Economic History and Inequality

Students who complete this course will be able to:

• identify the main factors and stages of global economic development after 1500
• to explain theories connecting economic growth, inequality and institutions
• to understand how economic principles can explain global patterns of industrialization and the integration of the global economy
• to discuss the relationships between economic growth, standards of living and inequality

Students admitted to study programmes at UiO must each semester register which courses and exams they wish to sign up for in Studentweb.

Students not admitted to the Master’s programme in Economics or the Master’s programme in Economic Theory and Econometrics (Samfunnsøkonomisk analyse), can apply for admission to one of our study programmes, or apply for guest student status.

Lectures and seminars.

The course is structured around lectures and seminar discussions. The lectures provide a broad overview over the topics both for students who take the course for the bachelor degree and for students who take the course for the master degree. There will be separate seminars for the two groups of students. The basic goal for both seminar series is to help students understand how one can bridge the gap between economics and economic history.

The master seminars for ECON4951 offer a possibility to specialize in a few listed topics or periods. Students are expected to explore the historical processes more in depth and, when feasible, to use statistical and economic methods more than the lectures. Each seminar centers on a critical discussion of material prepared by students. Parts of the seminars discuss how to write an essay and how to acquire further skills in economic history.

The course responsible can at the beginning of the semester update the syllabus list by changing no more than three articles, though in a way that it will not change the overall scope or thematic content of the course.

The syllabus also includes any lecture notes that will be made available for the students in Canvas.

The examination consists of a take home exam over five days, and an oral exam. The take home exam may be built on the student’s specialization. Both the written assignment and the oral exam will together determine your grade in ECON4951. You will receive your grade after the oral exam.

Home exam

You will have five days to write and submit your exam paper.

The take home exam will not be the same as in ECON2951.

Oral exam

The oral exam will be held before Christmas. Each candidate will have 15 minutes with the committee.

The purpose of the examination is:

• to confirm that students indeed wrote the home exam themselves
• to investigate students` understanding of the topic

Thus, the questions that will be posed during the oral examination will be linked to the home exam paper and will inquire about the relevant knowledge, skills and competencies of the student.

Immediately after the oral examination, the committee will set the final grade. Students are then notified and given a short explanation. The grade will be based on the home exam paper, and will also take account of the performance at the oral examination.

Previous exams and examiner guidelines

Exam papers with comments from examiner

If you are sick or have another valid reason for not attending the regular exam, we offer a postponed exam later in the same semester.

See further information about resitting an exam.

Students who wish to retake the exam in a later semester are not guaranteed that the course will be given with the same content and syllabus, or that the examination scheme will be the same.