B2857 - Economics of Inequality

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the economic analysis of inequality. At the end of the course the student is able to understand and intervene with sufficient precision and autonomy in the current political/economic debate concerning: (a) the dimensions of inequality (income, opportunities, wealth) and its main measures; (b) the historical evolution of inequality (within countries, between countries and in a global perspective); (c) the different interpretations of the factors shaping inequality; (d) the relationship between poverty, inequality and growth in developing countries; (e) the role of inequality in climate change.

Course contents

The course offers an introduction to the analysis of income and wealth inequality at national, international, and global levels. We shall focus on the historical evolution of inequality and on the possible interpretations.

The lectures will cover the following topics:

+ Definitions of inequality, both functional and personal, and their metrics (wage share, profit share, Gini index, income share, Palma index).

+ Inequality among people or global inequality: definition and historical evolution since 1820; absolute and relative global inequality; winners and losers from globalization: the evolution of poverty and the debate on the global middle class.

+ Inequality within countries: the histocical evolution since the end of the Belle Époque and the Kuznets Curve; competing interpretations: wealth concentration, financialization, education and technical change, market concentration; growth, inequality and social mobility (absolute and relative); inequality and climate change.

+ Inequality between countries: historical evolution; the different paths followed by Latin America, East Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa; the role of: structural change, global value chains, climate change and financialization; inequality between countries and dependency in a Center/Periphery framework. 

The detailed program will be available at the course start.

Readings/Bibliography

The bibliography will be made available at the start of the course.

Teaching methods

The course is organized in lectures; students' active participation is required.

Assessment methods

For attending students, the assessment involves two parts:

a) a short paper on a topic (identical for all) which will be communicated 10 days before each exam call. Students have two days to prepare the paper. Further information will be provided at the beginning of the course.

b) an oral exam during which the student will be required to defend his paper. 

The student may refuse, but only once, the grade; in this case, an oral exam on the entire program of the course will be requested.

For non-attending students the exam will be oral and will focus on the entire program; additional readings will be required.

Teaching tools

Lectures;

Power Point handouts;

Videos;

Students with learning disorders and/or temporary or permanent disabilities: please, contact the office responsible (https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students) sa soon as possible so that they can propose acceptable adjustments. The request for adaptation must be submitted in advance (15 days before the exam date) to the lecturer, who will assess the appropriatedness of the adjustments, taking into account the teaching objectives.

Office hours

See the website of Giorgio Giovanni Negroni