Master’s programme in Economic Growth, Population and Development

When applying to this programme you select one of three tracks:

• Economic History Track
• Economic Demography Track
• Economic Development Track

Knowledge of the past is essential for understanding today’s world and shaping the future. In the Economic History track, you will develop advanced insights into the long-term development of societies. By combining analytical tools from economics and the social sciences with a contextual understanding of conditions in the past, you will become able to use the accumulated human experience to solve current-day problems. Central themes studied are growth, stagnation, crises and distribution of resources.

Changes in population have an impact on everything from taxes, school systems, labour markets and health care to marketing and sales of products and services. The Economic Demography track will provide you with theory, methods and skills necessary to explain a number of social and economic phenomena. Key topics include mortality and the demographic transition, the labour market, migration patterns and health issues. The programme enables you to better understand and tackle global issues tied to employment, welfare and public health.

Economic development essentially rests on three pillars: income per capita growth, distribution of the fruits of growth and structural change. The interaction of these elements constitutes the process of development. The Economic Development track will engage students in a variety of aspects and analyses of how and why the process of development in some places gets underway and in other places tends to stall. The programme will cover debates and theories on the reasons for economic backwardness and successful catching up, the institutional underpinnings of long term growth, as well as qualitative and quantitative techniques in managing and modelling empirical material.