Course Unit Page
-
Teacher Giorgio Bellettini
-
Credits 6
-
SSD SECS-P/01
-
Teaching Mode Traditional lectures
-
Language English
-
Campus of Bologna
-
Degree Programme Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Economics (cod. 8408)
SDGs
This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.



Academic Year 2021/2022
Learning outcomes
At the end of the class student has knowledge on using the concepts and tools of the new political economy to analyze current topics in this field. The focus is on the formation of macroeconomic policies from a positive point of view. Student is able to analyze issues such as: - the interaction between politics and economics in shaping macroeconomic policies in modern democracies; - the role of political institutions in the process of economic growth and development; - the effects of elections and changes of policymakers on macroeconomic policy.
Course contents
Readings/Bibliography
T. Persson and G. Tabellini, (2000), Political economics: explaining economic policy, MIT Press.
A. Drazen (2000), Political economy in macroeconomics, Princeton University Press.
T. Besley (2006), Principled Agents?, Oxford University Press.
Further readings (namely recent papers) will be suggested in class.
Teaching methods
Class lectures. Although not compulsory, class attendance is highly recommended to deal with the course's requirements.
Assessment methods
Assessment will be based on two elements: answers to problem sets, and a paper presentation. The first element aims at assessing the students' ability to apply theory and methods to solve analytical excercises. The second element allows to evaluate students' ability to understand and critically analyze the most recent contributions in the literature.
Grades will be scaled as follows:
<18 fail
18-23 pass
24-27 good
28-30 very good
30 e lode excellent
Students can reject a passing grade only once. To this end, he/she must email a request to the instructor, who will acknowledge receipt of the message.
A strong background in microeconomics and macroeconomics is required to successfully attend the course. A good knowledge of econometrics techniques will be useful for most presentations.
Teaching tools
Teaching material will be downloadable from the Moodle platform, at iol.unibo.it
Office hours
See the website of Giorgio Bellettini