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Introduction to Economic Growth- I

By Prof.Sohini Sahu   |   IIT Kanpur
Learners enrolled: 460   |  Exam registration: 5
ABOUT THE COURSE:
Why do we observe income disparity across countries? Why do some countries grow faster than others? Why are some countries in a perpetually low growth state? This introductory course tries to bring together the economic models, data and empirical studies that have contributed towards our understanding of the above-mentioned intriguing questions. For each topic, we will rely on data and make cross-country comparisons to match the relevant economic models with real life observations.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Undergraduate students in Economics/Business Economics/Management; Postgraduate students from a non-Economics background/ Any professional who wants to learn more about Economics in general.

PREREQUISITES: Knowledge of Class 12 level Mathematics is desired, but it is not a hard pre-requisite.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: All banking enterprises
Summary
Course Status : Upcoming
Course Type : Elective
Language for course content : English
Duration : 4 weeks
Category :
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Economics
Credit Points : 1
Level : Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date : 17 Feb 2025
End Date : 14 Mar 2025
Enrollment Ends : 17 Feb 2025
Exam Registration Ends : 24 Feb 2025
Exam Date : 04 May 2025 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.


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Course layout

Week 1:  Introduction
 Module 1.1: Why study economic growth
 Module 1.2: Placing this course in context of other courses in Economics
 Module 1.3: The distinction between short-run fluctuations and the long-run economic growth 
 Module 1.4: Course objective, course content, and expected learning outcomes
 Module 1.5: The stylized facts of economic growth

Week 2: Measuring and comparing economic growth
 Module 2.1: GDP at levels versus GDP growth
 Module 2.2:Various methods to measure economic growth
 Module 2.3: Role of proxy variables in measuring economic growth 
 Module 2.4:What can we learn from data
 
Week 3: A framework for analysis
 Module 3.1: An introduction to the Solow Growth Model
 Module 3.2:Augmented Solow Growth Model
 Module 3.3: Policy implications of the Solow Growth Model  
 
Week 4: Convergence, Productivity, and New growth models
 Module 4.1: Unconditional and conditional convergence
 Module 4.2:Growth accounting
 Module 4.3:Development accounting  
 Module 4.4: Limitations of the Solow Growth Model and the emergence of New Growth models
 

Books and references

  1. Economic Growth, David N. Weil, 3rd edition, Prentice Hall, 2012.
  2.  Introduction to Economic Growth, Charles I. Jones and Dietrich Vollrath, 4th edition, W.W. Norton & Co, 2024.

Instructor bio

Prof.Sohini Sahu

IIT Kanpur
Sohini Sahu is an Associate Professor in Economics at the Department of Economic Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), India. She received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Economics from the State University of New York at Albany, USA, and was awarded the Best Dissertation Award by the university. She earned her Master of Arts degree from Delhi School of Economics, India, and obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree from Jadavpur University, India. Sohini was awarded the University Gold Medal for standing first in the order of merit in the B.A Economics program. During the course of her graduate studies in the US, Sohini had worked for the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) at Dallas and the New York State Assembly. Sohini works in the area of macroeconomics and her current research focuses primarily on economic growth and monetary economics. Her work has been published in international journals like European Journal of Political Economy, Economic Modelling, Scientific Reports (Nature), Bulletin of Economic Research, Journal of Behavioral Finance, Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Journal of Economic Studies etc. She teaches macroeconomics and growth economics to undergraduate and graduate students at IITK and has received commendation for teaching multiple times. Sohini advises graduate students who are working in various areas in macroeconomics and till date six of her students have successfully completed the PhD program.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams: May 4, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 3 assignments out of the total 4 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Kanpur .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team


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