363-0514-00L Energy Economics and Policy

Semester	Spring Semester 2021
Lecturers	M. Filippini, S. Srinivasan
Periodicity	yearly recurring course
Language of instruction	English
Comment	It is recommended for students to have taken a course in introductory microeconomics. If not, they should be familiar with microeconomics as in, for example,"Microeconomics" by Mankiw & Taylor and the appendices 4 and 7 of the book "Microeconomics" by Pindyck & Rubinfeld.

Abstract	An introduction to energy economics and policy that covers the following topics: energy demand, investment in energy efficiency, investment in renewables, energy markets, market failures and behavioral anomalies, market-based and non-market based energy and climate policy instruments in industrialized and developing countries.
Objective	The students will develop an understanding of economic principles and tools necessary to analyze energy issues and to understand energy and climate policy instruments. Emphasis will be put on empirical analysis of energy demand and supply, market failures, behavioral anomalies, energy and climate policy instruments in industrialized and developing countries, and investments in renewables and in energy-efficient technologies.
Content	The course provides an introduction to energy economics principles and policy applications. The first part of the course will introduce the microeconomic foundation of energy demand and supply as well as market failures and behavioral anomalies. In a second part, we introduce the concept of investment analysis (such as the NPV) in the context of renewable and energy-efficient technologies. In the last part, we use the previously introduced concepts to analyze energy policies: from a government perspective, we discuss the mechanisms and implications of market oriented and non-market oriented policy instruments as well as applications in developing countries. Throughout the entire course, we combine the material with insights from current research in energy economics. This combination will enable students to understand standard scientific literature in the field of energy economics and policy. Moreover, the class aims to show students how to relate current issues in the energy and climate spheres that influence industrialized and developing countries to insights from energy economics and policy. Course evaluation: at the end of the course, there will be a written exam covering the topics of the course.
Prerequisites / Notice	It is recommended for students to have taken a course in introductory microeconomics. If not, they should be familiar with microeconomics as in, for example, "Microeconomics" by Mankiw & Taylor and the appendices 4 and 7 of the book "Microeconomics" by Pindyck & Rubinfeld.