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- Code:
- ECOM-G313
- Field:
- Macroeconomics
- Target:
- Master’s students
- Organiser:
- University of Helsinki - Economics
- Instructor:
- Timm Prein
- Period:
- Period 1
- Format:
- Participation in teaching
- Method:
- Contact teaching
- Venue:
- Economicum
- Enrollment:
Equivalent to ECOM-G313 Macroeconomics 2
In case of conflicting information consider the Sisu/Course/Moodle pages the primary source of information.
Aalto, Hanken and UH economics students can enroll through their home university’s SISU. Further instructions are available on the How to enroll? page, also for students from other universities.
If you would like to count the credits towards your degree, please check your curriculum or contact your supervisor or student services for guidance.
- To access the Moodle course area, use all the features and participate in the activities (assignments, discussions), you must have successfully registered for the course in Sisu and logged in with your UH user ID.
- For more information on how to activate your UH user ID and register for a Moodle course area, click here.
Content
The course provides a rigorous introduction to dynamic macroeconomic theory and its applications to growth and business cycle analysis. The course develops analytical frameworks for studying intertemporal decisions by households and firms, with particular attention to life-cycle consumption and labor supply behavior, the influence of uncertainty, and investment dynamics under the q-theory of investment. These microfoundations are integrated into a real business cycle (RBC) model used to examine the propagation of technology shocks and the sources of aggregate fluctuations. Further, the course extends the Solow growth model to incorporate human capital accumulation and natural resource constraints.
Emphasis is placed on both analytical and numerical techniques for solving dynamic optimization problems. The course establishes a core theoretical basis for advanced study in monetary economics, labor market dynamics, and macroeconomic policy.
Learning outcomes
After the course, the student should
- explain the life-cycle income hypothesis and how it influences individual consumption patterns and labor supply decisions over lifetime.
- show how uncertainty in economic variables influences households’ consumption and saving decisions based on consumption theory.
- explain the principles of the q-theory of investment and evaluate its effectiveness in predicting investment behavior.
- set up and solve a real business cycle model and critically assess the role of technology in business cycles.
- modify the basic Solow model to incorporate factors such as education and natural resources and evaluate the implications for long-term economic growth.