AØKK08089U Political Economics

Volume 2014/2015
Education
MSc in Economics
Content

The course provides a broad overview of modern political economics. It deals with the interaction of politics and economics, using formal game-theoretic models to understand the implications for economic policy of various political settings and institutions. The course relates the theoretical predictions to real world examples and systematic empirical finding.

Learning Outcome

In the process of the course the student shall acquire the knowledge about the basic and more advanced theoretical models of different aspects of political-economic process as well as ways and results of empirical assessment of these models. Specifically, the student shall acquire knowledge about the tools of modeling and empirical results on:

  • Electoral competition and voter behavior
  • Partisan politics and political agency
  • Redistributive aspects of politics
  • Dynamic policy problems such as politics of public debt and political budget cycles
  • Impact of different political institutions on economic policy
  • Sources of differences in political preferences
  • Politics and the media

To obtain the highest grade, the students should, in a convincing way, be able to: 1) apply methods and results from the list of topics above to analyze variations and extensions on these and closely related topics within political economics; 2) discuss assumptions and methods of same; and (3) place and discuss the topics within both a Danish and international practical and empirical context at the level corresponding to that presented in class.

The main text for the course is the textbook “Political Economics” by Persson and Tabellini. This will be supplemented by selected journal articles and lecture notes/slides.

Public Finance introduces some topics, but is not a prerequisite. Some familiarity with game theory is required.
3 hours of lectures per week for 14 weeks devided in 2 hours every week and 2 hours every second week..
  • Category
  • Hours
  • Exam
  • 3
  • Lectures
  • 42
  • Preparation
  • 161
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written examination, 3 hours under invigilation
3 hours written exam taking place at Peter Bangs Vej 36.
Aid
Without aids
Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
External censorship
100 % censurship
Exam period
Will be updated before the start of the semester
Re-exam
Same as ordinary. But if only a few students have registered for the re-exam, the exam might change to an oral exams with a synopsis to be handed in. This means that the examination date also will change.
Criteria for exam assesment

The Student must in a satisfactory way demonstrate that he/she has mastered the learning outcome of the course.