Topics in Advanced Macroeconomics

This course deals with: (i) the origins of economic inequality, and (ii) the design and effectiveness of public policy in the presence of heterogeneity. To tackle these questions we are going to utilize computer simulated economic environments populated by agents who differ from each other in terms of luck and/or innate factors such as ability to learn or produce in the labor market. Due to these differences and the consequent actions of the agents, the models generate different patterns of income, wealth and consumption inequality. The main goals of the course are: (i) to introduce you to the major prototypes of heterogeneous agents models used in quantitative macroeconomics, and (ii) to show you how such models can be used for studying various economic questions related to inequality, education, fertility, and labor market participation