University of Trento

MEIS

School of International Studies

Development Economics
School of International Studies Master in European and International Studies

Class Schedule
Classes take place on Monday (9.0011.00) and Wednesday (15.0017.00) in room 109, starting from October, 7th (2013).

Instructor
Stefano Schiavo oce room 311 (3rd oor - Humanities building, via T. Gar 14) e-mail stefano.schiavo(at)unitn.it telephone 0461.28.22.23 oce hours Mon. 11.1512.45, or by appointment

Course Description
This is a course in Development Economics introducing the main concepts related to economic and social development, and covering a broad range of topics, both from a macro- and a microeconomic perspective. We will focus on the intuition and description of the phenomena rather then on formal economic modeling, and a lot of emphasis will be given to data and empirical evidence whenever possible. Course information will be made available through Comunit` a Online (https://comunitaonline.unitn.it/): register to the course community and check regularly for news, material, and other information.

Evalutation
Course evaluation will be based on: class (active!) participation [10%]; a presentation [20%]; a role-playing simulation [20%]; a nal written exam [50%].

Presentations
Each of you should present a country report during the class(es) devoted to the purpose. Start from one of the recent special reports by The Economist that are listed below, but avoid a simple replication of what is written in the report. Other useful and up-to-date information can be found on the UNDP website (http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/proles/). Presentations should last 1520 minutes, during which you have to concisely present the main features of the economy, try to identify the major challenges ahead, and discuss the issues that are relevant in terms of economics and social development. You may consult other sources such as reports and statistics from international institutions and NGOs (e.g. browse the World Bank or the IMF website for country proles).

University of Trento

MEIS

School of International Studies

Country list and publication date on The Brazil September, 2013 Mexico China May, 2012 Myanmar Cuba March, 2012 Pakistan India September, 2012 South Africa Indonesia September 2009 Turkey

Economist November, 2012 May, 2013 February, 2012 June, 2010 October, 2010

Reading List
Items marked with an asterisk (*) are required readings, where required means you really have to read them! These will be discussed in class and active participation in the debate is an important part of the evaluation. Other readings are recommended but not required: they are useful to dig deeper into a particular topic, and may prove a good starting point for a possible dissertation. It would be to your benet to at least skim those readings as well.

Theoretical Overview: Growth Models * Lin, J.and Rosenblatt, D. (2012), Shifting Patterns of Economic Growth and Rethinking Development, World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 6040. * Todaro, M. and Smith, S. (2009), Economic Development, 10th edition, Addison-Wesley, Chapters 34. * Rodrik, D. (2006), Goodbye Washington Consensus, Hello Washington Confusion? A Review of the World Banks Economic Growth in the 1990s: Learning from a Decade of Reform , Journal of Economic Literature, 44(4): 973-987. Aid and Development * * * Easterly, W. (2007), Africas Poverty Trap, Wall Street Journal, Mar 23rd. Sachs, J. (2007), Breaking the Poverty Trap, Scientic American, Aug 19th. Tarp, F. (2006), Aid and development, Swedish Economic Policy Review, 13: 9-61. Doucouliagos, H. and Paldam, M. (2009), The Aid Eectiveness Literature: the Sad Results of 40 years of Research, Journal of Economic Surveys, 23(3): 433-61. - Easterly, W. (2001), The Elusive Quest for Growth, MIT Press, Chapter 2. - Easterly, W. (2003), Can Foreign Aid Buy Growth?, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(3): 23-48.

Institutions * Acemoglu, D. (2003) Root Causes, Finance and Development, 40(2) * Rodrik, D. and Subramanian, (2003) The Primacy of Institutions, Finance and Development, 40(2) * Rodrik, D. (2007), One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth, Princeton University Press, Chapters 5 and 6. - Acemoglu, D. and Robinson, J.A. (2010),Why is Africa Poor?, Economic History of Developing Regions, 25(1): 21-50. - Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. and Robinson, J.A. (2001), The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation, American Economic Review, 91: 1369-1401. Poverty and Inequality * Kakwani, N. (2006), What is Poverty?, One Pager, 22, September. * McKinley, T. (2006), What is poverty? Good Question, One Pager, 26, December. * Townsend, P, (2006), What is Poverty? An historical perspective, Poverty In Focus, 9, pp.56. 2

University of Trento

MEIS

School of International Studies

* Towards the end of poverty, The Economist, June 1st 2013 * Not always with us , The Economist, June 1st 2013 * Banerjee, A. and Duo, E. (2007), The Economic Lives of the Poor, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21(1): 141-167. * Dollar, D., Kleineberg, T. and Kraay, A. (2013), Growth Still Is Good for the Poor, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 6568. - Alkire, S. and Foster, J. (2009), Counting and Multidimensional Poverty, in J. von Braun, R. Hill, R. Pandya-Lorch (eds.) The Poorest and Hungry, IFPRI: Washington. - Chen, S. and Ravallion, M. (2008), The developing world is poorer than we thought, but no less successful in the ght against poverty, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4703. - Ravallion, M., Chen, S. and Sangraula, P. (2008), Dollar a Day Revisited, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4620. Conditional Cash Transfers * Hailu, D. and Soares, S. (2009), What explains the decline in Brazils inequality?, One Pager, 89, July. * Adato, M. and Hoddinott, J. (2009), Conditional Cash Transfer Programs: A Magic Bulletfor Reducing Poverty?, in J. von Braun, R. Hill, R. Pandya-Lorch (eds.) The Poorest and Hungry, IFPRI: Washington. * How to get children out of jobs and into school, The Economist, Jul 29th 2010. Population Growth and Development * Does population matter?, The Economist, Dec 7th 2002. * The baby bonanza, The Economist, Aug 29th 2009. * Lee, R. and Mason, A. (2006), What Is the Demographic Dividend?, Finance and Development, 43:3. * Bloom, D. and Canning, D. (2006), Booms, Busts, and Echoes, Finance and Development, 43:3. * Jimenez, E. and Murthi, M. (2006), Investing in the Youth Bulge, Finance and Development, 43:3. - IMF, Global Demographic Trends, Finance and Development, 43:3. - Bloom, D. (2012), Youth in the Balance, Finance and Development, 49:1. - Asian welfare states: New cradles to graves, The Economist, Sep 8th 2012. Education and Development * * * * Jimenez, E. King, E. and Tan, J-P. (2012), Making the grade, Finance and Development, 49:1. Cohen, J. and Bloom, D. (2005), Cultivating Minds, Finance and Development, 42:2. Hanushek, E. (2005), Why Quality Matters in Education, Finance and Development, 42:2. Baldacci, E., Clements, B., Cui, Q. and Gupta, S. (2005), What Does it Take to Really Help the Poor?, Finance and Development, 42:2. - Rosenzweig, M. R. (2010), Microeconomic Approaches to Development: Schooling, Learning, and Growth, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(3): 81-96.

Trade, Growth and Development * Bhagwati, J. and Srinivasan, T. N. (2002), Trade and Poverty in the Poor Countries, American Economic Review, 92(2), 180-183. * Krueger, A. (1998), Why Trade Liberalisation is Good for Growth, Economic Journal, 108(450), 1513-22. * Rodrik, D. (2001), Trading in Illusions, Foreign Policy, 123(Mar.-Apr., 2001), 54-62. - Winters, A., McCulloch, N. and McKay, A. (2004), Trade liberalization and poverty: the evidence so far, Journal of Economic Literature, 42(1): 72-115. 3

University of Trento

MEIS

School of International Studies

Finance and Growth * Demirguc-Kunt, A. and Levine, R. (2008), Finance and economic opportunity, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 4468. * Levine, R. (2008), Finance And The Poor, Manchester School, 76(s1): 1-13. * Lin, J. (2009), Walk, dont run, The Economist, Jul 9th. - Levine, R. (2005), Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence, in P. Aghion and S. Durlauf (eds.), Handbook of Economic Growth, Elsevier, 1(12): 865-934. Micronance * A partial marvel, The Economist, Jul 16th 2009 * Cull, R., Demirguc-Kunt, A. and Morduch, J. (2009), Micronance Meets the Market, Journal of Economic Perspectives, 23(1): 167-92. - Banerjee, A., Duo, E., Glennerster, R. and Kinnan, C. (2009), The Miracle of Micronance? Evidence from a Randomised Evaluation, Poverty Action Lab Working Paper, May. - Karlan, D. and Zinman, J. (2009), Expanding Microenterprise Credit Access: Using Randomized Supply Decisions to Estimate the Impacts in Manila, CEPR Discussion Paper 7396. - Morduch, J. (1999), The Micronance Promise, Journal of Economic Literature, 37(4): 15691614. - Augsburg, B., De Haas, R., Harmgart, H. and Meghir, C. (2012), Micronance, Poverty and Education, NBER Working Paper No. 18538. Oil and Natural Resources * Ebrahim-zadeh, C. (2003), When countries get too much of a good thing, Finance and Development, 40:1. * Boom and gloom, The Economist, Mar 8, 2007. * Ossowski, R., Villafuerte, M., Medas, P. and Thomas, T. (2007), Oil Boom Tests Producing Countries, IMF Survey Magazine: IMF Research, August 30. * van der Ploeg, F. (2011), Natural Resources: Course or Blessing?, Journal of Economic Literature, 49(2), 366-420 [SKIP SECTION 4 and the Appendixes]. - Arezki, R. and Nabli, M.K. (2012), Natural Resources, Volatility, and Inclusive Growth: Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa, IMF Working Paper WP/12/111. - Ahrend, R. (2006), How to Sustain Growth in a Resource Based Economy?: The Main Concepts and their Application to the Russian Case, OECD Economics Department Working Papers 478, pp. 5-13. Development and the Environment * A bad climate for development, The Economist, Sep 17th 2009. * The World Bank (2010), World Development Report 2010, Chapter 1. * Thirlwall, A.P. (2011), Economics of Development, (9th edition), Palgrave MacMillan, Chapter 8 (Development and the environment).

University of Trento

Tentative Schedule
readings

MEIS

Lin & Rosenblatt; Todaro & Smith Todaro & Smith; Tarp; Sachs; Easterly Todaro & Smith; Rodrick Acemoglu; Rodrik & Subramanian; Rodrick Kakwani; McKinley; Townsend; Banerjee & Duo Economist; Dollar et al. + Adato & Hoddinott; Hailu & Soares; Economist Economist; Lee & Mason; Bloom & Canning; Jimenez & Murthi Jimenez & al; Cohen & Bloom; Hanushek; Baldacci & al.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Mon Wed Mon Wed Mon Wed Mon Wed Mon Wed Mon Wed Mon Wed Mon Wed Mon Wed

date 7-Oct 9-Oct 14-Oct 16-Oct 21-Oct 23-Oct 28-Oct 30-Oct 04-nov 06-nov 11-nov 13-nov 18-nov 20-nov 25-nov 27-nov 2-Dec 4-Dec

topic course introduction economic growth I + foreign aid economic growth II economic growth III institutions poverty and inequality poverty and inequality II + cond cash tranf. demography and development education and development students presentation students presentation trade, growth and development I trade, growth and development II nance, growth and development micronance oil and natural resources development and the environment Role-playing simulation

Krueger, Bhagwati, Bhagwati & Srinivasan, Rodrik Krueger, Bhagwati, Bhagwati & Srinivasan, Rodrik Demirguc-Kunt & Levine; Levine; Lin Economist; Cull & al.; Morduch Ossowski; Ebrahim-Zahed; v.d. Ploeg; Economist; Arezki Economist; World Bank; Thirlwall

School of International Studies