03568 - Economic Politics

Academic Year 2017/2018

Learning outcomes

The course would make the students be able to analyse the economic policies and their effects on the economic and social development.

The student knows the structural economic problems of Italian economy (local development, public debt, Southern-Northern differences, employments).

The student could be understand and analyse the principal economic documents. 

To reach these objectives the students will be able to use the most important national and international data bases to study the economical policies (Regio- Data Base Eurostat, Istat-Data Base).

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;

-The economic growth theory and the growth determinants

-Quality of the Institutions, Corruption and Economic Development

- 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 Cohesion Policy of European Union: the programming periods 2007-2013 and 2014-2020.

Readings/Bibliography

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

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

-Garofoli G., Economia e politica economica in Italia. Lo sviluppo economico italiano dal 1945 ad oggi, Franco Angeli Editore, 2014

-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.

-  V. Daniele La crescita delle nazioni - Rubbettino Editore, 2008

- La Politica di Coesione e la qualita' istituzionale nelle regioni, RegiosS 2013 ( 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 (during the lectures in the computer laboratory).

Assessment methods

Knowledge and competences acquired will be assessed through an oral exam (in the first session, December and January, will be the writing exam will be integrated at oral).
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

Office hours

See the website of Cristina Brasili