ECONOMIC PROCESSES IN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT

This is a course on the basic principles and theories of Economics oriented to the problems of local development.The main purpose is to give a basic knowledge of the economic processes that are crucial to understand local development.

All the students should enroll in this course unless they have a strong and recent economic background in Economics. They are advised to take this course before taking any other course in the economic area of the Program.

We review the fundamentals of economic analysis and political economy in light of a compact presentation of the basics combined with a broader look at economic development. The second purpose is to highlight the local dimension of economic development, focusing on what factors are “local” and how they relate to economics.

To discuss the local dimension we focus on the study of space in economics, on local productive systems, the interaction between local networks and supranational networks and the impact of technology. The role of local actors in the process of development is also considered. That helps to bring into focus the tensions between local development and the process of globalization, looking into the problems faced by local and regional governments and local firms within internationalizing industries.

The course provides also an introduction to the study of the effects of Information and Communication Technologies for location of economic activities and local development projects, therefore determining new phenomena at the local level.