F1ID 4000 - Development Economics: Macroeconomic and Political Economic Issues

The course is intended to provide a general overview of the dominant views about economic development and policy. We will cover macroeconomic topics and political economic issues affecting economic development. We will first cover a few basics in international finance, and see how they are affected by global pandemics but also by climate change. We will then tackle a number of important questions: why are some countries so rich and others so poor? Do differences in economic development today have historical roots? What are the mechanisms and channels through which history matters? What factors have determined which countries prosper? Can these factors be changed with specific economic policies? If so, what are they and how are they best implemented? We will consider these questions and more. In particular, we will investigate the efficiency of the policies implemented in developing countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Julia CAGÉ,Olympia TSOUTSOPLIDI

Cours magistral seul

English

- In Class Presence: 2 hours a week / 24 hours a semester
- Reading and Preparation for Class: 1 hour a week / 12 hours a semester
- Research and Preparation for Group Work: 30 hours a semester [to work on the final paper]
- Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 8 hours a semester [to prepare for the mid-term exam]

No prerequisites.

Autumn 2022-2023

The students will be examined according to three criteria:
- Participation (10%). Prior to the beginning of each class, students are required to read at least one of the required readings for that day. Most importantly, everyone is expected to participate in class discussions. Class participation is taken very seriously.
- A mid-term exam that will take place in class (25%).
- A final paper (65%). Students are required to write a final paper that examines an important question related to economic development. The paper can be written in group (2 to 3 students per final paper). The student's aim should be to undertake an investigation that improves our understanding of the process of development and also considers what can be done to aid development in poor countries. The paper should be an exposition of the student's findings. Students are required to submit a hard copy and an electronic copy of their final paper. A more detailed description of the expectations for the paper will be provided in class. The final paper is due on the last day of class.

Feedback will be provided to students all over the semester, through emails or meetings with the instructor / teaching assistant upon request. Furthermore, the mid-term exam and final paper will be carefully commented by the graders and given back to the students.