Course 2018-2019 a.y.

• The Role of Geography for Growth and Development.
• The Role of Institutions for Growth and Development.
• The Role of Culture for Growth and Development.
• The 1st Industrial Revolution and the beginning of modern economic growth: geography, institutions, and culture.
• Religion, Human Capital, and Economic Outcomes.
• Ethnic diversity and ethnic conflicts.
• Globalization: flows of goods and flows of technology.
• Flows of ideas and their interaction with local culture and institutions.

• Understand the different hypotheses on the role of geography, institutions, and culture for economic progress.
• Understand the role of religion (and religiosity) for accumulation of human capital and economic growth.
• Understand the roots and drivers of ethnic conflict.
• Understand the patterns of diffusion of innovations and ideas, as well as their impact on economic development.

• Critically compare the different hypotheses on the role of geography, institutions, and culture for economic development.
• Evaluate the consequences of religion (and religiosity) for economic development across time and space.
• Evaluate the consequences of ethnic conflicts.
• Evaluate how technological progress and innovative ideas interact with local culture and institutions.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Group assignments

This course is based on in-class lectures by the professors, along with one or more talks by guest lecturers who are leading scholars in the field of political economics or economic history. Students also are asked to prepare one group presentation on a research paper at the frontier of the field. These presentations are used for the student assessment, and provide a basis for a discussion of the papers in class, during which students are encouraged to bring their own views and to share their insights on the most significant, controversial or innovative aspects of the research project.

Students can choose to be evaluated in two alternative ways: (1) via coursework, or (2) via a general exam.

1. Coursework: following this track, students are tested on compulsory readings, and on the material discussed in class. The final grade is the sum of the three components: a partial (max. 15 points), a final exam (max. 15 points), and a group presentation (0 to 2 points). The partial and the final exam are based on compulsory readings, and on the material discussed in class. The partial tests knowledge of the first half of the course, while the final tests knowledge of the second half. Both exams include multiple choice and open questions. Students are presented with one more open questions than those that need to be answered, so they are able to choose those topics/questions where they feel most comfortable with.
2. General Exam: following this track, students are assessed based on compulsory readings and material discussed in class. The final grade is the grade of the exam (max. 31 points). The test includes both multiple choice and open questions, and it is not be possible to choose the questions to be answered.

Teaching materials (syllabus, papers and class slides) are uploaded on the Bboard platform for this class.