Course:FRE505

Agricultural and Resource Policy Analysis - Policy and Project Evaluation
FRE 505
Section:
Instructor:	Dr. Richard Barichello
Email:	rick.barichello@ubc.ca, Phone: (604) 822-3473
Office:	339 MacMillan
Office Hours:	TBA
Class Schedule:	Jan 8 - Feb 16 Tue&Thur 10:00-11:30
Classroom:	MCML 154
Important Course Pages
	Syllabus
	Lecture Notes
	Assignments
	Course Discussion

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course introduces students to the use of two common evaluation tools for government policies and projects, the Policy Analysis Matrix (PAM) and Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA). It also introduces students more briefly to the use of Domestic Resource Cost (DRC) and its calculation. The PAM and DRC are focused on policies and CBA on investment projects. Both involve distinguishing between private and social (or economic) profitability, and both involve data collection at the micro (farm or project) level. Substantial attention is given to understanding factor markets and related institutions to enable quality data collection. Case studies are used. In early lectures, the topic of agricultural productivity measurement is also introduced.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of the course students will be able to:

1. Master the concepts in the PAM, Total Factor Productivity and CBA.
2. Understand the type of data required for each.
3. Identify key elements of local factor markets in order to collect appropriate data.
4. Apply the PAM (Including DRC) and CBA in real life settings with actual data.
5. Handle common difficulties or barriers to obtaining high quality data, and develop ways to overcome them. 
6. Identify measures of agricultural sector productivity, particularly Total Factor Productivity, and the steps and challenges in measuring the latter.

ASSESSMENT REPORT

The policy brief will be a 1-page summary of the results of PAM and CBA analyses/problem sets or policy options of your choice. They will provide practice in communicating results of your analyses to help policy makers understand your analysis and then choose better policies.

BIG QUESTIONS & REAL-WORLD APPLICATIONS IN CLIMATE, FOOD AND THE ENVIRONMENT COVERED IN THE COURSE

1. How can we evaluate government policies, such as within the food sector, to see if they increase national incomes, incomes of farmers, incomes of consumers, or incomes of other firms like processors, and reduce wasteful or inefficient outcomes?
2. How do these evaluation results change when we include externalities such as environmental damages or government policy/regulatory distortions?
3. How can we choose the investment projects from national government funds or foreign aid funds that maximize the increase to national incomes, and to the incomes of important sub-groups like farmers, poor families, and other groups that are otherwise disadvantaged (e.g., women, aboriginal populations) and also reduce corrupt and wasteful investment expenditures?
4. What evaluation procedures must be adopted to handle overall country-wide effects, as well as the distribution effects on various sub-groups, and the capacity to include externalities such as environmental damages or benefits, taxes, subsidies, and over- or under-valued exchange rates, all of which make this tool different from a financial investment appraisal?

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Your grade shall be determined as follows

Requirements	Date	Percent of Grade
Problem sets (2): 7%, 15%	(1) after Lec7; (2) after Lec8	22%
Class Quizzes (2) @ 7%	(1) Near Lec5; (2) near Lec6	14%
Final Exam	TBD	50%
Policy Brief (1)	Feb 16	14%