Environment, Law, and Economics Cambridge Interview Questions

Valuable Environment, Law, and Economics (formerly Land Economy) questions to help you prepare for your Cambridge interview, written by our Oxbridge-graduate tutors.

Question 1
Two fishing fleets share one sea with no limit on the catch. What happens to the fish, and why?

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Ask what each fleet gains from catching one more fish, and who bears the cost of the sea being emptier next year. When the benefit falls to one fleet but the cost is shared by all, think about what that does to each fleet's incentive, and why nobody chooses to hold back.

Question 2
Why can clean water be bottled and sold, while clean air cannot?

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Compare the two on two tests: can you stop someone who has not paid from consuming it, and does one person's use leave less for others? Water in a bottle passes both; ask what happens to the possibility of selling something that fails them, and who then ends up providing it.

Question 3
Should a government tax carbon, cap it and let firms trade permits, or simply ban the dirtiest activities?

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For each option, ask what the government needs to know to set it well, who decides where the cuts happen, and how certain you are of the final quantity of emissions versus the final price. Think about which approach finds the cheapest cuts first, and which gives the most predictable environmental result.

Question 4
A developer wants to build on an ancient wood. How would you put a price on the wood, and should its beauty count?

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Start by listing everything the wood provides beyond timber, such as recreation, wildlife, flood protection and simply existing. Then ask how you might attach a value to things nobody buys or sells, for example what people would pay to keep it, and whether leaving such values out of the decision quietly sets them to zero.

Question 5
If oil were discovered under a national park, how should a society decide whether to extract it?

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Try to weigh the gains and the losses in comparable terms, then notice what resists being measured, such as an irreversible loss or the interests of future generations. Ask who gets the benefits and who bears the costs, and whether a one-off gain should outweigh something that cannot be recovered.

Question 6
A city’s house prices keep climbing. Is building more homes the answer, and what might stop it working?

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Prices reflect supply meeting demand, so start with whether more homes could ease that pressure. Then look for what blocks it in practice, such as planning limits, the time and cost of building, where people actually want to live, and whether new demand simply arrives to fill the space.

Question 7
Is economic growth compatible with protecting the environment, or must we choose?

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Pin down what "growth" measures and whether it must mean using ever more physical resources. Ask whether output could rise while environmental damage falls, for example through cleaner technology or a shift toward services, and where that hopeful picture might break down.

Question 8
If you own a field, should you be allowed to do anything at all with it? Where should the limits come from?

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Think about how your use of the field can affect other people and the wider environment, from noise and pollution to blocking a neighbour's light. Then ask what justifies society stepping in to limit an owner, and where you would draw the line between private freedom and shared interest.

Question 9
When a new railway must cross private land, should the owner be forced to sell, and at what price?

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Consider what happens if a single owner can block a project that benefits many, then what happens if owners can be forced out too cheaply. Ask what a fair price should reflect, for example the market value, the owner's own attachment, or a share of the value the railway creates.

Question 10
Two parties sign a contract, then circumstances change so drastically it becomes ruinous for one. Should the law hold them to it?

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Weigh two things the law cares about: that promises can be relied upon, and that outcomes should not be grossly unfair. Ask who could best have foreseen or insured against the change, and whether letting people escape too easily would make every contract worth less.

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Question 11
Should a company be able to “own” a stretch of a river? What would that even mean?

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Ask what "owning" a thing that flows and moves could actually include, such as the water, the riverbed, the right to use it, or the right to exclude others. Then think about who else depends on that river downstream, and why some resources are treated as shared rather than owned outright.

Question 12
A city wants to cut car use. Would you raise the cost of driving, improve transport, or redesign the streets, and why?

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Ask why people drive in the first place, then judge each option by how it changes that choice, who it affects, and whether it pushes people away from cars or simply punishes those with no alternative. Consider how the measures might work together rather than alone.

Question 13
Should there be a limit on how much land one person can own?

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Set the case for limits, such as fairness, access and the power that comes with large holdings, against the case for none, such as efficient use and secure property rights. Then ask what a limit would do to incentives to invest in and look after land, and whether the goal might be reached another way.

Question 14
Why do some cities sprawl endlessly while others stay compact?

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Think about what pushes a city outward, such as cheap land, cars and space, against what holds it in, such as geography, planning rules and the pull of a strong centre. Ask how transport and the price of land at the edge versus the middle shape where people choose to build and live.

Question 15
Is rational self-interest always good for society, and when does it fail?

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Start from the idea that a voluntary trade tends to benefit both parties. Then look for cases where one person's choice imposes costs on others who are not part of the deal, and ask what that does to the outcome for society as a whole.

Question 16
Should a government subsidise agriculture? Trace who gains and who loses.

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Follow the money and the effects: farmers, taxpayers, consumers, the environment, and farmers in other countries. Ask what the subsidy is really trying to achieve, such as food security or protecting rural life, and whether it reaches that goal or mostly ends up somewhere else, for example in land prices.

Question 17
Developing countries should be allowed to pollute now, as the West did while industrialising.

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Build the fairness case first: the West grew rich by polluting, so why should latecomers be held to a stricter rule? Then argue the other side just as hard, considering who suffers most from the damage, whether the harm is now global rather than local, and whether cleaner paths exist that were not available before.

Question 18
How would you measure whether a new park has actually made a neighbourhood better off?

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Decide first what "better off" should include, such as health, house prices, use of the space, or wellbeing. Then ask how you would separate the park's effect from everything else changing at the same time, for example by comparing with a similar area that got no park.

Question 19
House prices rose 5% while inflation was 3%. Did houses genuinely become more expensive?

Show a hint

Ask what a price rise means when everything else is rising too. Compare the increase in house prices with the general increase in prices, and consider what is left once you strip inflation out, so you are measuring the change relative to everything else rather than in pounds alone.

Question 20
A study finds neighbourhoods with more trees have less crime. Should a city plant trees to cut crime?

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Ask what kind of neighbourhood tends to have more trees in the first place, before any effect on crime. Then consider whether the trees reduce crime, or simply come with wealthier, better-kept areas that already had less, and what evidence would let you tell the two apart.

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