871331 Cost/benefit analysis

Type
Lecture
Semester hours
2
Lecturer (assistant)
Fuchs, Sven
Organisation
Offered in
Sommersemester 2025
Languages of instruction
Englisch
Content

The effects of climate change together with socio-economic (structural) change are altering the risk posed by natural hazards in many regions around the world in such a way that an increase in damage to buildings and infrastructure is expected in the medium and long term.
In recent years, natural hazards have also repeatedly occurred in the European Alpine region and in other mountain areas, leading to high levels of damage and often being labelled as extreme events by politicians and the general public alike – a trend reinforced by media coverage. The high economic and private losses raise the question of which social adaptation strategies are necessary to reduce such losses in the future.
Concerning protective measures against natural hazards, aspects of costs and benefits are becoming more important, as the available public funds are limited and must therefore be used sparingly. The course examines the question of how associated costs and benefits can be assessed, and which differences between private and so-called public goods exist. Apart from classical CBA, alternative evaluation methods for pubic goods will be discussed.
Previous knowledge expected

A Bachelor's degree is recommended. A basic understanding of analysing and assessing (natural) hazards and risks is required. English language skills are required in order to access the (compulsory) literature.
Objective (expected results of study and acquired competences)

Students can understand the different concepts of economic evaluation in relation to natural hazards, analyse them using an example and relate them to the level of the resulting risk. In addition, students can apply and analyse the different dimensions of public goods using examples and weigh up which type of assessment is suitable for presenting costs and benefits to society as a whole using which means, by analysing facts and arriving at an argumentatively comprehensible synthesis.
You can find more details like the schedule or information about exams on the course-page in BOKUonline.