economics of environment and natural resources
Roberto Esposti

Seat Fac. Economia - Sede di Ancona
A.A. A.A. 2016-2017
Credits 6
Hours 44
Period 1^ semestre
Language ENG

Development of the course

(Ad esempio) Il corso verrà svolto attraverso lezioni a contenuto sia teorico che pratico.

Learning outcomes

1. Conoscenze e comprensione.
At the end of the course, the students will have an in-depth knowledge of the theoretical concepts for analysing, from the point of view of Economics, the major issues concerning the environment, the natural resources and the “sustainable development”.
2. Capacità di applicare conoscenze e comprensione.
At the end of the course, the students will be able to apply the major policy approaches to environmental problems are also dealt with in details as well as will be able to adopt applied methodologies concerning the economic and monetary evaluation of environmental goods and the assessment of the sustainability of economic processes.
3. Competenze trasversali.
At the end of the course, the students will be able to elaborate on the complex relation occurring between economic growth and environmental degradation as well as to provide autonomous judgments and research ideas about the complexity occurring between economic growth and sustainability from an ecological point of view. Finally, students will be able to investigate the processes of international integration involved by the environmental issues and challenges and the specific country-level risks.

Program

Part I: Principles of Environmental Economics 

• Introduction to welfare economics
• The problem of social cost                      

-          Public goods and externalities

-          The economic value of environmental goods and its components

-          Methods for measuring the economic value of environmental goods

-          A case-study: the Exxon Valdez oil spill

• Environmental policies

-          The optimal pollution level

-          The Polluter Pays Principle

-          Taxes, incentives and rights in environmental policy

Part II: Sustainability: concepts and instruments         

• Introduction
• Natural resources management and intertemporal or intergenerational choices
  • The case of non-renewable resources and the problem of the discount rate
  • The case of renewable resources
  • The tragedy of the commons 
• Economic development and the environment

-         The relation between environmental degradation and economic development

-         The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC)

-         Less-developed and developing countries and the environment

• Sustainable economic development 
  • Strong and weak sustainability
  • Growth and sustainability
  • Sustainable development: definition and concepts
• An ecological view on sustainability
  • Ecological economics: basic concepts
  • Ecological economics: instruments
  • The ecological footprint

Development of the examination

1. Modalità di valutazione dell'apprendimento.
The exam is written and is divided in two parts.

2. Criteri di valutazione dell'apprendimento.
The first part of the exam consists of three open-ended questions on the several parts of the program. The response to the questions is expected to demonstrate the student’s understanding of the key concepts but also their capacity of elaborating autonomous evaluations and judgments.
The second part consists of a closed-ended test (5-10 questions). Each question aims at assessing the student’s degree of knowledge on very specific parts of the course.

3. Criteri di misurazione dell'apprendimento.
In the first part of the exam, each of the three open-ended question will receive an evaluation ranging between 0 and 6. In the second part of the exam, any question of the test admits four possible answers. One of them is the correct answer and will receive an evaluation of 2 points. The remaining three answers are wrong and will receive an evaluation of 0 points.

4. Criteri di attribuzione del voto finale.
For the exam to be passed, the final grade must achieve at least 18/30. The final grade ranges between the minimum of 18/30 and the maximum of 30/30. The first part of the exam will be attributed a maximum of 18 points. The second part will be attributed a maximum of 12 points. For exams of very high quality the “cum laude” will be added to the 30/30 evaluation.

Recommended reading

Course slides. Available on-line at: http://grecof2.econ.univpm.it/esposti/wiki/doku.php?id=home

Suggested textbooks:

Pearce, D., Turner, R.K. 1990: Economics of natural resources and the environment. Johns Hopkins University Press.

Goodstein, E.S. 2010: Economics and the environment. John Wiley & Sons.

Further readings (respective pdf files can be found in the course website):

PART I:

Carson et al., 2003: Contingent Valuation and lost passive use: damage from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Environmental and Resource Economics , 25, 257-286.

Coase, R. 1960: The problem of social cost, The Journal of Law & Economics, III, 1-44

PART II:

Coxhead, I. 2008: Economic development and the environment. In: S. N. Durlauf and L. E. Blume (eds.), The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Second Edition. Palgrave Macmillan.

Grossman, G.M., Krueger, A.B. 1995: Economic growth and the environment. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110, 353-377.

Hardin, G. 1968: The Tragedy of the Commons, Science, Vol. 162, 1243-1248

OECD. 2008: Sustainable Development. Linking economy, society, environment. OECD: Parigi.

Nordhaus, W.D., Tobin, J. 1973: Is Growth Obsolete? In Moss, M. (ed.), The Measurement of Economic and Social Performance. Studies in Income and Wealth, Vol. 38, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1973, pp. 509-564.

Selden, T.M., Song, D. 1994: Environmental Quality and Development: Is there a Kuznets Curve for Air Pollution Emissions? Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 27, 147-162.

Stiglitz, J., Sen, A., Fitoussi, J-P. 2009: Report by the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress (www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr).

WWF et al. 2013: Living Planet Report 2012. Biodiversità, biocapacità e scelte migliori. Disponibile in italiano al sito: http://awsassets.wwfit.panda.org/downloads/livingplanetreport2012_italinao.pdf

 

Courses

• L.M. - International Economics and Commerce curriculum International Economics and Business