The Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics is delighted to announce the David Knutson Endowed Undergraduate Scholarship. The gift from David L. Knutson, President, Stover Seed Company, follows one that he arranged on behalf of the Western Seed Association in 2004-2005. We are extremely grateful to Mr. Knutson for his generosity.

If you've ever wondered about the market forces and cultural inclinations that motivate natural resource and environmental policy, this undergraduate major in the Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics will help you define them. If you want to understand both sides of complex Third World development issues, this major will help you see the balancing act of environmental use and protection. If you're interested in a career in environmental law, policy design, resource management, or economics, this major will give you an invaluable foundation.

The College of Natural Resources (CNR) is built around an interdisciplinary philosophy: that natural resource issues cannot be understood in a vacuum. The Environmental Economics and Policy major involves a broad scope of study embracing economics, policy, resources, Third World development and the environment, with a mathematical and statistical focus.

It's a course of study you'd expect from a college known for its highly developed program in agricultural and resource economics. But this major goes further. “Economics is about how to manage life rationally,” notes Professor David Zilberman. “In our major, students integrate the rationality of economic thought with an understanding of the way natural resource systems work. They develop a better understanding of how people's choices affect the environment, the conflict between economic development and environmental quality, and how this conflict can be resolved to make the world a better place.”

The major program helps students analyze how institutions of the past affect the policies of today. Professor Peter Berck's undergraduate course, Introduction to Environmental Economics and Policy, is an overview of microeconomics with an emphasis on environmental, resource and agricultural issues.

“The course provides a set of tools to make sense of economic issues,” says Berck. “We look at many of the major environmental policy issues: Should this dam be built or not? Should we subsidize environmental destruction? I want students to talk, to challenge me about my conclusions.”

Other courses show students how to calculate the cost of policy changes using real-life situations—for example, a proposition before the California legislature—and to determine alternative ways to address a problem. It also assesses non-market commodities, such as the value of clean air or a horizon of unblemished mountainside. It will introduce students to such controversies as the North American Free Trade Agreement by examining all sides of the issue. Students may study the flow of migrant labor in the state, or how water management in San Francisco keeps rain forest populations from starvation. It is economics with focus: the relationship of dollars and choices to nature.

Undergraduates applying for the major program should be strong in mathematics and have an interest in statistics and mathematical modeling.

Where to Find Us:
The Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics is located in Giannini Hall in a quiet green corner of the busy UC Berkeley campus. It is surrounded by the resources of the University's top-ranked schools of business, economics, education, law, public policy, and public health—and students are encouraged to take advantage of the interdisciplinary relationship between these programs and those in the College.

Yet, the department is part of an intimate college. Its undergraduates enjoy a high degree of faculty attention, student interaction, research and internship opportunities. The College's academic focus, smaller, upper-division class sizes and supportive environment make it a demanding but nurturing school-within-a-school.

“CNR has been more than a training school; it's a place to learn about the world and yourself,” says a recent graduate. “My whole world perspective has opened up.”

For more information about the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, call the Student Services office at 510/642-3347. Click here for details on the EEP major and its requirements.

The Environmental Economics and Policy major is open to students in the College of Letters and Science as well as the College of Natural Resources. It offers an opportunity to explore aspects of economics and political institutions that affect the development and management of natural resources and the environment. The focus includes both renewable resources such as food, forests, and water, and resources in fixed supply such as land and minerals. The major adopts a problem-solving approach to these issues. The core requirement for the major is micro-economic theory and the economics of resources and the environment. These core courses are supplemented by other courses that apply the methods of social science to resource problems.

The major is structured to ensure that students obtain a sufficient background in the natural and physical sciences and sufficient training in basic mathematics, statistics and economics to be able to approach resource-related issues in an effective and practical manner. Students who graduate from the major should be prepared to undertake a career in public or private agencies engaged in the planning or management of natural resources, or to enter a graduate school for further study in such fields as agricultural and resource economics, economics, law, public policy, or resources administration.

Click here for details on requirements for the Environmental Economics and Policy major.

Getting More Information:
For more information on the Environmental Economics and Policy major and minor programs, contact Student Affairs Officer, 203 Giannini Hall (510) 642-3347.

ENV ECON C1. Introduction to Environmental Economics and Policy. (4 units) Note: Only 2 units of credit will be given if student has taken ECON 1. Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: MATH 32. Introduction to microeconomics with emphasis on resource, agricultural, and environmental issues. Also listed as ECON C3.

ENV ECON 39A. Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Critical Choices in the Use of Natural Resources. (2 units) Two hours of seminar per week. Demands on natural resources to serve individual, business, and general public purposes are often in conflict. The near term application of resources in residential communities, production of food and fiber, recreation, and other uses affects the quality of our environment and its capacity to support us as well as other species in the future. Resource management decisions are themselves constrained by laws and regulations that express public policy. This seminar will provide an overview of the critical choices made at regional and national levels that affect the use of natural resources. Drawing illustrations from their own work, members of the department will examine how economic analysis plays out with political and other institutional factors in these decisions. Brief reading or writing assignments will be assigned weekly to help students prepare for each session.

ENV ECON 100. Microeconomic Theory with Applications to Natural Resources. (4 units) Note: only 2 units of credit will be given if student has taken ECON 100A, ECON 101A, or BUS ADM 110. Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON 1 or ECON 1 and MATH 16A, or consent of instructor. Covers the basic microeconomic tools for further study of natural resource problems. Theory of consumption, production, theory of the firm, industrial organization, general equilibrium, public goods and externalities. Applications to agriculture and natural resources.

ENV ECON C102. Natural Resource Economics. (4 units) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON 100, or ECON 100A or 100B. Introduction to the economics of natural resources. Land and the concept of economic rent. Models of optimal depletion of nonrenewable resources and optimal use of renewable resources. Application to energy, forests, fisheries, water, and climate change. Resources, growth, and sustainability. Also listed as ECON C102.

ENV ECON C118. Introductory Applied Econometrics. (4 units) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: STAT 2 or equivalent. Formulation of a research hypothesis and definition of an empirical strategy. Regression analysis with cross-sectional and time-series data; econometric methods for the analysis of qualitative information; hypothesis testing. The techniques of statistical and econometric analysis are developed through applications to a set of case studies and real data in the fields of environmental, resource, and international development economics. Students learn the use of a statistical software for economic data analysis. Also listed as IAS C118.

ENV ECON 131. Globalization and the Natural Environment. (3 units) Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: Intermediate micro-economic theory or consent of instructor. An examination of the environmental effects of globalization. How has increased international trade, the integration of factor markets, and the adoption of international agreements affected the environment? Case studies include the environmental impact of GATT/WTO and NAFTA. Multi-disciplinary approach examines the actual laws and institutions and the economic theories of globalization, in addition to the empirical evidence of globalization's environmental effects.

ENV ECON 140AC. Economics of Race, Agriculture, and the Environment. (3 units) Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON C1 or one lower division course in a social science, or consent of instructor. This course examines whether and how economic processes explain shifting formations of race and differential experiences among racial groups in U.S. agricultural and environmental systems. It approaches economic processes as organizing dynamics of racial differentiation and integration, and uses comparative experience among different racial and ethnic groups as sources of evidence against which economic theories of differentiation and integration can be tested.

ENV ECON 141. Agricultural and Environmental Policy. (4 units) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON 100 or ECON 100A or 101A. This course considers the formation, implementation, and impact of public policies affecting agriculture and the environment. Economic approaches to public lawmaking, including theories of legislation, interest group activity, and congressional control of bureaucracies. Case studies include water allocation, endangered species protection, water quality, food safety, drainage, wetlands, pesticides, and farmworker safety. Emphasis on examples from California.

ENV ECON 143. Economics of Innovation and Intellectual Property. (3 units) Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON 100 or ECON 100A or 101A. This course addresses the economics of research and incentives for innovation including intellectual property rights. Topics include the standard modern economics of invention; modern intellectual property rights; innovation examples from agriculture, energy, pharmaceuticals, software, and electronics; the roles of the public and private sectors; innovation and market structure; the needs of the poor; and global intellectual property negotiations.

ENV ECON C151. Economic Development. (4 units) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON 100 or ECON 100A or 101A. Analysis of the causes and solutions to economic underdevelopment and poverty on a world scale. Emphasis is placed on the determinants of economic growth, industrialization strategies, the role of agriculture, what explains poverty and inequality, the links between poverty and the environment, and the political economy of governance. Programs and policies to accelerate growth, reduce poverty, and protect the environment are analyzed on the basis of a wide range of country experiences. Also listed as ECON C171.

ENV ECON 161. Advanced Topics in Environmental and Resource Economics. (4 units) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON 100 or ECON 100A or 101A; ENV ECON 101 recommended. The roots of environmental and resource economics. Theories of land and resource rent. Models of optimal use of renewable and nonrenewable resources with applications to energy and timber. Balancing environmental and extractive values. Resources, growth, and sustainability. Special topic: the problem of global climate change.

ENV ECON 24. Freshman Seminar. (1 unit) One hour of seminar per week. Topics vary from semester to semester. Course may be repeated for credit of topic differs.

ENV ECON C101. Environmental Economics. (4 units) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: MATH 16A-16B and ENV ECON 100 or ECON 100A or 101A. Theories of externalities and public goods applied to pollution and environmental policy. Trade-off between production and environmental amenities. Assessing nonmarket value of environmental amenities. Remediation and clean-up policies. Environment and development. Biodiversity management. Also listed as ECON C125.

ENV ECON C115. Modeling and Management of Biological Resources. (4 units) Three hours of lecture and three hours of computer laboratory per week. Prerequisites: Two semesters of calculus and consent of instructor. Models of population growth, chaos, life tables, and Leslie matrix theory. Harvesting and exploitation theory. Methods for analyzing population interactions, predation, competition. Fisheries, forest stands, and insect pest management. Genetic aspects of population management. Mathematical theory based on simple difference and ordinary differential equations. Use of simulation packages on micro-computers (previous experience with computers not required). Also listed as ESPM C104.

ENV ECON 142. Industrial Organization with Applications to Agriculture and Natural Resources. (3 units) Three hours of lecture per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON 100 or ECON 100A or 101A. Organization and performance of agricultural and resource markets. Conduct of firms within those markets, such as price competition, product differentiation, predatory pricing, vertical integration, dealer networks and advertising. The role of public policy in the markets. Case studies include oil cartel OPEC, agricultural cooperatives, vertical integration of food processors and franchising of fast-food chains.

ENV ECON 152. Advanced Topics in Development and International Trade. (3 units) Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON 100 or ECON 100A. This course discusses recent efforts to understand behavior and institutions in village economies, with particular attention paid to the importance of risk. Economic analysis of savings, consumption, insurance, production, trade, welfare distribution and institutions of villages in developing countries. Roughly equal parts of theory, evidence, and policy.

ENV ECON 153. Population, Environment, and Development. (3 units) Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: Intermediate microeconomic theory or consent of instructor. This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to the complex interactions between population, environmental change, and economic development, including the leading theories for understanding these interactions. The origins and history of current debates are discussed as well as some of the major issues stemming from these debates, such as immigration, international trade, family planning policies and concerns over the global commons. Specific natural resources and services like fresh water, food supply, and forest cover are analyzed as case studies. Policy options for sustainable development are discussed.

ENV ECON 162. Economics of Water Resources. (3 units) Two hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ENV ECON 100 or ECON 100A or 101A; ENV ECON 101 recommended. Urban demand for water; water supply and economic growth; water utility economics; irrigation demand; large water projects; economic impacts of surface water law and institutions; economics of salinity and drainage; economics of groundwater management.

ENV ECON C175. The Economics of Climate Change. (4 units) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: Economics 1, International Area Studies 106, 107, or equivalent. The course will start with a brief introduction and evaluation of the scientific aspects behind climate change. Economic models will be developed to analyze the impacts of climate change and provide and critique existing and proposed policy tools. Specific topics studied are impacts on water resources and agriculture, economic evaluation of impacts, optimal control of greenhouse gases, benefit cost analysis, international treaty formation, discounting, uncertainty, irreversibility, and extreme events. Also listed as International and Area Studies C175.

ENV ECON C180. Ecological Economics in Historical Context. (3 units) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ECON 100A or equivalent. Economists through history have explored economic and environmental interactions, physical limits to growth, what constitutes the good life, and how economic justice can be assured. Yet economists continue to use measures and models that simplify these issues and promote bad outcomes. Ecological economics responds to this tension between the desire for simplicity and the multiple perspectives needed to understand complexity in order to move toward sustainable, fulfilling, just economies. Also listed as Energy and Resources C180.

ENV ECON C181. International trade. (4 units) Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week. Prerequisites: ECON 100A-100B or ECON 101A or ECON 101B. The theory of international trade and its applications to tariff protection. Also listed as Economics C181.