Economics and Finance

The most current version of the syllabus and all information useful for course participation and successful completion of the exam can be found on the course website: https://fabiosabatini.site.uniroma1.it/didattica/economia-delle-risorse-e-dellambiente 1) Course introduction and topics in environmental and development economics. 2) Market failures and the environment. 3) The role of the public sector. 4) Location choices. 5) The hidden costs of pollution. 6) Environment and ethics. 7) Sustainability, deprivation, and underdevelopment. 8) Development and deforestation. 9) The resource curse. 10) Resources, human capital, and distribution. 11) The Economics of Climate Change. 12) Climate change and productivity. 13) Adapting to climate change. 14) Climate change and migrations. 15) Economic and behavioral consequences of natural disasters due to climate change. 16) Green business and emission reduction. 17) Social preferences regarding climate change. 18) Promoting the sustainability of individual behaviors. 19) Advancing climate change policies.

There are no particular prerequisites. The course is predominantly empirical in approach, makes very limited use of textbooks, and is based primarily on the reading and presentation of scientific articles, both by the lecturer and, to a limited and supported extent, by the students. Attendance is particularly recommended for students who have a basic understanding of Econometrics (or who are concurrently attending an Econometrics course) and who intend to pursue further studies after graduation.

- Kahn, M. E. (2023). Fundamentals of Environmental and Urban Economics. University of Southern California. La versione Kindle di questo manuale può essere acquistata su Amazon al prezzo di 1$. - Slides provided by the instructor. All teaching materials are distributed through the Classroom platform. On Classroom, the latest version of the course is titled "Economia delle risorse e dell'ambiente 2023-24" (Economics of Resources and the Environment 2023-24). The code is ieuuooe. The materials are accessible for free, exclusively to students and faculty of La Sapienza. To access, you must log in with your @uniroma1.it account. Typically, it's sufficient to be logged into your browser (for example, if you have logged into Google Chrome with a @gmail.com account, you will not be able to find the course on Classroom, nor access the published materials). Classroom will also be used for communications to students (for example, information about changes to class times or the exam schedule). The evening before each lesson, I will upload to Classroom the slides that will be presented the following day. Students are required to enroll in the course on Classroom, even if they do not intend to attend lectures, in order not to miss essential communications about the program and exams. All information and materials necessary for the exam are located on this page and on Classroom. Service announcements will be communicated exclusively through Classroom.

The course is held in the second semester and begins on Wednesday, February 21, 2024. Classes are held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday from 8 to 10 am in Classroom 1D of the Department of Economics and Law on the sixth floor of the Faculty of Economics. Attendance is not mandatory, but irregular attendance is strongly discouraged. Students must enter the classroom on time to avoid continuous interruptions. Classes are held in person. To be considered attending, students must be present and punctual for at least 50% of the classes. All information about the course is continuously updated and can be found on the course website: https://fabiosabatini.site.uniroma1.it/didattica/economia-delle-risorse-e-dellambiente

*For Attending Students*: To be considered "attending", students must be present and punctual for at least 50% of the classes. Presentation of a paper chosen from a reading list provided by the instructor: up to 15 points (students may present more than one paper if they wish, accumulating points accordingly). If a student does not find a paper of interest in the reading list, they may present an alternative paper, which must be selected following the bibliographic search instructions provided by the instructor. Presentation of an original paper: up to 30 points. Please note: the assessment of the paper is objective and takes into account rigor, form, originality, execution quality, and presentation. Writing a paper does not, in itself, guarantee the highest score. Presentations may be conducted in either Italian or English. In the case of plagiarism, the score is 0 (not to mention the embarrassment). *For Non-Attending Students*: Oral exam on the course syllabus. There is no discrimination between attending and non-attending students! Thus, attending the course does not confer any particular advantage in terms of the final assessment. It does, however, provide educational benefits, for obvious reasons. Given the nature of the syllabus, which is largely composed of papers at the forefront of the scientific literature, it is recommended to agree upon the exam syllabus with the instructor. Given the limited number of students enrolled in the Degree in Political Economy, the instructor is willing to develop personalized syllabuses based on the competencies and needs of the students.

The classes will be held in person. The course will consist of three main parts: 1) Lectures: Introduction to fundamental concepts. This part of the course will be partly drawn from textbooks. 2) Presentations of academic papers by the instructor. The instructor will present a series of papers published in scientific journals in class. 3) Presentations by students, to a limited extent and with the instructor's support.