Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

The quality of institutions' exercises a crucial influence on the prospects for development. Aims are to interrogate this claim through analysis of different paths of economic growth and change across the developing world. Examination of the ways in which politics influences economic growth and distribution; the relationships between political systems and patterns of development; and the politics of institutions and state formation.

COURSE DETAILS:

The quality of national (and international) institutions exercises a crucial influence on the prospects for development. The course interrogates this claim through analysis of different paths of economic growth and change across the developing world. We also will read dramatically different ways of perceiving or “telling” those paths. Along the way we will review several basic neoclassical economic models—as well as discussing how, when, and why to be skeptical about them. Wherever possible, we will tie these larger themes to concrete problems of real world policymaking as experienced within contemporary emerging economies, including the challenges of modernizing infrastructure, tackling corruption, addressing structural inequality, and regulating global energy trading. An on-going aim of the course will be integration of theory, history, and contemporary international events/news.

Topics for this term include:
* Defining “development,” “poverty,” and “inequality”
* Theories of economic growth (neoclassical and alternative)
* Theories of structural change: Jumping to a virtuous equilibrium?
* Game theory and economic regulation
* Property rights and incentives
* Industrial policy
* The basic economics of international trade and exchange rates
* Liberal internationalism and the global political economy
* Challenges to the liberal order from multipolarity and economic nationalism
* Democracy, authoritarianism, and economic growth
* Mixed capitalism and the economic role of the state

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

Please expect to read 50-100 pages of complex, challenging text weekly. Please ALWAYS bring a copy of the readings to class, and come prepared to discuss them.              

NOTE: 1) There are no formal prerequisites for this class. While the Roland text presents some material algebraically and graphically, this class will focus on the qualitative intuitions and analytical logic underlying the formal models. 2) This class is cross-listed as an advanced undergraduate seminar and a Masters’ level class. The lectures and assignments will be similar, but marking standards are more rigorous for graduate students.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: