Economic issues play an important role in the often risky decisions that need to be made about disease control. The aim of this introductory course, which is intended for participants with an interest in the field of animal health economics, is to provide you with the basic economic principles and concepts that underlie decision-making about animal health problems.
Diseases have a significant influence on animal production and the animal trade. The economic consequences of diseases on an animal, herd and national level can be considerable and need to be investigated to successfully implement and evaluate animal health programs and policies. Many economic tools have been developed and are currently being applied to support decisions concerning animal health. This course will enable you to gain a basic knowledge of economic concepts and theory, thereby enabling you to better understand animal health economics and to apply economic tools more effectively.
By the end of the course, you should be able to:
- Have a basic overview and understanding of the broad subject of economics
- Discuss the role that economics play in the field of animal production
In particular, you should be able to:
- Understand the economic decisions made by consumers by learning about the forces that influence consumer behavior, the concept of market demand and the concept of elasticity of demand
- Understand the supply side of the market, as reflected in resource use and the production response of businesses (production function theory) and their reflection in the market supply curve
- Understand the mechanisms behind clearing market prices as they are determined under perfect and imperfect competition conditions
- Understand some of the background of the governmental role in food production and the ways in which the government can be involved in food production
- Have some understanding of the principles underlying the growth and instability of international trade
Our Professors
Wilma Steenveld PhD
Dr. ir. Steeneveld is Assistant Professor on Veterinary Economics at Utrecht University.
She teaches the online courses Applied Economic Modeling for the Veterinary Sciences and Economic Principles and Concepts for the Veterinary Sciences.
Testimonials
review
The quality and the content of this distance learning course was excellent. I like the combination of self-reading, video lectures followed by assignments to reinforce the learning. First and foremost, the quality and the content of this distance learning course was excellent and it was run by a reputable institution. The teachers and moderator were experienced and competent. So the teachers were not teaching us from ivory towers but have had real life experiences to share. I like the combination of self-reading, video lectures followed by assignments to reinforce the learning.
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