03568 - Economic Policy

Learning outcomes

The course will focus on the instruments to know the characteristics and the changes of the Italian and European economic policy though a particular attention to development problems, the national debt, the South of Italy, the employment, and the main European Union policies.

Course contents

- Introduction to political economy;

- The development and the Italian economic trends in the latter postwar;

- The Italian endogenous models and local systems, the industrial districts and the globalization;

- Some Italian structural problems: the national debt, the South of Italy, the employment and the unemployment;

- The role of the Italian economic policy in the European contest;

- The European budget;

- The single market, the Maastricht agreements, the economic and monetary union;

- The main European union policies.

Readings/Bibliography

Documents  about European and Italian Economic Policy that can be downloaded from the web-site of Prof. Brasili.

-Viesti G., Prota F. , Le politiche regionali dell'Unione Europea, Il Mulino, Bologna 2007.

-F. Guelpa, S. Micelli, I distretti industriali del terzo millennio. Dalle economie di agglomerazione alle strategie d'impresa, Il Mulino, 2007.

- V. Valli , Politica economica. Introduzione all'economia dello sviluppo, Carocci Editore, 2005.

- V. Valli , Politica economica. Volume primo, Carocci Editore, 1998.

- Padoa-Schioppa T., L'Euro in prospettiva storica, Il Mulino, 2002.

- La Politica di Coesione e la qualità istituzionale nelle regioni, RegiosS (www.regioss.it).

Teaching methods

The approach followed in this course is to introduce students to Economic Policy by presenting them different topics, discussing the theory (during the lectures) and pursuing empirical research through statistical data analysis (laboratory sessions at the Computer Lab).

Assessment methods

Knowledge and competences acquired will be assessed through an oral exam.
At the end of the course students are expected to hold the following competences:

• Knowledge of EU economic policies and their relations with Italian and International economic policies;
• Ability to apply methods and tools presented during the course;
• Ability to discuss the outcomes of the empirical analysis in the light of recent literature and current political economy strategies.

 

Teaching tools

Reading materials can be found at:  http://www2.stat.unibo.it/brasili
Laboratory sessions at the Computer Lab will be provided in order to introduce the main economic data sources at regional, national and international level.

Links to further information

http://www2.stat.unibo.it/brasili

Office hours

See the website of Cristina Brasili