A-Z of Economists Useful for Impressing in your A2

Economics Papers

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_____________________
Key Topic
Area

Key Insights Relevant to your A2 Macro

Acemoglu
(Daron)

Institutions

Institutional failures are a key barrier to

development, extractive elites can take most
of the resource rents causing high inequality

Becker
(Gary)

Human
capital

Getting the right incentives to provide and

fund improved human capital is key to
raising productivity and driving innovation

Collier
(Paul)

Development
traps, aid et
al

Has written extensively on development

traps and the policies best suited for nations
to avoid the natural resource curse

Behavioural

Randomized controlled trials can help

increase the effectiveness of aid projects
introduced at a micro level in poor
communities

Easterlin
(Richard)

Living
Standards

The Easterlin paradox is that in many

countries, incomes rising above a certain
threshold bring no significant gain in
happiness

Frank
(Robert)

Inequality
and economic
growth

High inequality can damage growth e.g.

status races to consume positional goods
is an inefficient use of scarce resources

Glaeser
(Ed)

Agglomeratio
n economies

His work focuses on factors that drive the

long run expansion and success of cities
urbanization as a driver of development

Hidalgo
(Cesar)

Information
and network
economics

Countries grow rich by increasing

computational capacity and building
networks of individuals to create new
products

Kuznets
(Simon)

Standard of
living

Kuznets Curve illustrates how higher

income inequality and environmental
damage might be reversed as nations grow

Lewis
(Arthur)

Lewis Turning
Point

Developing countries may see surplus labour

flowing from rural to urban areas diminish
lead to rising wages and unit costs

Mundell
(Robert)

Currency
unions

Devised conditions under which an optimal

currency area might be created focusing on
the need for real economic convergence

Nash (John
Forbes)

Game Theory

Economist

Duflo
(Esther)

Developed understanding of strategies in

games applied at macro for example in

Economist

Key Topic
Area

Key Insights Relevant to your A2 Macro

understanding trade/protectionist disputes

Ostrom
(Elinor)

Social capital

Addressed how communities could create

rules of social behaviour to overcome the
tragedy of the commons

Prebisch
(Raul)

Commodity
prices

Believed that commodity exporters would

eventually see a decline in their real terms of
trade and argued for rapid industrialisation

Quah
(Danny)

Globalisation

Plots the changing centre of gravity in the

world economy the gradual shift of
economic and political power to the south
east

Ricardo
(David)

International
trade

Created the basic theory of comparative

advantage still the bedrock of standard trade
economics

Solow
(Robert)

Economic
growth

Created the Solow neo-classical growth

model which links capital investment &
productivity growth to a nations sustainable
growth rate

Tirole
(Jean)

Concentrated
markets

Built understanding of the dynamics of

monopolistic and oligopolistic markets
arguing for a case by case approach when
regulating them

Van Reenen
(John)

Management
and Human
Capital

Has made extensive studies of the role that

variations in the quality of business
management can have on competitiveness
and growth

Williamson
(Oliver)

Behavioural
theories of
the firm

Helped to build theories of management-run

businesses whose objectives may differ from
owners

Poverty and
growth

Founding Father of the Grameen Bank and

the idea of micro finance now focusing on
the roles that social entrepreneurship can
play

Yunus
(Mohamma
d)