Seminar on Microeconomic Policy Issues in Europe
[ECON2486]
[30h] 10 credits
Teacher(s): Hylke Vandenbussche
Language: English
Level: Second
Aims
Students having enrolled for this course should be able to
- identify the main issues at stake
- Clarify the standpoint from the various European microeconomic policies (conflicts and or complementari-ties at the level of the objectives and of the implementation)
- identify and evaluate solutions
Main themes
1) the State aid policy towards individual companies
Diagnose : European aid versus national/regional schemes; economic analysis of State aid policy (theory versus practice)
Proposal for improvement : evaluation of the different options
2) Innovation and growth
Diagnose : is innovation driving the growth differential between the US and Europe?
Proposal for improvement : evaluation of the Lisbon agenda
Content and teaching methods
- Individual : Writing of essays on the microeconomic approach of the topic
- Collective : Based on these essays and additional material (such as guidelines published by the EU or available empirical studies) , organised discussion allowing the student to improve his ability to evalu-ate policies from an economic point of view, discovering how theoretical models can be applied to a specific issue
Other information (prerequisite, evaluation (assessment methods), course materials recommended readings, ...)
50% based on active participation in class discussions and 50% based on written contri-butions and their oral presentation
List of relevant studies and documents published by the EU, web sites
100% attendance required