Health and environmental economics (2018/2019)

Learning outcomes

The course provides an overview of how models from general microeconomic theory can be used to
understand the main issues in environmental and health economics. It will investigate the economic
determinants and implications of the current environmental and health challenges.
At the end of the course students should be able to:
- assess the strengths and weaknesses of alternative environmental policies with real world examples
from developing and developed countries,
- interpret the main economic issues relevant for modern health care systems: efficiency, equity,
sustainability,
- understand how analytical models can be used for the assessment of the evolution of variables
of interest in both health and environmental economics and for the economic evaluation of
market innovations and policies
- gain basic ability on the use of appropriate software to solve relevant problems in health and
environmental economics

- Environmental effects on health
- Climate change and health
- Biodiversity and health
- Environmental policy instruments (e.g., taxes, payments for environmental services, ecolabelling, ecotourism)
- Environment, health, and human capital
- The link between economic variables and health
- The demand for health care
- Market failures in health care markets
- Health care supply: alternative models
- The key Features of some Health Care Systems around the world
- Asymmetry of information and contracts in health care
- The economic evaluation of health care interventions
- Introduction to computer programming for economic evaluation

The assessment will be based on a written exam (including both theoretical and practical questions). The ability to apply concepts to real world situations and the understanding of theory and methods are essential to obtain the highest marks. To this end, students have an option to have part of the assessment based on a project work, which gives them the opportunity to apply theoretical concepts and methods learnt during the course to a real world problem.

STUDENT MODULE EVALUATION - 2017/2018