Foundations of Conflict, War, and Peace Economics
Official course title: Economics of War and Peace (Course ID: 2952216)
Tentative Syllabus | Summer 2023 | Page last updated on: 24 July 2023
EBA Program | Faculty of Economics | Chulalongkorn University | Bangkok, Thailand
Instructors: Prof. Shikha Silwal, Ph.D. [Ajarn Shikha] & Prof. Jurgen Brauer, Ph.D. [Ajarn Jurgen]
Level: Intended for 1st year students.
Description: Managing a whole country is difficult. Internal interest groups need to be dealt with. Revolts and uprisings can arise. Rebels threaten established powers, as may terror organizations. Mass atrocities and genocides can and do occur, perhaps in neighboring countries whose refugees now stream to your country. Military alliances with other countries may need to be built, maintained, or changed, and general competition and cooperation with other countries occupy leaders' time. In the midst of peace and security challenges such as these, an economy has to be run, the well-being of the population has to be ensured, and the natural environment to be protected. In a word, a lot of conflict potential needs to be managed and actual conflict resolved. What do economists know about the causes, conduct, and consequences of conflict? How can economists' way of thinking help to make the world more peaceful?
First things first: Welcome to class. We hope that you will have an enjoyable and formative learning experience in this class on economic aspects of conflict, war, and peace.
Class level: Intended for 1st year students.
Class type: Recorded and in-class lectures and discussion.
Class day/time: See the course schedule section on this web page.
Class room: [To be announced]
Class size: Limited to a maximum of 30 students.
Professors: Shikha Silwal, Ph.D. & Jurgen Brauer, Ph.D.
Professor emails: silwals@wlu.edu or jbrauer@duck.com.
Office room/hours: Email us to set up an appointment.
Course websites: https://www.jbrauer.info and links found there.
Grading and grades: The Chulalongkorn grading schedule applies. It is as follows: 90+% = A (Excellent; 4.0 points); 85-89% = B+ (Very Good; 3.5 points); 80-84% = B (Good; 3.0 points); 75-79% = C+ (Fairly Good; 2.5 points); 70-74% = C (Fair; 2.0 points); 65-69% = D+ (Poor; 1.5 points); 60-64% = D (Very poor; 1.0 point); <60% = F (Fail; zero points). It takes extra devotion and diligence to advance to the Very Good or Excellent levels of which the majority of Chula students are quite capable. The average Chulalongkorn economics student can expect to earn a grade of Good, which implies that we do not hesitate to record earned scores of less than that.
Academic honesty, class attendance, and expected classroom behavior: Please refer to the relevant university policies. Academic dishonesty is not tolerated and results in expulsion from class, a failing grade for the entire course, and reporting to the university authorities. Sadly, this has happened in the past, with students suspended from or altogether expelled from Chulalongkorn University. Academic dishonesty is embarrassing, painful, and costly to both students and faculty. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, ghostwriting, plagiarism, or other forms of dishonesty on any assigned work. Enrolling in this course means that you promise and agree not to engage in any form of academic misconduct. You also promise and agree to report other students to your professor and to the EBA Program Director if you know or suspect that a classmate is violating the honesty rule. Classroom behavior that permits unimpeded exchange of academically relevant ideas and views is expected. Unless required for class, turn off cell phones or other electronic devices and put them out of sight.
Textbook: No textbook. Recorded lectures and other materials will serve the purpose.
Assignments:
Negative points for class absence, lateness, or leaving before class is dismissed. (A 1% course grade deduction per event.)
15%. Class preparation and participation.
50%. Lecture journal entries. The entries will be graded on a 4-3-2-1-0 (or A=95, B=85, C=75 , D=65, F=0) basis.
15%. Midterm exam to be taken in class at Chula [details to be announced]
20%. Final exam to be taken in class at Chula [details to be announced]
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Linked files are password protected. The passwords will be announced in class.
Wed 7 June (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 210]
- Overview: course syllabus, process, and assignments
- Lecture 1: Conflict, conflict economics, and a first model (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 2: How economists study conflict: models, data, and statistics (Brauer & Silwal)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
Fri 9 June (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 409]
- Lecture 3: The political ecomomy of conflict: a historical perspective (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 4: Conflict and conflict economics: a contemporary perspective (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Journal assignment, covering lectures 1 to 4 [instructions]
Note: The journal assignment instructions apply to all 28 journal entries.
Mon 12 June (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 210]
- Journal entries 1 to 4 due in class @ 9am BKK time (All students must submit.)
- Lecture 5: The rationalist bargaining theory of war and peace (Anderton)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 6: Behavioral & identity economics (Anderton)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
Wed 14 June (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Lecture 7: More on identity economics (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 8: System effects: scaling up war (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news] [xlsx]
- Journal assignment, covering lectures 5 to 8 [see instructions link above]
Mon 19 June (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Journal entries 5 to 8 due in class @ 9am BKK time (All students must submit.)
- Lecture 9: Manpower: state armed forces (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 10: Manpower: nonstate actors, armed and unarmed (Anderton)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
Wed 21 June (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Lecture 11: Weapons: major conventional weapons (Smith)
-- [lecture script] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 12: Weapons: arms production & trade: to make or to buy? (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Journal assignment, covering lectures 9 to 12 [see instructions link above]
Mon 26 June (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 409]
- Midterm exam (room to be announced) | Grade sheet & midterm exam analysis [here]
- Journal entries 9 to 12 due in class @ 9am BKK time (All students must submit.)
Wed 28 June (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Lecture 13: Getting there: on the geography of conflict (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 14: Staying there: military logistics (van Tuyll)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
Fri 30 June (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Lecture 15: Target choice (Silwal)
-- [lecture script] [news]
- Lecture 16: Terror & counterterror (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Journal assignment, covering lectures 13, 14, and 16 [see instructions link above]
Mon 3 July (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Journal entries 13, 14, and 16 due in class @ 9am BKK time (All students must submit.)
- Lecture 17: Macroeconomic consequences of war (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 18: Microeconomic consequences of war (Swee)
-- [pdf] [mp4] [questions] [news]
-- Note that the slides for L18 are not in pptx but in pdf format (so use "...S_pdf" in the psw pattern).
Wed 5 July (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Lecture 19: Macropolitical consequences of war: tyranny comes home (Coyne)
-- [mp4] [questions] [news] [listen to the first 42 min. of the video]
- Lecture 20: Bioeconomic consequences of war (Brauer & McDougal)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Journal assignment, covering lectures 17 to 20 [see instructions link above]
Mon 10 July (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Journal entries 17 to 20 due in class @ 9am BKK time (All students must submit.)
- Lecture 21: Arms races & alliances (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news] [xlsx]
- Lecture 22: Economic sanctions (with appendix on physical intervention) (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
Wed 12 July (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Lecture 23: Macropolitical aspects of invasion, occupation, and nation-building (Coyne)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 24: Problems of postwar economic reconstruction (Dunne)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Journal assignment, covering lectures 21 to 24 [see instructions link above]
Mon 17 July (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Journal entries 21 to 24 due in class @ 9am BKK time (All students must submit.)
- Lecture 25: Creating stable peace (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 26: Mechanism design & the economics of law (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
Wed 19 July (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 412]
- Lecture 27: The social contract revisited: on the political economy of peace (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [mp4] [questions] [news]
- Lecture 28: Blattman's commandments for would-be peacemakers (Brauer)
-- [pptx] [news]
- Journal assignment, covering lectures 25 to 28 [instructions]
Fri 21 July (9a-12p) [Room: Econ 409]
- Final exam | final exam analysis & course grade sheet [here]
- Journal entries 25 to 28 due in class @ 9am BKK time. (Additionally, all students must submit the final, complete journal with all 28 lecture entries by 9am BKK time by email to both Aj. Shikha & Aj. Jurgen <silwals@wlu.edu> and <jbrauer@duck.com>.)
- Please complete the Chulalongkorn/EBA course evaluation form which will be sent to you separately by email.