Courses

Listed By Semester (2005 - 2008)

AREC 240
Introduction to Economics and the Environment (4). Costs and social impacts of pollution and human crowding in the modern environment. The economic, legal and institutional causes of these problems. Public policy approaches to solutions and the costs and benefits of alternative solutions.
AREC 250
Elements of Agricultural and Resource Economics (3). An introduction to economic principles of production, marketing, agricultural prices and incomes, farm labor, credit, agricultural policies, and government programs.
AREC 306
Farm Management (3). The organization and operation of the farm business to obtain an income consistent with family resources and objectives. Principles of production economics and other related fields as applied to the individual farm business.
AREC 332
Introduction to Natural Resource Policy (3). Development of natural resource policy and analysis of the evolution of public intervention in the use of natural resources. Examination of present policies and of conflicts between private individuals, public interest groups, and governmental agencies.
AREC 365
World Hunger, Population, and Food Supplies (3). An introduction to the problem of world hunger and possible solutions to it. World demand, supply, and distribution of food. Alternatives for leveling off world food demand, increasing the supply of food, and improving its distribution. Environmental limitations to increasing world food production.
AREC 382
Computer-Based Analysis in Agricultural and Resource Economics (3). Prerequisite: ECON 203 or equivalent and CMSC 103 or equivalent. Exploration of basic economic concepts using a computer spreadsheet. Topics include price deflation, index numbers, activity analysis, time series analysis, forecasting, and economic optimization. Prior experience with spreadsheets is not required.
AREC 386
Experiential Learning (3-6). Prerequisite: Learning Proposal approved by the Office of Experiential Learning Programs, faculty sponsor, and student's internship sponsor. Individual instruction course.
AREC 404
Applied Price Analysis (3). Prerequisite: ECON 306. The study of agricultural price behavior. Emphasis is placed on price discovery, the use of price information in the decision-making process, the relation of supply and demand in determining agricultural prices, and the relation of prices to grade, time, location, and stages of processing in the marketing system. The course introduces elementary methods of price analysis, and the role of price support programs in agricultural decisions.
AREC 405
Economics of Production (3). Prerequisites: ECON 306 and MATH 220. The use and application of production economics in agricultural and resource industries through graphical and mathematical approaches. Production functions, cost functions, multiple product and joint production, and production processes through time are studied.
AREC 407
Prerequisite: ECON 306. Application of economic principles to develop criteria for a sound farm business, including credit source and use, preparing and filing income tax returns, methods of appraising farm properties, the summary and analysis of farm records, and practices leading to effective control and profitable operation of the farm business.
AREC 414
Prerequisite: ECON 306. The different forms of businesses. Management functions, business indicators, measures of performance, and operational analysis. Case studies are used to show applications of management techniques.
AREC 427
Economics of Commodity Marketing Systems (3). Prerequisite: ECON 306. Basic economic theory as applied to the marketing of agricultural products including price, cost, and financial analysis. Current developments affecting market structure including effects of contractual arrangement, vertical integration, governmental policies and regulation.
AREC 433
Food and Agricultural Policy (3). Prerequisite: ECON 306. Economic and political context of governmental involvement in the farm and food sector. Historical programs, and current policy issues. Analysis of economic effects of agricultural programs, their benefits and costs, and comparison of policy alternatives. Analyzes the interrelationship among international development, agricultural trade, and general economic and domestic agricultural policies.
AREC 435
Commodity Futures and Options (3). Prerequisite: ECON306; BMGT230 or ECON321. The economics and institutional features of commodity futures and options markets. Students will develop a basic understanding of the underlying price relationships between cash and futures markets and will apply this information to business risk management decision making.
AREC 445
Agricultural Development, Population Growth and the Environment (3). Prerequisite: ECON 306. Development theories, the role of agriculture in economic development, the agricultural policy environment, policies impacting on rural income and equity, environmental impacts of agricultural development.
AREC 453
Natural Resources and Public Policy (3). Prerequisite: ECON 306. Rational use and reuse of natural resources and the theory and method of the allocation of natural resources among alternative uses are covered in this course. Other topics include optimum state of conservation, market failure, safe maximum standard, and cost-benefit analysis.
AREC 455
Economics of Land Use (3). Prerequisite: ECON 306. Fundamentals of location theory. Microeconomics of land use decisions, including determination of rent and hedonic pricing models. Impacts of government decisions on land use, including regulation (e.g. zoning), incentives (transferable development rights), provision of public services, and infrastructure investments. Impacts of land use on environmental quality, including issues related to sprawl, agricultural land preservation, and other topics of special interest.
AREC 484
Prerequisite: ECON 306 and ECON 321 or equivalent. An introduction to the application of econometric techniques to problems in agriculture, the environment, and natural resources. Emphasis on the assumptions and computational techniques necessary to structure, estimate, and test economic models in the fields of agricultural, environmental, and resource economics. Includes single and multiple variable linear regression models, multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation and model specification tests.
AREC 489
Special Topics in Agricultural and Resources Economics (3). Repeatable to a maximum of 9 credits.

AREC 610
Microeconomic Applications in Agricultural and Resource Markets (3 credits). Prerequisite: ECON 603. Three hours of lecture and 1Â½ hours of discussion per week. Applications of graduate level microeconomic analysis to the problems of agricultural and natural resource production and distribution including demand for agricultural output, the nature of agricultural supply decisions, farm labor issues, land rental and acquisition, and exploitation of natural resources.
AREC 620
Optimization in Agricultural and Resource Economics (3 credits). Prerequisites: Differential calculus and one course in matrix or linear algebra. Three hours of lecture and 1Â½ hours of discussion per week. Mathematical theory of optimization as it is used in agricultural and resource economics. Topics include necessary and sufficient conditions for nonlinear programming and related Kuhn-Tucker and saddle point theory, convexity and concavity, existence and uniqueness, duality and the envelope theorem, the discrete maximum principle, and control theory and dynamic optimization.
AREC 623
Applied Econometrics I (4 credits). Three lectures of 1Â½ hours and 1Â½ hours of discussion per week. Fundamentals of mathematical statistics for applications in econometrics. Development of the standard linear model and computer applications in applied econometrics problems.
AREC 624
Applied Econometrics II (4 credits). Three lectures of 1Â½ hours and 1Â½ hours of discussion per week. Variations of the standard linear model and simultaneous equations estimation. Application of econometrics tools including nonlinear regression, nonlinear simultaneous equations estimation, qualitative econometrics models including logit, probit, and tobit models, varying parameters models, unobserved variables, time series models, and model selection procedures.
AREC 625
Economic Welfare Analysis (3 credits). Also offered as AREC 825. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 625 or AREC 825. Measurement of economic well-being for producers, consumers, and resource owners. Topics include competitive equilibrium, Pareto optimality, market failure, public goods and nonmarket welfare measurement, multimarket considerations, existing distortions, and second best. Applications in economic welfare analysis of agricultural and resource policies are discussed.
AREC 632
Agricultural Policy Analysis (3 credits). Also offered as AREC 832. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 632 or AREC 832. The economics of agricultural policies. Methods for analyzing costs and benefits of price supports, import restraints, and other policies for producers, consumers, and taxpayers. Farm programs of the U.S., other industrial countries, and developing countries including interventions in both domestic markets and international trade are covered along with their consequences for factor owners and related commodity markets. Theories of the farm problem and possible remedies are offered.
AREC 644
Also offered as AREC 844. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 644 or AREC 844. Introduction to trade in agricultural products and natural resources. Partial and general equilibrium models are applied to problems in agricultural and natural resource trade and in analyzing related trade policies of various countries to understand the impact of macroeconomic policy on international agricultural and resource markets through exchange rates, interest rates, and inflation.
AREC 645
Environment and Development Economics (3 credits). Also offered as AREC 845. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 645 or AREC 845. Considers neoclassical and endogenous growth models; international trade theory; the role of property right institutions and factor markets; the environmental impact of trade liberalization in developing countries and the environmental effects of increasing international capital mobility; empirical studies relating the environment to growth and globalization; and policy analyses.
AREC 685
Prerequisite: ECON 403 or consent of instructor. Application of mathematical programming to problems in agricultural and resource economics. Emphasis on modeling large-scale systems and interpreting results in economic terms.
AREC 699
Special Problems in Agricultural and Resource Economics (1-2 credits). Intensive study and analysis of specific problems in the field of agricultural and resource economics, providing in-depth information in areas of special interest to the student.
AREC 689P
Economic analysis and welfare economics of natural resource and environmental issues. For non-majors. No credit given toward M.S. or Ph.D. degrees in AREC.
AREC 753
Economics of Renewable Natural Resources (3 credits). Prerequisites: AREC 610 and AREC 620 or permission of department. Basic models of renewable natural resources. Current research issues concerning natural resources with emphasis on problems in commercial and recreational fisheries, forestry, water, fugitive wildlife, and agriculture. Policies to correct related market failures.
AREC 785
Advanced Economics of Natural Resources (3 credits). Prerequisite: ECON 603 and AREC623 or permission of the department. Also offered as ECON 785. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 785 or ECON785. The use of exhaustible and renewable natural resources from normative and positive points of view. Analysis of dynamic resource problems emphasizing energy, mineral, groundwater, forestry, and fishery resources; optimal, equilibrium, and intergenerational models of resource allocations.
AREC 799
Master's Thesis Research (1-6 credits).
AREC 815
Experimental and Behavioral Economics (3 credits). This course discusses recent experimental and behavioral economics literature. Discusses experimental methods, recent experimental findings and new behavioral theory that adjusts standard neoclassical models in order to explain observed behavioral patterns, which commonly occur but are "paradoxical" for traditional models.
AREC 825
Advanced Economic Welfare Analysis (3 credits). Also offered as AREC 625. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 625 or AREC 825. Theory of economic welfare measurement, problems of path dependence in evaluating multiple price changes, welfare measurement under risk, general equilibrium welfare measurement with multiple distortions, and applications in evaluation of agricultural and resource policies.
AREC 829
Topics in Applied Econometrics (3 credits). Prerequisite: AREC 623 and AREC 624 or permission of instructor. Topics vary from year to year and may include: estimation of cost, production and derived demand and supply systems using duality; expectations, log structures, ARIMA models, integration and co-integration and other topics in time-series analysis; limited dependent and qualitative variables; panel data econometrics; systems of demand equations, simultaneous equations; and survey design and methodology.
AREC 832
Advanced Agricultural Policy Analysis (3 credits). Also offered as AREC 632. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 632 or AREC 832. The economics of agricultural policies. Methods for analyzing costs and benefits of price supports, import restraints, and other policies for producers, consumers, and taxpayers. Farm programs of the U.S., other industrial countries and developing countries including interventions in both domestic markets and international trade are covered along with their consequences for factor owners and related commodity markets. Theories of the farm problem and possible remedies are offered.
AREC 844
Also offered as AREC 644. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 644 or AREC 844. Introduction to trade in agricultural products and natural resources. Partial and general equilibrium models are applied to problems in agricultural and natural resource trade and in analyzing related trade policies of various countries to understand the impact of macroeconomic policy on international agricultural and resource markets through exchange rates, interest rates, and inflation.
AREC 846
Development Microeconomics (3 credits). Development economics with focus on issues applicable to rural development and agriculture in developing countries. Content includes both theory and empirical application of theory. Subjects covered include economics of agricultural households, credit and insurance markets, technological progress and learning and institutional economics of developing countries.
AREC 845
Environment and Development Economics (3 credits). Also offered as AREC 645. Credit will be granted for only one of the following: AREC 645 or AREC 845. Considers neoclassical and endogenous growth models; international trade theory; the role of property right institutions and factor markets; the environmental impact of trade liberalization in developing countries and the environmental effects of increasing international capital mobility; empirical studies relating the environment to growth and globalization; and policy analyses.
AREC 869
Advanced Topics in Agricultural Economics (1-3 credits). Repeatable to 9 credits if content differs. Frontiers of research in agricultural policy, agricultural production, international trade, and agricultural development. Decision making under risk and related market institutions, principal agent analysis, optimal policy design, technology adoption, market structure, land and credit markets, information markets, and income distribution.
AREC 869C
The application of contract theory and mechanism design to the design and formulation of policies in agriculture, natural resources, development, and environmental economics.
AREC 869J
AREC 869K
AREC 869P
Prerequisite: Completion of two years of Ph.D. program. Presentations from proposed Ph.D. research. Required of all third-year Ph.D. students.
AREC 869T
Environmental economics in open economies. Topics include: tradeâ€™s impact on environmental quality; WTO constraints on domestic environmental regulation; implications of trade liberalization for environmental politics; strategic environmental policy; regulation and international investment patterns; growth and pollution in open economies.
AREC 898
Pre-Candidacy Research (1-8 credits).
AREC 899
Doctoral Dissertation Research (1-8 credits).

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Last updated: 09/25/2007