Welcome to the page for the research group in Environmental and Resource Economics. Here you can find information about the members of the group and the research profile and some news as well. It is the intention to expand the page in the future with description of current research projects among other things.
News
The research group has received an “Elite” grant from the Dean of Social Science SDU. See a shorter version of the application here.
Members of the research group:
The research group members who are not on the photo are: Professor Bjarne Sloth Jensen, Associate Professior Eva Roth, Associate Professor Urs Steiner Brandt, Associate Professor Jacob Kronbak, Postdoc Stefan Borsky and PhD student Hans Ellefsen.
Professor Niels Vestergaard
Professor Bjarne Sloth Jensen
Professor WSR Kaiser Brooks
Associate Professor Eva Roth
Associate Professor, Urs Steiner Brandt
Associate Professor Henning P. Jørgensen
Associate Professor Jacob Kronbak
Associate Professor, Head of Study, Lone Grønbæk Kronbak
Associate Professor Villy Søgaard
Assistant Professor Masako Ikefuji
Postdoc Angela Münch
Postdoc Lars Ravn-Jonsen
Postdoc Stefan Borsky
Research Assistant Leise Pil Christensen
PhD student Barbara Hutniczak
PhD student Thong Tien Nguyen
PhD student Hans Ellefsen
Research profile:
In the next few years resource scarcity and environmental problems will have an even larger societal implication as resource accessibility and reduction of environmental impact is crucial for a sustainable development. One example is the use of potential food for human consumption utilised as biofuel in an attempt to counter climate change. Another example is the marine environment of the Baltic, which is polluted by persistent organic matters and nutrients, and also subject to considerable overfishing of the cod stock.
Analysis of environmental and resource problems involve considerable theoretical challenges and complex causal relationships: Lack of property rights, many conflicting interests and uncertainty. The environment and natural resources are public goods and the point of departure for analysis of utilisation of these goods and services are applied microeconomics and modeling.
The research has five primary themes:
1. Theory of regulations
This area of research is central to several members of the research group. It covers the application of modern microeconomics (for example lack of information and strategic behavior) to analyze the most suitable organization of the exploitation of natural resources and the environment. The research group is among the leading group of researcher in the area of bio-economic modelling of strategic behaviour and lack of information.
2. Pollution and resource scarcity
There is a complicated and under researched interaction between increasing demand of natural resources and pollution which raises a range of management issues. Business development strategies play a significant role in the development and utilisation of marine resources. Traditionally, business activities in the primary and secondary industry have been linked to discharges of polluting substances into the marine environment. This creates a multi-dimensional and conflicting pattern of use of the resources, as pollution of the sea has negative impact on fisheries and recreational industries such as recreational fisheries and tourism. Due to the need for a secure and reliable energy supply and concern for the climate, the future energy sector will require an increasingly diversified portfolio of energy sources that are combined in an environmentally sound and cost-effective manner.
3. Integrated modelling
Integrated modelling is a necessary tool for analysing the complex and dynamic interactions between economy, resources and the environment. The study of integrated macro-economic, energy and environmental issues offers varied challenges and opportunities for contribution to policy research. Maintaining the versatility of production and cost-efficient use of renewable energy sources require studies of energy activities through energy market analyses and system models. An important model issue here is the choice between levels approach, top-down or bottom-up.
4. Risk analysis, risk management and risk communication
Risk and uncertainty is the main characteristics of the management of natural resources. This makes risk analysis and risk management important and necessary tools for analysing natural resource and environmental issues, like international agreements on climate change, sustainability issues, trade policy, etc. The necessity of these types of analysis has been further intensified by climatic changes, which are expected to influence all parts of society and nature and carries with it large amounts of risk and uncertainties.
5. Ecosystem based management
The latest theoretical development in environmental and resource economics is tied to the “ecosystem approach” which recognises the interlink between different resources, nature and human intervention. The ecosystems produce both intermediate and final goods and services which generates human welfare in the form of benefits. The crucial aspect in the ecosystem based management approach is to recognize that all goods and services from the ecosystem should be part of the management considerations. The approach is often broader in space and time than the traditional management approach; thus, it poses different challenges to the research since this management approach balances different use of the ecosystems towards each other.