EEP 101/ECON 125
Environmental Economics
David Zilberman
2060 Valley Life Sciences Building,
Tuesdays & Thursdays, 9:30-11:00 a.m.
Class website:
http://are.berkeley.edu/courses/EEP101/spring03/
Office hours: Thurs., 3:30-5:00 p.m.
337 Giannini Hall
G.S.I.'s:
• Yanhong Jin: jin@are.Berkeley.edu
• Guanming Shi: gshi@are.Berkeley.edu
Textbooks (Optional)
• Tietenberg, Tom. Environmental and Natural Resource
Economics. Fifth Edition, Reading, Massachusetts: Addison
Wesley Longman, Inc., 2000.
• Hartwick, J., and N. Olewiler. The Economics of Natural
Resource Use. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.
• Carlson, Gerald A., David Zilberman, and John A.
Miranowski. Agricultural and Environmental Resource
Economics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
• Online class notes.
Grading
• Option 1: No final paper
50% final, 30% midterm, and 20% homework.
• Option 2: With final paper
66.6% grade of option 1, 33.3% grade of paper.
Paper:15 pages on an environmental economics topic
consisting of survey of literature, interviews,
analysis, etc. Examples:
-Water markets in California
-Policies to contain climate
-Economics of the Endangered Species Act
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Outline
Lecture 1: Introduction
Lecture 2: When Is a Market Socially Optimal?
Lectures 3-4: Production Externalities
Lecture 5: Positive Externalities
Lecture 6: Coase Theorem and Liability Roles
Lecture 7: Externalities and the Selection of Policy Tools:
Other Considerations
Lectures 8-9: Externalities and Technology Adoption
Lecture 10: Environmental and Health Risks
Lecture 11: Waste Management
Lectures 12-13: Public Goods
Outline (continue)
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Lectures 14-15: Endangered Species, Targeting
Lectures 16-17: Valuation of Environmental Benefits
Lecture 18: Key Elements of Dynamic Systems
Lectures 19-20: Dynamic Aspects of Environ. Policies
Lectures 21 -23: Water Allocation and Quality Policies
Lecture 24: Pesticide Economics
Lecture 25: Biotechnology
Lectures 26-27: International Environmental Issues
Lecture 28: Environment and Development
Lecture 29: Review
What Is Environmental Economics?
• How to use economic principles to better manage the
environment and the economy.
• Guiding principles
• Anthropocentric emphasis—human concern for and benefits
from nature justifies policy intervention.
• Interdisciplinary emphasis—scientific knowledge becomes
part of the input to the economic analysis.
• Policy emphasis—market failures cause pollution control
and environmental conservation policies.
• Issue orientation.
Major Issues and Problems
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Pollution control—carrot sticks awareness guilt
Valuation of environmental amenities.
Conservation policies and environmental protection.
Water, air, and soil protection.
Climate change.
Sustainability of endangered species.
Risk management.
The major association of
environmental economists is the
Association of Environmental and
Resource Economics (AERE). Its
journal is JEEE. Environmental
economics is supported by the
EPA, USDA, and the U. S. Army
Corps of Engineers.
Environmental economists are
employed by federal and state
governments, developers,
environmental groups, and
lawyers.
The society facilitates
understanding between
economists and ecologists
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the integration of their
thinking into a transdiscipline aimed at
developing a
sustainable world.
Agricultural economists
emphasize research on
environmental issues
including water, pesticides,
animal waste, soil erosion,
agricultural biotechnology, etc.
Their association is the AAEA,
and the journal is AJAE.
Interdisciplinary Journals
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Science American Academy of Science
Nature
Water Resources Research American Geological Union
Natural Resources Modeling
Journal of Amer. Statistical Assoc. American Statistical
Association
Management Science Management Science Society
The Economist
Choices
Resources
Challenge
California Agriculture