SEMESTERETS FØRSTE FORELESNINGSDAG

I dag er første oppmøte for masterfaget i miljø- og ressursøkonomi som jeg underviser for tredje gang dette semesteret. Rekordmange 25 studenter er påmeldt (opp fra 16 i fjor og 5 året før). Her er den generelle fagbeskrivelsen som ligger i kursbeskrivelsen ("syllabus"):

MØA350 : ENVIRONMENTAL & RESOURCE ECONOMICS

This is a graduate-level applied economics course. Environmental and resource economics is a branch of economics with explicit focus on the role of the environment and natural resources in the economy. Broadly speaking, the subfield resource economics studies the flow of resources from nature to the economy, whereas the subfield environmental economics studies the flow of residuals from the economy into nature. Both subfields are concerned with how these flows influence economic production and human welfare. What is the best management of renewable resources (e.g., fish, forest)? What is the optimal extraction rate for non-renewable resources (e.g., oil, natural gas)? What is the appropriate level of pollution and how can it be achieved? How much is a Norwegian nature experience worth? What would be the economic cost of an oil spill outside the coast of North Norway? These are some of the questions that students will learn to address (theoretically and empirically) in this course.

The course is divided into the following three modules with the first two comprising environmental economics and the third one constituting resource economics:

1. Theory of Environmental Market Failures
2. Valuing Environmental Goods
3. Optimal Use of Natural Resources

Students will be graded on a standard A-F scale. In order to keep the focus on learning, not grades, lower grades than C will only be considered for consistently poor performances. Final grades are determined based on a weighted average evaluation of the following work throughout the semester:

3 Problem Sets = 30%
2 Take-Home Exams = 40%
1 Research Paper/Report = 15%
General Participation = 15%

Som del av den siste karakterkomponenten ("general participation") skal hver student presentere en vitenskapelig artikkel fra den eksisterende litteraturen for sine medstudenter. I tillegg skal hver student skrive et originalt blogginnlegg på MILJØØKONOMENE og bidra (minst) fem kommentarer hver. Dette ble veldig bra i fjor (da studentene kunne velge artikkelpresentasjon eller blogging), så jeg håper på enda større suksess i år. Tidligere bidrag kan finnes ved å trykke på etiketten MØA350.