| Dozent/in |
Ass.-Prof. Christian Ochsner |
| Veranstaltungsart |
Vorlesung |
| Code |
HS201109 |
| Semester |
Herbstsemester 2020 |
| Durchführender Fachbereich |
Wirtschaftswissenschaften |
| Studienstufe |
Bachelor
Master |
| Termin/e |
Do, 22.10.2020, 12:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Online
Do, 19.11.2020, 12:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Online
Do, 03.12.2020, 12:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Online
Do, 10.12.2020, 12:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Online
Do, 17.12.2020, 12:15 - 16:00 Uhr, Online
Fr, 18.12.2020, 10:15 - 11:15 Uhr, Online (Prüfung) |
| Umfang |
2 Semesterwochenstunden |
| Turnus |
blocked
Zoom Live Stream + Podcasts |
| Inhalt |
General course information
Economic conditions and our economic lives are constantly changing. During the last decades, the rise of China has fostered deindustrialization in developed countries; the financial crisis in 2008 is still prolonging and visible in unconventional monetary policy measures; and technological change fosters the skill-premium and somewhat translate into radical political movements. How can we classify these current events and how unique are these changes in a historical context? Indeed, technological change, monetary and economic crises, waves of globalization and fertility transitions repeatedly shaped the world during the last 300 years. The lecture “Economic History” deals with the causes and determinants of the long-run evolution of economic and socio-economic variables. We look at economic shocks and their respective policy measures, zoom into the situation in Switzerland and ask whether economic history may help to achieve appropriate policy measures for challenges today.
The lecture follows two approaches to learn more about economics in general and economic history in particular. On the one hand, a long-term perspective on the evolution of socio-economic figures can help to understand changes and obstacles today. On the other hand, history provides so-called quasi-experimental shocks that can be used for causal inference for related questions. Both approaches of doing economic history deepen our understanding of economics. The lecture thus combines stylized facts with recent findings in the empirical literature. We link the big picture of long-run development of socio-economic variables to specific historical settings to test economic principles. Thereby, the lecture bases on a broader understanding of economics. Despite classical economic measures like GDP, inflation or population growth, we will also discuss so-called soft economic variables such as norms, culture, trust and social capital. These soft economic variables are important drivers of economic growth, cooperation and economic success.
Course outline
This course provides an overview of economic history and the long-run development of socio-economic figures and focuses on the situation in Switzerland as well. The course consists of three main blocs. First, the course starts with the question why some regions in the world start to become so much richer than the rest of the world. Explanations for the economic success of Western Europe are, among others, the early fertility transition that caused the so-called “Little Divergence” and the Industrial Revolution starting in the UK around 1780. We also discuss whether the industrialization pattern in Switzerland parallels the situation in Europe. The first bloc ends with a lecture on the formation and evolution of social norms. We will discuss how the natural environment and long-gone historical or institutional legacies are shaping trust and norms until today. We also analyze the effect of culture on economic outcomes along the Swiss “Röstigraben”.
Second, the course continuous with the period between World War I and World War II. During the interwar period, the independence of many countries in Central and Eastern Europe, hyperinflations, the Great Depression and the rise of totalitarian regimes (Soviet Union, Nazi Germany) shaped the economic situation fundamentally. We discuss the economic effects of World War I, the resulting hyperinflations and their ends. We continue with the economic downturn during the Great Depression. We focus on the course and the end of the crisis, analyze differences in the USA and Europe and discuss potential lessons that were somewhat adapted after 2008. We also discuss the economic situation and the temporal economic success of totalitarian regimes in Germany and the USSR.
The third bloc investigates the economic development after World War II. The division of Europe into an Eastern and Western bloc provides quasi-experimental settings to study economic growth and convergence. We discuss the long-run effects of regional economic growth due to the liberation and zoning of Europe after World War II and explore the long-run economic and political outcomes of ethnic cleansing in Poland and Czechoslovakia. We analyze the economic effects of trade and monetary integration within the Western Bloc (e.g., GATT/WTO, Bretton Woods/Euro) and compare it to the situation in COMECON countries in Eastern Europe. Switzerland initially followed some of the integration steps, before it follows its own path. Lastly, we discuss economic growth after World War II, i.e. the economic miracle, and the economic transition after 1990 by zooming into East Germany (the former GDR) and into the situation in CEE countries. |
| Lernziele |
The course will provide a deep understanding of the long-run evolution of socio-economic figures. Students should become critical and discuss potential drawbacks of theories and empirical results. The course also discusses many historical settings. These settings will enable students to learn more on how to do empirical research and provide potential ideas for own research questions for Seminar papers/Master’s thesis. |
| Voraussetzungen |
The course requires knowledge of basic economic and econometric concepts. We discuss empirical research papers that often relate to concepts of causal inference (see, for example, Angrist and Pischke 2010: Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist’s Companion). The instructor will give, however, a short and intuitive introduction to the main concepts discussed in class. |
| Sprache |
Englisch |
| Anmeldung |
To attend the course / exercise, registration via e-learning platform OLAT is required. Registration is possible from August, 31 to September 25, 2020. The students themselves are responsible for checking the creditability of the course to their course of study. Direct link to OLAT course:
https://lms.uzh.ch/url/repositoryentry/16800973091 |
| Leistungsnachweis |
Grading bases on a written final exam. The final exam will cover the content of all lectures and the content of the research papers from the mandatory reading list. While we will discuss many findings from recent empirical research papers in class, knowledge of the mandatory papers will be required in more details. The instructor provides more information and/or exam examples during the course.
***IMPORTANT*** In order to acquire credits, resp. to take the examination, registration via the Uni Portal within the examination registration period is ESSENTIALLY REQUIRED. Further information on registration: www.unilu.ch/wf/pruefungen |
| Abschlussform / Credits |
Schriftliche Prüfung / 3 Credits
|
| Hörer-/innen |
Ja |
| Kontakt |
christian.ochsner@cerge-ei.cz |
| Literatur |
Mandatory Reading List (peer-reviewed articles)
Voluntary readings
|