Natural resources and environmental services — clean air, water regulation, biodiversity, recreation, climate stability—carry real economic value, yet markets rarely price them. This gap leads to under-protection and poorly informed decisions. EC113033 equips economics students with the concepts, quantitative methods, and ethical judgment needed to estimate these non-market values and to bring them into policy and project appraisal.
The course is built around revealed-preference methods (travel cost and hedonic pricing) as its technical spine, complemented by stated-preference concepts and benefit transfer. Methods are grounded in Thai and Southeast Asian contexts — Bangkok air quality, coastal property values, flood-risk premiums, national-park recreation — so that abstract techniques connect to problems students recognise. Cost–benefit analysis is not a focus of this course; the emphasis is on estimating values soundly and judging which method fits a given decision.
A distinctive feature is a two-week biodiversity-measurement module that uses the Khon Kaen University campus as a living laboratory. Working with an invited ecology professor, students measure ecosystem indicators in the field and then attach economic value to them, linking ecological data to valuation practice. The course also embeds AI literacy and data transparency, including two dedicated AI-integration sessions in which students use AI tools to support — never replace — their own analysis. Collectively, these elements develop the quantitative reasoning, analytical decision-making , policy evaluation, professional communication, and collaborative responsibility that the programme expects of its graduates.
- Teacher: วรวีร์ แสงอาวุธ
