Course teached as: B020847 - HEALTH AND EDUCATION ECONOMICS Second Cycle Degree in ECONOMICS AND DEVELOPMENT Curriculum DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
Teaching Language
english
Course Content
Economics of Education: investment in human capital, privat and social return, education as a signalling and a screening device, gender differences in the access to education, education and growth especially with respect to less developed countries. Health Economics: reasons why the State should intervene in such a sector and the notion of equity on the basis of which national health systems should be organized, evolution of the latters with particular reference to less developed countries.
At the end of the course students are expected to be able to interpret economic phenomena referring to the educational and the health sector by using the theoretical tools provided by public economics.
Teaching Methods
Lectures and seminars.
Type of Assessment
Written exam and an oral presentation or an essay.
Course program
Preliminary Notions
Public Goods and Externalities
Stiglitz, J.E. (2000), Economics of the Public Sector, New York, Norton & Company, ch. 6 e 9.
Slides.
Asimmetric information: adverse selection, moral hazard, signaling and screening
Hindriks, J., Myles, G.D. (2013), Intermediate Public Economics, MIT Press, ch. 10 on Asymmetric Information.
Economics of Education
Why does economics deal with education?
Which are the reasons why a public intervention is needed?
Some stylized facts for LDC
- Checchi D. (2005), The economics of education. Human capital, family background and inequality. Cambridge University Press, ch. 2 or Checchi, D. (1999), Istruzione e mercato, Bologna, Il Mulino, cap. 2, pp. 33-44.
- Barro, R.J., Lee, J.W. (2013), A New Data Set of Educational Attainment in the World, 1950-2010, Journal of Development Economics, 104, 184-198, http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0304387812000855/1-s2.0-S0304387812000855-main.pdf?_tid=81952a0c-5d19-11e5-9361-00000aacb35d&acdnat=1442480163_15fa00625e24e0577415db191da00668
- Glewwe, P., Hanushek, E., Humpage, S., Ravina, R. (2012), School Resources and Educational Outcomes in Developing Countries: A Review of the Literature from 1990 to 2010, Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy, WP 12-1, http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/120033/2/WP12-1.pdf
Education as a human capital investment (Becker 1994).
- Checchi D. (2005), The economics of education. Human capital, family background and inequality. Cambridge University Press, ch. 2 or Checchi D., (1999), Istruzione e mercato, Bologna, Il Mulino, cap. 2, pp.44-60.
Education as a signaling device (Spence (1973) and Weiss (1995))
- Checchi D. (2005), The economics of education. Human capital, family background and inequality. Cambridge University Press, ch. 6 pp. 12-15, or Checchi D., (1999), Istruzione e mercato, Bologna, Il Mulino, cap. 2, pp. 86-91.
- Hindriks, J., Myles, G.D. (2013), Intermediate Public Economics, MIT Press, ch. 10.
Education as a screening device (Stiglitz (1975))
- Checchi D. (2005), The economics of education. Human capital, family background and inequality. Cambridge University Press, ch. 6, pp. 16-19, or Checchi D., (1999), Istruzione e mercato, Bologna, Il Mulino, cap. 2, pp. 91-98.
Private and Social return of Education and the gender discriminations for the access to school
- Checchi D. (2005), The economics of education. Human capital, family background and inequality. Cambridge University Press, ch. 6, pp. 24-29, or Checchi D., (1999), Istruzione e mercato, Bologna, Il Mulino, cap. 2, pp. 60-67.
- Schultz, T.P. (1988), Education Investments and Returns, in Chenery, H., Srinivasan, T.N. (eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, vol. I, ch. 13, pp. 577-620, Elsevier Science Publishers.
- Schultz, T.P. (2002), Why Governments should Invest more to Educate Girls, World Development, 30:2, 207-225, http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0305750X01001073/1-s2.0-S0305750X01001073-main.pdf?_tid=b7b249b6-5d1a-11e5-97af-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1442480683_c55325bd2451377e5a6d4e922dad5167
Education and growth
- Hanushek, E.A., Wößmann, L. (2008), The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development, Journal of Economic Literature, 46:3, 607-668, http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jel.46.3.607
- Acemoglu, D. (2007), Introduction to Modern Economic Growth, MIT, pp. 408-411.
- Krueger A. B., Lindahl M. (2001), Education for Growth: Why and For Whom?, Journal of Economic Literature, 1101-1136, http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jel.39.4.1101
Education, growth and democracy
- Bourguignon, F., Verdier, T. (2000), Oligarchy, Democracy, Inequality and Growth, Journal of Development Economics, 62, 285-313, http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0304387800000869/1-s2.0-S0304387800000869-main.pdf?_tid=d5186a8e-5d1b-11e5-955f-00000aab0f01&acdnat=1442481162_69426c83d37b6a5dba9e5bd02d65d081
Educational policies for LDC
- Glewwe P. (2002), Schools and Skills in Developing Countries: Education Policies and Socioeconomic Outcomes, Journal of Economic Literature, June, 436-82, https://www.aeaweb.org/atypon.php?return_to=/doi/pdfplus/10.1257%2F002205102320161258
Economics of Health
Why does economics deal with health?
Which are the reasons why a public intervention is needed?
- Hurley, J. (2000), An Overview of the Normative Economics of the Health Sector, in A.J. Culyer e J.P. Newhouse (a cura di), Handbook of Health Economics, Vol. 1, North Holland, p. 55-96.
- Williams, A., Cookson, R. (2000), Equity in Health, in A.J. Culyer e J.P. Newhouse (a cura di), Handbook of Health Economics, Vol. 1, North Holland, p. 1863-1889.
Health Insurances
- Cutler, D.M., Zeckauser R.J. (2000), The Anatomy of Health Insurance, in A.J. Culyer e J.P. Newhouse (a cura di), Handbook of Health Economics, Vol. 1, North Holland.
- Hindriks, J., Myles, G.D. (2013), Intermediate Public Economics, MIT Press, Ch. 10, section on Moral Hazard, pp. 310-314.
Health as a human capital investment
- Becker, G.S. (2007), Health as Human Capital: Synthesis and Extensions, Oxford Economic Papers, 59, pp. 379-410, http://oep.oxfordjournals.org/content/59/3/379.full.pdf+html
Health and growth
- Jack, W., Lewis, M. (2009), Health Investments and Economic Growth. Macroeconomic Evidence and Microeconomic Foundations, World Bank Policy Research WP No 4877, http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2009/03/25/000158349_20090325162956/Rendered/PDF/WPS4877.pdf
- Sala-i-Martin, X. (2005), On the Health-Poverty Trap, in Lòpez-Casasnovas, G., Rivera, B., Currais, L., Health and Economic Growth, Massachusetts, The MIT Press, ch. 4.
- Aghion, P., Howitt, P., Murtin, F. (2009), The Relationship between Health and Growth: When Lucas Meets Nelson-Phelps, http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/aghion/files/relationship_between_health.pdf
Pharmaceuticals and LDC
- Kremer, M. (2002), Pharmaceuticals and the Developing World, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 16, 67-90, http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/089533002320950984
- Goldberg, P.K. (2010), Intellectual Property Rights Protection in Developing Countries: The Case of Pharmaceuticals, Journal of the European Economic Association, 8(2-3), 326-353.