Teacher(s)
Language
English
Main themes
The teacher proposes an issue to be addressed by the students (for example, is the Walloon Marshall Plan effective?).
Students
- identify the theoretical elements that address the issue. They identify the logic that guides the economic question;
- They identify empirical methods that would answer the question;
- They collect data relevant to the empirical analysis;
- They perform the empirical analysis;
- They interpret the results and explain the problems and the underlying statistical limits.
Students
- identify the theoretical elements that address the issue. They identify the logic that guides the economic question;
- They identify empirical methods that would answer the question;
- They collect data relevant to the empirical analysis;
- They perform the empirical analysis;
- They interpret the results and explain the problems and the underlying statistical limits.
Learning outcomes
At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to : | |
| 1 |
At the end of the activity, students will be able - to synthesize the elements that are essential to the understanding of a generic economic problem, - to collect, select and analyze relevant data and information using rigorous and state-of-the-art methods - to express a message in a clear, concise and structured way, both orally and in writing, - to manage their work: set priorities, anticipate and plan all the relevant steps, - to work in team. |
Content
This ECONOMICS OF INEQUALITY (LECON2416) seminar is destined for students with a good level of economics and microeconomics, a taste for data analysis, and an interest in gaining economic insight into (the rise of) inequalities.
The seminar combines open discussions and exchange of views, lectures by the instructor or external speakers, data analysis, inequality indices computation, writing short essays and student presentations. It addresses conceptually and empirically the question of inequality and its various components and determinants. The list of topics covered comprises:
- a broad view of inequality and its evolution between and within countries,
- capital vs. labour inequality,
- inequality of labour income,
- private and public redistribution,
- policy debates and proposals
The seminar combines open discussions and exchange of views, lectures by the instructor or external speakers, data analysis, inequality indices computation, writing short essays and student presentations. It addresses conceptually and empirically the question of inequality and its various components and determinants. The list of topics covered comprises:
- a broad view of inequality and its evolution between and within countries,
- capital vs. labour inequality,
- inequality of labour income,
- private and public redistribution,
- policy debates and proposals
Teaching methods
Students work in small groups. They write minutes, discuss presentations, write progress reports and present these reports orally
Evaluation methods
Assessment: continuous (= no end-of-term exam)
Examination of activities is held once per academic year. Awarded grades are deemed attached to every exam session
Examination of activities is held once per academic year. Awarded grades are deemed attached to every exam session
Other information
Suggested prerequisites
« Dear Prof. Vandenberghe
With this short message, I would like to thank you for the economic analysis seminar you taught last year. I attended this seminar as an Erasmus Belgica student. After this semester at UCLouvain, I had the pleasure of starting a master's degree at the London School of Economics. For your seminar, we had to code the Gini coefficient step by step in Stata. This experience was very useful during the writing of my dissertation at the LSE: The evolution of subjective cumulative deprivation in Belgium. I used a relatively new index called the cumulative deprivation coefficient, but its method of calculation is very similar to that of the Gini coefficient. Reviewing my Stata files from the seminar made the calculation much easier. »
Wouter Van de Moern 29/08/2023
- Attendance of the STATA- R modules during the boot camp week.
- Good command of English (both oral and written), incl. the capability to express detailed and nuanced viewpoints.
« Dear Prof. Vandenberghe
With this short message, I would like to thank you for the economic analysis seminar you taught last year. I attended this seminar as an Erasmus Belgica student. After this semester at UCLouvain, I had the pleasure of starting a master's degree at the London School of Economics. For your seminar, we had to code the Gini coefficient step by step in Stata. This experience was very useful during the writing of my dissertation at the LSE: The evolution of subjective cumulative deprivation in Belgium. I used a relatively new index called the cumulative deprivation coefficient, but its method of calculation is very similar to that of the Gini coefficient. Reviewing my Stata files from the seminar made the calculation much easier. »
Wouter Van de Moern 29/08/2023
Online resources
TEAMS account
Bibliography
Piketty, Thomas, and Arthur Goldhammer. The Economics of Inequality. Harvard University Press, 2015. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvjnrtk1
Faculty or entity
Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)
Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Learning outcomes
Master [120] in Economics: General
