For students:

Advanced Macroeconomics 4: Heterogenous agent models with policy applications (5 cr)

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Code:
ECOM-R318/DPE-9318
Field:
Macroeconomics
Targets:
Research Master's students PhD students
Organiser:
University of Helsinki - Economics
Instructor:
Niku Määttänen
Period:
Period 4
Format:
Lecture
Method:
Contact teaching
Venue:
Economicum building
Enrollment:
Sisu How to enroll?

In case of conflicting information consider the Sisu/Courses/Moodle pages the primary source of information.

Content

This course introduces and applies dynamic heterogenous agent models to study policy questions related to taxation, social insurance, and pension systems. The models considered include the neoclassical growth model with wealth and labour income heterogeneity as well as life cycle and overlapping generations models of labour supply and savings with uninsurable risks. For each model, we also discuss issues related numerical methods and calibration.

Please note that the course former name was Advanced Macroeconomics 4: Real Business Cycles (and still is in Sisu if you use DPE-9318 PhD level code)

Teaching

  • Completion method: contact teaching
    • Streaming will be only available to the FDPE students, for more infromation please contact Jenni Rytkonen, jenni.rytkonen [at] aalto.fi
  • Schedule: can be found in Course Page and Sisu
  • Study materials: can be found in Moodle
    • For some courses, it is enough to register in Sisu and you can access directly the Moodle area, please note, however, that it may take up to two hours after registration to enter the Moodle area.
    • Log in with your UH username to be able to use all the features of the course workspace
    • More tips for enrolling in Moodle can be found here

Please register for the course in the UH Sisu with your UH username. Further instructions can be found here.

University-specific instructions

Aalto University Students
  • Code: ECON-L3400
  • Target groups: PhD / rMSc
  • Credit points: 5
  • Credit transfer: apply for substitution in Sisu

Further information on credit transfer can be found here.

Hanken Students
  • Code: 26052
  • Target groups: PhD / rMSc
  • Credit points: 5
  • Credit transfer: apply for substitution in Sisu

Further instructions on credit transfer can be found here.

University of Helsinki Students
  • Code: ECOM-R318 (rMSc) / DPE-9318 (PhD), please note that course name is Advanced Macroeconomics 4: Real Business Cycles with the PhD code
  • Target groups: PhD / rMSc (not recommended for general track MSc students)
  • Credit points: 5
FDPE Students Students

  • Target groups: PhD

  • Credit points: please check your curriculum

  • Credit transfer: please apply for credit transfer according to your home university's procedures

Further instructions can be found here.

Learning outcomes

After the course, the student should:

  • Be able to apply dynamic programming to solve stochastic dynamic optimization problems numerically
  • Be able to incorporate realistic tax and transfer schemes such as unemployment insurance and pension systems into basic models of household savings and labour supply
  • Be familiar with issues related to the calibration of heterogenous agent models
  • Understand how to use heterogenous agent models to assess the distributional welfare effects of specific policy reforms