Learning objectives
<p>The economic system uses natural enviroment in different ways: as input for production processes, for carring out ricreative activities, as source of biodiversity, as waste receiver and as life support. Often the objective of maximmizing the rpivate interest exclude the resource scarcity conept inside the economics decisions. The firms produce goods and services using the environment and its resources as if they are available in an unconstrained quantity, but they don't consider the cost of externalities produces by this behaviour on the entire society.</p>
<p>The objective of this course is to provide an economic analysis of the relations linking the environmental system and the economic system. The issues related to the market failures will be investigated and the economic tools for orienting the polluter behaviour will be discussed (taxes, subsidies, pollution entitlements). Finally, the theme of sustainable economic development will be discussed in order to define a development model more compatible with the the natural resource availbility. </p>
Prerequisites
Lectures and specific seminars.<br />
<br />
The exam foreseen a written test<br />
Course unit content
<p> I PART<br />
ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS</p>
<p><br />
1. Environment and economic system <br />
1.1 The environment: from free resource to economic good <br />
1.2 Environmental resources and natural resources<br />
1.3 Neoclassic economics and environmetal econmics<br />
1.4 Economic system and sustainable development<br />
1.5 Market failures <br />
<br />
2. The optimal use of natural resources according the economic theory<br />
2.1 Pubblic goods and externalities <br />
2.2 Regualation of environmental externalities<br />
2.3 Evaluation of the environmental goods <br />
2.4 Methods for measuring environmental value<br />
<br />
II PART <br />
TOOLS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY<br />
<br />
3. The definition of the environmental policies<br />
3.1 The polluter payer principle <br />
3.2 The environmental policy tools <br />
a) The optimal tax <br />
b) The Coase's theory<br />
c) The subsidies </p>
<p>3.3 The Kyoto protocol</p>
Bibliography
<p>Book of reference</p>
<p>R.K. Turner, D.W. Pearce, I. Bateman, Economia Ambientale, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2003. <br />
<br />
Suggested books <br />
G. Panella, Economia e Politiche dell’ambiente, Carocci Editore, Roma, 2002; <br />
D.W. Pearce, R.K. Turner, Economia dell’Ambiente e delle Risorse Naturali, Il Mulino, Bologna, 1991; <br />
T. Tietenberg, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Pearson Education, 2003. <br />
</p>
Teaching methods
<p>Formal lectures.</p>
<p>The exam will be organized on the basis of written test</p>
