Dr Sefi Roth

Prof. Hendrik Wolff

Dr Eugenie Dugoua

Dr Frank Venmans

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Environmental Economics and Climate Change and MSc in Environmental Policy, Technology and Health (Environmental Economics and Climate Change) (LSE and Peking University). This course is available on the MPhil/PhD in Environmental Economics, MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics, MSc in Economics, MSc in Economics (2 Year Programme) and MSc in Geographic Data Science. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

The number of students that can be accommodated is limited. If the course is over-subscribed, places will be allocated at the Department’s discretion and a waiting list may be created. For further details, please contact your relevant Programme Coordinator.

A background in economics and calculus is highly desirable.

Environmental and resource economics is at the forefront of the response to local, national and global environmental problems. As such, it has become an essential part of the thinking and actions of national and regional governments, as well as international agencies and organizations. This course seeks to develop a rigorous treatment of the theory of environmental and natural resource economics, and to show how formal economic thinking can assist real world policymaking in areas such as climate change, ecosystem & biodiversity conservation and water resource management.

The course consists of four components which cluster together the principal areas of interest and research in environmental and natural resource economics:  

PART I: Environmental Economics and Pollution Control

PART II: Behavioural Economics, Evaluation and the Environment

PART III: The Economics of Natural Resources: Efficiency, Optimality and Sustainability

PART IV: Economics of Climate Change and Low-Carbon Transitions

In the Department of Geography and Environment, teaching will be delivered through a combination of classes/seminars, pre-recorded lectures, live online lectures, in-person lectures and other supplementary interactive live activities.

This course is delivered through a combination of seminars and lectures Autumn Term and Winter Term.

This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term and Week 6 of Winter Term.

Students will complete one written formative assignment of 1,500 words in Autumn Term, on which they will receive written feedback.

Detailed reading lists will be provided to support each course component. The following texts will be particularly useful:

Autumn Term:

• Kolstad, C., Environmental Economics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, (2000).
• L. Perman, R., Y. Ma, J. McGilvray and M. Common, Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, Pearson Addison Wesley, Fourth Edition (2011), and Third Edition (2003)
• Bondy M, Roth S, and Sager, L. (2020) Crime Is in the Air: The Contemporaneous Relationship between Air Pollution and Crime, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists 7:3, 555-585
• Dugoua E (2019) International Environmental Agreements and Directed Technological Change: Evidence from the Ozone Regime. Working Paper available at http://eugeniedugoua.com/papers/Dugoua2018_Montreal_Innovation.pdf

Winter Term:

• Conrad, J., Resource Economics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (2005);
• L Perman, et al., Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, Pearson Addison Wesley, Fourth Edition (2011), and Third Edition (2003);
• Arrow et al. (2013). Determining Benefits and Costs for Future Generations. Science  26 Jul 2013:Vol. 341, Issue 6144, pp. 349-350.

Assessment path 1
Exam (75%, duration: 3 hours) in the spring exam period.
Essay (25%, 2500 words).

Assessment path 2
Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the spring exam period.
Essay (50%, 6000 words) in the ST.

Assessment Pathway 1: For all students NOT enrolled on MSc Economics or MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics

Assessment Pathway 2: For MSc Economics and MSc Econometrics and Mathematical Economics students only.