Bachelor
2024/2025
Рolitical Economy
Type:
Elective course (Economics)
Area of studies:
Economics
Delivered by:
Department of Theoretical Economics
Where:
Faculty of Economic Sciences
When:
4 year, 3 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of all HSE University campuses
Instructors:
Kemal Kivanc Akoz
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
36
Course Syllabus
Abstract
Well-functioning economic institutions and sound economic policies lead to better economic performance. Yet, these institutions and policies are not determined in a vacuum. They are affected by and co-evolve with political and legal institutions. Therefore, it's of utmost importance to understand how policy decisions are made, what governs the incentives and constraints of policymakers and how con icts over these decisions are resolved. Political economics is a eld of study devoted to the analysis of political institutions and decision making using the analytical and empirical approaches employed in economics (i.e. rational-choice theory, game-theory, econometrics). This course reviews key contributions in the eld of political economics, both theoretical and empirical. First, we will focus on studies that illustrate the key approaches in the study of democratic politics, elections, and policy choice. Then we will delve into di erent forms of non-electoral political bargaining. In this part of the course, we will study the broader context in which political and economic decisions are made. In other words, we will learn how political institutions matter for economic performance by setting the playing eld for economic interactions and in uencing equilibrium policy choices. We will see a formal framework to explain why some nations experience successful democratic transitions while others fail to do so. Finally, we will also get acquainted with some of the main issues in non-electoral politics such as civil conicts, corruption and factors in uencing state capacity as another determinant of economic and political outcomes.