Economic Geography

Duration

30h Th, 15h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

Joseph Tharakan

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

Introduction: Stylised facts
Importance of transport costs and increasing returns to scale
Agglomeration and dispersion forces
Spatial competition: Hotelling
The core-periphery structure: Krugman's model
Evolution of regional disparities
Local labour markets
History vs expectations in economic geography
Economic growth and geography
Empirical studies

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

The objective of this course is to introduce students to the application of economic reasoning to the analysis of the geographical distribution of economic activity.
With the help of different theoretical models, we will see what the different economic forces are that influence the geographical distribution of economic activity.
Upon completion of the course, the student will be capable of - explaining what the economic forces are that influence the geographical distribution of economic activity - developing strategies to attract investments in a region

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Advanced microeconomics

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Cours ex-cathedra (2h/semaine)

Recommended or required readings

Powerpoint slides will be available before the lecture
Book: Pierre-Philippe Combes, Thierry Mayer, Jacques-François Thisse, Economic geography, MIT Press.

Assessment methods and criteria

Written exam (85%) and homework (15%)

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

Lectures are taught in English during the second semester.

Contacts

Professor: Joseph Tharakan - e-mail: J.Tharakan@ulg.ac.be
Assistant: Jérôme Schoenmaeckers e-mail: Jérôme.Schoenmaeckers@ulg.ac.be Ph: 04 366 29 65 Office: B. 31 - 1.56

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