SDG Detail

ENVP U8216Economics for Environmental Policy II

Postgraduate course

Project description

This is a core economics course for the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy. The course explores the use of the tools of economic analysis in the discussion and evaluation of environmental policies. It builds on the microeconomic framework developed in Microeconomics and Policy Analysis I and extends it in a few directions. First, we deepen the discussion of theoretical issues particularly relevant for the analysis of environmental policies, such as externalities and public goods. Second, we explore how the theoretical concepts covered can be measured and used in actual environmental policy, and discuss real world examples of such applications. And finally, we discuss some aggregate implications related to � and the available evidence on � the two-way relationship between natural resources and economic growth. The objective of the course is to provide students with the necessary background for an understanding of the logic underlying the economic perspective on environmental policies. This is important to develop the skills necessary to conceptualize the trade-offs implicit in such policy decisions and to give a glimpse of the tools available to evaluate such trade-offs. As a result, it also helps build knowledge useful in a critical reading of policy proposals and evaluations in the environmental field.