Professur für Makroökonomie
Professur für Makroökonomie

Economics of Inequality

 

General Information

The course is intended to give students an introduction into the measurement, causes, effects and policy implications of inequality of income and wealth. After successful completion of the course, students should be able to approach the related academic literature as well as current policy debates.

In the tutorials of this course, we will use "R" in order to approach a micro dataset. As such: Please download and install "R" if you attend the tutorial online (participants in presence are going to work in a computer pool on campus where "R" already is installed). Acquiring of some basic knowledge of "R" before the tutorial starts is recommended. There are some good online tutorials available and our library offers several e-books (in German and English).

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Link to OPAL-Kurs: Economics of Inequality

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Lecturer: Prof. Dr. Sebastian Gechert  

Dates: weekly on Mondays -- 11.30am to 1.00pm -- starting: 04.04.2022

Room: 2/W038

  
 

Outline of the lecture (hybrid presence)

  1. Introduction: Why we should care about inequality

  2. Measurement, Concepts, Data

    1. Functional and Personal Income Distribution, Wealth Distribution, Multidimensional inequality

    2. Inequality Indices

    3. Data availability, problems

  3. Causes of Inequality

    1. The Big Stories

    2. Specific Explanations

  4. Consequences of Inequality

    1. Societal Consequences

    2. Macroeconomic Consequences (Growth, Stability)

  5. Policy Implications

Literatur

Atkinson, A. / Bourguignon, F.: Handbook of Income Distribution, Vol. 1 (2000), 2A, 2B (2014), Elsevier.

Chancel, L. / Piketty, T. (2021): Global Income Inequality, 1820-2020: The Persistence and Mutation of Extreme Inequality, World Inequality Lab – Working Paper 2021/19.

Nolan, B. / Salverda, W. / Smeeding, T.M.: Oxford Handbook of Economic Inequality, Oxford University Press, 2011.

Roine, J., Waldenström, D. (2014), Long-Run Trends in the Distribution of Income and Wealth, in: Atkinson, A., Bourguignon, F. (eds.) Handbook of Income Distribution Vol. 2A.

Lakner, C., Milanovic, B. (2013), “Global income distribution: from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Great Recession”, World Bank Working Paper No. 6719

Villar, Antonio (2017). Lectures on Inequality, Poverty and Welfare. Springer.

 Tutorial: Dr. Bianka Mey

date: fortnight on Wednesdays -- 9.15am to 10.45am -- starting 13.04.2022

room: 2/W031 (computer pool) and online (see OPAL course)

TUCaktuell