GV907-7-AU-CO:
Comparative Political Economy
2024/25
Government
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Postgraduate: Level 7
Current
Thursday 03 October 2024
Friday 13 December 2024
15
22 April 2024
Requisites for this module
(none)
GV947
(none)
(none)
GV947
MA L20612 Political Economy,
MA L206EB Political Economy,
MA L206EK Political Economy,
MRESL20624 Political Economy,
MSC L20612 Political Economy,
MSC L206EB Political Economy,
MSC L206EK Political Economy,
MSC L16512 Quantitative International Development
This is a graduate course on comparative political economy. The course is divided into different themes addressing how domestic politics affect domestic economics, as well as the reverse: how domestic and economics affect domestic politics. For example, we will cover how domestic politics affect areas like industrial/labour policy, fiscal/debt policy, and social/regional transfers. We also examine how domestic and economics affect areas like voting preferences and electoral behaviour, party systems and political stability, redistribution and the welfare state. The class emphasizes core theoretical insights, using them to delve into traditional and more recent theoretical and empirical debates. The module also emphasizes research using quantitative methods to test theoretical arguments.
The aims of this module are:
- To introduce students to contemporary scholarly research on political economy topics.
- To introduce students to key models in political science and their substantive applications.
- To stimulate students to form original ideas for promising quantitative research projects in the area of contemporary political economy.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Read, understand, and evaluate quantitative analyses and scholarly work published in the leading journals.
- Understand evaluation methods for particular research questions, research designs, and variables.
- Measure variables of interest and conduct empirical analyses using various statistical methods.
- Analyse quantitative data.
- Complete a replication activity and present it.
Transferable Skills
Students will require, use and develop the following key skills:
- Transfer of ideas: Students will be helped to follow and assess quantitative research in other modules – parties and elections, comparative politics, IR, and so on.
- Improving independent learning and performance: Students will learn to address their own research topics in a quantitative framework with an eye towards scholarly publication.
- Communication, interaction, and peer review: Classes involve not only questions from me but also group discussions; students are required to give formal feedback to other students in written form.
- Writing: Students learn how to theorize, generate empirically testable hypotheses, and report on and discuss results of quantitative analyses.
The module is the core module for students on the MA/MSC/MRes in Political Economy and can be taken as an option by students on other Masters courses in the Department of Government.
The module will be delivered via:
- One two-hour class per week.
The module will run over 10 weeks.
.
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Milgrom, P.R., North, D.C. and Weingast*, B.R. (1990) ‘The Role, of Institutions in the Revival of Trade: The Law Merchant, Private Judges, and the Champaign Fairs’,
Economics & Politics, 2(1), pp. 1–23. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0343.1990.tb00020.x.
-
Ostrom, Elinor (no date) ‘Collective Action and the Evolution of Social Norms’,
Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3), pp. 137–158. Available at:
https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1257/jep.14.3.137.
-
Carles Boix (2003) ‘Endogenous Democratization’,
World Politics, 55(4), pp. 517–549. Available at:
https://muse-jhu-edu.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/article/49855.
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Bruce Bueno de Mesquita & Alastair Smith (2009) ‘Political Survival and Endogenous Institutional Change’,
Comparative Political Studies, 42(2). Available at:
http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?public=false&handle=hein.journals/compls42&id=162.
-
Svolik, M.W. (2013) ‘Learning to Love Democracy: Electoral Accountability and the Success of Democracy’,
American Journal of Political Science, 57(3), pp. 685–702. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12005.
-
Alesina, Alberto (no date) ‘Intergenerational Mobility and Preferences for Redistribution’,
American Economic Review, 108(2), pp. 521–54. Available at:
https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1257/aer.20162015.
-
Alisha C. Holland (no date) ‘Diminished Expectations Redistributive Preferences in Truncated Welfare States’,
World Politics, 70(4). Available at:
http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?public=false&handle=hein.journals/wpot70&id=593.
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Daron Acemoglu, James A. Robinson (1199) ‘Why Did the West Extend the Franchise? Democracy, Inequality, and Growth in Historical Perspective’,
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(4), pp. 1167–1199. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/2586922?sid=primo.
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MARK ANDREAS KAYSER, MICHAEL PERESS (2012) ‘Benchmarking across Borders: Electoral Accountability and the Necessity of Comparison’,
The American Political Science Review, 106(3), pp. 661–684. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/23275439?sid=primo.
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‘Mecro-Economic Voting: Local Information and Micro-Perceptions of the Macro...’ (2014)
Economics & Politics [Preprint]. Available at:
https://web-p-ebscohost-com.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=0&sid=5b5d7278-285a-4195-b2bd-b658fa021c51@redis.
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Gene M. Grossman, Elhanan Helpman (1994) ‘Protection for Sale’,
The American Economic Review, 84(4), pp. 833–850. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/2118033.
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Maria Popova (2010) ‘Political Competition as an Obstacle to Judicial Independence: Evidence From Russia and Ukraine’,
Comparative Political Studies, 43(10). Available at:
http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?public=false&handle=hein.journals/compls43&id=1172.
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Strong, C. and Yayi, C.L. (2023) ‘The political affiliation of central bankers and government debt: Evidence from Africa’,
International Review of Economics & Finance, 85, pp. 603–620. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2023.02.016.
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Mattozzi, A. and Merlo, A. (2008) ‘Political careers or career politicians?’,
Journal of Public Economics, 92(3–4), pp. 597–608. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2007.10.006.
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Baerg, N.R., Gray, J. and Willisch, J. (2021) ‘Opportunistic, not Optimal Delegation: The Political Origins of Central Bank Independence’,
Comparative Political Studies, 54(6), pp. 956–988. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414020957679.
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Cesi Cruz, Julien Labonne, Pablo Querubín (3037) ‘Politician Family Networks and Electoral Outcomes: Evidence from the Philippines’,
The American Economic Review, 107(10), pp. 3006–3037. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/44871776?sid=primo.
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Esarey, J. and Schwindt-Bayer, L.A. (2018) ‘Women’s Representation, Accountability and Corruption in Democracies’,
British Journal of Political Science, 48(3), pp. 659–690. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123416000478.
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Figueroa, V. (2021) ‘Political Corruption Cycles: High-Frequency Evidence from Argentina’s Notebooks Scandal’,
Comparative Political Studies, 54(3–4), pp. 482–517. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414020938102.
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Lant Pritchett (1997) ‘Divergence, Big Time’,
The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 11(3), pp. 3–17. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/2138181?sid=primo.
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Laura Alfaro, Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan, Vadym Volosovych (2008) ‘Why Doesn’t Capital Flow from Rich to Poor Countries? An Empirical Investigation’,
The Review of Economics and Statistics, 90(2), pp. 347–368. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/40043150?sid=primo.
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Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, James A. Robinson (1401) ‘The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation’,
The American Economic Review, 91(5), pp. 1369–1401. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/2677930?sid=primo.
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Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. and Robinson, J.A. (2005) ‘Institutions as a Fundamental Cause of Long-Run Growth’, in
Handbook of Economic Growth. Elsevier, pp. 385–472. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0684(05)01006-3.
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Stelios Michalopoulos, Elias Papaioannou (2014) ‘National Institutions and Subnational Development in Africa’,
The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(1), pp. 151–214. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/26372546?sid=primo.
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Edward L. Glaeser, Rafael La Porta, Florencio Lopez-De-Silanes, Andrei Shleifer (2004) ‘Do Institutions Cause Growth?’,
Journal of Economic Growth, 9(3), pp. 271–303. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/40215873?sid=primo.
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Edward Miguel (2004) ‘Tribe or Nation? Nation Building and Public Goods in Kenya versus Tanzania’,
World Politics, 56(3), pp. 327–362. Available at:
https://www-jstor-org.uniessexlib.idm.oclc.org/stable/25054263?sid=primo.
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TAJIMA, Y., SAMPHANTHARAK, K. and OSTWALD, K. (2018) ‘Ethnic Segregation and Public Goods: Evidence from Indonesia’,
American Political Science Review, 112(3), pp. 637–653. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055418000138.
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CRUZ, C., LABONNE, J. and QUERUBÍN, P. (2020) ‘Social Network Structures and the Politics of Public Goods Provision: Evidence from the Philippines’,
American Political Science Review, 114(2), pp. 486–501. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055419000789.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Critical Writing Assignment 1 |
22/10/2024 |
30% |
| Coursework |
Response Paper |
10/12/2024 |
30% |
| Coursework |
Power Point Presentation |
23/12/2024 |
40% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Martin Steinwand, email: martin.steinwand@essex.ac.uk.
Martin Steinwand
Please contact govpgquery@essex.ac.uk
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dr Kyriaki Nanou
Durham University
Associate Professor in European politics
Available via Moodle
Of 14 hours, 12 (85.7%) hours available to students:
2 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
Government
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