LOJK10282U Applied Economics of Forest and Nature
MSc Programme in Environmental and Resource Economics
MSc Programme in Forest and Nature Management
MSc Programme in Sustainable Forest and Nature Management
MSc Programme in Forests and Livelihoods
The course covers the following topics:
Introduction to general economics of biological production and
capital investment.
Production economics and investment theory of forests and natural
resources:
Fundamentals of forest and nature economics; discounting,
investment calculus, opportunity costs, optimal rotation age in
timber production and inclusion of amenity values; valuing
forestland under the risk of hazards to crop survival; forest
economics under uncertainty; forestry and climate
change; The economics of continuous cover forestry
(close-to-nature forestry).
Welfare economic aspects of forests and natural resources:
Economic evaluation of non-marketed goods and services and its use
in CBA
Regulation of forests and natural resources.
The role of forest and nature in the welfare economic analyses
Throughout the course sustainability is treated in terms of how to utilise a renewable resource, and the tradeoff between conservation and usage. A key component is also the handling of time and substitutability.
A core component in the course is to do calculus on economic data (mainly using spreadsheet like excel), interpret it, and relate critically to it.
Learning outcome
The course aims at imparting to the students a thorough
understanding of economic reasoning and knowledge of how to apply
economics as a tool for decision-making on the utilisation of
forests and other (renewable) natural resources in rural and urban
environments.
When the course is finished, it is expected that the student
can/have:
Knowledge:
Describe principles and procedures of forest and natural resource
economics
Identify links between the ecological processes and the economic
consequences and human goals
Understand and reflect on economic perspectives of long vs short
term management decisions
Understand the economic value of different aspects in multiple-use
forest and nature management and their possible conflicts or joint
production possibilities
Classify and reflect on principles from the theory
Understand the principles of economic valuation of non-marketed
goods
Show overview of socio-economic analysis of forest and nature goods
Skills:
Economically apply and analyse theoretical and practical models for
forest and nature management
Apply the appropriate theory and methods to relevant economic
valuation in forest and nature management
Asses the possibilities and limitations of economic theories and
methodologies related to forest and nature management
Understand and reflect critically on socio-economic analyses of
forest and nature
Apply economic theory to analyse and model the welfare and business
economic values of forests and natural resources
Competences:
Apply principles and procedures of forest and natural resource
economics to management decisions, including transferring
principles of the economic valuation from one kind of good to
another
Evaluate economically different goods and services from the same
natural resource and identify possible joint production
possibilities or economic conflicts
Discuss the relevance, reliability and validity of different
natural resource economic methods
Evaluate socio-economic analysis of forest and nature goods,
including distributional effects
Take into account the demands of society when applying bioeconomic
models in order to evaluate projects economically
Various notes (available from the teacher) and journal articles available through the library.
Supplementary readings:
For the basics: Wagner (2012): Forestry Economics, a managerial
approach. Routledge
For the advanced: Amacher, Ollikainen, Koskela (2009): Economics of
Forest Resources. MIT press
For welfare economics: Hanley & Barbier (2009): Pricing naure.
LNAB10015 Natur- og landskabspolitik
Or similar courses
It is excpected that the students have a basic understandning of economics in society - the main assumptions of a rational economic agent, markets, investment reasoning.
Excel (or similar) will be used as a tool, so some basic skills here are useful. Mathematics is also a tool used
Academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree is recommended.
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 48
- Preparation
- 126
- Theory exercises
- 28
- Exam
- 4
- Total
- 206
Feedback is handled during the course through interaction in class and especially during theoretical exercises.
Systematic peer feedback also takes place
As an exchange, guest and credit student - click here!
Continuing Education - click here!
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- On-site written exam, 4 hours under invigilation
- Type of assessment details
- The exam consists of a mix between multiple choice questions,
questions based on calculus done in excel, essay questions.
The on-site written exam is an ITX exam.
See important information about ITX-exams at Study Information, menu point: Exams -> Exam types and rules -> Written on-site exams (ITX) - Aid
- All aids allowed
ITX exam.
As the exam is an ITX-exam, the University will make computers available to students at the exam. Students are therefore not permitted to bring their own computers, tablets, calculators, or mobile phones.
Books, notes, and similar materials can be brought in paper form or uploaded before the exam and accessed digitally from the ITX computer. Read more about this at Study Information.
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
- Re-exam
As the ordinary exam
If ten or fewer students are signed up for the exam, it will be replaced by 20 minutes oral exam with 20 minutes preparation time. All aids allowed
Criteria for exam assesment
See learning outcome
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- LOJK10282U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
- 1 block
- Placement
- Block 2
- Schedule
- C
- Course capacity
- No limitation – unless you register in the late-registration period (BSc and MSc) or as a credit or single subject student.
Study board
- Study Board of Natural Resources, Environment and Animal Science
Contracting department
- Department of Food and Resource Economics
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Science
Course Coordinators
- Jette Bredahl Jacobsen (jbj@ifro.ku.dk)
Lecturers
Jette Bredahl Jacobsen