Description | Syllabi

Poverty, natural resource management, and environmental degradation are inextricably linked, and this course explores ways that economic analysis can help identify underlying problems and formulate effective policy responses. We focus on the challenges that global climate change present to the developing world, and how policies can be designed to help mitigate these challenges. Major topics include: the relationship between economic growth and the environment; social/environmental institutions and common property resource management; behavioral and experimental approaches to climate research; choosing appropriate policy instruments for environmental protection; relationships between human health and the environment and how understanding these relationships can help inform policy design. Particular emphasis will be placed on the intersection of these issues in sub-Saharan Africa, with exposure to field research in communities near Cape Town, South Africa.

Prerequisites:CORE-GP.1018 or permission from instructor