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| Semester | fall semester 2020 |
| Course frequency | Every fall sem. |
| Lecturers | Frank Christian Krysiak (frank.krysiak@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This course addresses topics from current research in environmental economics. The focus is on designing environmental policy with applications to climate and energy policy. The course will cover three important elements of designing environmental policy: 1) The ability to cope with complications in the short run, such as missing information about costs and benefits, market power or imperfect compliance; 2) The influence of policy on technological change in the long run; 3) The evaluation of policy targets: How to set policy targets under uncertainty about costs and benefits. The course will commence with simple problems, as they are discussed in a typical BA course on environmental economics, and will progress to more complex settings found in many applications. We will discuss a range of policy instruments used in climate and energy policy and investigate how they need to be adjusted for being able to cope with real-world complexities. Most parts of the course will be based on environmental economic theory, that is, we will capture the essence of an environmental problem in a model and investigate potential solutions in this context. In addition, we will discuss several current Swiss and European issues of environmental policy. In this course, active participation is essential. Students are expected to read one paper before each lecture and we will discuss the main argument made in the paper as well as applications and extensions in class. The course is complemented by an online course (MOOC), where we discuss environmental and energy economic modeling and where students build and analyze their own model. It is recommended (but not required) to enrol in both courses. |
| Learning objectives | The course will provide -) an overview over central topics in environmental economics and environmental policy; -) training in how to set up, analyze and interpret environmental economic models; -) the necessary concepts and tools to read and understand current research papers in environmental economics; -) competences for assessing current environmental policy and appreciating the problems raised by complications, such as missing cost/benefit information or strategic firm behavior. |
| Bibliography | The course is based mostly on research papers. A reading list will be distributed at the start of the term. Students are required to read about one paper per week. In addition, we will use some (minor) parts of the text book A. Xepapadeas (1997), "Advanced Principles in Environmental Policy", Edward Elgar. (The book is available in the library; due to its price, I do not recommend to buy it.) Students who are not yet familiar with basic concepts of environmental economics, might benefit from preparing for this course by studying the environmental economics part of R. Perman, Y. Ma, J. McGilvray und M. Common (2003), "Natural Resource and Environmental Economics", 3rd oder 4th Edition, Pearson Education. |
| Weblink | Weblink |
| Admission requirements | Advanced students from other programs are admitted, if they have sufficient training in microeconomics and mathematics. Some background in environmental economics is recommended but not required. The course is coupled to the online course "MOOC: Modeling in Environmental and Energy Economics" and it is recommended to do both courses during the same term. |
| Course application | Registration: Please enrol in MOnA. EUCOR-Students and students of other Swiss Universities have to enrol at the students administration office (studseksupport1@unibas.ch) within the official enrolment period. Enrolment = Registration for the exam! |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
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No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Module: Core Competences in Economics (Master's Studies: Sustainable Development) Module: Preparation Master's Thesis in Economics (Master's Studies: Sustainable Development) Specialization Module: International Trade, Growth and the Environment (Master's Studies: Business and Economics) Vertiefungsmodul Global Europe: Umwelt und Nachhaltigkeit (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) |
| Assessment format | end-of-semester examination |
| Assessment details | Performance will be assessed via a written exam at the end of the term. Exam: 11.12.20; 10:15-11:45. Electronic Exam. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Registration: course registration |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,1 |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Business and Economics , studiendekanat-wwz@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Faculty of Business and Economics |