Course 2019-2020 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 Interaction between Institutions and Culture.
• The Economics of Religion.
• Flows of Ideas and their Interaction with Local Culture and Institutions.
• Political Institutions, Politicians' Incentives, and Economic Policies.
• The Rise and Consequences of Populism.

• Describe the different hypotheses on the role of geography, institutions and culture for economic progress.
• Illustrate the role of religion (and religiosity) for accumulation of human capital and economic growth.
• Describe how local culture and institutions shape the patterns of diffusion of innovations and ideas.
• Recognize how politicians’ incentives affect economic policies.
• Describe the determinants of the rise of populism.

• Critically compare the different hypotheses on the role of geography, institutions and culture for economic progress.
• Evaluate the consequences of religion (and religiosity) for economic development across time and space.
• Evaluate how technological progress and innovative ideas interact with local culture and institutions.
• Assess how politicians’ incentives influence economic policies, and, in turn, how these incentives are shaped by political institutions.
• Discuss the determinants of the rise of populism and its consequences.

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

The learning experience of this course includes face-to-face lectures by the instructors. In addition, students are also asked to prepare one group presentation on a research paper at the frontier of the field. These presentations are used for the student assessment as well as a basis for a discussion of the papers in class, during which students will be encouraged to bring their own views and to share their insights on the most significant, controversial or innovative aspects of the research project.

In order to evaluate the acquisition of the aforementioned learning outcomes, the assessment of attending students is based on two main components:

1. Written exam, consisting on a mix of open questions and multiple-choice questions. This accounts for a maximum of 30 points.
   • Open questions are aimed to assess students’ ability to describe and establish connections among the different hypotheses on the role of geography, institutions and culture for economic development; to evaluate the role of religion for economic progress; to describe how politicians’ incentives affect economic performance; and to identify the causes for the rise of populism and its consequences.
   • Multiple choice questions are designed to test students’ knowledge of the key notions and concepts about different political institutions and cultural norms as well as their consequences on economic outcomes.
   • Students can take a partial written exam and complete the written exam at the end of the course. The first partial exam focuses on the material covered in the first part of the course. The second partial exam focuses on the material covered in the second part of the course. In this case the weight is: 50% for the first partial exam and 50% for the second partial exam. Alternatively, students can take a final written exam (100%).
2. An in-class group presentation. The presentation accounts for a maximum of 2 points. At the beginning of the course, the instructor forms small groups of students and assign to each group a research paper at the frontier of the field. This assignment tests the ability of students to summarize the research question and results presented in scientific journal articles, to enhance their critical thinking, and to engage them in the most recent debate on the role of institutions and cultural norms. The aim of this assignment is also to improve students’ communication and presentation skills.

The assessment method for non-attending students is based on a final written exam. As for the case of attending students, the written exam is based on a mix of open questions and multiple-choice questions. It covers all topics analyzed during the course and it accounts for a maximum of 31 points.

Teaching materials are announced before the start of the course and indicated or uploaded to the Bboard platform.