207-403 Resource Industry Economics II

207-101 Economics of Resource Use, or 316-102 Introductory Microeconomics, 207-201 Resource Industry Economics I.

At the end of the course students should be able to apply economic reasoning and analytical techniques to resource use and conservation problems. This subject is about analysing the economics of environmental and ecological problems, all from the viewpoint of public choice.

The subject will cover areas of:

• natural resource scarcity and sustainability

• resource management choices and decision-making;

• public choice theory and practice;

• economic and ecological criteria for decisions;

• valuation of resources including economic rent, land and water pricing, non-market valuation, discounting and sustainability;

• economics of renewable resources, optimal harvest rotation, preservation of old-growth forests, regulation, multiple use; and

• public goods and international environmental problems and tradeable permits.

A three-hour examination (60%), and two written assignment equivalent to 3000 words (20% each).

• J M Hartwick and N D Olewiler, The Economics of Natural Resource Use. second edition, Addison Wesley Longman, 1998.