Economic Theory of Climate Change

The dramatic rise of the world's population in the last two centuries, coupled with an even more dramatic acceleration of economic development in many parts of the world, has led to an unprecedented transformation of the natural environment by humans. In particular, on account of the greenhouse effect, global climate change has emerged as an existential problem, unrivaled in its potential for harm to life as we know it. The aim of this course is to examine the economics of climate change in a systematic fashion, with an emphasis on economic theory. Topics of coverage can include welfare economics, the theory of dynamic games, dynamic commons problems, club theory, hold up, and endogenous treaty emergence.