SCOPE

The course design consists of two parts. The first part is on quasi-experimental methods in environmental economics. In contrast to experimental settings, observational data are used in most empirical studies in environmental and natural resource economics. Observational data are not generated in a controlled experimental setting, so understanding the relationships between variables requires advanced statistical tools. Applied econometricians have developed an array of methods for causal inference using observational data. These tools are particularly well-suited for analyzing the effects of policy interventions, which is often of interest to environmental economists. This part will cover a range of topics in applied econometrics, including difference-in-differences, event studies using panel data, instrumental variables, regression discontinuity design, and matching. Each topic will be introduced analytically, but the focus will be on recent implementations of these tools in environmental and resource economics.

In the second part, there will be an introduction to experimental methods, its tools, recent applications, and discussion of state-of-the-art findings and the experimental techniques employed. This part will cover topics such as common pool resources and social dilemmas, emissions trading and market experiments, issues in experimental design, relative merits of lab and field experiments, experiments on the environment and development, and behavioral economics and environmental policy.

Participants will come away with an understanding of the tool-kits available to applied researchers, including when different approaches may be used, the assumptions required for validity, and examples from recent research papers.

RESOURCE PERSON

Corbett Grainger – University of Wisconsin Madison

Corbett Grainger is an Associate Professor at University of Wisconsin – Madison. He is an environmental and resource economist, and his primary focus is on the distributional impacts and political economy issues associated with environmental and resource policies. He has worked in a variety of settings and on a variety of topics, including distributional impacts of carbon pricing and emission trading; the impacts of air pollution on housing markets and rents, labor markets, and other outcomes; efficiency and equity impacts of property rights-based management of fisheries; electricity shortages and productivity impacts; and how regulatory agencies’ decisions affect ambient air pollution measurements.

In addition to his research, he has worked with international organizations and NGOs including Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. Professor Grainger has a PhD in Economics from University of California, Santa Barbara, and degrees from University of Minnesota and Concordia College.

James Murphy – University of Alaska Anchorage

Prof. James Murphy is the Rasmuson Chair of Economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). Prof. Murphy’s research focuses on the use of experimental methods to address environmental policy and natural resource management issues. He is an active board member of the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics, and is on the editorial board for both the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and Strategic Behavior and the Environment. He was a member of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s Scientific and Statistical Committee from 2011-2013.