Undergraduate Course: Institutional Economics (ECNM10123)
Course Outline
| School | School of Economics |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course explores the intersection of politics and economics, examining how political institutions, the political environment, and economic systems influence each other. Students will gain a foundational understanding of how economic thinking is applied to political decision-making and how political forces shape economic outcomes. |
| Course description |
This course is designed to explore how institutions¿defined as the formal rules, informal norms, and enforcement mechanisms that shape human interaction¿affect economic outcomes. Through both theoretical models and empirical evidence, students learn how institutions contribute to development, efficiency, and inequality, highlighting the role of legal systems, corruption, and state capacity in shaping economic performance. Case studies from both developed and developing countries illustrate how institutional quality affects investment, innovation, and long-term growth.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2026/27, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
168 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
80 %,
Coursework
0 %,
Practical Exam
20 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Group presentation: 20%
Degree exam: 80% |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Institutional Economics December Exam 2025 | 120 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Display knowledge and understanding of the role played by institutions in the context of economics.
- Display research and investigative skills such as problem framing and solving and the ability to assemble and evaluate complex evidence and arguments.
- Display communication skills in order to critique, create and communicate understanding.
- Display personal effectiveness through task-management, time-management, dealing with uncertainty and adapting to new situations, personal and intellectual autonomy through independent learning.
- Display practical/technical skills such as, modelling skills (abstraction, logic, succinctness), qualitative and quantitative analysis and general IT literacy.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Giacomo De Luca
Tel:
Email: gdeluca@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Sean Barr
Tel:
Email: sean.barr@ed.ac.uk |
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