Course 2017-2018 a.y.
30313 - ECONOMICS OF INSTITUTIONS AND CULTURE
CLEAM - CLEF - BESS-CLES - WBB - BIEF - BIEM
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 31
How do institutions and culture affect economics? This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to cultural and political economics. Topics include competing hypotheses on the role of institutions versus culture for long-term economic growth and cross-country differences in economic growth; the formation, function, and persistence of institutions and of cultural norms; the interaction between diffusion of new knowledge and traditional culture/institutions; the role of religion for economic progress; the formation and the role of different types of human capital as drivers of productivity improvements in both the onset of sustained growth and in the modern.
- Institutions, geography, and economic growth.
- Culture and economic growth.
- Persistence of institutions and cultural norms.
- The industrial takeoff: different hypotheses and the role of institutions and culture.
- Diffusion of new knowledge and traditional culture/institutions.
- Religion, scientific progress, and economic development Institutional reforms, formation of human capital, and productivity.
- Written exam(s) with open ended questions.
- Individual assignments.
The reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course and will consist of papers.