Economics

The ability of the natural environment to dispose the waste of anthropogenic activities (keeping unchanged degree of regeneration) is not infinite (downstream “scarcity”). This kind of “scarcity” justifies using the tools of economic theory to face environmental problems. In this regard, two circumstances should be adequately emphasized. Firstly, today the most important (at least perceived) environmental problem is climate change due to the anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide. Secondly, more than 80% of carbon emissions are due to energy production and consumption. As a consequence, fighting climate change requires to adequately study the interaction between energy and environmental issues with the aim to understand how to mitigate global warming through (but not only) the decarbonization of energy supply. The analysis of this interaction is the principal mission of this course. The course is divided into three parts: 1) The first part focuses on how economic theory can help policymakers to design environmental policies. The main environmental tools are described and analyzed (environmental taxation, emissions trading, standards, voluntary agreements, etc.); 2) the second part introduces the main energy markets (crude oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear power and renewable energy). Great attention is dedicated to the perspectives of deployment of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), their competitiveness and the possible supporting mechanisms (quantity, pricing and hybrid supporting mechanisms); 3) The third part focuses on the policies aimed to achieve the net zero emission target, especially at the EU level. 

The aim of this course is to understand why income and wealth inequality varies across space and time by focusing on one of the richest, but also one of the most unequal democracies of our time: The US. While in theory all citizens in a democracy have the same voting power - so one would expect democratic governments to act to keep inequality as low as possible - there are quite significant differences in economic inequality over time and space. Why is this? To answer these questions, the course examines different theories of inequality and different policy areas that affect inequality. It looks at long-term trends in inequality and the structural features of capitalism that tend to push inequality upwards. The course examines the wide range of policies in what is loosely termed the 'welfare state' that tend to mitigate the inequalities generated by market capitalism. Students discuss how demography, gender differences, migration and ethnicity relate to inequality. And they try to understand why elections sometimes produce governments that redistribute income and wealth from rich to poor, and sometimes produce governments that do the opposite. Finally, the course reviews how rising inequality - a clear trend in the rich world since the late 20th century - affects politics and democracy.

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course focuses on the following topics:

1. Market failures in health insurance: a) Adverse selection b) Moral hazard c) Other inefficiencies
2. Economic rationales for government intervention and redistribution
3. Insurance design and payment systems
4. Regulatory intervention and the public/private mix in health insurance
5. Comparative social insurance markets

At the end of the module, students: have knowledge of law and economics theories applied to insurance and social insurance markets and have insights on national, international, and comparative case studies; know how to utilize quantitative and qualitative information to analyze the impact of regulatory instruments on the efficiency of insurance and social insurance markets design, and critically develop proposals for optimal policy design.

China's economy ranked second worldwide for the past 12 years, while the country is accelerating the opening-up of its financial markets, including the foreign exchange and stock markets, as well as the fixed income market, to global investors. In the first part of this class, we are going to introduce some basic understanding of Chinese financial market with microstructure foundation. The competition among exchanges, development of trading algorithms, and design of robust market systems all requires combining the theory of market microstructure with an understanding of institutional detail of how financial markets work in practice. Liquidity, transaction costs, trading strategies, insider traders, short sellers, high-frequency trading, crashes, market fragmentation, circuit breakers, market design are topics of great interest to finance professors, market participants, policy makers, and sometimes even to the general public. The second part of this course will focus on Chinese stock market, compared with developed stock markets. The general principles are applicable to all markets. By taking this course a student will have an opportunity to learn (1) how trading takes place in financial markets; (2) how economic theories relate to this trading; (3) how legal, regulatory, and ethical considerations shape the trading process.

This course reviews fundamental concepts in economic theory and presents some of its most successful applications. The first part of the course consists of an introduction to auction theory. Auctions have been widely used to allocate spectrum licenses, drilling rights or central bank lending against collateral; their design is therefore of immediate practical concern. The theory, drawing on mechanism design, allows us to analyze what makes auctions desirable, how different formats compare, and tackle issues such as strategic entry, collusive behavior, or allocative externalities. The course is strictly theoretical and cover fundamental issues, most importantly the revenue equivalence theorem. From here students embark on an eclectic tour, covering issues relating to competition policy and auction design, and exploring connections with competitive markets and nonlinear pricing. The second part of the course surveys concepts in non-cooperative game theory and introduces students to game theoretic modeling in economics. After setting up the primitives of the game theory framework, different solution concepts are analyzed with an emphasis on economic applications including bargaining, voting, communication, and matching.

This course explores issues of economic development in a globalizing world. Today, trade policy is at the forefront of the development agenda, and it is a critical element of any strategy to fight against poverty. This renewed interest in trade liberalization does not come from dogma, but instead is based on a careful assessment of development experience over the last 50 years. This course examines how multilateral trade cooperation in the World Trade 2 Organization (WTO) helps developing countries create and strengthen institutions and regulatory regimes that will enhance the gains from trade and integration into the global economy. The course also surveys how the growth of regional trading blocs affects developing countries that are turning to regionalism as a tool for economic development. 

Prerequisite: Principles of International Commerce (Highly Recommended).

The course History of Economic Thought provides a broad overview of the history of economics as a science. The major schools of economic thought and many of the greatest economic thinkers in history are explored. Their contributions, taking into account the proper historical context are studies. The course emphasizes not only the strengths of the theories, but also their deficiencies and the various ways in which other economists have dealt with these deficiencies. Knowledge and understanding of first year and second year microeconomics and macroeconomics (intermediate level) is required.

This course offers an introduction to international trade theory and develops the main tools for trade policy analysis. Students start by studying the patterns of trade distinguishing between inter-industry and intra-industry trade flows. They then proceed to an in-depth analysis of the causes and the effects of those flows based on the concepts of absolute and comparative advantage, relative factor abundance and relative factor intensity, increasing returns to scale and imperfect competition. Finally, they discuss the gains and losses from trade, their distribution among people and firms, and their implications for the debate on trade liberalization versus protectionism

This an intermediate-level course in macroeconomics. Students learn about money and inflation, and how central banks can use monetary policy to control inflation. Students study business cycles - booms and recessions - and the potential role for fiscal and monetary policy in stabilizing the economy. Students learn about the interaction between the economy and financial markets and banks, especially in times of crisis. Students also study the international aspects of macroeconomics arising from trade in goods and financial assets with the rest of the world. The class applies the tools developed in the course to historical and contemporary events.

Urban economics is concerned with the spatial form of cities and the division of national economic activity into cities, both at a point in time and over time.  Three fundamental questions are: Why are economic activities within a country so unequally distributed across space? Why do cities (and agglomerations of firms and workers) emerge and in what locations? How and why are economic activities within cities unequally distributed in general and between the city center and the suburbs?