Political Economy

Second Semester 2018

Prof. Nicola Viegi

nicola.viegi@up.ac.za

This reading group will introduce PhD students to a growing number of models that analyse the interaction of politics and economics.

At the end of the course, each student has to prepare a research prospectus of 3-5 pages (maximum) outlining an idea for an empirical or theoretical research paper. Details will be given in classroom

Readings

1	Basic Political Economy Models	Meltzer, Allan H. and Scott F. Richard (1981) "A Rational Theory of the Size of Government", Journal of Political Economy 89, 914-28. Alesina, Alberto and Rodrik, Dani, (1994). "Distributive Politics and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(2), pages 465-90, May. Acemoglu, D., and Robinson, J. A. (2001). A theory of political transitions. American Economic Review, 938-963.
2	The Political Economy of the State	Acemoglu, D. (2005) "Politics and economics in weak and strong states." Journal of monetary Economics 52, no. 7: 1199-1226. Besley, Tim and Persson, Torsten (2009) "The Origins of State Capacity: Property Rights, Taxation and Politics" American Economic Review, 99(4), 1218-44, 2009.
3	The Political Economy of Conflicts	Acemoglu, D. (2003)"Why not a political Coase theorem? Social conflict, commitment, and politics." Journal of comparative economics 31, no. 4: 620-652. Esteban, J., and D. Ray. (2008) "On the salience of ethnic conflict." The American Economic Review 98, no. 5: 2185-2202. Besley, Timothy and Torsten Persson (2011) "The Logic of Political Violence" Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2011. Oxford University Press. Volume 126 (3), pp. 1411-1445.
4	Political Economy of South African transition	Bedasso, B. E. (2014) “Political transition in a small open economy: Retracing the economic trail of South Africa long walk to democracy”. ERSA Working Paper No. 458. 2014. Bedasso, B. E., and N. Obikili. (2016)"A Dream Deferred: The Microfoundations of Direct Political Action in Pre-and Post-democratisation South Africa." The Journal of Development Studies 52, no. 1: 130-146.