30145 - DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
Course offered to incoming exchange students
Department of Economics
STEFANO FIORIN
Suggested background knowledge
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
CONTENT SUMMARY
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Introduction: Facts about Development and Growth
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Growth via Factor Accumulation
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Inequality and Growth
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Foreign Aid, Development and Corruption
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Impact Evaluation
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Education
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Gender and Ethnicity
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Informal Institutions
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Financial Markets and Microcredit
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Private Sector Development and Entrepreneurship
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Labor Markets
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- Become familiar with some of the key issues related to economic development in low-income countries and poverty alleviation.
- Have learned about how human capital and the quality of institutions may affect economic development.
- Understand how imperfections in labor or credit markets may hinder economic development and what kinds of policies may be effective in improving the functioning of these markets in developing countries.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
- Discuss some of the key challenges related to economic development in low-income countries.
- Interpret and think critically about evidence on the effectiveness of various development policies implemented in low-income settings.
Teaching methods
- Face-to-face lectures
DETAILS
The learning experience of this course is based on face-to-face lectures (online if needed), with a strong emphasis on in-class discussions. During every lecture, students are strongly encouraged to raise questions and make comments on the theoretical and empirical material presented. The course also has a strong policy focus. Class discussions include the implications of academic studies in terms of policy-making within low-income countries.
Assessment methods
Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
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ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
With the purpose of measuring the acquisition of the above-mentioned learning outcomes, the students’ assessment is based on a written examination (100% of the final grade). The written exam consists of exercises and open questions, aimed at assessing students’ ability to apply the economic models presented during the course and to interpret and critically discuss the evidence on the effectiveness of various development policies implemented in low-income settings. Students have to take a general written exam covering the entire course material (no partial exams).
Teaching materials
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Teaching in the course is done mainly from journal articles. The reading list and lecture notes are posted on the Agenda you@B. The following textbooks are used throughout the course:
- D. RAY, Development Economics, Princeton Univ. Press, 1998.
- A.V. BANERJEE, E. DUFLO, Poor Economics, Public Affairs, 2011.