Teaching and Educational Methods
Water and Economics: Why We Need and Ought to Teach Water Economics in the Modern Economics Curriculum
Mohammad Mashiur Rahman(a), Samrat B. Kunwar(b), Niraj Khatiwada(c), Mengqi Liu(d), Alok K. Bohara(e), Jingjing Wang(e)
(a)Northern Arizona University, (b)University of the Pacific, (c)Siena College, (d)Gordon College, (e)University of New Mexico
JEL Codes: Q25, I2
Keywords: Current water economics courses, teaching strategies, water economics teaching, water topics
Publish Date: August 4, 2023
Abstract
Water scarcity and the availability of good quality water are major challenges facing many regions globally, and these topics warrant attention in economics; a discipline that studies the allocation of scarce resources. Integrating water resources into the economics curriculum is essential for students to understand water-related issues, water distribution, and the implications of current water management policies on the future. Although water economics is covered by some institutions in the United States and around the world, the coverage is mostly limited to basic economic theories and applications, with little attention paid to the broader issues pertaining to water. We provide an examination of the current state of water issues coverage in undergraduate and graduate courses across various institutions in the United States. A novelty of our investigation lies in analyzing how water topics are addressed at institutions located in different water-stressed regions. Additionally, we present several pedagogical approaches that are currently being applied to water economics teaching. This study also proposes innovative teaching interventions that incorporate water topics into the economics curriculum and, in doing so, enhance students’ understanding of basic economic theory, analysis, and real-world implications.
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Contemporary Adjustments Needed to Teaching Water Economics in Light of Changes Facing the Water Sector and Its Users: Introduction to the Special Issue
Ariel Dinar and Mehdi Nemati
Teaching Water Economics Using Dynamics and a Political Economy Framework
David Zilberman, Scott Kaplan, Alice Huang, Lanie Goldberg
Reconciling Theory and Practice in Higher Education Water Economics Courses
Roy Brouwer
Teaching Principles of Water Economics to Non-Economists: Lessons from California
Mehdi Nemati and Ariel Dinar
Innovations for the Water Resource Economics Curriculum: Training the Next Generation
Frank A. Ward
Teaching Water Resource Economics for Policy Analysis
Bonnie Colby
Teaching Water and Sanitation Economics and Policy with a Focus on Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Dale Whittington and Duncan Andrew Thomas
Teaching Water Economics by Building Problem-Based Case Studies
David Zetland
Teaching Water Economics in a Desert Environment
Slim Zekri
Solving Optimal Groundwater Problems with Excel
Christopher A. Wada, Sittidaj Pongkijvorasin, James A. Roumasset, and Kimberly M. Burnett