R for Environmental Economics

This paper demonstrates the use of the versatile open-source software R in environmental economics courses. We look at several examples in environmental economics — forests, air pollution, and the spread of biologically invasive species like the coronavirus. We begin at a very basic level both in terms of economics and R — starting with vectors and data frames. We then show how to wrangle and graph data, estimate simple models, and use a for loop for simulation. Students can get a feel for doing environmental economics, for writing R code, and also build a foundation for future skill acquisition