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Course Description

Summary

Using both theory and empirical analysis, this course will explore the diversity of economic progress across developing nations, confront existing challenges and consider multiple perspectives on desirable policy approaches. We will begin with an introduction to traditional measures of development including income, health and education, followed by a comparison of domestic policies on poverty, inequality, social welfare and trends in rural-urban migration and the informal sector. We will address questions such as: Why have the Millenium Development Goals remained elusive, and what comes next? What role do women play in economic development? How are resource endowments leveraged? The second half of the semester will be devoted to an analysis of the limitations of traditional measures of development, particularly Gross Domestic Product as a measure of progress. From there, the course will explore new views on development, including the capabilities approach, measures of happiness, sustainability and related alternative indicators. This course entails a significant quantitative component. Students will be expected to retrieve, interpret and present economic data on a country of their choice.