To achieve the grade 12, students
should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor
mistakes or errors: Upon the end of the course, the student will be
able to:
- Analyze the determinants of economic growth both from a micro
and a macro economic perspective.
- Describe and rationalize the main assumptions behind growth
models and relate them with the theories formulated in political
science, business and international relations.
- Analyze the impact of economic development and crises, or
changing institutional arrangements on economic events.
- Evaluate the impact of theory and economic development on
corporate and political decision making and strategy, and learn how
companies and governments (can) make use of the theoretical
concepts.
- Solve algebraically simple growth models in order to determine
the equilibrium of the variables.
- Describe and illustrate these models, perform policy
experiments and interpret verbally what happens when moving from
one equilibrium to another.
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The aim of this course is to understand the drivers of economic
growth and decline at three different levels: firms, industries and
nations. In addition, the students should relate the economic
models to the theories and findings of other fields, such as
political science, business, and international relations. We will
try to answer questions of the type: “Why are some countries rich
and other poor?”, “What is the role of human capital in the firms‘
production process?” “Are culture, geography, climate, and natural
resources relevant for explaining firms‘ success in a global
competition?” “Is income inequality harmful?”
The structure of the course could be divided into three parts. The
first part of the course deals with the underlying factors of
economic growth, i.e. capital accumulation, human capital and their
complementarity and substitution in the production process. The
second part will study the role played by productivity, technology
and efficiency both at micro and at macro level. Finally, we are
going to analyse the fundamentals behind economic growth, i.e.
politics, culture, institutions, geography and climate change.
Outline of the course:
- Economic Growth and decline: an introduction and
stylized facts
- Machines and Computers: the role of capital in firms
- Labor and Human Capital
- Productivity, Efficiency and Technological Change
- Trade and Growth
- The role of the Government
- Income inequality and Social Conflicts
- Geography, Climate and Natural Resources
- Industrial Revolutions and Institutions.
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Weil, David N., Economic Growth, Pearson International Edition,
latest edition.
Additional optional readings will be posted on the website of the
course.
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