The course aims at discussing and analysing the process of economic European integration. Main topics: developments in markets integration and their effects on economic growth; localization of economic activities in the EU; the OCA theory; the macroeconomics of European integration: economic policies after the recent economic crisis; the EU budget and reforming proposals; the integration of financial markets and the capital markets union.
The textbook for this course is Baldwin-Wyplosz (2015), The Economics of European Integration, Fifth Edition, Mc-Graw Hill. Chapters 1-3, 7, 10, 12-19
Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, L’euro in prospettiva storica, (doi: 10.1402/1268), il Mulino (ISSN 0027-3120), Fascicolo 1, gennaio-febbraio 2002 (downloadable from moodle)
Franklin Allen and Luboš Pástor (2018), The Capital Markets Union: Key Challenges, CEPR Discussion Paper, DP12761 (downloadable from moodle)
These references should be integrated by other materials (papers, reports, articles, institutional documents) made available on the e-learning page of the course. To get the keyword to access the page, please ask the teacher.
Learning Objectives
Knowing and Understanding the economic theories and the main characteristics of economic institutions and macroeconomic governance in the European Union.
Abilities at the end of the course: 1) to critically analyze and discuss the theoretical foundations of institutional framework and governance of economic policies in the European Union; 2) to have a critical autonomous thinking on the opportunity and the design of reforming the existing framework and on the future perspectives of the economic integration process; 3) to search the literature on the topics of the course and to exploit it at professional level; 4) to effectively communicate with appropriate specific language.
Prerequisites
Macroeconomics and international economics.
This is an essential requirement also for Erasmus and foreign students as well as for students of other degrees at the University of Florence.
Teaching Methods
Lectures and seminars with Italian and foreign experts. To apply the knowledge and abilities acquired during the course, students are expected to prepare an oral presentation (supported with slides) as a group or individual work to analyse selected papers of the related literature suggested by the teacher.
Further information
The course syllabus is available on the Moodle page of the course. This page is open until September 2019, at the beginning of the new academic year.
Attending and non-attending students are encouraged to download the slides of the lectures and all other materials available on the platform. The key of the course to access the Moddle page should be asked to the teacher.
Type of Assessment
For all students (attending and non attending), the final exam consists of a written exam (in Italian) with four essay questions on the course topics (2 hours) and an oral presentation (supported with slides) on papers from the related scientific literature suggested by the teacher (20-30 minutes).
In the written exam, students should show: knowledge of the course topics and ability to organize and present this knowledge with the correct use of language and glossary specific of the economic discipline; the ability to critically analize the issues which are relevant for the topic; the ability to apply the knowledge to specific cases and to use them to design future scenario of the process of economic integration in the EU.
In the oral presentation, students should show: tha ability to apply the knowledge acquired during the course to scientific papers from the related literature; the ability to critically compare the papers; the ability to select and summarize the key issues of the topics; the ability to effectively communicate both visually and orally these issues.
For attending students, the oral presentation takes place in class during the third module. Non-attending students deliver their presentation on the same day of the written exam. These students should contact the teacher to receive the papers and instructions for the presentations.
The final score of the exam is computed with a weight of 2/3 for the written exam and a weight of 1/3 for the oral presentation. Grades for both exams are expressed in thirtieths.
A mid-term exam is organized after the first two modules of lectures and it consists in written exam as described above.
Course program
The course is divided into three modules as follows:
First and second modules
General introduction to the process of European economic integration. Effects of economic integration in the EU and economic growth. Localisation of economic activities: the new economic geography. The OCA theory. The economic governance in the European Union: fiscal federalism principles for fiscal rules. Fiscal policy in a monetary union. The Stability and Growth Pacts and its evolution in time. The Cyclically-Adjusted Budget Balance (CAB). The economic governance after the economic crisis. The European Semester, the Euro-Plus Pact, , Six-Pack, Two-Pack. Fiscal Compact. The European budget. The integration of financial markets and the capital markets union.
Third module
Oral presentations of attending students based upon articles from the scientific literature on topics of the course.