78448 - Topics in Economic Policy

Learning outcomes

The course provides an introduction to and overview of some main points of debate on the economic policies of contemporary societies. Using historical and contemporary examples, and simple models and data sets, students understand the importance of well-designed and well-functioning economic institutions and policies and the complexity of economic governance.

Course contents

The theme of the course will be "inequality and meritocracy". We will study the evolution of inequality within countries and the mechanisms that determine it. We will focus primarily, but not exclusively, on advanced capitalist economies. Particular attention will be paid to the concept of "meritocracy", highlighting its limitations and inconsistencies.

Topics covered in the lectures:

1. Functional and personal income distribution: definitions and measurement

2. Evolution of inequality from the end of the Belle Epoque to present: the facts and the possible interpretations

3. Poverty and inequality: a global perspective

4. Theories of distributive justice

5. Inequality and social mobility

6. Alternative approaches to meritocracy

 

The detailed program will be provided at the beginning of the course

Readings/Bibliography

The bibliography will be made known at the beninning of the course

Teaching methods

The course participates in the University’s educational experimentation project

The course adopts a method of organizing teaching that provides for the division into two different sections:

the first section is based on lectures (46 hours) and aims to provide the basic tools of the course;

The second section is organized according to a seminar (14 hours) and is aimed at the application of knowledge to a specific case study.

For the seminar section, students will be divided into small groups (of two or three people, depending on the number of attending students), and each group will be assigned a specific theme. Each group must present the results of their research to the rest of the class in a seminar. Each seminar lasts 30 minutes and it is followed by a 15 minutes of discussion.

The topics of the seminar will be communicated at the beginning of the course.

Assessment methods

The assessment consists of four phases: a poster session, two partial tests and a final exam.

The poster session will take place during the first days of the course. Students will be divided into small groups (of two or three people, depending on the number of attending students); each group will prepare a poster on an assigned topic. The posters will then be presented to the class and discussed. The grade is in the interval [0, 1] and is the same for all the members of the group. The aim is to stimulate exposure and synthesis.

For the first partial exam, students are asked to answer to three open questions focusing on the topics discussed in the lectures.

The second partial exam coincides with the seminar presentation (in this case the grade is identical for all members of the group).

The final exam consists in the drafting of a "short essay" (no more than four pages) on a theme that will be communicated 10 days before each exam call. Students have three days to write the "short essay". Instructions will be provided at due time.

Each partial test contributes 30% of the final grade; the "short essay" contributes 40%. To the resulting weighted average, the grade of the poster session will be added. Active participation by students will be rewarded.

The student cannot refuse the grade of the partial tests. Instead, she/he can refuse, but only once, the overall grade; in this case, the student must rewrite the "short essay" on a new topic that will be communicated ten days before the September exam date.

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

Teaching tools

Lectures and seminars;

Video-interviews;

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