Seminar: Environmental Cost-benefit Analysis
Course content
How should decision-makers (e.g., governments or financial
investors) decide between potential projects and policies?
Answering this poses many challenges, not least for many
environmental projects and policies. Such projects and policies may
have effects on goods and services that are not traded in the
market, adverse distributional effects, and inherent risks and
uncertainties. Parallel to this are the challenges of financing
sustainable growth.
This course introduces students to the general method and use of
cost-benefit analysis. There will be particular emphasis on
applications to resource and environmental economics. The course
therefore deals with many crucial aspects of environmental
cost-benefit analysis.
The goal to equip students with the necessary background to assess
the validity of practical environmental cost-benefit analyses, as
well as to formulate how current guidelines can be improved based
on the latest economic research.
The course will consist of a lecture block that provides an
overview and introduces students to key concepts.
Examples of topics students may work on:
- Revealed preferences methods for valuing non-market goods
- Contingent valuation method for valuing non-market goods
- Value or benefit transfer
- Distributional issues in cost-benefit analysis
- Discounting approaches and reasonable values
- Discounting and inequality
- Discounting under uncertainty
- Discounting of scarce non-market goods
- Applications to climate change
-
Other applications
In additional to the learning outcome specified in the Master curriculum the student is after completing the seminar expected to be able to:
Knowledge:
- Account for, define and scientifically reflect on key concepts of environmental cost-benefit analysis.
- Identify, theorize, discuss and criticize central contributions to environmental cost-benefit analysis.
- Obtain a handle to further explore the scientific literature and guidelines on environmental cost-benefit analysis.
Skills:
- Master the methods and tools of environmental cost-benefit analysis.
- Structure and analyze the methods of environmental cost-benefit analysis, and to assess and choose scientific theories, methods and tools in particular applications of environmental cost-benefit analysis.
- Argue, debate, communicate and present the problems with environmental cost-benefit analysis in a scientific and professional manner.
Competences:
- Manage, plan, carry through and implement an environmental cost-benefit analysis.
- Independently be able to make use of the course content in own academic work.
- Be responsible for the students own further learning/ specialization in environmental cost-benefit analysis.
At the seminar the student is trained independently to
- identify and clarify a problem,
- seek and select relevant literatur,
- write a academic paper,
- present and discuss own paper with the other students at the
seminar.
The aim of the presentations is, that the student uses the
presentation as an opportunity to practice oral skills and to
receive feedback. The presentations is not a part of the exam and
will not be assessed.
Mandatory activities in the seminar:
- Kick-off meeting
- Finding literatur and defining the project
- Writing process of the seminar paper
- Presentation of own project and paper
- Giving constructive feedback to another student´s paper
- Actively participating in discussions at the presentations and
other meetings.
There is no weekly teaching/lecturing and the student cannot expect
guidance from the teacher. If the teacher gives a few introduction
lectures or gives the opportunity for guidance, this as well as
other expectations are clarified at the kickoff meeting.
Process:
It is strongly recommended that you think about and search for a
topic before the semester begins, as there is only a few weeks from
the kick-off meeting to the submission of the project description/
agreement paper.
The seminar project paper must be uploaded in Absalon before the
presentations, as the opponents and the other seminar participants
have to read and comment on the paper. It is important that you
upload a paper that is so finalized as possible due to the fact
that the value of feedback and comments at the presentation is
strongly associated with the skill level of the seminar paper.
After the presentations, you can with a few corrections improve the
seminar paper by including the feedback and comments emerged during
the presentations. It is NOT intended that you rewrite or begin the
writing of the full project AFTER the presentation has taken
place.
- Atkinson, G., & Mourato, S. (2008). Environmental Cost-benefit Analysis. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 33, 317-344.
- Boardman, A. E., Greenberg, D. H., Vining, A. R., & Weimer, D. L. (2017). Cost-benefit Analysis: Concepts and Practice. Cambridge University Press. (Tentatively on the list of key literature)
- OECD (2018), Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Environment: Further Developments and Policy Use. OECD Publishing.
Additional literature is posted in Absalon
There are no recommended academic qualifications other than the
requirements to the study program in Economics.
The seminar assumes that students have a knowledge of the basic
principles of environmental cost-benefit analysis corresponding to
the course "Economics of the Environment and Climate
Change" in the Department of Economics, University of
Copenhagen.
BSc in Economics or similar
Schedule of the seminar:
• Kick-off meeting: 31 August 2020 10.15-12.00
• Extra days of introducing teaching: 7 and 14 September
10.15-12.00
• Deadline submitting commitmentpaper: October 1st 2020, 10.00 am
or when decided by the supervisor
• Deadline of pre-paper uploaded to Absalon: one week before
presentations
• Presentations/Workshops: November 2 and 3 10.15-17.00 (If more
classes Nov 4 and 5 are tentative dates)
All information regarding the seminar is communicated through
Absalon including venue. So it is very important that you by
yourself logon to Absalon and read the information already when you
are registered at the seminar.
Each student receives individually oral feedback on the paper and at the presentation from peers and supervisor.
The supervisor gives the students collective oral feedback and individual guidance.
For enrolled students: More information about registration, schedule, rules etc. can be found at Master (UK) and Master (DK).
More information about seminars is available at Seminars (UK) and Seminars (DK).
Read about the study programme and curricula at MSc in Economics
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
-
Written assignmentA seminar paper in English that meets the formal requirements for written papers stated in the curriculum of the Master programme and at KUNet for seminars.
___ - Aid
- All aids allowed
for the seminar paper.
The teachers defines the aids that must be used for the presentations.
__
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
__
Criteria for exam assessment
Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the seminar and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes in the Curriculum of the Master programme.
To receive the top grade, the student must with no or only a few minor weaknesses be able to demonstrate an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material.
- Category
- Hours
- Project work
- 186
- Seminar
- 20
- English
- 206
Kursusinformation
- Language
- English
- Course number
- AØKK08404U
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Programme level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
-
1 semester
- Schedulegroup
-
and venue:
Go to "Remarks".
Exam and re-sits: Go to "Exam". - Capacity
- Two class of up to 20 students
- Studyboard
- Department of Economics, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Economics
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences
Course Coordinator
- Elisabeth Casas Casanova
(3-6967674469677372326f7932686f)
Please contact Frikk Nesje for infomation about the seminar
Teacher
Frikk Nesje frikk.nesje@gmail.com
Are you BA- or KA-student?
Courseinformation of students