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Interdisciplinary Seminar on Environmental Issues
Course Organization
E275 - 6 ECTS
Tuesdays 14:15-16:00 (R2)
Professors
Prof. Urs Luterbacher
urs.luterbacher(at)graduateinstitute.ch
+41 22 908 5940
Office hours:
Tuesdays 16h15 – 18h00
Rigot (25)
Dr. Ellen Wiegandt
ellen.wiegandt(at)graduateinstitute.ch
+41 22 908 5937
Office hours:
Tuesdays 16h15 – 17h30
Rigot (20)
Assistant
Colin Nippert
colin.nippert(at)graduateinstitute.ch
+41 22 908 5951
Office hours:
Tuesdays 12h15 – 14h00
Rigot (38)
Course Description
This seminar addresses general questions about major contemporary environmental issues as well as specific environmental topics that impinge upon international relations. The seminar is explicitly interdisciplinary because it incorporates natural science, economic, sociological/anthropological, political, and legal perspectives. It focuses primarily on international aspects of the environment but also examines the nature of policy and abatement questions at the local and national levels.
The course is organized as a seminar which means that the professors take primary presentation for presentation of the topic, but students are expected to participate in discussion based on readings and a discussion leader may be designated. The professors’ presentations will not necessarily be a review or summary of the readings but may well present other aspects of the topic not addressed in the readings. The final examination will draw on material from both class sessions and readings. The final test will include both short answer and essay questions.
Auditing the course is strongly discouraged and must be approved by the instructors. Auditors will be expected to do the same work as those registered for the course. The only difference will be that auditors will not receive a grade or credit.
Syllabus
September 16: General Introduction to Course: Substance; Organization; Requirements
September 23: Introduction to Environment and Society Interactions: A Problem of Managing Risks and Uncertainties
- Luterbacher, Urs and Detlef Sprinz (2001) Introduction. In Urs Luterbacher and Detlef Sprinz, eds. International Relations and Global Climate Change, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chapter 1, especially pages 2-15.
- Perman, Roger, Yue Ma, James McGilvray and Michael Common (1999) Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, New York: Longman. Chapter 1: 1-11.
- Clark, Colin W. (1990) Uncertainty in Economics, in Risk and Uncertainty in Tribal and Peasant Economies, E. Cashdan (ed.), Boulder: Westview Press. Chapter 3: 47-63.
- Stephens, D.W. (1990) Risk and Incomplete Information in Behavioral Ecology, in Risk and Uncertainty in Tribal and Peasant Economies, E. Cashdan (ed.), Boulder: Westview Press, Chapter 2: 19 - 46.
September 30: The Physical System; Guest Lecturer: Professor Martin Beniston, University of Geneva
October 7: Property Rights Theories and the Tragedy of the Commons Debate
- Hardin, Garrett (1968) The Tragedy of the Commons, Science, 162: 1243-8.
- Stevenson, Glenn (1991) Common Property Economics: A General Theory and Land Use Applications, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Chapters 1, 2, and 3.
- Tietenberg, Tom (1992) Property Rights, Externalities and Environmental Problems, in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, New York: Harper Collins, Chapter 3.
October 14: Efficiency and the Environment
- Coase, R.H. (1960) The Problem of Social Cost, The Journal of Law and Economics 3:1-44.
- Dasgupta, P., and G. Heal. 1979. Economic Theory and Exhaustible Resources. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapts. 2 and 3.
- Demsetz, Harold. 1967. Toward a Theory of Property Rights. American Economic Review 57, 2: 347-359.
October 21: Exhaustible, Renewable and Sustainable Resources
- Lambelet, Jean-Christian (1995) A Note on the Issue of Exhaustible Resources. IUHEI note, 16 pp.
- Schelling, Thomas, (1994) Intergenerational Discounting. In Integrative Assessment of Mitigation, Impacts, and Adaptation, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, William Nordhaus, Richard Richels, and Ferenc Toth (eds.), Laxenburg, Austria: IASSA: 475-483.
- Solow, Robert, Sustainability: An Economist's Perspective, The 18th J. Seward Johnson Lecture. Woods Hole, MA: Marine Policy Center, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
October 28: Socio-Economic, Technical, and Environmental Efficiency
- Porter, Michael E and Claas Van der Linde (1995), Toward a New Conception of the Environment-Competitiveness Relationship, Journal of Economic Perspectives 9 (4).
- Palmer, Karen; Oates, Wallace E and Paul R Portney (1995), Tightening Environmental Standards: The Benefit-Cost or the No-Cost Paradigm?, Journal of Economic Perspectives 9 (4).
- Bauman, Yoram (2004) Paradigms and the Porter Hypothesis, Working Paper Program on the Environment University of Washington.
November 4: Population and Migration
- United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affaires, Population Division (2001) Population, Environment and Development: The Concise Report, pp. 21-34.
- Wrigley, E.A. (1986) Malthus at the Bar of History, In David Coleman and Roger Schofield, eds. The State of Population Theory, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 46-64.
- Coleman, David (1986) Population Regulation: A Long-Range View, In David Coleman and Roger Schofield , eds. The State of Population Theory, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, pp. 14-41.
- Ahlburg, Dennis (1998) Julian Simon and the Population Growth Debate, Population and Development Review 23 (2): 317-327.
- Harris, John and Michael Todaro (1970) Migration, Unemployment and Development: A Two-Sector Analysis, The American Economic Review: 3-27.
- Castles, Stephen (2002) Environmental Change and Forced Migration: Making Sense of the Debate, New Issues in Refugee Research, Working Paper no. 70, Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit, UNHCR.
November 11: Trade, the Global Environment, and North-South Issues
- Anderson, Kym and Richard Blackhurst (1992) The Greening of World Trade Issues, New York, London: Harvester Wheatsheaf; 3-18, 73-89, 221-240.
- Chichilnisky, Graciela (1994) North-South Trade and the Global Environment. American
Economic Review 84 (4): 851-874.
November 18: Trade and Environment: Production and Processing Methods; Guest Lecturer: Prof. Joost Pauwelyn (HEI)
- Pauwelyn, Joost (2004) Recent Books on Trade and Environment: GATT Phantoms Still Haunt the WTO, European Journal of International Law 15(3):575-592.
- Charnovitz, S. (2000), Solving the PPM Puzzle, PSIO Occasional Paper: WTO Series Number 05.
- November 25: International Cooperation and Conflict
Luterbacher, Urs (1994) International Cooperation: The Problem of the Commons and the Special Case of the Antarctic Region, Synthese 100: 413-440.
- Homer-Dixon, Thomas (1994) Environmental Scarcities and Violent Conflict: Evidence from Cases, International Security 19, 1: 5-40.
December 2: International Environmental Negotiations
- Bodansky, Daniel (2001) The History of the Global Climate Change Regime. In Urs Luterbacher and Detlef Sprinz, eds. International Relations and Global Climate Change, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chapter 2.
- Grundig et al. (2001) Modeling Global Climate Negotiations. In Urs Luterbacher and Detlef Sprinz, eds. International Relations and Global Climate Change, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chapter 8.
- Brown Weiss, Edith and Harold K. Jacobson, eds. (1998) Engaging Countries, Strengthening Compliance with International Environmental Accords, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, Chapter 1.
December 9: The Kyoto Protocol
- Grubb, Michael (with Christian Vrolijk and Duncan Brack) (1999) The Kyoto Protoco: A Guide and Assessment, London: The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chapters 4 and 7.
- Wiegandt, Ellen (2001) Climate Change, Equity, and International Negotiations. In Urs Luterbacher and Detlef Sprinz, eds. International Relations and Global Climate Change, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chapter 7.
December 16: Exam
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