ECN436 Economic Inequality and Growth

• Topics

  This course provides an introduction to the analysis of economic inequalities and the interplay between inequality and economic growth. It deals with three sets of core questions: 1) How does inequality evolve over the path of economic development? 2) What are the theories that can explain the level of economic inequalities and their dynamics? 3) How do policies affect inequalities, and what types of policies can foster equitable and sustainable economic growth? The course addresses these issues from a global and historical perspective.

• Learning outcome

  The candidate should, on successfully completing the course, be able to:

  Knowledge

  • identify why economic inequality may or may not matter, and why opinions on the topic differs widely across individuals
  • describe the growth of income, wealth, and their distributions, over the 20th and 21st centuries
  • discuss various different types of inequality; income inequality, wealth inequality, and economic inequalities in race and gender
  • identify key policies to tackle economic inequality and their advantages and disadvantages
  • discuss the challenges of tax evasion and tax avoidance in a globalized world

  Skills

  • define income, wealth, income inequality, and wealth inequality
  • mathematically solve various models relating to the growth of incomes and wealth
  • critically discuss the causes of rising economic inequality
  • use economic theory to predict the evolution of economic inequality in the future

  General competence

  • discuss the interplay of growth and economic inequality in an in-depth and nuanced way
  • formulate relevant economic theories on economic inequality and apply them to real-world situations

• Teaching

  Lectures with significant class discussion.

• Required prerequisites

  None.

• Credit reduction due to overlap

  None.

• Compulsory Activity

  None

• Assessment

  Individual digital school exam (4 hours, 67%)

  6 short individually written hand-in assignments (18%)

  Individual participation in class discussions (15%)

• Grading Scale

  A-F

• Literature

  There is no textbook for this course. The majority of learning material will come from the course slides. Some reference texts:

  • Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman (2020), "http://gabriel-zucman.eu/files/SaezZucman2020JEP.pdfThe Rise of Income and Wealth Inequality in America: Evidence from Distributional Macroeconomic Accounts", Journal of Economic Perspectives.
  • https://wir2022.wid.world/www-site/uploads/2021/12/WorldInequalityReport2022_Full_Report.pdfWorld Inequality Report 2022, Chapter 2: "Global Inequality from 1820 to Now: the Persistence and Mutation of Extreme Inequality"
  • Marianne Bertrand (2018), "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/ecca.12264The Glass Ceiling", Economica, 85(338).
  • Kevin Lang and Ariella Kahn-Lang Spitzer (2020), "https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.34.2.68Race Discrimination: An Economic Perspective", Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34(2): 68-89.
  • Morten Nyborg Støstad and Max Lobeck (2023), "https://bit.ly/3SnBquhThe Consequences of Inequality: Beliefs and Redistributive Preferences", CESifo Working Paper No. 10710
  • Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz: The Race Between Education and Technology
  • François Bourguignon: The Globalization of Inequality
  • Joseph Stiglitz: "Globalization and its discontents"

• Permitted Support Material

  One bilingual dictionary (Category I)

  All in accordance with Supplementary provisions to the Regulations for Full-time Study Programmes at the Norwegian School of Economics Ch.4 Permitted support material https://www.nhh.no/en/for-students/regulations/https://www.nhh.no/en/for-students/regulations/and https://www.nhh.no/en/for-students/examinations/examination-support-materials/https://www.nhh.no/en/for-students/examinations/examination-support-materials/