ECON4270 - Distributive Justice
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Course content
The course is an introduction to modern theories of justice in the distribution of income and other economic goods. The subject of social justice, being a normative one, was for many years not considered suitable for academic research. The appearance in 1971 of John Rawls: A Theory of Justice in 1971 changed the prevailing academic climate. Since then, a steady stream of papers and books have appeared. The course will make the student acquainted with the most important modern schools of thought. We will discuss, in particular, the foundation and consequences of modern utilitarianism and economic welfare theory; John Rawls's theory of the social contract; Amartya Sen's capability approach ; libertarianism as propounded by Robert Nozick. We will also attempt to analyse, and give content to, notions like equality of opportunity, equality of outcome, economic rewards according to deserts.
Economic rights for women and children will be given more emphasis than in standard textbooks. We will in particular study Martha Nussbaum's proposal of universal rights for women.
The course is not addressed especially to students of economics, but will fit into degrees in e.g. political science and sociology. It is particularly suitable for students of Public administration (Offentlig administrasjon og ledelse), Development economics and Gender studies (Kjønn, feminisme og likestilling).
Learning outcomes
Knowledge outcomes
The course should give an understanding of the main modern theories of distributive justice: in particular, the theories of John Rawls and Amartya Sen, utilitarianism and economic welfare theory.
Skills
The student will become able to address systematically some important contemporary issues concerned with justice in distribution. Do successful leaders deserve large bonuses? Is it morally defensible to cut back pensions in order to promote economic growth? To what extent should the poor be accounted responsible for their situation?
Admission
Students who are admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in StudentWeb.
Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
International applicants, if you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
Only students admitted to the course may take part in instruction and tuition and sit for the examination.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisites
Bachelor degree in Economics, or equivalent. Students with minimum requirements for entrance to higher education in Norway, may register for ECON3270 Distributive Justice
Overlap
10 credits against ECON1230 - Distributional justice. 10 credits against ECON3270 - Distributive Justice.
Teaching
The course will be taught in English unless all participants are Norwegian speakers.
Lectures: 2 hours per week throughout the semester.
Seminars: 2 hours per week through parts of the semester.
There might occur weeks exempt from teaching.
Exam information
A 3-hour written school exam at the end of the semester.
Exam resources
No special exam resources are allowed.
Language of examination
The problem set will be given in English and Norwegian. Answers can be given in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or in English. See § 5.4 i Forskrift om studier og eksamener ved Universitetet i Oslo .
Assessment and grading
Course grades are awarded on a descending scale using alphabetic grades from A to E for passes and F for fail. Read more about the grading system .
An external auditor regularly evaluates the academic quality of the course, including the form of exam used on the course.
Explanations and appeals
Students can request an explanation of their grades, and can also appeal against their grades or make a complaint about formal examination errors. Read more about explanations and appeals
Possibility of make-up exams and re-takes
The Department of Economics has passed following resolution for ECON-courses: It will no longer be possible for candidates to register for an exam in a lower level course after having passed exams in intermediate and advanced level courses in the same subject area (also where there are no pre-requisites that apply to the intermediate course). Further information can be found here.
Students who might wish to retake the exam later, are not guaranteed that the course is ever repeated with a similar reading list, nor that the exam arrangement will be the same.
You can usually resit an exam, but the conditions depend on whether you had a valid reason for absence from the regular exam. Read more about resitting an exam .
Withdrawing from exams and limits on re-takes
A student can sit for this exam up to 3 times. If a student wishes to withdraw from the exam, s/he must do this in StudentWeb at least two weeks prior to the first day of the exam. Failure to do so will be counted as one of the three opportunities to sit for the exam.
Exam options for students with special needs
Students may apply for access to alternative exam resources or exam forms on the basis of chronic illness and/or special needs that create a marked disadvantage to other students in the exam situation. Mothers who are breastfeeding may apply for extra time to complete the exam.
Evaluation of this course
Feedback from our students is essential to us in our efforts to ensure and further improve the high quality of our programmes and courses. As a student at the University of Oslo you will therefore be asked to participate in various types of evaluation of our courses, facilities and services. All courses are subject to continuous evaluation. At regular intervals we also ask students on a particular course to participate in a more comprehensive, in-depth evaluation of this course, a so called "periodic evaluation".
A periodic evaluation of ECON3270/ECON4270 - Distributive Justice was conducted during autum term 2009. A Norwegian version of the evaluation report that was compiled on the basis of the information retrieved from the evaluation, can be found here
Other information
ECON3270 - Distributive Justice is the course number for registration for lecture, seminar and exam for the bachelor students. ECON4270 - Distributive Justice is the course number for the master students.
Contact us
Department of Economics
Visiting address:
Moltke Moes vei 31, Eilert Sundts house, 12th floor
Visiting hours:
10.15-11.00 and 12.15-15.00
Postal address:
P.O box 1095 Blindern
0317 Oslo
Fax: +47 22855035
E-mail: post@econ.uio.no
Web: http://www.sv.uio.no/econ/english/