Course description

• Course content
• Learning outcome
• Admission
• Prerequisites

• Overlapping courses
• Teaching
• Examination
• Evaluation

Course content

Why are differences in standards of living among countries so large?  What are the Sources behind economic Growth? Does Growth lead to convergence or divergence in Incomes across countries?  These are some of the main questions covered in this course.

We will examine physical, human capital and population Growth and explore the degree to which Income variation among countries can be explained by variations in factor accumulation.  Furthermore, we will explore the role of Productivity in explaining cross-country differences in the level of income.

The last part of the course will analyze how openness to the world economy affects the efficiency with which the economy operates. We explore three main questions.

1. First, how does openness and globalization impact a country’s economic growth?
2. Second, what are the particular channels through which openness affects growth?
3. Third, why are there potentially both winners and losers from economic openness?

Learning outcome

Knowledge

You learn economic models of long-run economic growth, what they explain, and the driving forces of structural changes in the economy over time. You learn how economic openness affects economic growth through sectoral reallocation in the economy.

Skills

You should be able to apply growth models to analyze questions about economic development and income differences. You should be able to use general equilibrium models to explore how openness affects income and specialization.

Competence

You should be able to

(i) read and understand project reports and journal articles that make use of the concepts and methods that are introduced in the course, and

(ii) be able to make use of the course content in your own professional and academic work.

Admission

Students at UiO must apply for courses in Studentweb.

If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures.

You can not attend this course if you have already passed specific ECON-courses at a higher level.

Prerequisites

Formal prerequisite knowledge

• ECON1210 - Forbruker, bedrift og marked
• ECON1310 - Økonomisk aktivitet og økonomisk politikk
• ECON1100 – Matematikk I, ECON2220 – Mikroøkonomi 2 or ECON2200 – Matematikk 1/Mikro 1 (MM1) (discontinued)

Alternatively

• ECON1500 - Innføring i samfunnsøkonomi for realister
• MAT1100 - Kalkulus

Overlapping courses

5 credits overlap with ECON2610 – Strategy, competition and trade

Teaching

Lectures: 2 hours per week throughout the semester.

Seminars: 2 hours per week through parts of the semester.

Compulsory tuition activities:

• A compulsory term paper.

If the compulsory term paper is not approved, you may be given a second attempt to hand in a new term paper/improve the term paper within a short deadline.

See The Faculty of Social Sciences' rules regarding change of seminar groups and compulsory tuition activities.

Absence from compulsory tuition activities

If you are ill or have another valid reason for being absent from compulsory tuition activities, your absence may be approved or the compulsory activity may be postponed.

• Report absence from or the need for a postponed deadline on a compulsory tuition activity

Access to teaching

If your assignment is approved, this will be registered by the administration. You don’t have to resubmit the assignment if you wish to retake an exam.

Examination

A 3-hour written school exam.

You must have passed the mandatory tuition activities in order to sit for the exam. You register for the exam in StudentWeb. If you have problems signing up for the exam, please contact SV-info: info@sv.uio.no.

Previous exams

Use of sources and citation

You should familiarize yourself with the rules that apply to the use of sources and citations. If you violate the rules, you may be suspected of cheating/attempted cheating.

Examination support material

Students may use dictionaries at this exam. Dictionaries must be handed in before the examination. Please read regulations for dictionaries permitted at the examination.

Language of examination

The examination text is given in English.You may submit your response in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.

Grading scale

Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.

Explanations and appeals

• Explanation of grades and appeals

Ask for explanation of your grade in this course

Ask for explanation of your grade in this course (postponed exam)

Resit an examination

If you are sick or have another valid reason for not attending the regular exam, we offer a postponed exam later in the same semester.

There are restrictions on resitting this exam. See further information about resitting an exam.

Withdrawal from an examination

It is possible to take the exam up to 3 times. If you withdraw from the exam after the deadline or during the exam, this will be counted as an examination attempt.

Special examination arrangements

Application form, deadline and requirements for special examination arrangements.

Evaluation

The course is subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students to participate in a more comprehensive evaluation.