Bachelor
2020/2021
Development Economics
Type:
Elective course (HSE/NES Programme in Economics)
Area of studies:
Economics
Delivered by:
HSE/NES Undergraduate Programmes Curriculum Support
Where:
Faculty of Economic Sciences
When:
3 year, 1, 2 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
6
Contact hours:
64
Course Syllabus
Abstract
The course aims at overviewing how the poor live, what trade-offs they face when making choices and whether/when there is scope for policy intervention. In the first part of the course, we will analyze their choices regarding nutrition, education, health, fertility and intra-household bargaining. Most of these choices depend at least partially on the state provision of public goods (social programs, schools/teachers, hospitals/nurses and doctors, basic infrastructures for electricity, among others), so we will take the opportunity to review the evidence on state infrastructures and whether/when/why teachers, nurses and other civil servants fail to deliver these services. In the second part of the course, we will analyze the choices of the poor regarding borrowing & saving, risk & insurance, as well as entrepreneurship (since a large fraction of the poor are selfemployed). Most of these choices depend at least partially on the existence of markets (credit and insurance markets, and land markets for agricultural settings), so there will be an additional focus on whether/when/why these markets may or may not exist, or may/may not function properly. Crucially, we will incorporate some recent insights from recent research in psychology and behavioral economics. In the third part of the course, we will analyze some features of the broader socio-economic environment where the poor often live: post-conflict settings, ethnically cleavages and prevalence of cultural traits that might or might not be an advantage. For each feature, we will review the evidence suggest whether/how they affect the lives of the poor. Depending on the pace we keep to cover these topics as well as the interest of the class, I might cover additional topics such as agriculture, religion and foreign aid.
Learning Objectives
- The aim of the course is to introduce the student to some key ideas in development. Together we will discuss whether/how such ideas were tested.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- be able to summarize empirical evidence on key economic problems of low and middleincome economies
- be able to explain causes and implications of certain policies to alleviate inequalities
- be able to use the tools developed in the class to critically analyze academic articles and to develop own research idea
- be able to utilize different measures of inequalities
- demonstrate the appropriate level of competence in written expression
Course Contents
- Introduction
- Health
- Education
- Infrastructures
- Fertility, intra-household bargaining and gender
- Risk & Insurance Market
- Borrowing, access to the credit and saving
- Entrepreneurship
- Rural-Urban Migration; International Migration
- Ethnic diversity and conflict
- Nutrition
- Foreign Aid
Assessment Elements
- Paper summaries
- Presentation clarity
- Quizzes
- Mid-term test
- Final test or project
- Bonus from in-class participation
- Homework
- Research proposal (for an empirical project)
- Descriptive statistics
- Paper summaries
- Presentation clarity
- Quizzes
- Mid-term test
- Final test or project
- Bonus from in-class participation
- Homework
- Research proposal (for an empirical project)
- Descriptive statistics
Interim Assessment
- Interim assessment (2 module)0.15 * Final test or project + 0.11 * Mid-term test + 0.24 * Paper summaries + 0.4 * Presentation clarity + 0.1 * Quizzes
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Junankar, P. N. (2016). Development Economics : The Role of Agriculture in Development (Vol. First edition). Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=1218809
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Adnan Efendic, & Geoff Pugh. (2017). Ethnic diversity and economic performance – an empirical investigation using survey data. Economics : The Open-Access, Open-Assessment e-Journal. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsdoj&AN=edsdoj.4debfd5e917f4082b1ef87a8916595c0
- Kaivan Munshi, & Mark Rosenzweig. (2006). Traditional Institutions Meet the Modern World: Caste, Gender, and Schooling Choice in a Globalizing Economy. American Economic Review, (4), 1225. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.96.4.1225