Economics

This course offers a study of applied research in economics. It focuses on linear econometric techniques as well as related programming skills. It also discusses examples of influential studies including practical computer sessions to replicate those studies.

Prerequisites: introductory course on econometrics.

This course focuses on our environment(s), which function as public goods in providing benefits but can, as common pool goods, be affected by the positive or negative externalities resulting from private behavior. Although `‘the environment'' is often defined as nature (e.g., land, water, air), it is more broadly defined to include the shared spaces (e.g., markets, classrooms, websites, electromagnetic spectrum) that nobody owns but everyone gains from. The course explores the value of environments, discusses how actions produce positive and negative impacts on environments, evaluates the magnitude of those impacts, and discusses different theories for managing and methods of protecting environments in the traditions of Pigou, Coase, and Ostrom. A knowledge of microeconomics is useful but not essential to this class (basic concepts will be reviewed and taught). Among other ideas, the course discusses assessing the incentives for behaviors and distribution of costs and benefits from policies (e.g., polluter pays, discounting, and mis-matched political-economic jurisdictions) as well as how aggregated environmental impacts and policies alter the market landscape within and among countries (e.g., pollution havens, and intergenerational equity, and environmental Kuznets curve). Students apply these ideas to a course paper on the topic of their choice that uses a cost-benefit analysis of market and non-market values to explore the existing distribution of costs and benefits as well as policy proposals that might move the distribution (and overall impact) of those polices closer to sustainability.