88268 - ENVIRONMENTAL AND RESOURCE ECONOMICS

Academic Year 2019/2020

  • Moduli: Anastasios Xepapadeas (Modulo 1) Alessandro Tavoni (Modulo 2)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Sciences and Management of Nature (cod. 9257)

Learning outcomes

The course aims at providing the students with the tools to understand issues related to the economics of environmental management, with a view to assessing what economic instruments policy makers can rely on to avoid that the local resources and global commons (e.g. the climate) are not overexploited.

Course contents

Module 1 (Prof. Xepapadeas)

The first module will begin with the introduction of environmental externalities as a source of failure of competitive markets to attain Pareto efficient market solutions. This type of market failure induces environmental regulation, which will be covered next. In this part, environmental policy instruments in theory and practice will be presented. More specifically, it will include: Command and control regulation (limits and standards); Market based instruments (emission taxes, subsidies, tradable emission permits, input taxes, deposit-refund systems); and Voluntary agreements. This part will also cover bargaining solutions as a means of correcting environmental externalities (Coasian bargaining). The first module will then provide an introduction to the economics of climate change and will cover: Historical trends of global average temperature, emissions and concentration of greenhouse gasses (GHGs); The temperature anomaly and polar amplification; Sinks and sources; Carbon budgeting; The coupled system of the economy and climate; A descriptive introduction to Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs); Climate policy which will cover carbon taxes, cap-and-trade and the EU-ETS, carbon capture and storage (CCS), and reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD); Adaptation to climate change; International agreements; COP21-The Paris Agreement and the more recent COPs.

Module 2 (Prof. Tavoni)

Lecture 1: Fundamentals of Game Theory and Insights for Environmental Management

Lecture 2: Environmental Economics in the Lab and in the Field

Lecture 3: Scaling Climate Cooperation from the Bottom Up

Lecture 4: Diffusion of Green Technologies across Time and Space

Readings/Bibliography

Assigned academic papers and lecture material

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures

Assessment methods

Written exam

Teaching tools

On IOL, as soon as the system is available for upload

Office hours

See the website of Alessandro Tavoni

See the website of Anastasios Xepapadeas

SDGs

Affordable and clean energy Sustainable cities Responsible consumption and production Climate Action

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.