PUBPOL 3670
Economics and Environmental Policy
Introduction to the use of economics as a tool in forming and evaluating environmental policy, with a focus on how economists measure effects of environmental quality and regulation. Topics include: externalities in an environmental context; regulation methods such as command and control, Pigouvian taxation, and cap and trade; methods for measuring the costs and benefits of environmental policy; overview of current environmental legislation; environmental quality and health; regulation and environmental justice.
Topics
- Students will be able to explain the reasons for market failure in the presence of externalities in an environmental context.
- Students will be able to identify common methods of government intervention in environmental regulation, and explain relative strengths and weaknesses in the context of both social efficiency and equity.
- Students will be able to discuss and evaluate methods used to measure the economic effects of environmental quality and various environmental policies.
- Students will be able to address the common trade-offs between equity and efficiency in environmental policy, including environmental justice.
Official roster learning outcomes
Prerequisites & course information
ECON 1110.
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027