67718 - Development and Growth

Academic Year 2012/2013

  • Docente: Massimo Ricottilli
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: SECS-P/02
  • Language: English
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Rimini
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Economics and Market Policy (cod. 8212)

Course contents

· Introduction

- Sustained economic development an unprecedented occurrence.

- Historical background

· The problem of an economy that cannot generate systematic technical progress. I

- Extensive growth: population dynamics and the available surplus.

- Consumption per head, investment and the rate of growth

- Diminishing returns

· The problem of an economy that cannot generate systematic technical progress. II

- Accumulation of surplus labour

- Towards a Malthusian crisis.

· Discussion and presentations

· The structure of an economic system

- The Leontief Matrix

- The maximal growth rate and the rate of surplus

- Eigen values and eigenvectors: the economic interpretation

- Effective demand in a multi-sector system

· The index of total productivity

- The necessary wage rate as a social input

- The basic system

- The rate of growth

· The notion of structural change

- From a simple one sector economy to a multi-sector economy

- The transition problem

- Implied trade-off's

· The Traverse

- The algebra of traverse

- The fundamental trade-off and the difficulties to develop

- Some historical references

· Discussions and presentations

· The nature of money and its importance for development

- An evolutionary and historical perspective

- Credit and debt

· The nature of money II

- The standard theory and its pitfalls

- Monetary institutions

- Risk and uncertainty

· Technical Progress I

- Towards a theory of endogenous technical progress

- Early concepts and conundrums

- From Keynes to Kaldor

- How to read the I=S equation

· Technical progress II

- The neo-classical approach

- Romer and Lucas

- The unanswered question

· Discussion and presentations

· Technical progress III: Alternative theories

- Searching and learning

- Bounded rationality

- The building of technological capabilities

· Feedback processes

- Path dependence

- Lock-in

- Technological trajectories

· Knowledge and information

- Arrivals and process of information

- Networks

- The evolutionary approach

· Innovations and diffusion of innovations

- Models of self-organised criticality

- Local and global interaction

· Discussion and presentations

· Forging ahead and falling behind

- Searching for the keys of development

- Robustness and resilience

· Towards a conclusion

- Some recent experiences: China and India

- A brief overview of the development outlook

Readings/Bibliography

A short bibliography and references

The following reference items are meant to provide a reading guide both to each of the above stated topics and to eventual further research. The key reference will be given at the end of each lecture.

- Aghion P., Howitt P.(1998): ‘Endogenous Growth Theory', MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

- The Cambridge Economic History.

- Andergassen R. Nardini F. Ricottilli M. (2006): ‘Innovation Waves, Self-organised Criticality and Technological Convergence.' The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organisation. Vol. 61, pp. 710-728.

- Andergassen R. Nardini F. Ricottilli M. (2009): ‘Innovation and Growth through Local and Global Interaction.' The Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control. Vol. 33. pp. 1779-1795.

- Diamond J. (1997): ‘Guns, Germs and Steel. The Fates of Human Societies.' W.W. Norton & Company, New York.

- Diamond J. (2004) : ‘Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'. Viking and Penguin Books.

- Dopfer K. (2005): ‘The Evolutionary Foundation of Economics'. Cambridge University Press.

- Goodwin R.M. (1974): ‘The Use of Normalised General Co-ordinates in Linear Value and Distribution Theory.' In Polenské K.R., Skolka J.V. (eds): ‘Advances in Input-Output Analysis'. Proceedings of the Sixth Conference on Input-Output Techniques, Wien.

- Goyal S. (2007): ‘ Connections'. Princeton University Press. Princeton.

- Hicks J. (1973): ‘Capital and Time.' Clarendon Press, Oxford.

- Holland J. (1998): Emergence: From Chaos to Order. Oxford University Press. Oxford

- Kauffman S. (1993): ‘ The Origin of Order'. Oxford University Press

- Kurz H.D., Salvadori N. (1995):' Theory of Production: a long period analysis.' Cambridge University Press.

- Landes D.(1999). ‘The Wealth and Poverty of Nations. W. W. Norton, New York

- Lewis A. (1954): ‘Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of labour'.‘The Manchester School of Economic and Social Studies' Vol.2, n.2.

- Pasinetti. L. (1981): ‘Structural change and economic growth : a theoretical essay on the dynamics of the wealth of nations', Cambridge University Press.

- Pomeranz K. (2000): ‘The Great Divergence'. Princeton University Press. Princeton.

- Ricottilli M. (1993): Teoria dello Sviluppo Economico'. La Nuova Italia Scientifica, Roma.

- Ricottilli M. (1993):‘ Perspectives on Development'. in Vaggi G. (ed.): ‘ From the Debt Crisis to Sustainable Development'. Macmillan, London.

- Ricottilli M. (1994):'Technical Progress, Innovative Activity and Development'. The International Journal of Technology Management. Vol. 9, no.3/4.

- Ricottilli M. (2008): ‘Division of Labour, Traverse and Evolving Structures', in Hagemann H., Scazzieri R., (eds.): ‘Capital, Time and Transitional Dynamics'. Routledge, London.

- Romer D. (2001): ‘Advanced Macroeconomics'. McGraw Hill, Boston.

- Sraffa P.(1960) ‘ Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities. Cambridge University Press.

- Thirwall A.P. (1989): ‘Growth and Development: with special reference to developing countries'. Palgrave, Macmillan, London.

Teaching methods

Transparencies and blackboard

Assessment methods

Written exam.

Teaching tools

Front lectures complemented by students' presentations and discussions.

A basic knowlege of undergraduate calculus and linear algebra is required.

Office hours

See the website of Massimo Ricottilli