Economics 395: Marine Resource Economics
Spring 2009
Instructor: Jim Casey
Contact Info: Holkamp 214, Ext. 8102, Email: Caseyj
Prerequisites: Permission of Instructor
BCD Tuesday and Thursday

THE COURSE:
This course entails the application of microeconomic analysis to coastal environmental problems and explores the underlying economic basis for the formation of coastal and marine policies.  An interdisciplinary perspective will be coupled with formal economic analysis throughout the entire course.  Economic theories of firm and individual behavior will be used to develop formal models of coastal development, commercial and recreational fishing, fish population dynamics, aquaculture, and the ecological services provided by wetlands.  These formal models will provide insights into questions related to: a) the sustainability of fish populations given commercial and recreational demands, b) the optimal amount of public wetlands, c) the ideal amount of coastal development, and d) the link between land use-water quality-and marine populations.  Class meetings will be devoted to discussing articles from journals with a marine or environmental focus including; Ecological Economics, Water Resource Economics, Fisheries Research, and the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.  A number of guest lectures by economists and policy makers in the marine field are planned.  Upon completion of this course students will be able to critically evaluate journal articles and conduct economic analysis of coastal and marine policy. 



REQUIREMENTS:
1) Group Discussion Leader (20%)- You will be required to bring an article to class and present it.  Your presentation should not be spoon feeding as your classmates should have completed the reading as well.  Your job is to lead the class in a discussion of the paper.  I will have a hand out for you to guide you in your role as discussion leader.

2) Presentation (20%) - The last week of the semester will be reserved for individual power point presentations.  This presentation will present the results of your literature review.

3) Literature Review (40%) - You will complete a comprehensive literature review of your particular field of inquiry.  You will be expected to find the latest research and summarize it for the class and present your findings.

4) Take Home Exam (20%) - You will be asked to formally model one particular question from your topic of choice.  For example, maybe you are looking at marine pollution.  You will want to present and use the appropriate economic model for analyzing the problem of marine pollution.



Schedule:
 

date

topic

reading

remarks

Tuesday, April 21

Introduction

 

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/04/global-fisheries-crisis/fisheries-crisis-interactive

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXXzvGJCVAc

 

films

Thursday, April 23

Fisheries and Marine resources

Kahn ch. 11

http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12253181

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 28

Ecosystem-based management

spring2009\seascapes.pdf

http://www.marineebm.org/13.htm

spring2009\EBMfisheries.pdf

spring2009\Economic considerations for marine EBM4.doc

 

Thursday, April 30

Economic Valuation

http://www.ecosystemvaluation.org/essentials.htm

Kahn ch. 4

spring2009\coastalvalue.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 5

Contingent valuation

http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=james_casey

spring2009\ICRS 2008 Schuhmann, Oxenford and Casey.doc

 

Thursday, May7

Choice modelling

spring2009\hanleyformatpaper.pdf

spring2009\coralcvmparsons.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 12

 

The Chesapeake Chat will last one hour, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., and will be streamed live on our website, www.chesapeakebay.net. The format is:-12:30-12:45: moderator provides overview of discussion and introduces panelists, who each provide a one- to two-minute opening statement on value of Bay from their perspective-12:45-1:15: moderator leads discussion and asks questions of panelists-1:15-1:30: audience asks questions

 

no class

please watch the live video

Thursday, May14

Questions for Dr. Schuhmann

 

 

Friday, May 15

Valuation in Barbados

 

Dr. Schuhmann presents - Econ Seminar 4 pm

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 19

TBA

 

..\development\5 questions to guide a critical reading of a scientific paper.doc

Thursday, May 21

TBA

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, May 26

Student Presentations

 

 

Thursday, May 28

Student Presentations

 

 

 

 

 

 



Literature Review Topics

Marine Protected Areas - Hilary

Ecosystem-based management

Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries

Choice Modelling

Contingent Valuation

Zonal Travel Cost Models

Marine Tourism - Eastern Caribbean

Marine Tourism - Western Caribbean

State of Marine Resources - Eastern Caribbean - Alex B.

State of Marine Resources - Western Caribbean
 

Valuation of corals - Claudia

Valuation of beaches  - Thais



 Other Resources:
 AFS
 PBS Empty Oceans - Empty Nets
 Ecotourism
 Marine Reserves
 Coral Reefs
 Water Quality Restoration
 Valuation of Marine Resources
 Marine Pollution

State of the Oceans
Fisheries

My ICM Page
 URI - Coastal Resources Center
 ICM
NOAA - ICM