SPEE 2015 - Bern
The SPEE workshop 2015 took place in Bern from 31th August - 4th September 2015 with the following course program:
Computable General Equilibrium in Climate and Energy Economics - Dr. F. Vöhringer
In this course, you learn to understand and implement computable general equilibrium (CGE) models in the mixed complementarity (MCP) format using GAMS. You gain both theoretical knowledge and practical experience. In exercises, you learn to build, run and interpret CGE models with practice-oriented features for climate and energy policy analysis. Through paper presentations and lectures, we broaden the scope of topics covered and deepen the understanding of the research eld of applied CGE modeling. Prerequisites for participation are a basic knowledge of GAMS, which can be acquired in self-study before the course, and graduate knowledge of microeconomics.
Dr. Frank Vöhringer is a researcher, modeler, lecturer, and policy consultant in climate and energy economics. He works at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), lectures at EPFL and Universität Bern, and he is managing director of Econability, an economic consultancy firm. His recent work includes analyses of Swiss climate and energy policies, innovative modeling approaches for electricity markets, the monetisation of climate change impacts, and effort comparisons in international climate policy. Frank holds a Doctorate in economics from the University of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. From 2002 to 2004, he was Assistant Professor for environmental economics in Wageningen, the Netherlands.
Econometric Applications in Environmental and Climate Economics - Dr. C. Almer
The course will give an introduction to various strands of the empirical environmental and climate economics literature and discuss the respective empirical challenges the applied researcher faces in this context. There will be practical sessions for each of the particular fields of research where existing datasets will be used to demonstrate how to address these challenges. Topics include the valuation of environmental factors, socio-economic effects of environmental changes (e.g., pollution or climate change) and the evaluation of environmental policies. In terms of methodology, the course will cover a wide range of approaches including panel data econometrics and program evaluation. Prerequisites: Basic knowledge in STATA, intermediate knowledge of cross-section and panel data econometrics.
Dr. Christian Almer is a lecturer and researcher at the University of Bath. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Heidelberg and held a post-doctoral position at the University of Bern before joining Bath. He is an applied econometrician with special interests in the analysis of cross-section and panel data, causal inference and program evaluation. His research mainly focuses on the impact of environmental pollution and environmental change on human well-being, the evaluation of environmental policies and the causes of political instabilities in developing countries.