science

Matti Pohjola

Matti Pohjola is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Matti Pohjola rather than just read about it. In short: Matti Tapani Pohjola (born 4 November 1950) is a Finnish economist. He is a noted economist working on the economics of growth, productivity, technological change, and most notably information and communications technology.

Key takeaways

Matti Pohjola belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Matti Pohjola to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Matti Pohjola from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Matti Tapani Pohjola (born 4 November 1950) is a Finnish economist. He is a noted economist working on the economics of growth, productivity, technological change, and most notably information and communications technology. He is a professor at the Helsinki School of Economics since 1992 and is the editor of the Finnish Economic Journal. Pohjola is the deputy director of the World Institute for Development Economics Research (WIDER), United Nations University, and since 1992 Professor of Economics, Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration. Born in Huruksela, Kymi, he graduated in 1973 from Tampere University as Master of Science in Social Sciences (yhteiskuntatieteiden maisteri). He obtained in 1976 from Tampere University the postgraduate degree of Licentiate of Science in Social Sciences. He holds a PhD Degree from the University of Cambridge, since 1981. Pohjola has contributed to a number of research areas in economics, including applications of chaotic dynamic systems and dynamic game theory, labour economics, environmental economics, and economic growth. He has recently edited a volume entitled Information Technology, Productivity, and Economic Growth: International Evidence and Implications for Economic Development published by Oxford University Press (2001) and a special issue on the New Economy to be published in Information Economics and Policy in June 2002. His current research focuses on the impacts of the New Economy on productivity and economic growth and on the factors affecting the adoption and diffusion of information and communication technology.

Selected publications Social Corporatism: A Superior Economic System?, Clarendon Press 1991 (edited with Jukka Pekkarinen and Bob Rowthorn)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Matti Pohjola

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Matti Pohjola claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Matti Pohjola before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Matti Pohjola ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Matti Pohjola

In research: Matti Pohjola appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Matti Pohjola in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Matti Pohjola is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1950 births, 20th-century Finnish economists, 21st-century Finnish economists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Matti Pohjola outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Matti Pohjola in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Matti Pohjola means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Matti Pohjola out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Matti Pohjola in simple terms?

Why does Matti Pohjola matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Matti Pohjola?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Matti Pohjola.