290024 Natural Resource Economics

Details
Institute of Food and Resource Economics
Earliest Possible Year
DurationOne block
 
Credits7.5 (ECTS)
Course LevelMSc
 
ExaminationFinal Examination

written examination


Written Exam in Lecturehall

All aids allowed

Description of Examination: Four hour written examination in the course curriculum

Weight: Written exam 100%



13-point scale, external examiner

Dates of Exam:
04 November 2006
 
Organisation of TeachingLectures and Exercises
 
Block PlacementBlock 1
Week Structure: B
 
Teaching LanguageEnglish
 
Optional PrerequisitesMicroeconomics, Welfare Economics and Policy AnalysisEnvironmental and Natural Resource Economics
 
Areas of Competence the Course Will Address
Competences obtained within basic science:

Knowledge and comprehension of economic theory of natural resources.

Competences obtained within applied science:

Be able to apply the models developed in the course on natural resource problems

Competences obtained in Ethics & Values

Is aware of the values behind the theoretical foundation of natural resource economics.


 
Course Objectives
The objective of the course is to give a thorough introduction to and an overview of the economics of natural resources.
 
Course Contents
Natural Resource Economics deals with the optimal utilisation of renewable and exhaustible resources. Here, a distinction is made between renewable resources such as forests and fisheries and non-renewables such as deposits of minerals and metals. There are several features of natural resources that make them different from other economic goods. First of all, natural resources are both consumption/production goods and assets. The latter implies that they have to be treated in the same way as other assets, such as bonds and stocks. A second feature is that both harvesting or extraction and growth (for renewables) take place over a long period of time. This makes it necessary to use a dynamic approach. Thirdly, it is often hard to define ownership of natural resources. If at the same time there is open access to the resource, the problem of the commons arises. This makes regulation of the utilisation of the resource necessary from the point of view of both the extractors and Society. Finally, especially for renewable resources, values other than those related to direct consumption and production are important in determining the optimal social stock level of the resource. These other values could be recreational (such as in a forest), biodiversity or pure existence value. All these factors will be examined in the course.
 
Teaching And Learning Methods
Teaching will be in the form of lectures and practicals. The lectures will provide an overview of the main issues. Since the field of natural resource economics is rather mathematical, practicals will form a relatively large part of the course. During the practicals, the more technical parts of the literature will be discussed thoroughly and time will be taken to go through exercises.
 
Course Litterature
Hanley, N., J.F. Shogren and B. White (1997), Environmental Economics in Theory and Practice, Oxford: Oxford University Press

P. Neher (1990), Natural Resource Economics - Conservation and Exploitation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press

P.S. Dasgupta and G.M. Heal (1979), Economic Theory and Exhaustible Resources, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

C.W. Clark (1980), Towards a Predictive Model for the Economic Regulation of Commercial Fisheries, Canadian Journal of Fish. Aquat. Sci. 37, 1111-1129

R. Dorfman (1969), An Economic Interpretation of Optimal Control Theory, American Economic Review 59, 817-831.

R. Hartman (1976), The Harvesting Decision When a Standing Forest Has Value, Economic Inquiry, 14, 52-58

Strang, W.J. (1983), On the Optimal Forest Harvesting Decision, Economic Inquiry 21, 576-583

Plus some other papers and articles.
 
Course Coordinator
Eirik Schrøder Amundsen, esam@life.ku.dk, Institute of Food and Resource Economics/Environmental Economics and Rural Development Div., Phone: 35336828
 
Study Board
Study Committee NSN
 
Course Scope
lectures48
theoretical exercises48
preparation106
examination4

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