Economics of Environmental Regime Shifts

A short course held in conjunction with EAERE 2012 June 26-27, 2012, University of Economics, Žižkov, Prague, Czech Republic. APPLICATION DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 1, 2012

Description

Many ecosystems have nonlinear features that can cause them to shift abruptly from one state to another. Human action is typically the trigger for such regime shifts, which can be difficult to reverse and can cause the loss of valuable ecosystem services. Regime shifts have been documented for example in coral reefs, savannahs, and lakes. More details and examples can be found in the Regime shift database (www.regimeshifts.org). Economists have become increasingly interested in understanding how regime shifts affect environmental management and policy decisions.

The course will expose participants to key ecological and economic concepts related to regime shifts, techniques for modeling them, and practical implications. It will be held at the University of Economics in Žižkov, Prague immediately before the 19th European Conference of Environmental and Resource Economists (www.eaere2012.org). Its target audience is researchers from developing and transition countries. It is organized by the Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics (Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden; www.beijer.kva.se) together with Prof. Jeffrey Vincent and Prof. Aart de Zeeuw, and funded by the Beijer Institute and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

Topics

• Introduction to regime shifts —Theory and evidence on regime shifts in ecosytems, multiple equilibria, hysteresis, irreversibility, thresholds, slow and fast variables.
• Optimizing with regime shifts —Static and dynamic optimization with regime shifts, Skiba manifolds, slow and fast variables, numerical methods.
• Regime shifts and differential games —Open and feedback Nash equilibria, comparison with optimal management, optimal taxation.
• Policy implications of regime shifts —Risk-return tradeoffs, precautionary management, learning and early warning, adaptation.

Cost and Scholarships

There is no fee for the course. The Beijer Institute will provide lunch on both days of the course and dinner on the first day for all participants. In addition, the Institute is offering a limited number of scholarships, which will cover roundtrip airfare, lodging during the course and the Congress, and a reduced registration fee for the Congress. Participants will be responsible for any remaining costs. Scholarships will be allocated preferentially to researchers from the regional environmental economics networks CEEPA, EEPSEA, LACEEP, and SANDEE who have a paper accepted for presentation at the Congress.

Application

The application deadline is February 1, 2012. An application consists of a single document that contains the following information:

1. Brief statement (up to 200 words) of your research interests and why you would like to take the course
2. Title of paper submitted to EAERE 2012
3. Description of prior involvement (if any) with CEEPA, EEPSEA, LACEEP or SANDEE
4. List of scientific software (for example, MATLAB, Mathematica, Maple, STELLA) that you have used (if any)
5. Statement of whether you have ever taken a course in differential equations
6. Statement of whether you are requesting a travel scholarship
7. Current CV

Involvement with networks (item 3), knowledge of scientific software (item 4), and prior coursework in differential equations (item 5) are preferred but not required.

Applications should be e-mailed to:
Christina Leijonhufvud (course administrator)
The Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics
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The number of participants will be limited to 25. All applicants who are accepted into the course will be required to register for EAERE 2012 by April 30, 2012.

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