About This Course

Originally synonymous with the study of economics, today political economy typically refers to the investigation of how institutional design impacts the behavior of agents and subsequent outcomes (and vice a versa). The field encompasses both macro and microeconomic topics, such as the distributional effects of tax policies and collective decision-making in legislative committees, respectively. The course will comprise a mix of lectures and student presentations on topics such as, voters, electoral competition and political agency. The lectures will develop a theoretical framework for analyzing subsequent empirical work that you will discuss and present in the second half of the course. The objective of the course is to address and critically evaluate key concepts in the political economy literature.