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AREC/ECON 377
Economics of Natural Resources

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Syllabus Spring 2007

Professor: Dean Lueck
Class: Tuesday & Thursday, 200-315 pm, Chavez 308
Office: 421 Chavez, lueck@email.arizona.edu
Office hours: By appointment.
Teaching Assistant: Yanfei Liu, Chavez 403E, Tues & Thurs 330-430, yanfeil@email.arizona.edu

Description. This course uses economics to study the use, allocation, and ownership of natural resources such as fisheries, forests, oil & gas, air, water, wildlife, and natural areas. The early part of the course will develop a theoretical framework but the focus of the course will be a series of applications. Emphasis will be placed on the causes and effects of alternative institutions governing the use of natural resources with a focus on property rights, legal rules, regulations, and administrative agencies. Intermediate microeconomics is a prerequisite.

Reading. All reading materials are available online at http://ag.arizona.edu/classes/arec377/. Check with Professor Lueck for username and password.

Method & Policy. The class periods will be devoted to lectures and discussion. I will assume that students have read the assigned material prior to each lecture. The lectures will expand and extend text presentation and, occasionally, be interesting. I will often call on students, so they should be prepared to discuss the material. There are two midterm exams (February 22 and May 1), a series of quizzes and graded homework assignments, and a substantial writing requirement. A separate sheet describes the writing requirement.

Evaluation. To earn an A you will need a 90% score; a B requires 80%; a C requires 70%, and so on. Tentative assignment weighting is Exams (150 per midterm); Writing requirement (100 points); Quizzes/Homework (100 points total). Class participation will also count for extra points.

KEY DATES:

Jan 11 (Thursday) First class day
Feb. 15 (Thursday) Writing assignment #1
Feb 22 (Thursday) Exam I
April 19 (Tuesday) Writing assignment #2
May 1 (Tuesday) Exam II
May 10 (Thursday) Final Exam Period, 200-400 pm, Final Writing Project Due

COURSE OUTLINE

Date

Lecture

Topic

Jan.11

1

Introduction / Economic Approach

16

2

Resource Economics / Capital theory

18

3

Capital theory / Property rights

23

4

Economic growth & environment

25

5

Economic growth & environment

30

6

Property Law

Feb. 1

7

Property Rights

6

8

Resource Ownership

8

9

 

13

10

Ownership / Political Economy

15

11

Political Economy

20

12

Theory of Depletion

22

13

Exam I

27

 

Theory of Depletion

Mar 1

14

Resource scarcity

6

15

Oil & Gas

8

16

Oil & Gas

 

 

Mar 12-16  UA Break

20

17

Water

22

18

Theory of Harvest

27

19

Theory of Harvest

29

20

Forests

April 3

21

Forests

5

22

Wildlife & Fisheries

10

23

 

12

 

Wildlife & fisheries

17

24

Preservation

19

25

Preservation

24

26

Climate Change

26

27

Climate change

May 1

28

EXAM II

Writing project due on the Final Exam slot: May 10, 200–400 pm.


Last updated March 5, 2007
Document located at http://ag.arizona.edu/classes/arec377/syllabus.html
website contact: arecweb@ag.arizona.edu



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