Seminar: Global Inequality
Course content
The seminar is based on my previous course at UC Berkeley: https://www.ludvigwier.com/econ-133-global-inequality-and-grow
Course description:
This seminar focuses on 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 development? 2) What are the theories that can explain the level of economic inequalities and its dynamic? 3) How do policies affect inequalities, and what types of policies can foster equitable growth? The seminar addresses these issues from a global and historical perspective.
Examples of topics to be addressed in seminar papers:
- Inequality between labor and capital
- Trends in inequality between countries
- Trends in inequality within countries
- Labor income inequality: the role of market forces
- Labor income inequality: the role of institutions
- Gender inequality in the labor market
- Racial economic disparities
- Models of the wealth distribution
- Inherited versus self-made wealth
- Tax Evasion and inequality
- Optimal labor income taxation
- Optimal capital taxation
- Taxation in a globalized world
- Ending global poverty
The seminar is primarily for students at the MSc of Economics.
After completing the seminar the student is expected to be able to fulfill the learning outcome specified in the Master curriculum and to be able to:
Knowledge:
- Account for mechanisms driving global inequality
- Define different measures of inequality
- Discuss what policies can be used to curb inequality
Skills:
- Analyze complex economic systems and their derived impact on inequality
- Evaluate the validity of common arguments heard in the debate on global inequality
- Present stringent empirical/theoretical work
Competences:
- Plan a research project
- Implement a research design
- Initiate collaborations with peers
At the seminar the student is trained independently to
- identify and clarify a problem,
- seek and select relevant literatur,
- write a academic paper,
- present and discuss own paper with the other students at the
seminar.
Mandatory activities in the seminar:
- Kick-off meeting
- Finding literatur and defining the project
- Writing process of the seminar paper
- Presentation of own project and paper
- Giving constructive feedback to another student´s paper
- Actively participating in discussions at the presentations and
other meetings.
The aim of the presentations is, that you use the presentation as
an opportunity to practice oral skills and to receive feedback at
the paper. The presentations are not a part of the exam and will
not be assessed.
The seminar project paper must be uploaded in Absalon before the
presentations, as the opponents and the other seminar participants
have to read and comment on the paper. It is important that you
upload a paper that is so finalized as possible due to the fact
that the value of feedback and comments at the presentation is
strongly associated with the skill level of the seminar paper.
The teacher defines what materials may be used for the
presentations.
After the presentations, you can with a few corrections improve the
seminar paper by including the feedback and comments emerged during
the presentations. It is NOT intended that you rewrite or begin the
writing of the seminar paper after the presentation has taken
place.
Pandemic:
In case of a pandemic like Corona the teaching in this seminar may
be changed to be taught either fully or partly online. For further
information, see the course room on Absalon.
Required readings:
• Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman (2018),
“Distributional National Accounts: Methods and Estimates for the
United States”, Quarterly Journal of Economics.
• World Inequality Report 2018, part II: “Trends in Global Income
Inequality”
• Lucy Page and Rohini Pande (2015), “Ending Global Poverty: Why
Money Isn’t Enough”, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 32: 173-200.
• The ambitious 2018 OECD report “The Broken Social Elevator”. It
is not required that you read this report in its entirety and you
may simply want to see the webinar presentation of the report
instead of reading it here.
Online resources:
Several interactive tools have been put available by leading
researchers in inequality. You may want to check these out:
• Design your own tax policy and examine the distributional
consequences here: https://taxjusticenow.org/#/
• Explore the opportunity atlas to see what the level of social
mobility is in your neighbourhood here:
https://www.opportunityatlas.org/
• Find out how much you country lose (or win) to tax havens here:
https://missingprofits.world/
• Explore life across incomes, from the extremely poor to the
wealthy, on dollar street:
https://www.gapminder.org/dollar-street/matrix
• Check out where in the income distribution you are:
https://wid.world/
• Check out “Our World in Data” to tind out just about anything
about the state of global development e.g. how the fight on extreme
poverty is going: https://ourworldindata.org/extreme-poverty
Optional readings:
In addition to the required readings above, there are three books
that are recommended optional readings:
• Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman’s “Triumph of Injustice” (2019,
W.W. Norton & Co.
• Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century (2014, Harvard
University Press).
• Anthony Atkinson’s Inequality: What Can be Done? (2015, Harvard
University Press).
There are no recommended academic qualifications other than the requirements to the study programme.
BSc in Economics or similar
Schedule of the seminar:
Spring 2021:
• Kick-off meeting (day, time from and to): Feb 8 (10-12)
• Extra days of introducing teaching: March 15 (10-16)
• Workshops/ Presentations meetings (1-3 days): May 1-May 2 (10-16)
General information:
It is strongly recommended that you think about and search for a
topic before the semester begins, as there is only a few weeks from
the kick-off meeting to the submission of the project
description/agreement paper.
There is no weekly teaching/lecturing and the student cannot expect
guidance from the teacher. If the teacher gives a few introduction
lectures or gives the opportunity for guidance, this as well as
other expectations are clarified at the kickoff meeting.
All information regarding the seminar is communicated through
Absalon including venue. So it is very important that you by
yourself logon to Absalon and read the information already when you
are registered at the seminar.
- Each student receives individually oral feedback on the paper
and at the presentation from peers and teacher.
- The teacher gives the students collective oral feedback and individual guidance.
For enrolled students: More information about registration, schedule, rules etc. can be found at Master (UK) and Master (DK).
More information about seminars is available at Seminars (UK) and Seminars (DK).
Read about the study programme and curricula at MSc in Economics
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
-
Written examinationA seminar paper in English that meets the formal requirements for written papers stated in the curriculum of the Master programme and at KUNet for seminars.
___ - Aid
- All aids allowed
for the seminar paper.
The teacher defines the aids that must be used for the presentations.
__
- Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- External censorship
__
Criteria for exam assessment
Students are assessed on the extent to which they master the learning outcome for the seminar and can make use of the knowledge, skills and competencies listed in the learning outcomes in the Curriculum of the Master programme.
To receive the top grade, the student must with no or only a few minor weaknesses be able to demonstrate an excellent performance displaying a high level of command of all aspects of the relevant material.
- Category
- Hours
- Project work
- 186
- Seminar
- 20
- English
- 206
Kursusinformation
- Language
- English
- Course number
- AØKK08414U
- ECTS
- 7,5 ECTS
- Programme level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
-
1 semester
- Schedulegroup
-
and venue:
Go to "Remarks".
Exam and re-sits: Go to "Exam". - Capacity
- One class of up to 20 students
- Studyboard
- Department of Economics, Study Council
Contracting department
- Department of Economics
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Social Sciences
Course Coordinator
- Rikke Truelsen (14-7d74767670397f7d8070777e70794b706e7a79397680396f76)
Teacher
Ludvig Wier (ludwi@fm.dk)
Timetable
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Courseinformation of students