| Unit name | Topics in Development Economics |
|---|---|
| Unit code | ECONM3003 |
| Credit points | 15 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Berg |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
Completion of first-term courses |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Economics, Finance and Management |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
This course focuses on human capital in poor countries. It covers theoretical and empirical material relating to the prevalence of low levels of education and child labour and poor health and high levels of childhood mortality. It focuses on the role of poverty/income and the role of the state, with an emphasis on the political economy of public goods provision.
The aim of the course is to introduce students to issues of fundamental importance to welfare, human development and growth in developing countries and to equip them with the techniques for modelling and analysing these questions as problems of resource allocation. The ultimate objective of the course is to provide students with the analytical apparatus needed to assess alternative policy measures directed at improving human development in poor countries.
Students should be able to apply their knowledge of microeconomic theory and econometrics to understand the functioning of agents and markets in developing countries. They should be able to see the behavioural underpinnings of institutions . They should be acquainted with issues arising in measurement. The central learning objective is that students develop intuition and skill in using microeconomic models to explain relevant socio-economic outcomes in developing economies. This involves learning to understand economic behaviour as a function of the structure and constraints of particular problems, be they the division of work or food within a family that is subject to credit and subsistence constraints, the production of child health at very low levels of input, or the delivery of public services in environments rife with market, government and political failures. As there is often more than one plausible theoretical construct, a further objective is to teach students how alternative models may be tested and critically appraised. It is expected that this course will contribute foundational material to the overarching question of how some countries manage to increase their rates of economic growth and achieve widespread increases in human welfare more quickly than others.
There will be 15 hours of contact time divided roughly as 10 hours of lectures and 5 hours of seminar discussion. The weekly hour of seminar discussion will require students to have done some specified reading in advance of the meeting and students will be expected to make brief presentations as well as to engage in group discussion.
Formative assessment: Students must submit a typed essay of not more than 2,500 words on an agreed topic. Essays should combine theoretical and empirical knowledge of the subject.
Summative assessment: Three hour unseen examination (100%) which will test the ability of students to apply and critically appraise microeconomic models relevant to the topic.
There is no textbook for this course. Core and optional readings are journal publications. As a rough guide or for background, the following books are useful.
Dasgupta, Partha (1993), An Inquiry into Well-Being and Destitution, Oxford: Clarendon Press
