API 905Y: Seminar in Environmental Economics and Policy

SEMINAR UPDATES

  • The seminar has concluded for the semester.  Thank you for your participation in the seminar series during the 2021-2022 academic year.  Professors Stavins and Stock will announce the seminar schedule for the upcoming academic year via the mailing list in August 2022.
  • For further information, contact Professor Stavins at the Kennedy School, Professor Stock at the Department of Economics, or the course assistant, Jacob Bradt (jbradt@g.harvard.edu).

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 Spring 2022 subfolder of the Files page.
  • To join a seminar, click the Zoom links in the table at the bottom of the home page or visit the Zoom tab at left.

Fall 2021 - Spring 2022 | W 4:30 - 5:45 pm ET, as scheduled | Format: Zoom

Support from Enel Endowment for Environmental Economics and the Department of Economics is Gratefully Acknowledged

Course Description: This is a year-long research seminar on topics in environmental and natural resource economics. It meets on periodically on Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:45 PM as scheduled, and will be remote via Zoom in the spring semester. Seminars emphasize theoretical models, quantitative empirical analysis, and public policy applications, featuring presentations by invited speakers. Auditors are welcome. The seminar will remain virtual for the spring.

Course Requirements: Registered students must enroll for the full year of the seminar and attend all sessions, which will be on line, at least during the fall semester.  They prepare a research paper, an outline of which is due at the conclusion of the fall semester.  Papers are 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) essays related to each seminar presentation and discussion 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.

Full Syllabus (Downloads as PDF) Spring 2022 Schedule (Downloads as PDF)

INSTRUCTORS

Robert Stavins | robert_stavins@harvard.edu

James Stock | james_stock@harvard.edu 


FACULTY ASSISTANT

Jason Chapman | jason_chapman@hks.harvard.edu


COURSE ASSISTANT

Jacob Bradt | jbradt@g.harvard.edu | (301) 655-5262

SPRING 2022 SCHEDULE

Presenter name shown in bold.  Recording links will be posted within 24 hours of the presentation.

Date Presentation Zoom Link Recording
January 26

Joseph Shapiro, University of California, Berkeley. “Pollution Trends and US Environmental Policy: Lessons from the Last Half Century.”

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February 9

Alec Brandon, Johns Hopkins University, Christopher Clapp, John List, University of Chicago, Robert Metcalfe, University of Southern California, and Michael Price, University of Alabama. “Smart Tech, Dumb Humans: The Perils of Scaling Household Technologies.”

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February 23

Michael Kiley, Federal Reserve Board. “Growth at Risk from Climate Change.”

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March 9

Jonathan Colmer, University of Virginia, Ralf Martin, Mirabelle Muuls, Imperial College London, and Ulrich Wagner, University of Manheim. “Does Pricing Carbon Mitigate Climate Change? Firm-Level Evidence from the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme.”

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March 23

Nicholas Muller, Carnegie Mellon University. “Measuring Firm Environmental Performance to Inform ESG Investing.”

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March 30

Derek Lemoine, University of Arizona. “Informationally Efficient Climate Policy.”

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April 13

Ivan Ivanov, Mathias Kruttli, Federal Reserve Board, and Sumudu Watugala, Cornell University. “Banking on Carbon: Corporate Lending and Cap-and- Trade Policy.”

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April 27

James Stock, Harvard University. “Policies for Decarbonizing the U.S. Light Duty Vehicle Fleet.”

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