MAURIZIO FRANZINI

lectures on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th April are cancelled. 

ECONOMICS OF INSTITUTIONS - 6 CFU

Lectures will start on Monday, February 17th at 2 p.m. in Aula 1D (6th floor- Ala D)

Lectures will be held according to the following schedule: 

 Monday, 2-4 p.m. - Laboratorio Informatico (6th Floor)  

Tuesday, 2-4 ap.m.  - Aula 1D (6th floor- Ala D)

Exams date

May 7th  (restricted)

June 23rd

July 14th

September 9th

October 20th (restricted) 

January 12th 2026

January 26th 2026

Time and rooms will be communicated one week before the exams 

Structure of the Course

Introduction: Institutions and the working of the economic system.

Social Interactions and Institutional Design.

The Self-Organization of Economic Life.

Preferences and Behaviour.

Coordination Failures and Institutional Responses

Decentralized coordination.

Contracts, Norms and Power.

Employment, Unemployment and Wages

Credit market and Wealth contraints

Institutions and recent social and economic problems.

Reference

S. Bowles, Microeconomics - Behaviour, institutions and evolutions, Princeton University Press 2004;  (Prologue, Ch. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8,9). Further specific readings will be provided during the lectures.

Objective of the Course

The Course  has the objective of introducing the students to that branch of research in microeconomic analysis which addresses real world problems and make use of analytical tools and conceptual assumptions foreign to the traditional microeconomic approach. In particular, the student, through the analysys of several models, will learn how important institutions are and in which ways they can influence the working of the economic system.

Registration  to the course

Students are requested to register to the course by sending an email (maurizio.franzini@uniroma1.it)  where they state  ‘I register to the Course of Economics of Institutions’.

Exam

The exam consists in a written test with four broad questions out of which the students have to choose three to answer

To be admitted to take the exam, students are required to register on the Infostud System about one week before the date of the exam.

Students who wish to contact me for explanations and clarifications can write to me at my email address.