Economia politica - Economics

JACOB LOUIS WEISDORF

Gli obiettivi di questo corso sono quelli di fornire un'introduzione ai metodi della storia economica quantitativa insieme all’ analisi di alcuni dei principali risultati della ricerca storica di interesse per gli economisti. Anche se il corso è stato progettato in prospettiva europea, l'economia globale è presa in considerazione per confronto.

Students will understand why some countries or regions are wealthy while others are poor. They will gain knowledge of how deeply this inequality story is rooted in history, as well as how economic historians and long-term growth and development economists measure inequality and identify its root causes. Students will learn to recognise the barriers to economic development and progress in poorer regions of the world, as well as the methods scholars suggest to overcome these barriers based on lessons from history.

A fundamental grasp of empirical methods and statistical estimation techniques is beneficial but not required.

Weeks 1-2: Introduction to economic history
Weeks 4-5: The first Industrial Revolution
Weeks 6-8: The second Industrial Revolution
Weeks 9-10: The third Industrial Revolution
Weeks 11-12: Supervised essay writing and in-class examination

The curriculum consists of academic research articles from top economics or economic history journals, for example:

- D Acemoglu, S Johnson, JA Robinson (2001), “The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation,” American Economic Review 91, pp. 1369-1401

- E Spolaore and R Wacziarg (2013), “How Deep Are the Roots of Economic Development?”, Journal of Economic Literature 51, pp. 325– 369

- JV Henderson, T Squires, A Storeygard, D Weil (2018), “The Global Distribution of Economic Activity: Nature, History, and the Role of Trade,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 133, pp. 357–406

Lectures and class discussions.

Non-mandatory in-class lectures.

Essay writing and multiple-choice examinations. Exams may be oral if the circumstances require this.

Most exam questions assess whether students grasp the fundamental concepts used by economic historians and long-term growth economists, such as:
- What is the Malthusian Trap?
- What is the Industrial Revolution?
- What is the Great Divergence?

• Course overview available on the course website.
  • Testi di riferimento: Reading list available on the course website.