spring 2012 STV-3019 Comparative political economy - 10 ECTS

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Type of course

The course is an elective - i.e open to programme and nonprogramme students.

Course content

The aim of the course is to examine political causes behind the distribution of wealth among and within nations of the world. Peopleacross the world have put in an equal amount of their time at work, yet the fruits of their labor have been more or less wasted in some parts of the world,cultivated so as to offer a life in abundance in other parts of the world. Race, religion, culture, and natural resources are obviouslyirrelevant to explain this pattern of distribution. The key to theanswer is government: what kind of government is beneficial for economic growth and prosperity? This course is about political economy, addressing the competing approaches that claim to have the explanations to national and regional variations in growth. Note that the course does not require training in econometrics or other highly formalized

skills.

Objectives of the course

Student who have successfully completed the course should have achieved the following learning outcomes:

Knowledge:
- Introduce students to the main debates on the relationships between politics and economic development.

Analytical understanding:
- Present examples of how different approaches claim to explain variations in national and regional economic growth.
- Increase the ability to do critical examinations of general ideas and theories on economic growth, prosperity and poverty.
- Have learned about the main debates on the relationships between politics and economic development.
- Be able to present critical evaluations of different approaches that claim to explain variations in national and regional economic growth.
- Improve their skills as to understand how different systems of government influence and condition economic growth, prosperity and poverty.

Language of instruction and examination

English.

Teaching methods

18 hours of lectures/seminars. Students will be encouraged to participate by giving short presentations (possibly from different regions/countries) and to take part in discussions.

Assessment

One written university-based exam (3 hours), and one take-home exam (2000 words). Each exam has an approximately equal weight on the final mark.

Marking is made according to the scale from A to F, where F is fail. The course is open for re-sit in examination in the following semester.

Recommended reading/syllabus

David Landes (1999) The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, London: W.W.

Norton & Company Ltd, chapters 1-21, rest optional.

Paul Collier (2007) The Bottom Billion: Why the poorest countries

are failing and what can be done about it, New York: Oxford

University Press. (Entire book.)

Robert H. Bates (2001) Prosperity and Violence: The Political

Economy of Development, London: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd. (Entire

book.)

Eichengreen, Barry, The European Economy Since 1945 (Princeton, N.J.:

Princeton UP, 2007, ch 1-7, 10-13).

World Development Report, 2011: Conflict, Security, and Development,

pp. 50-95 (photocopy).

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  • About the course
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  • ECTS: 10
  • Course code: STV-3019