The economy and the environment: economy-environment interaction, the first and second law of thermodynamics, environmental degradation as market failure, Pigouvian tax, property rights and transactions costs; Economics of natural resources: renewable and non-renewable resources, common property resources, open access, the tragedy of commons; Valuation methods: classification of environment and resource flows, use values, option values and non-use value, contingent valuation, hedonic pricing, travel cost method, environmental impact assessment; Pollution control: pollution prevention, control and abatement, command and control instruments and market based instruments – taxes vs. tradeable permits, overview of different acts/laws for pollution control in India ; Environment and development: environment-development trade off, environmental Kuznet-s curve, poverty and environment, sustainable development- concepts and indicators, environmentally adjusted GDP, System of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting (SEEA).
