04839 - Regional Economics

Learning outcomes

The course's aim is to give students the tools needed in order to apply the most recent economic theory to the analysis of regional economics issues, such as the factors fostering regional growth and the location of industries. At the end of the course, students are expected: to have a deep knowledge of the economic forces operating at the regional level - to understand the process of industrial location and the determinants of regional income disparities, both in the short and in the long run.

Course contents

In order to attend successfully the classes, it is recommended that students have passed a Microeconomics class at the level of Laurea Magistrale (such as 27289 - Microeconomics LM or 32424 - Advanced Microeconomics). The programme of the course is the following:

Topic 1: Introduction and some stylized facts (BGM Chap. 1)

Topic 2: The Dixit-Stiglitz model of monopolistic competition (CMT Chap. 3; BGM Chap. 3)

Topic 3: Interregional trade and market size  (CMT Chap. 4; BGM Chap. 3)

Topic 4: The Core-Periphery model (CMT Chap. 6; BGM Chap. 3 e Chap. 4)

Topic 5: The gravity equations of trade (CMT Chap. 5)

Topic 6: Measuring the spatial concentration of economic activity (CMT Chap. 10)

Topic 7: Agglomeration, transport costs and economic growth (Minerva & Ottaviano, 2009)

Seminars: Some classes will be devoted to oral presentations by students (to be delivered through a Power-Point or Pdf) of a scientific article chosen by the lecturer. Each article will be presented by a group of students under the supervision of the lecturer. The article has to be chosen from the following list (articles are available in Pdf format in the section Teaching Material):

1) Redding, Stephen & Venables, Anthony J., 2004. "Economic geography and international inequality," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 53-82, January.

2) Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Lafourcade, Miren & Mayer, Thierry, 2005. "The trade-creating effects of business and social networks: evidence from France," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 1-29, May.

3) James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.

4) Thomas J. Holmes & John J. Stevens, 2002. "Geographic Concentration and Establishment Scale," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(4), pages 682-690, July.

5) Hanson, Gordon, 2005. "Market potential, increasing returns and geographic concentration," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 1-24, September.

6) Davis, Donald R. & Weinstein, David E., 1999. "Economic geography and regional production structure: An empirical investigation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 379-407, February.

7) Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March.

8) Ottaviano, Gianmarco I.P. & Pinelli, Dino, 2006. "Market potential and productivity: Evidence from Finnish regions," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 636-657, September.

N.B. The list may be modified according to the number of students that will attend the classes.

 

Lectures will start on February 15, 2011 and will end on March 17, 2011.

Readings/Bibliography

Although classes are taught in Italian, the course textbooks are in English. The first textbook, abbreviated as CMT, is:

Combes P.-P., Mayer T., Thisse J.-F. (2008) Economic Geography: The Integration of Regions and Nations, Princeton University Press. ISBN: 978-0-691-13942-5. A copy of this textbook is available for borrowing at the Library of the Department of Economics in Strada Maggiore 45.

The second textbook, abbreviated as BGM, is:

Brakman S., Garretsen H., van Marrewijk C. (2009) The New Introduction to Geographical Economics, Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0-521-69803-0. Two copies of this textbook are available at the Library of the Department of Economics in Strada Maggiore 45 (one copy is available for borrowing, the other is not); another copy of the book is available for borrowing at the Library Walter Bigiavi.

For Topic 7 the main reference will be Minerva G.A., Ottaviano G.I.P. (2009) "Endogenous growth theories: agglomeration benefits and transportation costs," in R. Capello, P. Nijkamp (eds.), Handbook of Regional Growth and Development Theories, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Teaching methods

The files with students' presentations can be found here: http://www2.dse.unibo.it/minerva/didattica.htm

Assessment methods

The final mark of the exam, up to 32 points that correspond to an evaluation of 30 cum laude, is obtained in the following manner. 

27 points are assigned on the basis of a written exam on the 7 topics covered in the class. The remaining 5 points are assigned on the basis of the oral presentation delivered during the seminar session and on the basis of a question in the written exam dealing specifically with some of the articles presented during the seminars. 

In order to be given the 5 points dealing with the articles of the seminar session, those who could not attend the classes and could not present during the seminar session have to give an oral presentation of a scientific article (to be to be delivered through a Power-Point or Pdf) freely chosen from the list above the same day of the exam, soon after the written examination. Moreover, students who could not attend classes will have to answer during the written exam a question about some of the papers covered during the seminars.

If the student (independently from whether he attended the classes or not) does not contribute to the seminar sessions and does not answer during the written exam the question about the seminars' papers, the maximum mark he can obtain is 27, which corresponds to the points he can get from the 7 topics covered during the lectures.

Office hours

See the website of Gaetano Alfredo Minerva