Center: 
Barcelona
Discipline(s): 
Economics
Course code: 
EC 342
Terms offered: 
Fall
Spring
Credits: 
3
Language of instruction: 
English
Instructor: 
H. Sinan Hoşadam
Description: 

As Europe forges an increasingly closer union, regions have emerged as important actors, both economically and politically. The purpose of this course is to study, particularly from an economic perspective, the origins, significance and possible futures of the so-called “Europe of Regions”, in a context of increasing economic and political interdependence.

Prerequisites: 

A background in economic theory and a basic knowledge of statistics.

Attendance policy: 

IES ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance is mandatory for all IES classes, including field studies. Any exams, tests, presentations, or other work missed due to student absences can only be rescheduled in cases of documented medical or family emergencies. If a student misses more than three classes in any course half a letter grade will be deducted from the final grade for every additional absence. Seven absences in any course will result in a failing grade.

Learning outcomes: 

By the end of the course, students are able to:
•    explain the theoretical bases for economic integration;
• describe and analyse the historical course of European integration;
• identify and illustrate the impact of integration on distinct national and regional economies (e.g. labour mobility, education, competitiveness, etc.);
• discuss and analyse key issues facing the contemporary European economy and its continued
integration;
• define the main indicators of economic performance, find and interpret economic data, and discuss it from a comparative perspective;
• demonstrate an ability to investigate and effectively communicate their knowledge on a specific
European economic topic to the rest of the class.

Method of presentation: 

Lectures : where fundamental aspects of the topics will be presented.

Class Discussion: where we will compare and contrast different views on the subject.
DEBATES : where we will deploy our analytical and discussion abilities.

Individual oral presentation: From Session 6 onwards, a presentation (on an individual basis) of about
15-20 minutes on a topic related to the subject to be covered that day in class will take place. Presentation topics will be defined by the professor and randomly assigned to each student. Obligatory and recommended readings are a good starting point. However, students are expected to use additional sources when preparing their presentation. The grade obtained will depend on the depth, clarity and originality of the presentation.

Group oral presentations:
• Starting  with  session  8,  a  team  of  3-4  students  should  conduct  research  on  background information for the regions and countries in the EU. Information to include is for example, year
for  first  election, does  election for  regional government take place, is  the country an  ex-
communist country, etc. The teacher will provide readings that may constitute a starting point.
• For session 15, a team of 3-4 students should prepare a presentation (poster or power point slides) on the economic performance of assigned member countries of the European Union. The
research should include (1) general information (population, size, regions); and (2) a description
of the economy of the country as a whole as well as of the main regions (GDP level, main industrial sectors, differences among regions, unemployment rate, etc.). In order to evaluate the
differences among EU country and regions, data should be comparable (euros, population/sq.km,
GDP per capita, etc.) and presented using graphs and tables.
• Final project: For sessions 21-22, a team of 3-4 students should analyze regional data and prepare a short memo on a specific topic. Topics will be assigned during the course. The main
findings will be presented and discussed during sessions 21 and 22.

LANGUAGE OF PRESENTATION: English

Required work and form of assessment: 

Mid-term exam (20%); Final exam (20%); Class participation (15%); Topic Presentation (15%); Group project work (30%)

content: 

Session 1: Overview of the course and its requirements. Sources, evaluation, expectations.
Session 2 Why regions? An overview of the arguments.
Required Reading:
Assembly of European Regions (2000). The Regional situation in Europe in the year 2000.
Assembly of European Regions (2006). AER White Paper on the Role of the Regions in Europe.

Session 3: Instructions for group work projects. How to collect data.

Session 4: The industrialization of Europe.
Required Reading:
Pollard, Sydney (1998). Industrialization, 1740 to the Present. In R.A.
Butlin and R.A. Dodgshon (eds.), An Historical Geography of
Europe: 280-296. London: Oxford University Press.

Session 5: A historical perspective of the European regions and cities.
Required Reading:
Sutcliffe, Anthony (1998). The Urbanization of Europe since 1500. In
R.A. Butlin and R.A. Dodgshon (eds), An Historical Geography of
Europe: 300-310. London: Oxford University Press.

Session 6: Foundations of the European integration.
Required Reading:
McCormick, John (2003). The evolution of the EU. In J. McCormick,
Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction: 56-
83. New York, NY: Palgrave.

Session 7: The institutions of the European Union.
Required Reading:
McCormick, John (2003). The institutions of the EU. In J. McCormick,
Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction: 84-
113. New York, NY: Palgrave.

Session 8: European integration and the regions: policy and significance.
Required Reading:
European Structural Funds. Information from the European Regional
Policy website. Available:  http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm.
Südekum, Jens (2005). Normative and Positive Problems of Regional
Policies. In Bradley, John, Petrakos, George & Traistaru, Iulia
(Eds.) Integration, Growth and Cohesion in an Enlarged European Union, ZEI Studies in European Economics and Law, Volume 7, Chapter 12, pp. 313-328.

Session 9: Europe's emergence as an economically developed "region": historical arguments, geography and natural resources.
Required Reading:
Acemoglu, D., J. A. Robinson and S. Johnson (2001). The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation. American Economic Review, 91: 1369-1401.
Sachs, Jeffrey (1997). Nature, nurture and growth. In The Economist
(12 June 1997): 19-21.

Session 10: Europe's emergence as an economically developed "region": institutions and economic policy.
Required Reading:
Aron, Janine (2000). Growth and Institutions: A Review of the
Evidence. The World Bank Research Observer, 15(1): 99-135.

Session 11: Research; What can we study with our data set? Research methodology.
Theory, formulating hypothesis and statistical testing.

Session 12: Research; Basic statistical methods.

Session 13: Mid-term exam.

Session 14: Economic integration, political disintegration? Theoretical framework.
Required Reading:
Alesina, Alberto, E. Spolaore and R. Wacziarg (2000). Economic Integration and Political Disintegration. American Economic Review, 90(5): 1276-1296.

Session 15: Presentation of group work project.
Required Reading:
European Communities (2010). Regions: Statistical Yearbook 2010.
Available:
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-HA-10-001/EN/KS-HA-10-001-EN.PDF. Accessed: 18 November 2011.

Session 16: Violent dimensions of regional assertiveness: The Basque Country and Northern
Ireland.
Required Reading:
Cremin, Donnchadh (2002). A Short History of the Conflict in Northern
Ireland. Available: http://www.clannada.org/irelandconflict.php. Accessed: 8 October 2007.
Weiss, Meredith (2002). The Basque Nationalist Movement. The
MacMillan Center – Yale University. Available:
www.yale.edu/macmillan/globalization/basque.pdf. Accessed: 8 October 2007.
A brief history of strife. In The Economist (2 December 1999): 56-57.

Session 17: Impact of the euro on the regions.
Required Reading:
Martin, R. (2001). EMU versus the regions? Regional convergence and divergence in Euroland. Journal of Economic Geography, 1:
51-80.
European Central bank (2006). The European Central Bank, the
Eurosystem, the European System of Central Banks. Available:
http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/infobr/ecbbr2006en.pdf. Accessed: 8
October 2007.

Session 18: The changing patterns of European regional policy.
Required Reading:
Bachter, J. and D. Yuill (2001). Policies and Strategies for Regional Development: A Shift in Paradigm?. European Policies Research Centre. University of Strathclyde. Regional and Industrial Policy Research Paper No. 46: 5-18.

Session 19: Clusters: the policy and regional case studies.
Required Reading:
Ketels, C. (2004). European Clusters. Structural Change in Europe 3
– Innovative City and Business Regions. Hagbarth Publications. Available:
www.isc.hbs.edu/pdf/Ketels_European_Clusters_2004.pdf. Accessed: 8 October 2007.
Ketels, C. (2006). Michal Porter’s Competitiveness Framework –
Recent Learnings and New Research Priorities. Journal of
Industry, Competition and Trade, 6(2): 115-136.

Session 20: Spain’s country within a country: Catalonia.
Required Reading:
Sala-i-Martin, Xavier (2002). The Independence of Catalonia: The
Economic Viability. Script prepared for a Conference at the
Ommium Cultural. Available:
http://www.columbia.edu/~xs23/papers/independ%20english.htm.
Accessed: 8 October 2007.

Session 21: The regional data will be analyzed.
Required Reading:
Porter, M. E. (2003). The Economic Performance of Regions, Regional
Studies, 37(6): 549-578.

Session 22: The regional data will be analyzed.
Required Reading:
Rodríguez-Pose, A. and M. Vilalta-Bufí (2005). Education, migration, and job satisfaction: the regional returns of human capital in the EU. Journal of Economic Geography, 5: 545-566.

Session 23: Ireland: a successful economic “region”.
Required Reading:
Murphy, Antoin E. (2000). The ‘Celtic Tiger’ – An Analysis of Ireland’s
Economic Growth Performance. Robert Schuman Centre for
Advanced Studies. European University Institute. Working Paper RSC No. 2000/16: 3-14. Available: www.iue.it/RSCAS/WP-Texts/00_16.pdf. Accessed: 8 October 2007.
The tiger tamed. In The Economist (12 December 2002): 29.

Session 24: The EU enlargement and the regional impact.
Required Reading:
Hughes, J., G. Sasse and C. Gordon (2001). The Regional Deficit in
Eastward Enlargement of the European Union: Top Down Policies and Bottom Up Reactions. University of Sussex, ESRC “One
Europe or Several” Programme. Working Paper 29/01: 8-14.
Available: www.one-europe.ac.uk/pdf/w29gordon.pdf. Accessed:
8 October 2007.

Final Exam
 

Required readings: 

A brief history of strife. In The Economist (2 December 1999): 56-57.

Acemoglu, D., J. A. Robinson and S. Johnson (2001). The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation. American Economic Review, 91: 1369-1401.

Alesina, Alberto, E. Spolaore and R. Wacziarg (2000). Economic Integration and Political Disintegration. American Economic Review, 90(5): 1276-1296.

Aron, Janine (2000). Growth and Institutions: A Review of the Evidence. The World Bank Research Observer, 15(1): 99-135.

Assembly of European Regions (2000). The Regional situation in Europe in the year 2000.

Assembly of European Regions (2006). AER White Paper on the Role of the Regions in Europe.

Bachter, J. and D. Yuill (2001). Policies and Strategies for Regional Development: A Shift in Paradigm?. European Policies Research Centre. University of Strathclyde. Regional and Industrial Policy Research Paper No. 46: 5-18.

Cremin, Donnchadh (2002). A Short History of the Conflict in Northern Ireland. Available: http://www.clannada.org/irelandconflict.php. Accessed: 8 October 2007.

European Central bank (2006). The European Central Bank, the Eurosystem, the European System of Central  Banks.  Available:  http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/infobr/ecbbr2006en.pdf. Accessed:  8 October 2007.

European Communities (2010). Regions: Statistical Yearbook 2010. Available: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-HA-10-001/EN/KS-HA-10-001-EN.PDF . Accessed: 18 November 2011.

European  Structural  Funds.  Information  from  the  European  Regional  Policy  website.  Available: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm . Accessed: 8 October 2007.

Hughes, J., G. Sasse and C. Gordon (2001). The Regional Deficit in Eastward Enlargement of the European Union: Top Down Policies and Bottom Up Reactions. University of Sussex, ESRC “One Europe or Several” Programme. Working Paper 29/01: 8-14. Available: www.one-europe.ac.uk/pdf/w29gordon.pdf. Accessed: 8 October 2007.

Ketels, Christian (2004). European Clusters. Structural Change in Europe 3 – Innovative City and Business Regions. Hagbarth Publications. Available: www.isc.hbs.edu/pdf/Ketels_European_Clusters_2004.pdf. Accessed: 8 October 2007.

Ketels, Christian. (2006). Michal Porter’s Competetiveness Framework – Recent Learnings and New Research Priorities. Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, 6(2): 115-136.

Martin, Ron (2001). EMU versus the regions? Regional convergence and divergence in Euroland. Journal   of Economic Geography, 1: 51-80. 

McCormick, John (2003). The evolution of the EU. In J. McCormick, Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction: 56-83. New York, NY: Palgrave.

McCormick, John (2003). The institutions of the EU. In J. McCormick, Understanding the European Union: A Concise Introduction: 84-113. New York, NY: Palgrave.

Murphy, Antoin E. (2000). The ‘Celtic Tiger’ – An Analysis of Ireland’s Economic Growth Performance.

Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. European University Institute. Working Paper RSC No.  2000/16:  3-14.  Available:  www.iue.it/RSCAS/WP-Texts/00_16.pdf. Accessed:  8  October 2007.

Pollard, Sydney (1998). Industrialization, 1740 to the Present. In R.A. Butlin and R.A. Dodgshon (eds.), An Historical Geography of Europe: 280-296. London: Oxford University Press.

Porter, M. E. (2003). The Economic Performance of Regions, Regional Studies, 37(6): 549-578.

Rodríguez-Pose, A. and M. Vilalta-Bufí (2005). Education, migration, and job satisfaction: the regional returns of human capital in the EU. Journal of Economic Geography, 5: 545-566.

Sachs, Jeffrey (1997). Nature, nurture and growth. In The Economist (12 June 1997): 19-21.

Sala-i-Martin, Xavier (2002). The Independence of Catalonia: The Economic Viability. Script prepared for a Conference at the Ommium Cultural. Available: http://www.columbia.edu/~xs23/papers/independ%20english.htm. Accessed: 8 October 2007.

Südekum, Jens (2005). Normative and Positive Problems of Regional Policies. In Bradley, John, Petrakos, George & Traistaru, Iulia (Eds.) Integration, Growth and Cohesion in an Enlarged European Union, ZEI Studies in European Economics and Law, Volume 7, Chapter 12, pp. 313-328.

Sutcliffe, Anthony (1998). The Urbanization of Europe since 1500. In R.A. Butlin and R.A. Dodgshon (eds), An Historical Geography of Europe: 300-310. London: Oxford University Press. The tiger  tamed. In The Economist (12 December 2002): 29.

Weiss, Meredith (2002). The Basque Nationalist Movement. The MacMillan Center – Yale University. Available: www.yale.edu/macmillan/globalization/basque.pdf . Accessed: 8 October 2007.