The basic machines of macroeconomics. Ramsey, Solow, Samuelson-Diamond, RBCs, ISLM, Mundell-Fleming, Fischer-Taylor. How they work, what shortcuts they take, and how they can be used. Half-term subject. From the course home page: Course Description This half semester class presents an...

The effect of an increase of the education level of the population on innovation and economic growth is an important topic in current political discussions. This thesis quantifies the effect with an empirically grounded system dynamics model distinguishing 30 economic sectors in Germany....

One of the fundamental normative questions within international trade theory is whether free trade is better than autarky and, if so, in what sense and to what extent. Surprisingly, the literature contains just a few formal models constructed under discrete time and investigating the...

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. July 2009. Major: Economics. Advisor: Larry E. Jones. 1 computer file (PDF); xii, 68 pages.

This paper studies the dynamic interaction between human capital accumulation and economic growth. Capital market imperfections and an indivisibility in human capital investment prevent poor agents from accumulating skills, the acquisition of which positively affects technological progress. More...

We consider a Diamond-type model of endogenous growth in which there are three assets: fiat money, government bonds, and equity. Because of productivity shocks, the equity return is uncertain, and risk-averse investors require a positive equity premium. Typically, there exist two steady states,...

We consider a linear growth model with idiosyncratic productivity shocks in which producers cannot commit to repay their loans. Borrowing constraints are determined endogenously by the borrowers’ incentives to repay, assuming that defaulters lose a share of output and are excluded from future...

We construct a two-country North–South Product-cycle model of trade with endogenous growth and trade barriers. We remove the scale effects on growth by incorporating rent protection activities by Northern incumbents. We examine the effects of two forms of globalization – an expansion of the...

We construct a two-country North–South Product-cycle model of trade with endogenous growth and trade barriers. We remove the scale effects on growth by incorporating rent protection activities by Northern incumbents. We examine the effects of two forms of globalization – an expansion of the...

This dissertation presents two essays on endogenous growth and renewable resources. The first essay explores the role of renewable resources in a tractable model of endogenous growth driven by horizontal and vertical innovation in the closed economy. The model is tractable in that it yields a...