“Demonstration Lectures on Inequality, Mobility, and Efficiency” A course by Professor Oded Stark
06 02 2025
“Demonstration Lectures on Inequality, Mobility, and Efficiency”
A course by Professor Oded Stark
In May 2025, a two-week course entitled “Demonstration Lectures on Inequality, Mobility, and Efficiency” will be given at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw by Professor Oded Stark (introduced below).
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.
The main purpose of the course is to induce the participants to think rigorously, creatively, and in non-conventional ways on various novel approaches to the modeling of choices and consequences. Following the course, the participants are expected to be more at ease with deciphering theoretical research on the interface between social sciences, and at engaging in such research themselves. Participants will be exposed to protocols of social science modeling in general, and to the workings of applied microeconomic theory in particular.
Format of the course: One week of lectures, to be followed by one week of supervised writing of rejoinders to / comments on recent / newly published articles.
Professor Stark is a Professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw. Professor Stark is Doctor honoris causa (University of Warsaw), a Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Poland) Lifetime Achievement Awardee, and a Presidential Professor of Economics (Poland). Professor Stark is a prolific researcher whose outstanding work has been published and cited in top economics journals. In the RePEc / IDEAS ranking of economics professors in Poland he is listed top: https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.poland.html => Authors. As of February 2025, Professor Stark has 60 articles published in internationally refereed outlets co-authored with Polish Ph.D. students / young Polish scholars.
The “Demonstration Lectures on Inequality, Mobility, and Efficiency” course is qualified as a “Specialisation classe offered by the particular discipline” in accordance with the 2019 study program, and as advanced specialist class in a discipline in accordance with the 2023 study program.
The course will be held in an intensive manner during May 19, 2025 – May 30, 2025. The schedule of the course is displayed below.
Registration for the course can be done via e-mailing to: Przemysław Mroczkowski p.mroczkowski@uw.edu.pl Registration for the course can be done until April 25, 2025.
Course schedule
May 19, 2024 – May 30, 2025
Duration of the course: Two weeks
| 1st week
15 hours |
Monday
3.00 pm – 4.45 pm |
Tuesday
3.00 pm – 4.45 pm |
Wednesday
no lecture |
Thursday
3.00 pm – 4.45 pm |
Friday
3.00 pm – 4.45 pm
|
2nd week
Supervised writing of rejoinders to / comments on recent / newly published articles.