Educational objectives The present course aims at introducing the students to the study of the economics of imperfect competition. The course’s perspective will be positive as well as normative. On the positive side, the analysis will consider the strategies firms may adopt to gain and maintain market power, as well as evaluate the implication of market power for social welfare. On the normative side, the course will focus on public intervention in the field of competition policy.
Having taken the course, the students are expected to know elementary game theory and be able to frame simple situations in terms of strategic interaction. They are expected to be good at solving simple numerical exercises. They will also know norms and tools of competition policy and will be able to apply this knowledge to the analysis of real situations.
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Educational objectives The Monetary Economics and Policy course aims at teaching the main elements of a contemporary monetary economy. First of all, students are introduced to monetary and financial relations through simplified accounting schemes. They then learn the individual choices of the main institutional sectors of the economy (households, firms, financial intermediaries and public sector) and the market mechanisms though which the behaviour of individual agents is made mutually compatible. Last, they deepen the analysis of monetary policy and study the behaviour of the central banks of the main industrialized countries. The knowledge of a contemporary monetary economy requires to understand the functioning of some important institutions (starting from the central bank and monetary and financial markets), to master analytical instruments and to comprehend the actual working of different monetary policy regimes. The acquisition of all the tools that are necessary to achieve the teaching targets is guaranteed by specific sections of the program. Particular attention is placed on the actual functioning of the markets for money, bank liquidity, securities and credit. A specific part of the course is devoted to the actual realization of monetary policy. In this way, students can learn both the basic theoretical notions, which are useful to understand the real economic world and which are necessary for those who wish to continue the study of economics, and the actual functioning of money and financial markets, of particular importance for those who are interested in finance and wish to enter the labour market after the Laurea.
Acquired knowledge and comprehension abilities
Students passing the exam know the functioning of a contemporary monetary economy. They hence know the way money and financial markets operate, as well as the behaviour of the central banks of the main industrialized countries. These students master the basic terminology and the basic accounting of a contemporary monetary economy; they understand the way households allocate savings and financial intermediaries decide on the composition of both sides of their balance sheets, the investment choices by firms and the financing of accumulation, the variables explaining the financial behaviour of the government and the concrete realization of monetary policy. Specific knowledge refers to the elements underlying the dynamics of financial asset prices, both in spot and in forward markets, and the determination of short-term and long-term interest rates. The markets for derivatives are known at an elementary level. Students comprehend the construction and the meaning of the yield curve, the re-equilibrating mechanisms of money and financial markets, the relation between the equilibrium of the financial system and macroeconomic equilibrium. Finally, they understand the transmission mechanism of monetary policy, in closed and open economies, the existing monetary policy regimes and the cumulative endogenous dynamics triggered by financial phenomena.
Ability to apply knowledge and comprehension
Students passing the exam are able to employ the acquired knowledge to understand the public debate on monetary and financial matters, as well as the main parts of National and International reports by private and public institutions (starting from the monthly bulletins and the annual reports by central banks, the Bank for International Settlements, the International Monetary Fund and the other main international institutions). They may read without difficulties scientific papers at an intermediate level. They can employ the acquired knowledge to analyse the dynamics of monetary variables, of financial asset prices and of interest rates, and to obtain from the yield curve the expected short-term forward rates. They can solve simple portfolio choice problems. Finally, they can employ the acquired knowledge to understand the actual choices of central banks and their public announcements, and to derive their effects on the (current and expected) main economic variables.
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Educational objectives The aim of the course is to provide the student with the background essential to analyse the public sector activities, with special reference to European countries and Italy. The course offers insights into the reasons and scope of the public sector activities, including its development during the last century. Special attention is devoted to the analysis of the public expenditures and revenues and to their economic effects. The course also focuses on budgetary procedures, on fiscal policy issues in the EMU and on the dynamics of debts and deficits.At the end of the course the students will be able to understand the reasons for government's intervention (allocation, stabilization and redistribution). They will understand how the public budget is decided on and which are the principal steps and problems connected with budgetary policy. They will be able to understand the meaning and scope of the main budgetary rules, both domestic and international. Students will understand the basic tax instruments and their economic (tax incidence and welfare effects). Students will be provided with the essential notions regarding the fiscal activities of local governments, with a particular focus on the impact of intergovernmental grants. Their knowledge about public expenditure programs will mainly include the financing of the pensions systems and of anti-poverty programs. Finally, students will acquire the basic notions of market regulation.
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