ECON4640 - Political economics
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Course content
Political economics studies situations that arise when there is interaction between politics and economics. We can then no longer only study the impact of different policies on the economy, as in conventional economic approaches, but also have to consider how different economic conditions shape policies.
The course introduces the students to the most common ways to model politics formally and the application of these to the study of real world problems. The course also covers empirical testing of these models.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge outcomes:
The course introduces the students to the most common ways to model politics formally, such as the median voter model, probabilistic voting, citizen candidate models, and models of lobbying and campaign contributions. We then apply these to the study of real world problems, such as political determination of the size of the welfare state, how to control and discipline politicians, and intergenerational problems. The course also covers econometric testing of these models quite extensively.
Skills:
You should know fundamental modeling tools in political economics such as median voter theory, probabilistic voting, citizen candidate models and models of lobbying and campaign contributions and how to use these tools to analyze applied situations. You should also be able to discuss the empirical validity of the key outcomes of the theory.
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.
The examination in this course is not available for external candidates. Only students admitted to the course may sit for the examination.
Prerequisites
Formal prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in Economics, or equivalent.
Recommended prior knowledge
A background in econometrics equivalent to ECON3150 - Introductory Econometrics / ECON4150 - Introductory Econometrics is recommended, but the two courses could be taken during the same semester. We will make use of some techniques beyond this course (e.g. instrumental variables), but an introduction will be given in the course.
Overlap
10 credits against ECON9640 Political Economics.
Teaching
Lectures: 2 hours per week throughout the semester
Seminars: 2 hours through parts of the semester.
There might occur weeks exempt from teaching.
Exam information
A 3-hour written school exam.
Exam resources
No special exam resources are allowed.
Language of examination
The problem set will be given in English. Answers can be given in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or in English. See § 6.4 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.
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/