New Frontiers in Infrastructure Economics: Climate Change and the Welfare Effects of Unmet Demand
Speaker: Prof. D'Maris Coffman
Professor in Economics and Finance of the Built Environment and Head of Department, The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management, Faculty of the Built Environment, , University College of London
Moderator: Dr.Yuning Gao
Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University
Commentator: Dr. Yingbo Li
Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University
Time: Friday, 7th December 2018 16:00-18:00
Venue: Room 321, School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University
Lecture Synopsis:
Climate change is a constant threat to the resilience of economic and social infrastructure, particularly in emerging markets. This research, assesses the welfare effects on manufacturing firms of unmet demand for energy because of extreme weather events. The research surveyed a stratified sample of 150 firms (using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews performed by enumerators in the field) in conjunction with quantitative methodologies to better understand how Zambia’s energy infrastructure can be made more resilient in the face of these extreme weather events, which are becoming more frequent with climate change.
Speaker Biography:
Professor in Economics and Finance of the Built Environment and Head of Department, The Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management, Faculty of the Built Environment, University College of London. Before coming to UCL, she spent six years as a college lecturer and teaching fellow of Newnham College, University of Cambridge. In July 2009, she started the Centre for Financial History, which she directed through December 2014. She did her undergraduate training at the Wharton School in managerial and financial economics and her PhD in the School of Arts & Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Coffman's research interests span infrastructure, construction, real estate and climate change.