Teacher
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FRANCO Silvio
(syllabus)
The course is organised on 6 parts The first part is dedicated to the definition of a framework of historical and epistemological aspects the vision of the natural resources in an economic perspective. In this part, after having briefly retraced the perception of the environment in the history of economic thought, some empirical evidence of the vision proposed by the neoclassical paradigm of the relationship between economy and environment are presented. The second part is dedicated to an analysis of the characteristics of natural resources, with particular attention to their physical and biological role with respect to the use of human beings. For this purpose, the role of natural resources, divided between stocks and flows and between renewable and non-renewable, are analysed as inputs of economic processes and the capacity and limits of ecosystems with respect to the absorption of waste produced by human activities. The third part presents a summary of some of the key concepts of environmental economics, in particular the theory of externalities as theoretical basis of the analytical tools used in environmental impact assessments of economic activities. The fourth part is dedicated to the discussion of the relationships between ecosystems and the economic system, describing the flows of matter and energy between these two systems and their implications in physical terms. These topics constitute the premise for the discussion of the main aspects that characterise the transdisciplinary approach of the ecological economics. The fifth part deals with the economic concepts of development and growth and the different interpretations associated with the concept of sustainable development. In this context, a growth model is developed in which, starting from the basic formulation, the role of technological innovation and natural resources (renewable and non-renewable) are considered. In the sixth and final part, a simple bioeconomic model of the economic system and its interrelations with the social sphere and with the ecosystem is presented. The description of this model is preceded by a brief discussion aimed at clarifying the terminological confusion that sometimes occurs in Italian literature with respect to the term "bioeconomy", which is used with very different meanings. This part ends with an illustration of the ways in which it is possible to evaluate the sustainability of local economic systems by adopting the bioeconomic model and by mentioning its main economic policy implications.
(reference books)
Franco S. (edited by) (2018). Le relazioni fra sistemi economici e ambiente: dall’approccio neoclassico al modello bioeconomico, PasSaggi, Anno 4, Vol. 9. (download from http://www.cursa.it/home-page/pubblicazioni/cursa-passaggi-ricerche-e-progetti/)
Supplementary readings and insights
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