This course studies the theoretical and empirical public goods issues, explicitly focusing on the environment and culture as global public goods. This course aims to provide students with the necessary tools to analyse the problems of public goods, environment and culture from a socioeconomic and political point of view.  The institutional arrangements and the regulatory framework between subjects who can provide a public good (i.e. in the environmental and cultural realm) and subjects who also benefit from the public good but cannot provide it due to technical, physical or institutional reasons will be analysed and discussed.

The program is organised by topics:

• The Economic Theory of Public Goods
• Environmental Public Goods
• The Welfare Analysis of Externalities 
• Cost-Benefit Analysis
• Culture and Public Funding
• Property Rights and Regulatory Framework

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Knowledge and comprehension skills: At the end of the course, students will be able to understand the role of natural resources and public goods in economic development. Students can use these models to analyse economic patterns, interpret what happens in the real world, and actively participate in the socioeconomic and political debate on environmental and cultural issues.

Applying knowledge and understanding: Thanks to course attendance, the students can deal with various tools to analyse the basic concepts related to the main economic and assessment tools for managing environmental and cultural resources after passing the exam. Moreover, they can understand autonomously the evolution of the main issues associated with the economic theory of public goods, the welfare analysis of the externalities and the regulatory framework.

Making judgements: Students can gather information and data on the course subjects to make autonomous judgements and assess the effectiveness of policy instruments.

Communication skills: Students will develop reasoning and communication skills on issues related to the course subjects, thanks to the command of specific terminology used during the lectures and the tutorials.

Learning skills: Students will gain in-depth knowledge of the leading models of public goods, environmental externalities, and culture as a global public good. This will allow them to advance their expertise in cultural and institutional economics.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

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Teaching

• Frontal lectures. The lectures will be developed by following the textbook scheme. Other teaching materials (e.g., PPT and PDF files) used during the lectures will be part of the program and will be made available on the website of the course.
• Homework and classroom presentations will be organised for attending students to prepare for the final exam.

Innovative teaching methods

• Reading and discussion of scientific articles on topics of the program
• Tutorials
• Teamwork

Attendance

Participation in the lecture classes and tutorials is recommended.

Course books

• Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. A Contemporary Approach (Third Edition), Jonathan M. Harris and Brian Roach. Routledge Taylor & Francis – Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6.
• Blanco, E., Haller, T., & Walker, J. M. (2018). Provision of environmental public goods: Unconditional and conditional donations from outsiders. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 92, 815-831.
• Blaug, M. (2001). Where are we now on cultural economics?  Journal of Economic Surveys, 15(2), 123-143.
• Rushton, M. (2003). Cultural diversity and public funding of the arts: A view from cultural economics. The Journal of Arts Management, Law, and Society, 33(2), 85-97.

Assessment

Written exam. It is composed of four open-ended questions, and students can select three. The maximum score is 32 points, corresponding to a grade of 30/30 with honours. The time to do the written exam is one hour.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

The same for attending students

Attendance

The same for attending students

Course books

The same for attending students

Assessment

The same for attending students

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

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