Programme Courses

Courses

• Game Theory for Social Sciences
  Instructor: Leonardo Boncinelli
  Contents: Representation forms, building a model from reality; Games of cooperation, coordination, collaboration, trust, public goods, conflict; Reputation, social preferences, reciprocity; Population structure, assortativity; Evolutionary equilibrium selection
• Ecological Economics
  Instructor: Tiziano Distefano
  Contents: From Georgescu-Roegen to nowadays: Core conceptual and theoretical knowledge related to ecological economics; Post-normal science: Main concepts and definitions of system dynamics, system uncertainty, and system thinking; Integrated Assessment Models (IAM): merging Ecological Macroeconomics and out-of-equilibrium System Dynamics; IAM in practice: simple applications in Vensim and Matlab 
• Sustainable Behavior and Experimental Economics
  Instructor: Laura Grazzini & Sibilla Di Guida
  Contents: Sustainable consumption: an overview; The attitude-behavior gap in sustainable consumption; Main theoretical frameworks in studying sustainable behaviors; Environmental dilemmas as coordination games (lab+field experimental research); Framed field experiments Nudging to foster sustainable behavior
• Statistics and Data Analysis
  Instructor: Francesco Serti
  Contents: Random variables, discrete and continuous distributions; Definition of statistical model, estimate and estimator, point estimation and interval estimation; Parametric and non-parametric tests; One-way and factorial ANOVA, linear regression, generalized linear model; Causal inference with observational data and experiments. Each class will consist of a first introductory part with notions of statistics and econometrics, and a second part using R and Stata, in which those notions are applied to examples
• Wellbeing Measurement and Analysis
  Instructor: Ennio Bilancini
  Contents: Measures of utility, with historical reference to economic and political thought;  Subjective well-being: Satisfaction, Happiness, and Quality of Life; How to operationalize subjective well-being: The economics of happiness; Subjective well-being: productivity, unemployment and inflation;  Subjective well-being: social capital, environmental capital and relational goods; Subjective well-being: inequality and sustainability; GDP versus SFW (Sustainable Fair Well-being)
• Institutional Analysis for Sustainability and Wellbeing
  Instructor: Ginevra Virginia Lombardi
  Contents: Theories of institutions: rules of the game, equilibria, structures of meaning and order; The role of institutional contexts on preferences and behaviour; Markets, state and community as institutional structures; Polycentric governance of the food system and natural resources; Agro-ecological transitions, institutions and the sustainability of the food system; Institutional analysis for wellbeing and sustainability
• Organizational Behaviour and Business Ethics
  Instructor: Sara Lombardi & Giacomo Marzi
  Contents: OB issues at the heart of the development of sustainable mindsets and stances; Main theoretical OB perspectives through which sustainability can be addressed, attempting to reconcile contradictions and resolve tensions surrounding sustainability; Key individual and group behaviors driving sustainability actions, situations, and contexts; Ethical and moral considerations in managers’ decision-making processes when supporting sustainability; Ethical and moral considerations emerging from sustainability in relation to companies’ stakeholders and policymakers; Recent trends in Business Ethics studies and sustainability at the intersections
• Energy and Resources Economics
  Instructor: Angelo Facchini
  Contents: Basic concepts of resource management: A resource taxonomy; Renewable and non-renewable resources; Hartwick Rule; Stocks and sustainable return of renewable resources; Finding the optimal stock (overfishing and blue whales); Property rights Energy: The transition from depletable to renewable resources; Hubbert's peak; Price controls of oil and gas; Electricity; Renewable energy sources (Photovoltaic, Wind, Hydro); Energy efficiency 
• Sustainability Reporting and Accountability
  Instructor: Marco Bellucci
  Contents: An introduction to sustainability reporting and the evolving role of companies towards sustainability; The discussion of the motivations and main theories explaining sustainability reporting; The European non-financial disclosure obligations and the path towards the new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD); The most-adopted international sustainability reporting standards, particularly GRI and ESRS; How to assess the quality and transparency of a report, avoiding greenwashing and instrumental behavior
• Satellite Imagery for the Environment and Econometrics for Sustainability and Wellbeing
  Instructor: Federico Martellozzo & Armando Rungi
  Contents: Satellite imagery and map algebra of ecological and economic data; Data space vs geographical space, local identifier of spatial associations (LISA); Machine learning for ecology and sustainable natural resource management; Econometrics for environmental and resource economics
• Value Articulating Institutions for the Environment
  Instructor: Gianluca Stefani
  Contents: Evaluation methods as rule structures facilitating the articulation of values and interests with respect to who should participate, what counts as data, how conclusions are reached; Rationality models, types of human interaction and the nature of goods being evaluated in different value articulating institutions; Multicriteria Decision Analysis: choices
• Health Economics and Policy
  Instructor: Massimo Riccaboni
  Contents: Health and its measurement; Demand for health and health care delivery; Health technology assessment and its role in informing health care policy and decision- making; Market failures in health care: causes and consequences; Health policy and planning

The educational offer will not be limited to the aforementioned courses. The University of Florence and the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca have planned activities to enhance cross-cutting skills. Overall, the approach to educational activities aims to promote open-mindedness, collaboration among students, and integration among different disciplines and approaches, also through the use of tools that foster proactive engagement and participation.