International Economic Growth

Module Code: ECP77143

ECTS Credit: 5
Mandatory/Optional: Optional
Module Coordinator: Professor Joesph Kopecky

Aims of Module

Why do countries grow at different rates leading to different standards of living? With a focus on advanced economies, this course will investigate economic growth with the help of the Solow and Schumpeterian (“creative destruction”) growth models. With the latter model, this class reviews the recent and widely discussed slowdown of productivity in advanced economies (due to e.g. new general-purpose technology, lack of technology diffusion), and respective empirical evidence. Finally, this class discusses directed technical change in the Schumpeterian growth model with the example of clean and dirty production technologies.

Module Delivery

The module will be delivered through a combination of lectures (10 hours) and tutorials (5 hours).

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the module, students will be able to:

evaluate growth patterns with the help of standard growth models;
understand how to analyse and evaluate recent trends and policies in the model of creative destruction;
understand the main theoretical (and empirical) tools used in the analysis of recent patterns of growth

Syllabus

Lectures:

Solow model of economic growth
Schumpeterian growth model
General purpose technologies
Technology transfer
Directed Technical Change (Environment)

Tutorials:

Solow model and conditional convergence
Schumpeterian growth model
Productivity Slowdown

Reading

The lecture builds mainly on Aghion & Howitt (2009). Various books will take on a supporting role for topics discussed in the module. Selected academic papers will be announced in the lecture:

Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt (2009). The Economics of Growth. MIT Press
Robert J. Barro and Xavier Sala-i-Martin (2004). Economic Growth. MIT Press
David Romer (2012). Advanced Macroeconomics. McGraw-Hill
Gene M. Grossman and Elhanan Helpman (1991). Innovation and Growth in the Global Economy. MIT Press