This module covers a variety of growth issues from both empirical and theoretical views. The first part of the course deals with basic concepts of economic growth, including how to measure growth and the core theories of economic growth. The second part deals with productivity; how to measure productivity and analyse different sources of productivity growth. The third part deals with economic fundamentals, including the relationship between government policies, income inequality, and growth.
The aim of the module is to teach the basic principles of economic growth in order to answer such questions as:
• what are the determinants of growth?
• how can we improve productivity?
• what kind of role does the government play on growth?
• why are there differences in the level of income among countries?
Private Study: 132
Contact Hours: 18
Total: 150
This is an optional module for all Single and Joint Honours Degree courses in Economics.
The module is NOT available to students across other degree courses in the University
Problem Sets (20%)
Essay, (1000 words) (10%)
Examination, 2 hours (70%)
Reassessment Instrument: 100% exam
*Exams will be in-person*
D Weil, Economic Growth (3rd ed), Pearson, 2013
C Jones and D Vollrath, Introduction to Economic Growth, W W Norton & Co, 2013
The module will also draw on a range of high quality journal articles including those from American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy and Quarterly Journal of Economics.
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successfully completing the module students will be able to:
1 Understand and abstract the essential features of an economic issue, problem and system
2 Synthesise and critically compare theoretical and empirical analyses of economic growth
3 Manipulate theoretical models to analyse economic growth
4 Critically analyse and interpret economic data in the context of economic theory and policy
5 Demonstrate the analytical skills required to scrutinise economic growth and policy issues.
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