Course teacher(s)
P.-Guillaume MEON (Coordinator)ECTS credits
5
Language(s) of instruction
english
Course content
Cross-country differences in standards of living are baffling. The purpose of this course is to discuss their causes.
To do so, it will survey the main explanations that economics has investigated, both theoretically and empirically.
The following topics will be covered:
1. Capital accumulation
2. Technical progress and innovation
3. The State and Institutions
a. Optimal growth policies
b. Institutions
4. Demographic growth
5. The environment
6. The international dimension of growth
Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)
At the end of the course, students will be able to:
- Be familiar with the main theories describing the long-term evolution of economies
- Be familiar with the formalisation techniques on which they are based.
- Develop intuition for what the models imply about economic growth and policy.
- Use macroeconomic and econometric knowledge to interpret research findings.
- Explain theories and empirical results effectively in discussion and writing.
Prerequisites and Corequisites
Required and Corequired knowledge and skills
Principles of macroeconomics
Principles of econometrics
Teaching methods and learning activities
Lectures (as interactive as possible: discussions are encouraged).
References, bibliography, and recommended reading
Textbooks
Acemoglu D., Introduction to Modern Economic Growth, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2008.
Aghion, P., and P. Howitt, The Economics of Growth, MIT Press, Cambridge, 2009.
Ashraf, Q.H. and Weil D., Economic Growth, Addison-Wesley Boston, 2024.
Further readings
Aghion, P. and Durlauf, S. eds, Handbook of economic growth. Elsevier, vol.1, 2005, vol. 2, 2014.
Koyama, Mark, and Jared Rubin. How the world became rich: The historical origins of economic growth. John Wiley & Sons, 2022.
Course notes
- Syllabus
Contribution to the teaching profile
The teaching unit contributes to the development of the following competencies of the economics teaching profile:
Understanding and deriving results from the Solow model and endogenous growth theories.
Developing intuition for what the models imply about economic growth and policy.
Connecting theoretical predictions to real-world data and empirical studies.
Assessing the assumptions, strengths, and limitations of growth models.
Understanding how growth models inform debates on long-term economic policy.
Using macroeconomic and econometric knowledge to interpret research findings.
Explaining models and empirical results effectively in discussion and writing.
Other information
Contacts
p-guillaume.meon@ulb.be
Campus
Solbosch
Evaluation
Method(s) of evaluation
- written examination
written examination
- Open book examination
The exam will take the form of a timed, open-book essay.
Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)
100% written exam
Language(s) of evaluation
- english
- (if applicable french )