BERGAMO
Overview
Date/time interval
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course aims to introduce students to the basics of economic and social policy focusing mainly on the governance of collective goods (commons), the fundamental problem of which is the possibility of self-government and self-organization.
Part of the course will be devoted to the analysis of case studies referring to the territory of Bergamo and territories adjacent to it.
At the end of the lectures students:
- Know the basic concepts of economic and social policy according to the institutionalist paradigm (Hirschman, North, Ostrom);
- Know the main tools of game theory for analyzing conflict and cooperative behavior related to local public goods and commons;
- Are able to apply the categories learned to analyze the evolution of economic and social policies referring especially to urban systems and inner areas.
Course Prerequisites
There are no mandatory propaedeuticities
Teaching Methods
Teaching will take place mainly through lectures and seminar interventions, but with a focus on interaction with students, who will be able, during the lectures, to formulate proposals for further study or debate. The parts of the course that make up the second module will be addressed by dividing the attending students into small groups to focus on case studies identified by the lecturers.
Assessment Methods
Verification of learning will be through a final written test. There are no supplementary oral examinations.
Attending students will conduct the written test on the topics covered in the first module. The written test conducted in the exam appeals will consist of 3 open questions in which students' ability to analyze and reason will be evaluated. It will be graded in thirtieths and will be worth 50% of the final grade.
Group class work done in the second module will be graded at the end of the course in thirtieths and will be worth 50% of the final grade.
Non-attending students will take the written test on the entire examination program (i.e., both modules). The test will consist of 6 open questions (3 per module) in which students' analytical and reasoning skills will be assessed. The grade will be given in thirtieths.
Each individual answer will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- relevance to the question;
- comprehensiveness with respect to the question;
- proposal of appropriate connections;
- synthesis (no redundancy or repetition);
- propriety of language;
- clarity of exposition.
Contents
This course covers the following topics, divided into two modules
First module (24 hours)
- Goals and instruments of economic policy
- Reasons for public intervention: market failures and government failures
- Public goods, local public goods and collective goods
- The dilemma of collective goods in the light of game theory
- Self-organizing institutions: legitimate behavior, mutual control and social cohesion
- The analysis of institutional change and institutional fragility in collective goods governance systems. The research of Douglass North and Elinor Ostrom
- Collective commitment and retreat into the private sphere. Albert Hirschman's analysis
Second module (24 hours)
- The welfare state and social policies
- European welfare regimes and housing systems
- Old and new inequalities
- Primary services and territorial economic development: the national strategy of inland areas. Some case studies.
- Local public goods, subsidiarity and self-organization in Bergamo and adjacent territories. Some case studies.
Online Resources
More information
Reading List
Paolo Bosi, Corso di scienza delle finanze, il Mulino, 2023, pp. 15-66; pp. 298-310.
Elinor Ostrom, Governare i beni collettivi, Marsilio, 2006.
Albert O. Hirschman, Felicità privata e felicità pubblica, il Mulino, 2013.
Chiara Saraceno, Il welfare. Tra vecchie e nuove disuguaglianze, il Mulino, 2021.
Fabrizio Barca e Antonio Calafati, Aree interne: crescita e sviluppo economico, in Strategia nazionale per le Aree interne: definizione, obiettivi, strumenti e governance, 2014, www.agenziacoesione.gov.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/MUVAL_31_Aree_interne.pdf
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990). The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Princeton University Press. (suggested).
Arbaci, S. (2019). Paradoxes of segregation: Housing systems, welfare regimes and ethnic residential change in Southern European cities. John Wiley & Sons. (suggested).