Economic Principles and Concepts for the Veterinary Sciences 

Overview

Key Features

Economic issues play an important role in the often risky decisions that need to be made about disease control. 

Diseases have a significant influence on animal production and 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 Economic Principles and Concepts for the Veterinary Sciences course from Utrecht University 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