20413 - GLOBALIZATION, SUSTAINABILITY AND TECHNOLOGY

This course aims to provide students with the basic knowledge and essential tools to deal with environmental problems considered in a broad perspective, integrating globalization, innovation, technological change, consumer preferences and environmental regulation. The course starts by examining the concept of sustainable development proposed by economic theories. Thenissues related to the green economy will be analyzed form the point of view of technology, considering the topic of climate change - according to the Kyoto Protocol perspective and the diffusion of renewable energy sources. Then the course examines the interdependence between environmentaland economic systems and the main instruments of environmental policy. In the last part of the Course, Voluntary Approaches to environmental issues will be considered, analyzing the relationship between the growth of demand for green products and the competitive strategies adopted by firms. At the end of the course students should be able to conceive environmental issues not only as a constraint imposed on firms but also as a strategic opportunity, involving both technological innovation and investments in environmental reputation. In order to reach this objective the traditional analysis of economic instruments ( environmental taxes, subsidies and trading of pollution allowances) is coupled with the study of voluntary approaches and the analysis of overcompliance, characterizing firms involved in environmental certification, green labelling and other similar strategies.

• The concept of sustainable development
• The development of environmental technologies
• Global environmental problems: the Kyoto protocol and climate change.
• Interdependency between the environment and the economic system: environmental externalities and the Coase Theorem.
• Economic instruments: environmental taxation and the Carbon tax examples
• Economic instruments: environmental subsidies and the example of renewables
• Decentralized systems for pollution control: Cap and Trade and the ETS (Emission Trading Scheme) in Europe
• Voluntary approaches: classification, economic foundations and environmental effectiveness
• Overcompliance and Environmental Strategies: product differentiation, asymmetric information and Environmental Reputation
• Voluntary Approaches: case studies in environmental certification, green labels and other environmental strategies implemented by firms, industries and Countries.

For non attending students

Written exam

For attending students
Papers and class presentations to be prepared by students plus a short written examination.

Readings are assigned at the beginning of the course.

A few chapters are taken from the following textbooks:

• R. Perman, Y. Ma, J. McGilvray et al., Natural Resource and Environmental Economics, Pearson, 2011
• A. Baranzini, P. Thalmann, Voluntary Approaches in Climate Policy, Edward Elgar, 2004