Chair and Professor, Environmental Economics and Natural Resources Group (ENR), Wageningen University and Research
If you want more information or you need it in Spanish, we could discuss it over a beer. Please contact me.
I am an applied behavioural economist working in the interface between environmental and development issues. Since 2019 I am the chair and professor of the ENR group at Wageningen University and Research. Previously I worked for 20 years in Latin America and the Caribbean, where I run a LAC wide research and capacity building program called LACEEP.
In my work I am interested in:
- The design of policies to promote pro-environmental behaviour (payment for ecosystem services, reduction in single use plastics, mitigation of emissions from agriculture or transport, and adaptation to climate change). I believe that policies have a life in themselves-they change us and we change them.
- In terms of thematic focus, I confess that I struggle to define myself: I work on drinking water, agriculture, forestry, coastal issues, nature-based tourism, protected areas; always with a microeconomic perspective, and focusing on the poorer householdsand regions.
As an applied economist, my work has brought me close to decision-makers in governments, multilateral agencies, and NGO’s. I believe this increases the societal relevance of my work, andgenerates far more interesting and challenging research questions.
Education
2002 – Ph.D., Environmental Economics, Dept. of Economics, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Dissertation title: “Essays on Environmental Policy-making in Developing Countries: Applications to Costa Rica”
2001 – Ph. Licentiate, Economics, Dept. of Economics, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Dissertation title: “Choice Experiments: Theory and an Application to Urban Transport Demand”
1996 B.Sc. in Economics, School of Economics, Universidad de Costa Rica
Francisco Alpízar 