ECON 433 - Natural Resource Economics

Credits: 4

Focus is the allocation of natural resources over time. The technique of dynamic optimization is used to explore the management of both renewable and non-renewable resources. Topics covered include ocean fisheries, forest resources in the northeastern U.S., stock pollutants and oil depletion. Emphasizes both the algebraic specification and numerical solution of resource management problems. Applied mathematical analysis is done using Microsoft Excel with Solver. Develops an economic intuition for dynamic optimization problems, along with the ability to solve and interpret numerical optimization problems. It is assumed that students are familiar with intermediate microeconomic theory, introductory calculus and Microsoft Excel. Prerequisites: ECON 360, College-level Statistics, and College-level Calculus (MATH 220 or 224/225). Suggested prerequisite: ECON 331. 4 Cr.