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\\Seminar environmental economics and policy
Dear students,
Welcome to this year's seminar on environmental economics
and policy! I just uploaded the (preliminary) syllabus to
give you an idea about the seminar. Please have a look at it
and, if you have the time, also at the abstracts of the four
papers mentioned in the syllabus. Our first seminar session
will take place on Friday in two weeks, starting sharply at
2pm. During that session we will also form the groups. If
there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
me.
Prof. Börner and I are looking forward to nice discussions!
Best,
Dominik Suri
Seminar on Environmental Economics and Policy
ENV 300
Winter Semester 2025/2026
- Syllabus -
Lecturers: Dominik Suri (dsuri@uni-bonn.de)
Prof. Dr. Jan Börner (jborner@uni-bonn.de)
Office hours by appointment.
Time: 24.10.25∗
, 07.11.25, 28.11.25, 12.12.25, 19.12.25, 30.01.26
Meeting time: 2pm (s.t.) to 6pm (∗
to 4pm)
Location: ILR / Seminarraum, Nussallee 19
Aim of the course. The aim of the course is to develop a scientific understanding of contemporary issues
in environmental economics. After a successful completion of the course, students are able to conceptualize
the gap between science and policy, find effective ways of bridging this gap, distinguish between types of
policy briefs and design as well as write effective policy briefs.
Prerequisites. The course assumes that students already have taken some basic courses in environmental
economics, environmental policy and econometrics. If students have taken such courses during their
undergraduate program, that would also be sufficient. This is not a strict requirement but it will help
students a lot during the course.
Structure of the course. The sessions consist of different formats. Those formats can be divided
into four categories: lectures, input talks by experts, discussions within the working groups and group
presentations. There is no specific textbook for the course. Supporting reading material during the sessions
is made available on eCampus.
Evaluation. Each student is evaluated based on the following three components.
• Participation. Lively discussions benefit the learning environment and help everyone to express
their own ideas. Thus, everyone is highly encouraged to actively participate during the course. This
includes, e.g., asking questions during the lectures, expert talks and presentations of other groups,
answering questions of fellow students and the lecturers and joining the discussions.
• Group presentation. Throughout the course, the groups should present their progress frequently.
In the last session, the final presentations of each group are held. The final presentations are graded
for the structure and layout of the presentation (please do not use the presentation layout of the
University of Bonn). All presentations are graded for the presentation style (speaking freely and
engagingly), keeping time and responses to questions from the audience.
• Term paper. Each group will receive one, i.e. the same, grade for all group members based on the
quality (25% layout, 25% completeness, 50% content and coherence) of the policy brief (which is
the term paper).
The final grade is calculated by the weighted average of these three components. The weighting factors
are 20% for participation, 30% for the group presentation and 50% for the term paper. Please do not
forget to register for all three types of assessment on basis during the registration period!
Content of the course. The idea of the course is to write a policy brief addressing a contemporary
topic in environmental economics. For each of the topics, one recently published article serves as the entry
point. (You do not have to use this article for your policy brief!)
Group 1. Biodiversity credits
Wunder, S., Fraccaroli, C., Bull, J. W., Dutta, T., Eyres, A., Evans, M. C., Thorsen, B. J., Jones,
J. P., Maron, M., Muys, B., Pacheco, A., Olesen, A. S., Swinfield, T., Tegegne, Y. T., White,
T. B., Zhang, H., & zu Ermgassen, S. O. (2025). Biodiversity Credits: An Overview of the Current
State, Future Opportunities, and Potential Pitfalls. Business Strategy and the Environment, 0, 1–
30.
• Group 2. International trade and the environment
Felbermayr, G., Peterson, S., & Wanner, J. (2025). Trade and the environment, trade policies and
environmental policies - How do they interact? Journal of Economic Surveys, 39 (3), 1148–1184.
• Group 3. Voluntary Sustainability Standards
Cosimo, L. H. E., Masiero, M., Mammadova, A., & Pettenella, D. (2024). Voluntary sustainability
standards to cope with the new European Union regulation on deforestation-free products: A gap
analysis. Forest Policy and Economics, 164, 103235.
• Group 4. Information provision targeting pro-environmental behavior
Andre, P., Boneva, T., Chopra, F., & Falk, A. (2024). Misperceived Social Norms and Willingness
to Act Against Climate Change. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 1–46.
Policy brief. For your policy brief writing, assume that you are hired as policy advisers by a certain
ministry office. In the political debate, your topic comes up. To be able to form an opinion and to design
policies, the ministry officials ask you to write a policy brief through which the government can take
action based on evidence. Remember that the officials do not have sufficient time to read long reports
and scientific research. Therefore, the policy brief should be about 4 to 5 pages (between 1500 and 2000
words) and it should consist of:
• Own title in accordance to given topic
• Executive summary
• Description of the problem
• Proposed policy options
• Policy recommendations
• References
• Figures, maps, pictures (optional)
Course schedule. The course takes places in six sessions. The following course schedule is preliminary
and the content of the sessions can be adjusted. The deadline for handing in the policy briefs will be
discussed in one of the last sessions.
Session 1 24.10.25
• Lecture: Introduction. (Suri)
• Group work: Discussion and group formation. (students)
Session 2 07.11.25
• Lectures: Theoretical background. (Börner) Evidence synthesis. (Suri)
• Group presentation: Key idea of the group article. (students, max. 10 min. per group)
– Idea of the article
– Applied methods
– Main findings
– Policy implications proposed by authors (if any)
• Group work: Discuss group topics and start with evidence synthesis. (students)
Session 3 28.11.25
• Lecture: Policy briefs. (Suri)
• Group presentation: Outcome of own evidence synthesis and key idea of selected articles (one
per student). (students, max. 15 min. per group)
– Framework of own evidence synthesis
– Idea of selected articles (one per student; other than group article), including main findings
– Policy implications originating from evidence synthesis
• Group work: Discuss selected and already published policy briefs. (students)
Session 4 12.12.25
• Group presentation: Key aspects of selected policy briefs. (students, max. 10 min. per group)
– Brief outline of the main idea of the policy brief
– Opinion on the title?
– What is the research problem? Is it stated clearly?
– Does the executive summary focus on the important outcome(s)?
– What are the policy implications? Clear reasoning?
– What are the recommendations?
– Is the number of included studies/articles appropriate?
– Opinion on the layout? What attracts attention? What worked out well/not so well?
• Input talks: tba.
Group work: Work on own policy brief. (students)
Session 5 19.12.25
• Group presentation: Current outline of own policy briefs. (students, max. 15 min. per group)
– Preliminary title
– Research problem
– Policy implications
– Included studies/articles
• Input talks: tba.
• Group work: Further elaborate on own policy brief. (students)
Session 6 30.01.25
• Group presentation: Final concept and content of own policy briefs. (students, max. 20 min.
per group + 10 min. discussion)
• Input talk(s): tba.
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