Econ820. Fall 2012. "Monetary" Economics

Announcements

Class meets TuTh 12:30PM - 1:45PM    Gardner - Rm 0007

Check this web site (www.lhendricks.org) regularly for updates.

Schedule

Organization

The course will cover current research on economic growth, cross-country income gaps, and within country income inequality. Both empirical and theoretical. We may cover additional topics, if there is interest. We will read and discuss papers. The main objective is to gain understanding of issues currently being researched and to develop ideas for research projects. [See my notes on finding research topics.]

In each class meeting, we discuss one paper. The paper is presented as in a seminar. The audience's role is to comment on how the question posed in the paper could be answered better.

Each paper is presented by a one student. The presenter's role is to explain how the paper "works" and to defend the author's choices where possible. During each presentation, one or two proposals for future research should be formulated. These are important - I hope that some of the ideas generated in this class will be implemented in future dissertations.

Students are expected to have read the paper and thought about it before coming to class. This class can only be successful, if there is lively discussion. That means, everybody has to read and think about the papers.

Grades will be assigned on the basis of presentations and course participation.

List of topics and possible papers

Suggestions for additional papers and topics are welcome.

Human Capital

Measuring human capital gaps

1. Manuelli, Rodolfo; Ananth Seshadri (2006). "Human capital and the wealth of nations." Mimeo. Univerisity of Wisconsin.
2. Córdoba, J. C., & Ripoll, M. (2007). The role of education in development.
   

Why does human capital differ across countries / over time?

1. Restuccia, Diego; Guillaume Vandenbroucke (2008). "The evolution of U.S. education: a macroeconomic analysis." Mimeo. University of Toronto.
2. Córdoba, J. C., & Ripoll, M. (2010). What explains schooling differences across countries? Manuscript, Iowa State University. 

Other human capital topics:

• Açikgöz, O. T., & Kaymak, B. (2008). The rising skill premium and deunionization in the united states.
  

Background reading:

1. Glewwe, Paul; Michael Kremer (2005). "Schools, Teachers, and Education Outcomes in Developing Countries." In: Handbook on the Economics of Education.

Interesting questions in this area:

1. Why does human capital differ across countries / over time?
2. How can human capital be measured?
3. How large is the contribution of human capital to output gaps / growth?
4. How is human capital produced?
5. Why do some people get lots of schooling and others do not?

Cross-country income differences

Background reading:

1. Acemoglu, Daron (2008). Introduction to Modern Economic Growth. Princeton University Press.
2. Parente, Stephen L.; Edward C. Prescott (2002). Barriers to riches. MIT Press.
3. Parente, Stephen L.; Edward C. Prescott (1993). "Changes in the Wealth of Nations." Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review. Spring: 3-16.
4. Handbook of Economic Growth. Philippe Aghion & Stephen Durlauf eds. North Holland. (Versions of many articles are still available online).

Institutions

1. Acemoglu, Daron; David Ticci; Andrea Vindigni (2008). "Emergence and persistence of inefficient states." Mimeo. MIT.
2. Acemoglu, Daron; Simon Johnson; James Robinson; Pierre Yared (2007). "Reevaluating the Modernization Hypothesis." Mimeo. MIT.

Background reading

1. Acemoglu, Daron; Simon Johnson; James Robinson (2004). "Institutions as the fundamental cause of long-run growth." Handbook of Economic Growth. [Download from Acemoglu's web page, best found through google.]
2. Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson and James A. Robinson (2001) "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation." American Economic Review, 91, pp. 1369-1401.
3. Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson and James Robinson (2002) "Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the Making of the ModernWorld Income Distribution." Quarterly Journal of Economics, 117, pp. 1231-1294.
4. Acemoglu, Daron (2005) "Politics and Economics in Weak and Strong States." Journal of Monetary Economics, 52, 1199-1226.

Trade

Other

1. Herrendorf, B., & Schoellman, T. (2011). Why is measured productivity so low in agriculture? Manuscript. Arizona State University.
2. Ashraf, Q., & Galor, O. (2011). Cultural diversity, geographical isolation, and the origin of the wealth of nations.
   
3. Damsgaard, E. F., & Krusell, P. (2010). The world distribution of productivity: Country TFP choice in a nelson-phelps economy.
   
4. Jeong, Hyeok; Yong Kim (2008). "Complementarity and Transition to Modern Economic Growth," Mimeo. Vanderbilt.

Within country inequality

Earnings distribution

Wealth distribution

1. Venti, Steven F.; David A. Wise (2000). "Choice, Chance, and Wealth Dispersion at Retirement." NBER working paper #7521.

Interesting questions in this area:

1. Why does wealth inequality differ across countries?
2. Why has wealth inequality increased over time in the U.S.? What exactly do the data say?
3. Why do observationally similar households hold very different amounts of wealth?
4. How important are inheritances?
5. How important are random capital gains? (Housing, stocks)

Background reading

1. Browning, Martin; Thomas, F. Crossley (2001). "The life cycle model of consumption and saving." Journal of Economic Perspectives 15(3): 3-22.
2. Gourinchas, Pierre; Jonathan Parker (2002). "Consumption over the life cycle." Econometrica 70(1): 47-89.
3. Budria Rodriguez, Santiago; Javier Díaz-Giménez; Vincenzo Quadrini; José-Víctor Ríos-Rull (2002). "Updated Facts on the U.S. Distributions of Earnings, Income, and Wealth." Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Quarterly Review 26(3): 2-35.
4. Castañeda, Ana; Javier Díaz-Giménez; José-Víctor Ríos-Rull (2003). "Accounting for the U.S. Earnings and Wealth Inequality." Journal of Political Economy 111(4): 818-57.
5. Huggett, Mark (1996). "Wealth distribution in life-cycle economies." Journal of Monetary Economics 38: 469-94.

Other Topics

1. Prescott, Edward; Ellen McGrattan (2008). "Technology capital and the U.S. current account." Mimeo. Minneapolis Fed.
2. Erosa, Andres; Luisa Fuster; Gueorgui Kambourov (2008). "The heterogeneity and dynamics of individual labor supply over the lifecycle." Mimeo. University of Toronto.
3. Rogerson, Richard (2008). "Market Work, Home Work and Taxes: A Cross Country Analysis." NBER WP #14400.