What is the role of the government in regulating pollution? Is there an optimal amount of pollution (that isn’t zero)? Should some countries be allowed to pollute more than others? This seminar will tackle these questions and others while introducing students to the core concepts of environmental economics. Topics including externalities, public goods, sustainability, property rights, non-market valuation and social cost-benefit analysis. These concepts will be applied to issues arising in environmental economics, current policy debates, and evaluation of recent and important papers in the field.

 The purpose of this seminar is for each student to produce an original piece of research. The paper must be empirical in nature and examine a question related to environmental economics. I will consider any topic that has even a tangential association with environmental issues to be fair game but all papers must meet certain standards of style, quality, and empirical content.

 During the first semester, students will learn about the various stages of the research process as well as core concepts in environmental economics. During the second semester, the skills gained will be applied to the student’s research paper. Students can either work alone or in groups. The final paper should be a maximum of 4,000 words including footnotes, endnotes and tables. Papers, as well as all assignments, can be completed in either Hebrew or English.