Professor Kahn

office hours: TuTh 9:00 to 11:00, or whenever.

e-mail: KahnJ@wlu.edu

office phone: X8036

cellphone: 540-460-1421

 

 

This course examines the relationship between the environment and the economic system and the implications of this relationship for sustainable development. A critical aspect of this will be understanding the role of ecological services and their vulnerability to human activities.

 

This will be a relatively intense course, with a lot of reading and the student presenting four case studies. Students will read journal articles with formal economic models, with empirical studies, and construction of new policy instruments. Grades will be based on class participation (15%), four case studies on assigned topics (15% each), and the fifth case study on your choice of topic (25%). Since this is a short semester, students should not miss class except for participation in official university activities (such as an away game in a varsity sport).

 

Since the learning experience of other students is dependent on the quality of your case studies, mediocre effort will result in a failing grade.

 

 

 

COURSE OUTLINE:

 

Readings that are not available online will be available in the Environmental Studies Lab (A-103, science bldg). These are listed in the outline in purple. You will receive instructions regarding the key.

 

 DO NOT REMOVE READINGS FROM THE ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES LAB EXCEPT FOR THE PERIOD OF TIME IT TAKES TO PHOTOCOPY. OTHERWISE, READ THEM IN THE LAB.

 

Class 1: (April 23)

 

first half: Essential principles of economic development to be announced

  readings: Wikipedia, "Economic Development"

(note that Wikipedia is not an acceptable reference for papers, etc. but it is ok for some general background reading)

 

second half: review of environment and economy

readings: first five chapters of Kahn, the Economic Approach to Environmental and Natural Resources or Characteristics and Criteria for Environmental Decision-Making: Implications for Materials Policy, Technical Report CETEM/IMAAC, http://w3.cetem.gov.br/imaac/publicat.html, 98 pages, 2001 {note: go to site, click on reports, click on reports in English})

 

Millenium Assessment Report, pages v to 24.

 

Second half: Choose topics for May 18 talks on energy

 

Class 2: (April 25)

 

First half: Sustainable development

 

readings:

Dernbach Stumbling Towards Sustainability, Chapter 1

Franceschi and Kahn, Beyond Strong Sustainability

Pearce and Warford, World Without End

Kahn and Rivas, The Sustainable Economic Development of the Indigenous and Traditional Peoples

 

Second half:     presentation of first case study-- Country profile

You are required to prepare a profile of a country as if you were briefing an important government official in the US. In this profile you should give basic socio-economic and political information about the country, and a brief summary of its major environment-growth conflicts. If you are from a developing country, you must chose a country different from your home country. You have 12 minutes for the presentation and 3 minutes for questions and answers. This sort of very short report is typical for high level briefs.

 

Class 3: (April 30)

 

First half: deforestation, including a discussion of how to interpret regression analysis

 

Kahn and McDonald, Third World Debt and Tropical Deforestation

Kahn and Rivas, Road Building and Environmental Preservation in Amazonia: Turning an Environmental Liability into an Environmental Asset

                                                                                        

second half: finish country profiles by students

 

Class 4: (May 2)

 

first half: sustainable forest management and discussion of incentive instruments

 

Readings:

 

Kahn, The Development of Markets and Market Incentives for Sustainable Forestry: Application to the Brazilian Amazon,

 

second half: second case study

 

Empirical studies of deforestation. You must take an empirical study of deforestation, present its results, discuss its strengths and weaknesses, relate it to the literature, and present its conclusions and why or why not you believe these conclusions actually hold. 12 minutes of presentation, 3 minutes of question and answer.

 

Class 5: (May 7)

 

first half: Trade and the Environment, Development Assistance,

Dernbach, Stumbling Towards Sustainability, chapters  5-7

Frankel and Rose, Is Trade Good or Bad for the Environment? Sorting Out the Causality

Kahn, The Economics Approach to Environmental and Natural Resources

 

second half: Empirical studies of deforestation, continuation

 

Class 6: (May 9)

 

first half: local and indigenous populations

Freitas, Kahn and Rivas,

Kahn and Rivas

 

Second half: Third case study

 

This case study will be with a partner and you have twice the time for your presentation. Do a case study of a trade, development and the environment. To what extent will the trade lead to development? Focus on market failures and discuss how these market failures have or should be addressed. Also examine distributional issues and how these inequities have or should be addressed.

 

 

May 14 no class:  Professor Kahn at NSF

               

Class 7: (May 16)

 

First half:

 

Global Climate change and the developing world

IPCC report

 

Second half: continuation of case study three

 

 

 

Class 8: (May 18 - make-up class)

 

First half:  Energy and the environment

 

readings: to be announced

 

second half: Case study four— These are 20 minute presentations with five minutes for discussion Do a profile on a particular energy source in a particular developing country. To what extent is this energy source feasible for sustainable development? How can policy reduce the social costs of this energy source? How can this energy source contribute to sustainable development.

 

 

Class 9: May 21

 

First half: Ecotourism

second half: continue case study four

 

 

Class 10: May 23

 

Agriculture and the environment.

 

readings to be announced

 

Case study five:

 

This case study is on a topic of your choice. The topic does not have to appear on the course outline, for example, you could chose to focus on mining and the environment, the environment and malaria, etc. Your discussion needs to utilize some of the analytical tools that we have developed in this course. You will have 30 minutes to present this topic including discussion.

 

 

 

Class 11: May 25  or May 28 (this extra class will be held if Professor Kahn is traveling on May 30 and cancelled if he is not traveling)

 

Fisheries

 

Continue case studies

 

Class 12: May 28 or May 30

 

Continue case studies

 

 

 

 

 

 

Water Resources: