Development Economics

Academic year 2011-12

Date last modified

23-4-2012 1:29

Period

Period 1

Startdate:

05-Sep-11

Enddate:

28-Oct-11

Code

SSC2043

ECTS credits

5.0

Organisational unit

University College Maastricht

Coordinator

C.T. Chang

Description

Development economics is a field that touches directly or indirectly upon economics, politics, sociology and history. We will study the different facets of human development: the concept of development and growth, savings and investment, inequality, poverty, education, health, population, migration, globalisation and sustainability. While studying each of these topics, you will try to answer the following questions: What contraints are they subject to? What are the determinants? What policies have been tried out? Have they succeeded? You will need to make use of the economics principles you have learnt to the analyses. Besides, crucial policy solutions and economic theories will be introduced along the course under each topic. You will also have intensive reading and discussion under each topic in order to analyse a given case: diagnose the problems, examine the solutions that have been offered in the past, comment on the effectiveness of the policies, and propose other possible solutions. The understanding of the development problems and the applications of economic tools to the real world are both emphasised in the course.

Goals

• To provide participants with an overview of major economic concepts and policies in development issues. • To deliver the skills needed to consider development problems and approach them in a rigorous and critical way, using both economic theories and policy instruments.

Instruction language

Prerequisites

SSC1002 Economics and Business.

Recommended literature

• Perkins, et al. (2006) Economics of Development (6th ed.). New York: Norton.

Teaching methods

PBL
PRESENTATION(S)
LECTURE(S)
ASSIGNMENT(S)
PAPER(S)

Assessment methods

FINAL PAPER
ATTENDANCE
PARTICIPATION
WRITTEN EXAM
ORAL EXAM
TAKE HOME EXAM

Key words