SyllabusS2009

Professor Jennifer Thacher
Office: Econ 2006
Phone: 277-1965
Email: jthacher at unm dot edu
Office Hours: Mon/Weds 11-12 and by appt
Website: http://economics.thacher.us/

Textbooks

There are three required texts for the course: Freeman (2003), Haab and McConnell (2002), and Conrad (1999). These will primarily provide background information. Reading and discussing articles will be an integral component of the course.

This course is designed to give you a broad understanding of environmental and natural resource economics at the PhD level and help begin the transition to becoming a researcher. In this class, you will:

• Develop a familiarity with some of the common models in environmental and natural resource economics
• Learn some empirical skills needed to apply specific models
• Learn how to read and critique research articles
• Enhance your writing and presentation skills

The class will be a mix of lecture, class discussion, and student presentation. This course assumes that you are as excited about this field as I am and that you are ready to begin your training as an environmental/natural resource economist. The implication of this is that there will be a lot of reading and outside work. The structure of the class depends on every member of the class coming to class prepared with all of the material read. The material covered in this course is listed in the Readings webpage. See the web calendar for dates.

Policies

The grading scheme is listed below.

• Research proposal (40%): The research proposal paper should be around 20 pages in length on an environmental or natural resource topic of your choosing. You may not use a paper you are doing for another class to satisfy this assignment. The research proposal should include: a description of the research question and motivation for its importance, a review of relevant literature, and discussion of modeling, econometric, and data issues. Ideally, this paper can be used to start exploring research topics for your field paper or dissertation. In order to ensure a high-quality product that both you and I are pleased with, you will receive feedback throughout the research process. See the calendar for the dates for the following:
  • A one-paragraph description of your research question
  • A bibliography (reference and abstract ) of 15 academic papers in the area you are interested in.
  • A two page description of the specific question you intend to explore.
  • A draft of literature review section.
  • A draft of paper
  • Presentation
  • Final paper. Due on day of assigned final (Monday 5/11 5:30-7:30pm).

   

• Data assignments (25%): Throughout the semester, you will be given datasets and asked to analyze the data using the methods discussed in class. More detail will be provided for each assignment.

   

• Class participation and preparation (25%): Both are important components of class and graded accordingly. If either seem lacking, I will begin administering pop quizzes on readings at the beginning of class.

   

• Presentation (10%): You will choose one of the assigned articles to present to the class. In your presentation, you will give a short overview of the paper results, lecture on one new concept in the paper, and act as a referee, pointing out any critical issues with the paper.

   

Absolutely no late assignments will be accepted. I take academic honesty very seriously. Cheating or plagarism is potentially punishable by a failing grade for the course and referral to the university. Please make me aware by the end of the second week of any special issues (disability, religuous holidays, etc) that conflict with the presented syllabus.

Readings

There will be approximately one to two articles per week. You should plan on spending two to three hours reading each article and preparing for class. Your goal in reading is to develop the skills of a research economist:

• Is the question asked by the author an interesting one?
• How well did the author answer this question?
• Were the methods for addressing this question appropriate?
• What assumptions were made? How good are these assumptions?
• What is the contribution of the paper?
• Are there elements in the presentation of the paper that are lacking?
• Did the author convince you of her results? Why or why not?
• What questions for future research are raised in your mind by this paper?

Our goal in class discussions will to be to work through each paper. In preparation, you should try to answer the general questions above and jot down questions that come to mind as you read the paper. Be prepared to look concepts and methods up in other papers.

• Bibliography
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