Development Economics

The objective of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of 1)why standars of living are much higher today than they were 50, 100, 200 years ago 2) what account(s) for the differences in standards of living and growth across the globe and 3) what can be done to increase the pace of development in the less developed parts of the world. The course starts with the concepts of development, an overview of the relative characteristics of developing countries, and how these characteristics tend to re-enforce the persistence of under-development. This is followed by an introduction to the mainstream theories of economic development. These theories are discussed and evaluated with respect to their plausibility of the underlying assumptions and the empirical evidence. How the interaction between institutions, law, finance and entrepreneurship contributes to the wealth of individuals and nations is discussed at length.