For students:

TA5 Topics in Political Economy

–

Code:
ECOK-263
Target:
Bachelor's students
Organiser:
University of Helsinki - Economics
Instructor:
Klaus Kultti
Period:
Period 4
Format:
Lecture
Method:
Contact teaching
Venue:
Economicum
Enrollment:
Sisu How to enroll?

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

Content

This is provisional and may change especially towards the end.
1. Basics: Discrete problems, expected utility, preference notation
2. Voting methods, properties and paradoxes I
3. Voting methods, properties and paradoxes II
4. Approval voting
5. Case for strategic voting and equilibrium concept
6. Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem about manipulation of voting methods
7. Arrow’s theorem about aggregation of individual preferences into social preferences
8. Apportionment problem
9. Single peaked preferences
10. Stability of voting rules, voting about voting rule, constitutions
11. Student presentations: Solutions and failures to public goods, free riding
12. Student presentations: Solutions and failures to public goods, free riding 

Teaching

  • Language: English
  • 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: no equivalent code
  • Target groups: BSc
  • Credit points: 5
  • Credit transfer: apply for inclusion in Sisu
    • Further instructions can be found here.
Hanken Students
  • Code: no equivalent code
  • Target groups: BSc
  • Credit points: 5
  • Credit transfer: apply for inclusion in Sisu
    • Further instructions can be found here.
University of Helsinki Students
  • Code: ECOK-263
  • Target groups: BSc
  • Credit points: 5
  • YET students: Before taking and completing this course make sure that the credits can be counted towards your degree by checking which courses are/can be included in your curriculum. You can also contact your planning officer Simo Riikonen (firstname.lastname@helsinki.fi).

Learning outcomes

The course aims to familiarise students with theoretical findings key to both the study of politics and economics, including Arrow’s impossibility theorem, the Gibbard-Satterthwaite theorem and findings pertaining to different types of voting systems. Other topics include the relationship between political decision-making and externalities, or public goods. After completing the course, students will be familiar with the basic assumptions of the topics examined and the methods of the field. Additionally, students will understand the limitations of findings and their applicability to the real world.