Theoretical, formal and methodological foundations for the economic analysis of actual problems of environmental and natural resource use in agriculture and the evaluation of related policy measures (issues of optimal land and water allocation, optimal forest management, methods of environmental valuation, economics of nature conservation, treatment of uncertainty and irreversibility).
Objective
At the end of the course, the students are able to use economic principles (theory and methods) to critically analyze and discuss actual issues and problems of agricultural resource and environmental and policy appraisal – in particular in the domain of land and water use – and to provide a problem adequate and economically sound argumentation.
Content
Principles of economic efficiency and optimal resource allocation; Valuation and use of land and water; Multifunctionality; Economics of forestry; Environmental valuation; economics of nature conservation; Irreversibility, risk and uncertainty.
Lecture notes
no script (Handouts to the course will be made available on Moodle, timely in advance).
Literature
- Textbook: Perman, Ma, Common, Maddison, McGilvray: Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, 4th edition. Pearson, Harlow, 2011 (selected chapters). - Distribution of complementary literature during the course.
Prerequisites / Notice
Knowledge of the basics of resource and environmental economics (LV 751-1551-00L or equivalent) is a prerequisite; principles of microeconomics (LV 751-0901-00 or equivalent) are recommended); willingness to investigate in formal analyses is expected.
Performance assessment
Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again)
Performance assessment as a semester course