ADVANCED MATHEMATIC METHODS ENVIRONMENT & RESOURCE ECONOMICS

The most interesting issues in environmental and resource economics have an explicit temporal dimension, since variables of interest such as pollutants, greenhouse gases, biomass of biological resources, or the stocks of fossil fuels accumulate in the ambient environment or are depleted through human actions and natural processes.

The purpose of these lectures is to present the mathematical tools for analyzing environmental and resource management issues in a dynamic set-up.

The lectures include a brief description of differential equations and then move on to describe methods of optimal control, dynamic programing, and differential games. The final chapters cover two novel topics: (1) environmental issues characterized by deep uncertainty, and aversion to ambiguity using robust control methods and formulations of precautionary policies; and (2) the study of pollution/resource management in space and time when the environmental variables evolve in time and diffuse in space.

The lectures are a valuable tool for advanced graduate students in environmental and resource economics who are studying dynamic problems.

Contents:
PrefaceAbout the AuthorDifferential EquationsStabilityOptimal Control and the Principle of OptimalityCalculus of VariationsOptimal ControlOptimal Control: Steady State AnalysisLinear Optimal Control and Bang-Bang Solutions, Most Rapid Approach PathsConstrained Optimal ControlDynamic Programming, Continuous TimeDynamic Optimization, Discrete TimeStochastic Control: Stochastic Processes and Stochastic CalculusOptimal Stochastic ControlDifferential GamesNonlinear Differential Games in Environmental and Resource Economics: International Pollution Control (The Lake Problem)Robust ControlOptimal Control under Spatio-temporal Dynamics: Optimal Control in Infinite Dimensional SpacesSelected BibliographyIndex
Readership: Graduate students specializing in environmental and resource economics and studying dynamic problems.