Winter 2009 Advance Course Information

This information effective for winter 2009. Check with instructor the first day of class for any changes.

Economics

[ ECON-120 ] [ ECON-176B ] [ ECON-183 ]

120. Development Economics.

Instructor: Jonathan Robinson
Phone: 9-5618 (office), fax: 831.459-5077
Office: Engineering 2, 457
Web site: http://people.ucsc.edu/~jmrtwo/
E-mail: jmrtwo@ucsc.edu

Information for this course is at http://people.ucsc.edu/~jmrtwo/teaching/

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176B. Game Theory and Applications II.

Instructor: Daniel Friedman
Phone: 9-4981 (office), fax: 831.459-5077
Office: 417 Engineering 2
Office hours: TBA
Web site: http://leeps.ucsc.edu/people/Friedman/
E-mail: dan@ucsc.edu

Note: This course is also taught as CMPS 166B and BIOL 176B.

Class Meetings: The class meets Tu Th 10-11:45am in TBA.

Course Description

This is a second course in modern game theory with applications in the social sciences as well as in biology and computer science. The focus is on evolutionary games and spatial games, and on simulation techniques. Students are expected to have completed the first course, Econ/Cmps166A /Bio 176A, or have an equivalent background.

Students will be evaluated on biweekly homework assignments and participation (25%), a midterm exam (25%) and the team project (50%). Each student will join a 3-5 person team that includes students from different majors. Each team will engage in original research applying game theory to a question of interest, and will present the results orally and in a term paper.

Required Texts

The primary text is a draft of Evolutionary Games in Nature, Computers and Society by Friedman and Sinervo [denoted FS below], available on the class website, http://leeps.ucsc.edu/classes/166b. Supplementary texts will available on 2-hour reserve at the Science Library. Other materials will appear on the class website.

Classroom Accommodations

If you qualify for classroom accommodations because of a disability, please get an Accommodation Authorization from the Disability Resource Center (DRC) and submit it to me in person outside of class (e.g., during office hours) within the first two weeks of the quarter. Contact DRC at 459-2089 (voice), 459-4806 (TTY), or http://drc.ucsc.edu/ for more information.

Tentative Schedule

1. Jan 6, 8. Topics: Basic evolutionary dynamics: fitness, replicator equation, memes and genes, etc. with no strategic interdependence. Readings:  FS, Ch 1. Nowak, Ch 2-4.
   
   
2. Jan 13, 15. Topics: Strategic interaction and frequency dependence. Interior equilibria. HD, Stag Hunt, etc. Estimating replicator dynamics from RPS data. Readings: FS, Ch 2. Nowak, Ch 5-8.

Problem Set #1 and term project prospectus due in class Thursday Jan 15.

3. Jan 20, 22. Topics: ESS and NE. Comparative statics. Continuous strategy spaces. Zero sum games. Readings: FS: Ch 3. Harrington: Ch 4-8.

4. Jan 27, 29. Topics: Coevolution. Two population games. Games in Ecology: Competition, Predator-Prey, Plant-Pollinator. Two sex games and sexual selection. Zero sum games. Readings: FS, Ch 4. Website supplements, Bomze and TBA.

Problem Set #2 and term project partial draft (including literature survey and section sketches) due in class Thursday Jan 29.

5. Feb 3, 5. Topics: Spatial games. Networks. Cellular automata. Simulation techniques. Readings: FS, Ch 5.  Website supplements, Shaked et al and TBA. 

Midterm exam in class Tuesday, February 10.

6. Feb 10, 12. Topics: Bargaining and Cooperative Game Theory. Readings: Osborne, selected chapters. Camerer, selected chapters.
   
   
7. Feb 17, 19. Topics: Evolution of cooperation. Inclusive fitness. Reciprocity. Moral system. The Price Equation. Readings: FS, Ch 7. Web supplements TBA.

Term project first draft due in class Thursday February 19.

8. Feb 24, 26.  Topics: Mimicry. Sexual selection and runaway dynamics. Positive frequency dependent selection. Speciation games. Readings: FS, Ch 7. Web supplements TBA.

Penultimate draft of term project due in class Tuesday March 3.

9. Mar 3, 5. Topics: Project presentations.
   
   
10. Mar 10, 12. Topics: Project presentations.

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183. Women and Men in the Economy.

Instructor: Lori Kletzer
Phone: 9-3596
Office: 439 Engineering 2
Office hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00-11:00 a.m., or by appointment.
Web site: http://people.ucsc.edu/~lkletzer/
E-mail: lkletzer@ucsc.edu

Note: This course is also taught as LGST 183.

Course Description

This course examines the roles of women and men in the American economy. One of my key objectives is to help you learn how to apply the theoretical and empirical tools of economics in understanding the circumstances of women and men in economic life.  The principal vantage point is mainstream economics, but alternative economic perspectives are drawn upon, as are insights from history and some of the other social sciences.
 
In this course I expect students to: improve analytical skills in order to apply economic theory to gender-related issues; demonstrate oral communication skills through class discussions; and improve written communication skills through written analysis and research papers.

There will be two books for the course, one is certain and the second not yet determined:

• The Economics of Women, Men and Work by Francine D. Blau, Marianne Ferber, and Anne E. Winkler, Pearson Prentice-Hall, 5th edition, 2006 (noted below as BFW). ISBN 0-13-185154-3. 

I have placed on reserve at McHenry Library a few other books that you might find interesting and useful during the quarter:

• In pursuit of equity: women, men and the quest for economic citizenship in 20th century America, by Alice Kessler-Harris, Oxford University Press, 2001.
• Out to work: a history of wage-earning women in the United States, by Alice Kessler-Harris, Oxford University Press, 1982.
• The Economics of Gender by Joyce Jacobsen, Blackwell Publishing, 2004. 

Requirements and Grading
 
This course is a “W” course; the requirements include substantial writing (including first drafts and rewrites).

Your grade will based on a midterm exam (15%), a 10-12 page research paper (25%), 4 short (3-5 page) review papers (48%), and class participation (12%).  Class participation includes peer editing of papers.
 
The research paper must be on a topic relevant to the course.  I will be available for consultation on topics and I will provide a list of suggestions.  All topics must be approved by me no later than January XX.  I encourage you to use your imagination (and my help).  No reasonable topic will be rejected.  Papers with social policy relevance are encouraged.  The paper's format is flexible.  Among the possible formats are a position paper, a report on original research, a secondary data analysis, or a critical review and synthesis of several major writings on a topic. Research papers will be due at the last class meeting. More information to follow on the research paper.
 
I will be more specific about the short papers during our first class meetings. The fourth (and last) of these papers will be a book review. I will provide suggestions for books, as well as guidance for writing the review. 
 
Writing will be evaluated with reference to form as well as content.  This means that grammar, syntax, spelling and organization count. 
 
Other points
 
In addition to reading the two main books and our supplemental readings, I encourage you to read a daily newspaper on a regular basis. The New York Times is available free on-line at www.nytimes.com , and I am arranging for discounted subscriptions to the print version for the quarter.  As often as possible, and probably every day, I will talk about "real world" issues.  Some parts of the course are best covered in a traditional lecture format, and other parts will involve extensive class discussion.  At all times you are expected to be active learners in the sense of participating in class discussions, keeping up with the required reading, and engaging in outside-of-class reading, thinking, and writing. I expect you to complete the assigned readings before class.  
 
Course website
 
I will use WebCT to manage the course. The course website will provide important information and acess to additional supplemental readings. Readings available on the course web page are denoted CWP/WebCT. The URL for WebCT is:
 
http://ic.ucsc.edu/webct
 
If you are unfamiliar with WebCT, the WebCT ID and password will be the same as your UCSC login and password (used to check your email). For example, if a student's email address was jrsmith@ucsc.edu, the user would use jrsmith as their WebCT ID and the password used is the same as the one used to check the account's email.

Class Schedule and Reading list
 
 
1.  Introduction 

 January 8

• “Behind the Pay Gap,” AAUW Educational Foundation, April 2007, CWP/WebCT  10: BFW, Chapter 2 AND
• Jacobsen, Joyce, Chapter 1, The Economics of Gender, 3rd ed, 2007, CWP/WebCT

2. Brief Review of economic principles

January 15

• Fundamental principles of Microeconomics will play an important part in our analysis.  See your textbook from Economics 100A or any good substitute in the library on at least the following topics: (1) Supply and Demand; (2) Elasticity; (3) Consumer demand theory--indifference curves; (4) Theory of the firm—production
• BFW, Chapter 1 (including appendix) and Jacobsen, Chapter 1 appendix

3. Women's Labor Force Participation

January 17, 22

• BFW, Chapter 4 and appendix.
• Goldin, Claudia, Understanding the Gender Gap, chapter 2
• (CWP/WebCT) Goldin, Claudia. 2006. “The Quiet Revolution that Transformed Women’s Employment, Education and Family,” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, May. 

4.  Gender Differences in Occupations and Earnings

January 24 - 31

• BFW, Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8
• Goldin, Claudia, Understanding the Gender Gap, chapter 3
• (CWP/WebCT) Blau, Francine D. and Lawrence M. Kahn. 2000. “Gender Differences in Pay,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Fall): 75-99.
• (CWP/WebCT) Goldin, Claudia and Cecelia Rouse. 2000. “Orchestrating Impartiality: The Effect of ‘Blind’ Auditions on Female Musicians,” American Economic Review, Vol. 90, No. 4.

5.  Household Production, Family, Children

February 5, 7, 12 

• BFW, Chapters 3, 9
• (CWP/WebCT) Goldin, Claudia and Lawrence F. Katz. 2000. “Career and Marriage in the Age of the Pill,” American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings, Vol. 90, No. 2 May, pp: 461-465. 
• (CWP/WebCT) Bianchi, Suzanne M. 2000. “Maternal Employment and Time with Children: Dramatic Change or Surprising Continuity?,” Demography, Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 401-414
• Goldin, Claudia, Understanding the Gender Gap, chapters 5, 6

Midterm Exam – February 14

6.  Women, Poverty, and Public Policy 

February 19, 21 

• BFW, chapter 10, pgs. 326-340
• (CWP/WebCT) Raphael, Steven, 2007, “Boosting the Earnings and Employment of Low-Skilled Workers in the United States: Making Work Pay and Removing Barriers to Employment and Social Mobility,” in A Future of Good Jobs: America’s Challenge in the Global Economy, Timothy Bartik and Susan Houseman, eds., Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, forthcoming
• (CWP/WebCT) Holzer, Harry J., 2007, “Better Worker for Better Jobs: Improving Worker Advancement in the Low-Wage Labor Market,” Discussion Paper 2007-17, Hamilton Project, The Brookings Institution, December. 

7.  Work/Family Issues and Public Policy

February 26, 28

• BFW, Chapter 10
• Goldin, Claudia, Understanding the Gender Gap, chapter 7

Additions:

• (CWP/WebCT) Phillips, Katherin Ross. 2004. “Getting Time Off: Access to leave among Working Parents,” The Urban Institute, April.
• (CWP/WebCT) Winston, Pamela. 2007. “Meeting Responsibilities at Work and Home,” The Urban Institute, May.

8. Gender Differences – International Perspectives 

 March 4

• BFW, Chapter 11

9.  Gender in Economic Analysis  

March 6, 11

• (CWP/WebCT) McCall, Leslie. “Increasing Class Disparities Among Women and the Politics of Gender Equity,”

10. Research Paper Summaries

 March 13

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