Economics and policies for global sustainability

Activity type

Aziendale

SSD

SECS-P/08

Year

N/D

Semester

N/D

CFU

6

Hours distribution

48 classroom hours

Lecturers

SALVATORE NISTICO'

Activity type

Economico

SSD

SECS-P/01

Year

N/D

Semester

N/D

CFU

6

Hours distribution

48 classroom hours

Lecturers

LUCA ZAMPARELLI

Knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course, students will have demonstrated their understanding of the advanced analysis tools of the main macroeconomic phenomena such as: cyclical fluctuations, the role of monetary policy and fiscal policy in a closed economy, the role of financial markets, the modus operandi of the European institutions and the ECB, with particular reference to the latest global crises.
Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to recognize the main interdependencies between economic and monetary variables, both at a microeconomic and macroeconomic level, to apply macroeconomic models to formulate rigorous reasoning on different macro issues, to understand the content of articles and documents relating to macroeconomic issues
Making judgements: Students will be able to critically analyze the effect of different shocks on both the national and global economies, and to evaluate the role of the main economic actors and the effects of political actions in different economic scenarios.
Communication skills: Students will be able to analytically describe economic and financial problems, with the possibility of referring to the scientific literature proposed in the course.
Learning ability: At the end of the course students will have knowledge of the theoretical and technical references regarding the effects of fiscal policy and monetary policy. This will enable them to undertake advanced studies at postgraduate level in the economic-financial sectors and find employment in the sectors of finance, economic analysis, governmental and non-governmental institutions, national and international. Production and consumption generate pollution and exploitation of natural resources.
In this course, divided into a first economic module and a second business module, the most relevant topics in the field of environmental economics will be discussed.

In particular, in the economic module, students will learn about the microeconomic elements necessary to formalize the analysis of a market in which pollution is produced (through consumption or production). They will understand the implications deriving from particular consumption and/or production choices and will be able to apply what they have learned to the evaluation of environmental economics problems, through the study of models.

In the business module, we will discuss the implications of consumption and production choices in advanced and developing countries, taking into account that products can be distinguished based on the level of emissions associated with them.
Short and long-term policies aimed at containing and/or reducing emissions will also be evaluated.

Students will therefore know the constituent elements of the debate on limiting emissions and will understand its main implications. They will also be able to apply what they have learned to reading documents developed in the relevant international offices.

Succesful attendees will be able to understand and interpret, also using formal theoretical frameworks, the main stylized facts characterizing the business cycle and economic growth, and the role played by economic policies, with special emphasis on fiscal, monetary, and industrial policy.

Knowledge of the basic notions of general mathematics, statistics, microeconomics,
macroeconomics is considered acquired

Module: Economics
1. Business cycles and economic policy in static and deterministic economic models.
2. Microfoundations of money demand
3. Money supply and Central Banking
4. Uncertainty and economic policy
5. Dynamic models of business cycle and the Keynesian paradoxes
6. Theory of expectations formation and monetary policy.


Module: Corporate
Using advanced theoretical frameworks, the course analyzes the determinants of economic growth of industrial and environmental policy in modern advanced economies.

The topics that will be covered include:
1. Economic growth: the Solow model
2. Economic growth and endogenous technical change
3. Economic growth and the environment
4. Innovation and inequality
5. Economic growth and institutions

Module: Economics
N/D
Module: Corporate
I. Musu: Crescita economica. Il Mulino, 2007. Capp: 1 (no 1.9); 2 (no 2.2); 3 (no 3.4 e 3.8); 5; 7.

P. Aghion, C. Antonin, S. Bunel: Il potere della distruzione creatrice. Marsilio, 2021. (Capp: 4; 5; 9; 11).

P. Aghion, P. Howitt. The Economics of growth. The MIT Press, 2010. Cap.12 (no 12. no 12.2.5; 12.3.4, 5, 7).

F. Malerba. Economia dell’innovazione. Carocci, 2014. (Capp: 1; 3.1, 3.3.2; 4.1, 4.2).

D. Acemoglu, Nobel Lecture: Institutions, Technology, and Prosperity, American Economic Review, vol. 115, no. 6, June 2025, (pp. 1709–48).

Module: Economics
N/D
Module: Corporate
I. Musu: Crescita economica. Il Mulino, 2007. Capp: 1 (no 1.9); 2 (no 2.2); 3 (no 3.4 e 3.8); 5; 7.

P. Aghion, C. Antonin, S. Bunel: Il potere della distruzione creatrice. Marsilio, 2021. (Capp: 4; 5; 9; 11).

P. Aghion, P. Howitt. The Economics of growth. The MIT Press, 2010. Cap.12 (no 12. no 12.2.5; 12.3.4, 5, 7).

F. Malerba. Economia dell’innovazione. Carocci, 2014. (Capp: 1; 3.1, 3.3.2; 4.1, 4.2).

D. Acemoglu, Nobel Lecture: Institutions, Technology, and Prosperity, American Economic Review, vol. 115, no. 6, June 2025, (pp. 1709–48).

Lectures, practice sessions, class discussions.

In person (non mandatory)

ATTENDING STUDENTS:
written exam
NON-ATTENDING STUDENTS:
written exam

BUSINESS CYCLE:
1. Consider an economy described by the following equations, and determine the
equilibrium price level
2. Discuss the stylized facts characterizing the yield curve, and the theories to interpret
them

GROWTH:

Describe theoretically and graphically the endogenous growth model with one sector producing the final good and one sectore producing knowledge.
Make sure to
- derive the long-run growth rate
- Investigate the effect of a change in the labor force allocation on both labor productivity and output per capita.

Module: Economics

• Introduction


• Microfoundation of money demand


• Baumol-Tobin


• Tobin's model


• The money supply creation process


• Central banking


• The Yield Curve


• Forward Guidance and the Yield Curve 


• Unconventional monetary policy


• Monetary policy in static and deterministic models


• Monetary policy and uncertainty


• Expectations theory


• Rational Expectations and monetary policy