Law and Economics of the Environment

This course focuses on the legal and economic questions and tools embedded within environmental policies. It will cover a number of policy areas and offer case studies to explore the interactions and contradictions of legal and economic mechanisms to address today’s environmental challenges.

The courser will be structured as follows:

Part 1: KEY CONCEPTS IN LAW AND ECONOMICS OF THE ENVIRONMENT

1. Setting the language: concepts, tools, actors / institutions (CA & EC)
2. Principles (CA)
3. Prices and Markets for environmental protection (EC)
4. The role of information (EC)
5. Standards and voluntary tools (CA)
6. Environmental rights and access to justice (CA)
7. Understanding risk and impact (EC)

Part 2: CASE STUDY PRESENTATIONS BY STUDENTS
In the second part of the course, the students will choose a case study within a list of given options to present to the class (in groups or solo, depending on the number of registered students). The goal of these case study assignments is for students to apply the concepts seen in part 1 to practical cases, develop a critcal understanding of the tensions, trade-offs and legal, economic and policy challenges involved, evaluate the different instruments and possible alternatives and effectively communicate research findings. Some structuring questions will be provided to help them framing the presentations.

8. Case studies session 1
9. Case studies session 2
10. Case studies session 3
11. Case studies session 4

Part 3: WRAP-UP SESSION

12. Wrap-up session (guest speaker TBC)

At the end of the course participants should have:

- Knowledge of the economic principles and tools, as well as their interaction with legal rules and institutional processes that govern current policy responses to environmental challenges;

- Develop a critical understanding of the different economic, legal, regulatory and policy instruments/approaches available to address environmental issues and their pros and cons;

-  Understand the tensions, debates and issues in law and economics that surround environmental policy, drawing specific examples from the European Union; when appropriate

This course will combine lectures and case study discussions. Students are expected to prepare for each class and to contribute to class discussion.

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

All references will be available either on the uv or in the library. 

Course notes

• Université virtuelle

Contacts

Chiara Armeni
chiara.armeni@ulb.be

Estelle Cantillon
estelle.cantillon@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• Oral presentation
• Other
• Written report

Oral presentation

Other

Written report

Students will be evaluated on the basis of their case study analysis and class participation.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

The final grade will be based on students' case study analyses and presentation thereof (80% of the final grade) and class participation (20%). Students failing the course will be asked to pass an oral exam and resubmit a written case in August (80% of the final grade), keeping their participation grade as is.

Language(s) of evaluation

• english