- Docente: Giorgio Giovanni Negroni
- Credits: 8
- SSD: SECS-P/01
- Language: Italian
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
- Campus: Forli
- Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in International relations and diplomatic affairs (cod. 8783)
Learning outcomes
The course offers an introduction to the economic analysis of inequality and of the main theories of distributive justice. It aims to provide the conceptual tools needed to allow students to understand the main theoretical issues and to take part, with sufficient precision and autonomy, to the contemporary political and economic debate.
Course contents
The course offers an introduction to the economic analysis of inequality, both at national and global level, and to the main theories of distributive justice.
+ Introduction: inequality in an historical and comparative perspective .
+ Distributive justice and social choice: Arrow's impossibility theorem; Utilitarianism; Rawls; Nozick;
+ Equality of opportunity: definition and measurement.
+ International and global inequality
+ Inequality, poverty and growth
+ Land access inequality, land reforms and land grabbing.
+ Water access inequality and transboundary water management.
+ Inequality and global warming
Readings/Bibliography
1. Introduction: concepts, measures, trends.
Power point presentation;
2. Patrimonial capitalism, meritocracy and inequality in
advanced countries
Power point presentation;
Piketty T., Capital in XXI century, Belknap Press 2014;
chapters 1, 5, 7, 8;
3. Theories of distributive justice
Power point presentation;
4. Inequality of opportunity
Power point presentation;
5. Global inequality
Power point presentation;
Milanovic B., Worlds Apart. Measuring International and
Global Inequality, Princeton U.P. 2007; chapters 4, 8, 9, 11;
6. Inequality, poverty and growth
Power point presentation;
Deininger K., Squire L., (1998), New ways of looking at
old issues: inequality and growth, Journal of Development
Economics, vol. 57, 259-287.
7. Inequality, poverty and land access
Power point presentation;
Lipton M., (2009), Land Reform in Developing Countries, Routledge, 2009, chapter 2;
Vollrath D., (2007), Land distribution and international agricultural productivity, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol. 89, 202-216;
Deininger K., (2011), Challenges posed by the new wave of farmland investment, Journal of Paesant Studies, vol. 38, 217- 247;
De Schutter O., (2011), How not to think of land-grabbing: three critiques of large-scale investment in farmland, Journal of Paesant Studies, vol. 38, 249-279;
8. Inequality, poverty and access to water
Power point presentation;
Brown C., e Lall U., (2006), Water and economic development: the role of variability and a framework for resilience, Natural Resources Forum, vol. 30, 306-317;
Bhattarai M., Sakthivadiel R., e Hussain I., (2002), Irrigation impacts on income inequality and poverty alleviation: policy issues and options for improved management of irrigation systems, Working Paper 39. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute;
Hussain I., (2007), Poverty-reducing impacts of irrigation: evidence and lessons, Irrigation and Drainage, vol. 56, 147- 164;
Ambec S., e Ehlers L., (2007), Cooperation and equity in river sharing problem, Working paper 6, Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquée de Grenoble.
9. Inequality and global warming
Power point presentation;
Grunewald N., et al. (2011), Income inequality and carbon emissions, Working paper 92. Georg-August Universitat Gottingen;
Teng F. et al. (2011), How to measure carbon equity: carbon Gini index based on historical cumulative emission per capita, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, Nota di lavoro 31.
Teaching methods
The presentation of the main theories of distributive justice will be accompained by some case studies in which particular attention will be devoted to the variuos inequality generating mechanisms. For instance:
· how inequality within and between countries interact and generate global inequality;
· the role played by agrarian reforms in some countries (for instance South Korea, China) in reducing land access inequality;
· causes and consequences of land grabbing;
· link between land access, access to irrigation and inequality in poor countries;
· discussion of some case studies pertaining to inequality and access to transboundary water;
· GHG historical cumulated emissions and country responsibility;
· link between income inequality, stage of development and CO2 emissions reduction across countries.
Assessment methods
The assessment involves two examinations, each with equal
weight: a) a class simulation; b) a written report on the
simulation.
For instance, the simulation may concern the draft of a cooperation
treaty among countries along the Gange basin. Using the arguments
developed in the course, the students must simulate a negotiation
aimed at reaching an agreement on how to share costs and benefits
of their cooperation on the transboundary river.
Each student must then write a "technical covering report" in which
the theoretical foundations and the empirical arguments used in the
simulation must be explained.
This assessment method is conditioned on the number of students; if the simulation is not viable, the assessment method is replaced by a paper (maximum 10 pages) on an assigned topic.
Teaching tools
+ projector and pc; + web pages of some international organizations (FAO, IFPRI, GRAIN, Land Matrix, OCDE).
Office hours
See the website of Giorgio Giovanni Negroni