Demonstration Lectures on Inequality, Mobility, and Efficiency 2400-ZEWW957

The topics of (i) inequality, (ii) mobility, and (iii) efficiency are at the frontiers of research in social sciences in general, and economic sciences in particular. In this course, each of these topics will be explored and modeled by means of a substantial example. (i) We will develop novel insights into how to measure inequality, integrate a measure of inequality in a social welfare function, and transform a measure of inequality into a social welfare function. (ii) We will study location choices where the movement between regions is governed by social preferences rather than by income differentials. (iii) Joint savings is an intriguing form of financial engineering, a form of micro-financing by which people who have limited or no access to formal financial markets can expedite the acquisition of a desired (often indivisible) good. We will explore how this is to be done efficiently, that is, we will identify optimal group arrangements for co-saving.