Economics

After completing this course students are able to:

• Think conceptually as a micro-economist and as a macro-economist
• Have an understanding of the main differences between different schools of thought in economics
• Apply the relevant economic perspective to problems on the level of the individual actor, market(s), the economy(ies), and government(s).

Content

Economists develop theories aiming to explain human behavior, especially – although not exclusively – when they operate in the context of markets and market economies. The course Introduction to Economics provides an introduction to the fundamentals of economics as a science. The course covers   mainstream neoclassical and Keynesian micro- and macro-economics, as well as other schools of thought.
 

Microeconomics focuses on the functioning of a single market and the way governments could promote it. Economic phenomena are explained from the perspective of individual behavior in a market setting. When some goods cannot be produced by private firms and sold via the market, the government can take the initiative to provide these goods, e.g. public utilities and collective goods such as dikes, defense, and justice.

Macroeconomics explains the functioning of a set of interrelated markets at the national or the international level. Also in this perspective the potential role of government is introduced e.g.  in keeping a system of markets stable or in reaching economic growth.

The last weeks in the course will be dedicated to the topic of "Rethinking Economics", covering a.o., but not exclusively, institutional economics, feminist economics, Marxist economics and econological economics.

This course examines marketing strategies and emerging issues in platform business models and the sharing economy. It covers the special features, pricing, customer acquisition and management, trust building, ecosystem and governance of such business models. It also analyzes the business models of representative firms in several key sectors—lodging, ride-hailing, e-commerce, office sharing, and online travel—and the future trends of platform business models and the sharing economy. In addition to qualitative analysis, this course also discusses how data analytics are applied in these businesses and the special skills needed for such business models.

This course offers an in-depth study of the role of research and innovation and its business-based logic in modern economies. It examines two main concepts: understanding investment for innovation and turning innovative ideas into business opportunities.

This course reconsiders the relationship between industrial society and war. Away from the capitalist peace theory, the course reconsiders industrial revolutions and economic reforms through the lens of security. It raises the question of the variety of capitalist models. In a very pragmatic way, it studies the correlation between conflict and the rise of a new economic power. Topics include theories of hegemonic transition, the rise of China and United States trade wars, understanding trade wars in the 21st century and the modern economy, and economic interdependence when security is at stake. At the crossroads of economics, history, and political science, the course adopts a comparative approach with cases taken from the United States, China, Russia, the European Union, and Japan.

This is a graduate level course that is part of the Laurea Magistrale program. The course is intended for advanced level students only. Enrollment is by consent of the instructor. The course is designed to explore the frontiers of interaction between politics and markets. It addresses the factors underlying cross national variation in economic performance and income inequality by investigating the ways in which the international economy affects state autonomy, the welfare state and the politics of income redistribution. The course is structured around two key questions: to what extent do differences in institutional settings shape fundamentally different models of democratic capitalism; what is the role of institutions, firms and labor unions in determining the different arrangements in capitalist countries. This course examines cross-national evolution and variation in welfare states in industrialized countries and especially in Europe. Topics covered include: a comparison of the political economy of welfare states; differences in welfare state models; the extent to which differences in institutional settings, coalition politics, and economics shape fundamentally different models of welfare states. The methodology is comparative with a focus on theoretical models.