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ECGE1341 - Topics in economics
Credits :
5
Lecturers :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , second term, 30 hours of theory.
Language of instruction :
The class will be taught in English.
Learning outcomes :
The objective is to provide third-year students with a course on a transversal subject encompassing several economic fields (micro- and macroeconomic analysis, econometrics, IO, public finance, etc.). The aim is to illustrate how the different techniques and models that the students have been exposed to during their undergraduate studies can be mobilized so as to analyse a complex and multidimensional problem.
Prerequisites :
 For the Bachelor in Business Engineering :
For the Bachelor in Economics and Management :
Co-requisites :
None
Course contents :
The course will study the components and determinants of long-run economic growth. The students will be using concepts and tools they acquired during their macroeconomic course (general equilibrium models, national accounting, factor decomposition of long-run growth), microeconomic course (consumer theory, endogenous fertility decisions in overlapping generation models), econometrics course (convergence tests, long-run growth determinants), math course (basic differential equations, optimal control), public finance course (institutions and growth, inequality and growth).
1. Introduction: growth and development, a long-run perspective
2. Cross-country inequalities and (absence of) convergence
3. The Solow-Swan model
3.1. The notion of conditional convergence
3.2. Taking the Solow model to the data: the Solow residual, growth accounting
4. Growth and human capital
5. Development (and poverty) traps
5.1. Long-run growth and the demographic transition: fertility choices and development
5.2. Governance, institutions and long-run growth
Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
a) Plenary lectures
The plenary lectures will follow the course outline presented above. The slides used for those lectures will be made available for the students (cf below).
Assessment methods and criteria :
The final exam is written. It requires knowledge of the theoretical concepts as well as the ability to apply those concepts to the analysis of real-life economic problems.
Recommended or required reading :
This class has no reference book, but features a complete set of slides that will be used and commented during the plenary lectures. Those slides will be made available at the beginning of the semester, both online and at the reprography shop.
Other information :
Face-to-face, second term, 30h of theory
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