72492 - Economic and Environmental Policy

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Docente: Paolo Figini
  • Credits: 8
  • SSD: SECS-P/02
  • Language: Italian
  • Moduli: Paolo Figini (Modulo 1) Emanuela Randon (Modulo 2)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
  • Campus: Rimini
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Economics of Tourism (cod. 8847)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the students will handle the main tools of analysis related to economic and environmental policy, with particular refernce to the Italian and European context. In particular, students will be able to: - Unfold the recent economic facts of Italy and of the European Union; - Identify the main economic policy acts approved at the national and european levels; - Critically analyse policy goals and objectives in light of the main theoretical models; - Evaluate models developed to tackle environmental problems; - Jointly analyse the empirical evidence with the theory of envirionmantal policy.

Course contents

Course divided in two parts. Lectures are scheduled in the first semester.

Part I - The economic policy in Italy and Europe (Prof. Paolo Figini).

  1. Introduction to economic policy: theories, goals and instruments;
  2. The global economy: dynamics and open issues;
  3. The economic policy of neo-liberalism (1980-2008);
  4. The global economic governance: international organizations and economic powers;
  5. The financial and economic crisis (2008);
  6. The economic policies to counteract the crisis (2008-2015);
  7. The European Union economic policy.
  8. The economic policy of neo-protectionism and populism;
  9. The Italian economic policy;
  10. The Italian economy in the Covid-19 era.
Part II - The environmental policy in Italy and Europe (Prof. Emanuela Randon).
  1. The optimal use of renewable resources;
  2. The optimal use of non-renewable resources;
  3. The optimal level of internal pollution;
  4. The optimal use of international pollution;
  5. The main environmental policies: taxes, subsidies, standards, and permits;
  6. The sustainable development;
  7. The evolution of the EU environmental policy;
  8. Principles of the EU environmental policy;
  9. Tools of the EU environmental policy;
  10. Areas of intervention of the EU environmental policy.

Readings/Bibliography

  • Part I:

Notes and other material uploaded in virtuale.unibo.it.

Material for in-depth study of specific parts of the course:

B. Bortolotti,Crescere insieme, per un'economia giusta, Laterza, Bari, 2013 (Chps. 1, 2).

P. Montalbano, U. Triulzi, La politica economica internazionale, UTET, Torino (Chps. 1, 2.1, 5, 6.1, 6.2, 9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 10.6, 11.5, 11.6, 13.4).

U. Marani, R.R. Canale, O. Napolitano, P. Foresti, Politica Economica: La Teoria e l'Unione Europea, Hoepli, Milano (Chps. 6-16).

P. De Grauwe, Economia dell'Unione Monetaria, Il Mulino, Bologna.

J. Stiglitz, La globalizzazione e i suoi oppositori, Einaudi, Torino, 2002.

 

  • Part II:

I. Musu, Introduzione all'Economia Ambientale, Il Mulino, 2003.

R. Turner, D. Pearce and I. Bateman, Economia Ambientale, Il Mulino, 2003.

 

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures, with discussions and work groups, which will likely be available for online attendance. In case of further restrictions linked to the pandemic, lectures  might be given online only.

Assessment methods

Written test including multiple choice tests and short essays on the whole programme. In the academic year, there will be three sessions of exams, plus a possible extra session in the summer months. The exam is 1h and 30 minutes long and is composed of two parts of 45 minutes each, one part for each module of the course. The two parts are graded independently and the final mark is the average of the two parts. Marks are expressed out of 30 points and in each module a minimum of 15/30 points is required.

The exam has to be fully completed (both parts) in the same session.

VERY IMPORTANT: if the (complete) exam is passed, it is possible to reject the mark only once.

The grading scale is the following:

18: pass (equivalent to E in the European scale)

19-21: sufficient (equivalent to D in the European scale)

22-24: fair (equivalent to C in the European scale)

25-27: good (equivalent to B in the European scale)

28-30: very good (equivalent to A in the European scale)

30 cum laude (honours): excellent (equivalent to A+ in the European scale)

According to the evolution of the pandemic, exams might be seated in the Campus rooms. However, to maintain equity of treatment across the different sessions of the academic year, the exam will be available ONLY on the exam platform EOL. Hence, also students deciding to sit the exam in Rimini will have to connect to the EOL platform through their computers.

Teaching tools

Teaching material available in the platform virtuale.unibo.it

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Figini

See the website of Emanuela Randon

SDGs

No poverty Decent work and economic growth Reduced inequalities

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