GRA 6671 Economics of Natural Resources: Focus on Petroleum, Electricity, and Seafood in Norway
GRA 6671 Economics of Natural Resources: Focus on Petroleum, Electricity, and Seafood in Norway
This course will run at campus Bergen only.
The Norwegian economy depends heavily on the exploitation of natural resources such as energy (petroleum and electricity) and seafood (aquaculture and fisheries) to produce commodities that are traded in international markets. Abundant access to natural resources in combination with a well-functioning governance system is a key determinant for Norway being one of the world’s wealthiest countries. In this course we will discuss management challenges for renewable and non-renewable resources and how they have been addressed in the Norwegian industries, as well as how there is still significant potential for future development. An important part of the course will be to use economic theory to emphasize the importance of environmentally sustainable utilization of natural resources as well as the importance of supplier industries including financial services.
The aim of this course is to provide an understanding of core topics in natural resource economics and the governance of key Norwegian resource industries. Students will gain knowledge about:
- The importance of natural resources for the overall Norwegian economy.
- Features of key Norwegian resource industries: petroleum, electricity, aquaculture, and fisheries.
- Classic models for renewable and non-renewable resources: optimal extraction of resources, the tragedy of the commons, the potential for a resource rent, and the importance of innovation and governance.
- Comparative advantage and trade in a natural resource setting.
- Macro policy related to industrial structure and the resource curse.
- Environmental sustainability: public policy and efficient regulation of externalities.
- The impact of different regulations.
Students should develop skills that make them able to facilitate firms and policy makers in making better choices. Students should be able to:
- Relate the industry specific knowledge to the introduced theories and concepts for economic analysis of natural resource industries.
- Identify future challenges for extraction and use of natural resources in a Norwegian context. Discuss potential impacts of innovations and new technologies.
- Critically assess the effectiveness of regulations in natural resource industries.
- Identify negative externalities caused by the extraction and use of natural resources and discuss efficient policy instruments.
- Explain the importance and structure of trade in natural resources and discuss potential obstacles and challenges.
This course allows the students to acquire academic skills related to sustainable extraction and use of natural resources in different industries. It also provides students with skills to understand the current Norwegian governance system and the interactions between technical knowledge and regulatory innovation.
- Natural resource industries and the Norwegian economy.
- The energy industries (oil, gas and electricity, including suppliers).
- Economics of non-renewable resources (Hotelling and the tragedy of the commons).
- The seafood industries (aquaculture and fisheries, including suppliers).
- Economics of renewable resources (bioeconomic model).
- Resource rents, the resource curse and governance.
- Environmental challenge: sustainability and policy.
The course consists of a mixture of physical classroom lectures, zoom lectures and videos (36 hours).
All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.
Disclaimer
Deviations in teaching and exams may occur if external conditions or unforeseen events call for this.
| Assessments |
|---|
Exam category: School Exam Form of assessment: Written School Exam - pen and paper Exam/hand-in semester: First Semester Weight: 100 Grouping: Individual Support materials:
Duration: 3 Hour(s) Exam code: GRA 66711 Grading scale: ECTS Resit: Examination when next scheduled course |
| Activity | Duration | Comment |
|---|---|---|
Teaching | 26 Hour(s) | |
Examination | 3 Hour(s) | |
Digital resources | 20 Hour(s) | |
Prepare for teaching | 111 Hour(s) |
A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.