Research for the Environment

The Department of Economics addresses economic aspects of environmental problems. It forms a part of the Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS) at the UFZ.

The Department applies approaches from environmental economics, ecological economics and New Institutional Economics. Many of the departments’ researchers have additional qualifications in other disciplines, such as mathematics, physics, geo-ecology, landscape ecology, or philosophy.

Methodologically and as regards content, the research of the department focuses on:

• Economic Valuation,
• Instruments of Environmental Policy,
• Ecological-economic Modelling,
• Institutions and Decision Making.

The department collaborates in many interdisciplinary research themes of the UFZ. Within the ÖKUS division it is most notably involved in the following working groups:

• Social-science Water Research,
• Nature Conservation, Biodiversity, and Ecosystem Services,
• Governance and Institutions, and
• Climate Change.