ECON 3116A: Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy

• API 905y/ECON 3116 a/b are cross-listed together here as one course page.  
• The seminar will return to in-person only for the Fall 2025 semester.  It will meet on scheduled Wednesday's in Land Hall, Belfer 400 at the Harvard Kennedy School 4:30 - 5:45.
  
• If you do not have a Harvard ID, and you plan to attend the seminar, please email Meredith Landry so that she can add you to the security list.  All Non-Harvard ID holders will need to enter the Kennedy School through the main entrance of the Wexner building and check in at the security desk so please allow extra time for entry.

NAVIGATING THIS WEBSITE

• The seminar syllabus and schedule are available for download via the buttons below and the Files page.
• Papers will be made available approximately two weeks before each seminar date and will be available for download in the Fall 2025 subfolder of the Files page.

Harvard Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy

API-905y/Econ 3116

Fall 2025 - Spring 2026

            This is a year-long research seminar on topics in environmental and natural resource economics, with particular focus on climate change economics and policy.  It meets on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:45 pm in Land Hall (Belfer Building, Room 400) of the Harvard Kennedy School at 79 JFK Street, Cambridge. Seminars emphasize theoretical models, quantitative empirical analysis, and public policy applications, featuring presentations by invited speakers.  Auditors are welcome.  A brief information (shopping) session for students who may wish to enroll will take place remotely on September 3rd at 11:30-11:55  The first meeting of seminar will be on Wednesday, September 17^th.  The complete fall schedule is available at the Canvas website.  Further information is available at the Canvas course website:

https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/155233

Course Requirements:

Registered students must enroll for the full year of the seminar and attend all sessions.  They prepare a research paper, which is due at the conclusion of the spring semester, and should be at the level of the seminar, i.e. Ph.D.-level economics.  In addition, students prepare brief (two-page) notes about each seminar presentation throughout the year.  Required reading consists of papers presented at each session.

Prerequisites:

The course is intended primarily for Ph.D. students in economics, political economy and government, public policy, health policy, and related fields with interests in applications in the environmental and natural resource area.  Prerequisites include Ph.D.-level course work in microeconomic theory, such as Economics 2010A/B, Economics 2020A/B (cross-listed as Kennedy School API-111/112), and API-109i/110i.

Instructors:

Robert N. Stavins                                                       James Stock

Office: Kennedy School, Room L-306                      Office: Economics Department, Room M-27

Phone: 617-495-1820                                               Phone: 617-496-0502

E-Mail: robert_stavins@harvard.edu                         E-Mail: james_stock@harvard.edu

The faculty assistant for the course is:                      

Meredith Landry

Office:  Kennedy School, Opposite L-306

Phone: 617-496-8054

E-Mail: meredith_landry@hks.harvard.edu

Harvard Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy

API-905y/Econ 3116a/b

Robert Stavins and James Stock

https://canvas.harvard.edu/courses/155233

Fall 2025 SCHEDULE

Fall 2025, Wednesday, 4:30-5:45 pm

Harvard Kennedy School, Land Hall (Belfer Building, Room 400)

Support from Enel Endowment for Environmental Economics

and the Department of Economics is Gratefully Acknowledged

September 17              William Scott, Simon Fraser University, Aaron Smith, University of California, Berkeley, James Stock, Mengying Wu, and Jingran Zhang, Harvard University.  “Policy Options to Achieve U.S. Sustainable Aviation Fuel Targets.”

October 8                    Kimberly Clausing, UCLA Law School, Christopher Knittel and Catherine Wolfram, MIT Sloan School of Management. “Who Bears the Burden of Climate Inaction?”

October 22                  Michelle Li, Harvard University. “Of Tracks and Trails:  How Accessible Green Spaces Reshape Communities.”

November 12               Andres de Loera, Harvard University.  “Climate Change and the Common Pool Problem in Fisheries.”

November 19               Cassandra Cole, Harvard University. “Pricing and In-Kind Transfers in Environmental Crisis: Evidence from Cape Town, South Africa.”

December 3                 Trang Nguyen, Harvard Business School.  “Citizen Air Monitoring and Corporate Environmental Behavior: Evidence from PurpleAir Sensors.”

December 10               Paichen Li, Harvard University.  “Distributional Consequences of Subsidies on Home Solar.”

December 17               Abby Ostriker, Boston University, and Anna Russo, Harvard University. “The Effects of Floodplain Regulation on Housing Markets.”

Note:  Name of presenter is in Bold.

For further information, contact Professor Stavins at the Kennedy School, Professor Stock at the Department of Economics, or the course assistant, Meredith Landry (617-496-8054), or visit the seminar web site.