Taught in English at the Universidad de Chile and may not be available every semester. The main objective of this course is to analyze the economic and institutional causes of environmental problems. The course starts by introducing the field and its policy challenges, and by analyzing the question of “why do people pollute or overuse natural resources?” The course then turns towards the design and assessment of environmental regulation and policy. The analytical foundations of market failure and externalities, as well as the role of property rights, are at the core of the first part, together with the economic theory of environmental policy. The second part of the course discusses concepts of sustainability as approached from economics, and it provides an overview of the means by which sustainability may be evaluated. (ENECO 487)
Department: Economics
Location: Santiago
Credits: 4