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| Semester | fall semester 2024 |
| Course frequency | Every fall sem. |
| Lecturers | Yvan Lengwiler (yvan.lengwiler@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Why are some countries so poor and others so rich? Why are some countries growing rapidly while others are stagnating or shrinking? Where does economic growth come from in the first place? Although economics has not yet settled these central questions, many ideas have been developed with which we want to familiarize ourselves in this course. We do this by means of two methods: Firstly, you will read original scholarly literature. The focus in this course is not about covering the greatest amount of terrain, but studying a few important topics in some depth. Secondly, you will perform some empirical exercises that you have seen in the literature yourself. We will start with Solow's growth model, and also study some extensions of this basic model. We then move on to include demographic questions into the growth model. Depending on how quickly we can proceed and on your interest, we will also discuss issues of natural resources or institutional aspects that are relevant for economic development. |
| Learning objectives | Understand the history of global economic growth and the factors that can enhance or degrade economic development. Understand demographic mechanics. |
| Bibliography | Reading and data material provided via ADAM. |
| Comments | Teaching staff: The lecturer for the course is Yvan Lengwiler (yvan.lengwiler@unibas.ch). There will also be a teaching assistant but this person is not nominated yet. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us. If you would like a more in-depth discussion, please make an appointment. The content of this syllabus is currently still provisional and individual aspects may be changed in the course of the semester. We suggest you regularly check the course page on ADAM for the latest information. Organization: This lecture is organized a little bit differently than other courses. Most of the teaching will consist of self-study. Contact time with the lecturers will be online via Zoom. Each week you will receive one or more texts (typically published scholarly papers) to study by yourself as preparation. These texts are accompanied by "guiding questions". The questions are not to be answered simply with yes or no, but are meant to encourage you to reflect. Alternatively, it is possible that in some weeks you will not be provided with texts, but with exercises (mainly of an econometric nature). If this is the case, you will have to solve the exercises and have your solution ready for the lecture. We encourage you to collaborate with your colleagues for exercises and weekly tasks. You will be divided into two groups. These groups will do a weekly live Zoom meeting with the lecturer. The Zoom meeting usually lasts about 1.5 hours. The weekly contact time is therefore reduced from 4x45min to around 90 minutes. However, your workload will not be reduced because you will have to spend more time on preparation. The first meeting during the first week of the semester is an exception. This meeting will be with all students together and in the classroom (not online). In this lecture we will discuss logistical and organizational aspects, and have an opportunity to get to know each other. We will also take a view at the main databases we will use in the empirical work, and talk about the importance of the logarithm to deal with the models we will study. All materials will be made available on ADAM. Zoom dial-in information will also be provided on ADAM or possibly by Outlook. The Zoom meetings will take place on Friday afternoon in the time span between 14:15 and 18:00. Group A will meet from 14:30 –16:00 and Group B will meet from 16:30 –18:00. You will be assigned randomly to one of the groups. If you have a preference, let us know as soon as possible. |
| Weblink | ADAM-Weblink |
| Admission requirements | To be successful, you must have passed the following classes before joining this course : • Economics Principles (10130 Grundlagen der VWL) • Statistics (23346 Statistik) Ideally, you would also have completed these courses as well: • 10184 Intermediate Macroeconomics • 10134 Intermediate Microeconomics • Mathematics 1 (10135 Mathematik 1) |
| Course application | Registration: Please enroll in the Online Services (services.unibas.ch); Eucor-Students and mobility students of other Swiss Universities or the FHNW first have to register at the University of Basel BEFORE the start of the course and receive their login data by post (e-mail address of the University of Basel). Processing time up to a week! Detailed information can be found here: https://www.unibas.ch/de/Studium/Mobilitaet.html After successful registration you can enroll for the course in the Online Services (services.unibas.ch). Applies to everyone: Enrolment = Registration for the course and the exam! |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | Online, mandatory |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Friday | 14.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 119 |
| Date | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 20.09.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 119 |
| Friday 27.09.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | The course will take place online with zoom., -- |
| Friday 04.10.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | The course will take place online with zoom., -- |
| Friday 11.10.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | The course will take place online with zoom., -- |
| Friday 18.10.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | The course will take place online with zoom., -- |
| Friday 25.10.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | The course will take place online with zoom., -- |
| Friday 01.11.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 119 |
| Friday 08.11.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | The course will take place online with zoom., -- |
| Friday 15.11.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | The course will take place online with zoom., -- |
| Friday 22.11.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | The course will take place online with zoom., -- |
| Friday 29.11.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | Dies Academicus |
| Friday 06.12.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | The course will take place online with zoom., -- |
| Friday 13.12.2024 | 14.15-18.00 | Kollegienhaus, Hörsaal 119 |
| Modules |
Electives Bachelor Business and Economics: Recommendations (Bachelor's degree subject: Business and Economics (Start of studies before 01.08.2021)) Modul: Aufbau Economics (Bachelor's Studies: Business and Economics) Modul: Wahlbereich in Wirtschaftswissenschaften (Bachelor's degree subject: Business and Economics) Module: Business and Economics III (Bachelor's Studies: Business and Economics (Start of studies before 01.08.2021)) Module: Economics II (Bachelor's Studies: Business and Economics (Start of studies before 01.08.2021)) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment details | 10% of the final grade will be determined on your participation during the Zoom meetings. Please note: If you are unsuccessful in solving a problem, that is is completely acceptable, provided you can explain how and why you failed, or how you got stuck. Failure to achieve a solution is completely acceptable. It happens to all of us. What we require is only that you seriously try. 45% of the final grade will be determined by a mid-term exam. This exam may be held in traditional fashion in a room at WWZ, or might alternatively be a homework assignment. 45% of the final grade will be determined a conventional written final exam. The tasks of the final exam will be formulated in English, but can be answered in English or German. Date of the exams: Midterm: tbd Final exam: tbd |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration, dereg: cancel course registration |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,1 |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Business and Economics , studiendekanat-wwz@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Faculty of Business and Economics |