INEQUALITY AND INSTITUTIONS - Economic, social, and political frictions

Institutions and social frictions (associated with inequalities, political conflicts, corruption, and cultural polarization) have emerged as central themes in economics. This course takes stock of existing research and moves on to draw the outline of the current research frontier. What are the recent trends in global and regional inequality ? How do these trends relate to political cleavages and institutions ? How do understudied, such as identities and customs, interact with formal institutions ?

The program approaches these questions by drawing on rigorous empirical research and theoretical insights in two core modules. « Inequality and development » presents global and regional trends in inequality based on the work of the World Inequality Lab at PSE. « Models of Cultural Dynamics and Social Identity » highlights how informal institutions interact with economic and social frictions. In addition, three shorter modules investigate how political cleavages, political institutions, corruption, and media interact with economic frictions. The objective of the program is to equip you with the background and tools you need as a researcher to contribute to this dynamic field.

Ambitions :

Offering new perspectives on economic inequality, its interaction with social and political frictions, as well as the role of political institutions.

Prerequisites :

This course is aimed at graduates in economics with strong empirical and theoretical skills.

Main concepts/theories/software… learned during the program :

Inequality, political cleavages, identity, institutions, culture, corruption.

Skills acquired thanks to the program :

This course gets you up to speed with the existing academic literature. It presents research methods, data sources, theories, and it takes stock of the empirical evidence on inequality and institutional development. On that basis, it identifies the research frontier on this topic.

How will MA and PhD students benefit from this program :

The program will help you to improve your research skills by introducing key concepts and critically introducing you to recent research. It will help you identify research questions and methodologies.

How will professionals benefit from this program :

The program allows you to gain a broader perspective on inequality based on recent academic work. But, it also expands your analytical skills by engaging critically with research questions and methodologies.

Two modes of participation are offered for the 2024 Edition :

• In person, taking into account the highest sanitary measures to protect the participants and professors. On site, our parisian campus offers teaching and logistics space : classrooms, teaching theater, garden, coffee and lunch breaks facilities...
• Online, proposing interactive lectures in real time and, beyond, online office hours with professors to facilitate interactions. PSE offers technologies and process that will ensure high quality communication for online participants, both with professors and with other participants.
• For all the participants, full sets of lecture notes and presentations will be made available, as well as the recordings of the courses.
• This program is equivalent to 3 ECTS credits, which PSE validates.

Contents – Inequality and Institutions :

• Who are the professors ?
• Program content
• Schedule
• Application and fees
• Online payment
• Contact and FAQ’s