Environmental and Resource Economics

The first part of the course includes the theory of external effects, institutions and environmental issues. Theories of environmental regulations and models of climate change and other international environmental issues are discussed. In the part on natural resources, models for optimal management of fish, wood and wildlife will be analysed, in addition to models for non-renewable resources as oil. These problems are mainly dynamic, and the main principles of optimal control theory and dynamic programming will be presented.

Knowledge

You learn

• models of the interaction between economic and human activity and the environment
• to analyze static and dynamic environmental- and resource economic problems
• local, national, and international aspects of environmental- and natural resource problems
• to analyze the impact of different types of regulation related to pollution, extraction of non-renewable resources such as oil and minerals, and harvesting of renewable resources such as fish and forest

Skills

You should

• master basic environmental- and resource economic theories and be familiar with the facts
• have good knowledge of the national and international debate on the climate and pollution problems
• be able to analyze several environmental- and resource economic problems with theoretical models

General competence

You should be able to

• read and understand reports and research articles dealing with issues discussed in the course
• use the content of the course in your own academic work like your master thesis

4 hours of lectures every week. The course has compulsory activity. Specific requirements will be announced at the beginning of the term. The course is an optional master's course, and is not taught every autumn semester. Check www.ntnu.edu/econ.

Students enrolled in ISØ's master programs can take the course any semester. Contact the department (kontakt@econ.ntnu.no) to get access to learning resources in Blackboard.