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• Prof. Esther Duflo
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This syllabus was originally taught at SOAS University of London Winter Semester 2018/19 Instructor: Dr. Hannah Bargawi |   Tutor: Dr. Aleksandra Peeroo

Course Summary

The objective of the course is to explore the main strengths and weaknesses of orthodox and heterodox paradigms within development economics.

A wide range of issues are covered in this course, which focuses in the first term on different theoretical contributions to our understanding of growth and development in low income countries. The second term is devoted to considering major contemporary themes and topics relevant to low-income countries. This aims to provide students with knowledge and critical skills in the political economy of development. The second part of the course aims to foster the students' ability to assess critically the major policy debates (domestic and global) and to evaluate the empirical evidence with respect to these issues in developing countries. On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Understand and differentiate between different theories of growth and development.
• Explain the major strengths and weaknesses of orthodox and heterodox theories of growth and development.
• Recognise and explain the domestic issues of developing countries that influence their economies.
• Identify and assess the influence and impact of international factors in the economies of developing countries.

You will be taught through a combination of weekly lectures, weekly tutorials and guided reading. Occasionally your lecturer and tutor may also guide you to other materials relevant to topics you are studying. These can be Radio or Television documentaries or podcasts. Details of these are usually shared in the lecture and/or tutorial or over the BLE news pages. If you have material relevant to the module, please do share this by sending it to the module convenor over email on [email protected].

Lectures: We will have weekly lectures of two hours that will cover the main theories, arguments and ideas in relation to a specific topic. Lectures are not intended to cover everything you may be questioned on in the exam or is discussed in the readings. Lectures are designed to explain core arguments and theories using selected examples.

Tutorials: The purpose of tutorials is to help you digest, understand and discuss the material covered in the lecture and your readings. It is therefore crucial that you attend tutorials and have read in advance of these so that you can contribute to discussions

Readings: The readings for each week’s topic have been carefully selected for you. The essential readings are there to cover the core principles of a certain topic and provide you with an exposition of theory or application of theory. The additional readings are for you to explore certain theories or their exposition and application further. These additional readings are particularly important if you are preparing a presentation on this topic or are preparing your essay on this topic.

Assignments and Assessment

You will have ten questions to choose from and must answer three in three hours. Previous exam papers are on the SOAS website but provide only a guide as to what might be asked; the scope of this course is defined by the topics covered in lectures and tutorials in this academic session. Note too that some of the questions set in the exam may not have been covered in any great detail in the lectures - to do well in the exam you therefore need to have done the reading provided in this module guide.

Assessed Essay

The two assessed essays, each worth 10% of the overall mark, need to be by the following Essay Questions (Term 1). Select ONE of the following:

•  “Arthur Lewis is vindicated by recent developments in China”. Critically evaluate this statement using theory and evidence.
• What is meant by the term ‘developmental state’? Discuss its usefulness and limitations for policy application in low income countries today.

Essay Format

Word length — each essay should consist of no more than 2,500 words. If you go over the 2,500 word limit, you will lose marks. Word count is defined as the number of words contained in the submitted work including quotations, footnotes, titles, summaries and tables of contents. Appendices and bibliographies are not included in the word count. Appendices will not normally be marked and they must not include material essential to the argument developed in the main body of the work.

Course Overview

Schedule of topics covered and mandatory readings, session 1 the role of agriculture in development.

In this week’s lecture we will discuss the role of agriculture in economic development. We will highlight two particular debates: 1) the land reform debate; 2) the role of technology in agriculture. Finally, we will discuss the links between agriculture and industry and investigate the role of the agricultural sector in some case study countries.

Key readings:

• C&D – Chapter 11: Agriculture and Development
• T&S – Chapter 9: Agricultural Transformation and Rural Development
• Griffin, K., A. R. Khan and A. Ickowitz,(2002) ‘Poverty and the Distribution of Land’. Journal of Agrarian Change
• 2(3). http://economics.ucr.edu/papers/papers00/00-09.pdf

Additional Readings:

• Bhaduri, Amit. 2006. “Strucural Change and Economic Development: On the Relative Roles of Effective Demand and the Price Mechanism in a ‘Dual Economy’.” In Rethinking Development Economics, by Ha-Joon Chang, 219–233. London: Anthem Press.
• Besley, Timothy, Robin Burgess (2000) “Land Reform, Poverty Reduction, And Growth: Evidence From India.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 115( 2): 389-430.
• Byres T.J. (1981), `The New Technology, Class Formation and Class Action in the Indian Countryside', Journal of Peasant Studies, 8(4)
• Bryceson, D. (1999) ‘African Rural Labour, Income Diversification and Livelihood Approaches: A Long-term Development Perspective.’ Review of African Political Economy 26(80).
• Cleaver, H.M. (1972)`The Contradictions of the Green Revolution', Monthly Review, June 1972; OR same article ,without footnotes, American Economic Review, LXII( 2), May 1972. http://la.utexas.edu/users/hcleaver/cleavercontradictions.pdf
• Dixon, C. (1990) Rural Development in the Third World, London: Routledge, chs.1 and 4
• Duflo, Esther, Michael Kremer, and Jonathan Robinson. (2006) “Understanding Technology Adoption: Fertilizer in Western Kenya, Evidence from Field Experiments." Unpublished working paper. April 2006.
• Figueroa, Mark. 2004. “W. Arthur Lewis Versus the Lewis Model: Agricultural or Industrial Development?” Manchester School 72 (6): 736–750.
• Goldstein, Markus, and Chris Udry. (2005) “Addressing Unequal Economic Opportunities: A Case Study of Land Tenure in Ghana.” Development Outreach, World Bank Institute (Sept. 2005):7-9.
• Kay, Cristóbal. 2002. “Why East Asia Overtook Latin America: Agrarian Reform, Industrialisation and Development.” Third World Quarterly 23 (6): 1073–1102.
• Orr, A. (2012). 'Why were so many social scientists wrong about the Green Revolution?', Journal of Development Studies, 48 (11): 1565-1586. World Bank (2008). World Development Report: Agriculture for Development. Chapters 1 and 2.

Topic: Redistributive land reform is the best way to raise productivity in the agricultural sectors of low-income countries.

Required readings:

Session 2 Topic: From Industrialisation to De-Industrialisation?

In this lecture we will revisit some theories from term 1 and discuss the arguments made for and against rapid industrialisation in low-income countries and consider supporting empirical evidence. The lecture will also discuss the concept of “industrial policy” and how such policy has evolved over time, both in theoretical roots and in application to low-income countries.

Core readings:

• Szirmai, A. (2009), Industrialisation as an engine of growth in developing countries, UNU-WIDER Working Paper No. 2011/75
• Amirapu, A. and A. Subramanian (2015), Manufacturing or Services? An Indian Illustration of a Development Dilemma, Centre for Global Development Working Paper 409.

Optional readings:

• C&D – Chapter 9: The Initial Structural Transformation: Initiating the Industrialization Process; and Chapter 10: Strategy Switching and Industrial Transformation
• Jones, G.A. and Corbridge, S. (2010) ‘The continuing debate about urban bias: the thesis, its critics, its influence, and its implications for poverty reduction strategies’. Progress in Development Studies, 10 (1). pp. 1-18. http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/The%20continuing%20debate%20about%20urban%20bias.pdf
• Hausmann, Ricardo and Dani Rodrik 2003. Economic Development as Self Discovery, Journal of Development Economics 72 (2): 603-33.
• Haraguchi, N. et al. (2017). "The Importance of Manufacturing in Economic Development: Has This Changed?" World Development 93(Supplement C): 293-315.
• Lall, Sanjaya, and Samuel Wangwe (1998) “Industrial Policy and Industrialisation in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Journal of African Economies 7:70–107.
• Lin, Justin (2012) “From Flying Geese To Leading Dragons New Opportunities and Strategies for Structural Transformation in Developing Countries1.” Global Policy 3 (4): 397–409.
• Kaplinsky, Raphael (2008) “What Does the Rise of China Do for Industrialisation in Sub-Saharan Africa?” Review of African Political Economy 35 (115): 7–22.
• Karshenas,M. (1995) 'Dynamic Economies and the Critique of Urban Bias', in Henry Bernstein and Tom Brass (eds.), Agrarian Questions. Essays in Appreciation of T. J. Byres (1996). See also Karshenas, Industrialization and Agricultural Surplus: A Comparative Study of Economic Development in Asia.
• Stiglitz, Lin and Monga (2013): The Rejuvenation of Industrial Policy. World Bank: Policy Research Working Paper 6628.
• Sutcliffe, B. (1984) 'Industry and Underdevelopment Reexamined', Journal of Development Studies,21(1).
• Szirmai, Adam. 2012. “Industrialisation as an Engine of Growth in Developing Countries, 1950-2005.” Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 23(4): 406–420.
• Rodrik, D (2015), Premature de-industrialisation, NBER Working Paper 20935.
• Rodrik, D (2013), “Unconditional Convergence in Manufacturing,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128 (1), 165-204 February.
• Rodrik, D. 2009. “Industrial Policy: Don’t Ask Why, Ask How.” Middle East Development Journal 01 (01): 1–29.
• Rowden, R. (2013). “The Myth of Africa’s Rise”, Foreign Policy, 4th January 2013.

Newspaper articles on the “re-emergence” of industrial policy:

• http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/post/wonkbook-is-industrial-policy-
• back/2012/04/09/gIQAHL7i5S_blog.html
• http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/the-return-of-industrial-policy
• http://www.economist.com/node/16741043

Topic: Low-income countries should not rely on industrialisation as an engine of growth and development. Discuss.

Session 3 Public Utilities, Infrastructure and Development

Public utilities such as electricity, water, transportation or telecommunications are the backbone of any economic activity. Industrialisation requires a reliable supply of electricity to enable production as well as transportation infrastructure to allow exchange of goods. A lack of access to drinking water involves high opportunity costs and explains informality of labour and poverty. Due to tight budgets, governments find it difficult to finance such infrastructure. Are Public-Private Partnerships a solution?

• Bayliss, K. (2003). ‘Utility privatisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: A case study of water’. Journal of Modern African Studies, 41 (4): 507-531.
• Ménard, C. and Peeroo, A. (2011). ‘Liberalization in the Water Sector: Three Leading Models’. In: Finger, M. and
• Künneke, R. W. (eds.), International Handbook of Network Industries: The Liberalization of Infrastructure, pp. 310-327. Cheltenham and others: Edward Elgar Publishing.
• Spiller, P. T. and Tommasi, M. (2005). ‘The Institutions of Regulation: An Application to Public Utilities’. In: Ménard, C. and Shirley, M.M. (eds.), Handbook of New Institutional Economics, pp. 515-543. Dordrecht and others: Springer.
• Arup (2015). In Depth Water Yearbook. London: Arup Publications.
• Baer, M. (2014). ‘Private water, public good: Water privatization and state capacity in Chile’. Studies in Comparative International Development, 49 (2): 141-167.
• Bayliss, K. (2013). ‘Financing water in Africa’. SOAS Department of Economics Working Paper Series No 182.
• Kessides, I. (2004). Reforming infrastructure: Privatization, regulation, and competition. Washington DC: World Bank and Oxford University Press.
• Kishimoto, S. (2016). ‘Remunicipalization: A practical guide for communities and policy makers’. Water Justice Toolkit: Public Water for All. Unifor, December 2016.
• OECD (2010). ‘Clear Water’. OECD Observer, 280 (July 2010): 55.
• Savedoff, W. and Spiller, P. (1999). Spilled Water: Institutional Commitment in the Provision of Water Services. Washington DC: Inter-American Development Bank.
• Shirley, M.M. and Ménard, C. (2002). ‘Cities Awash: A Synthesis of the Country Cases’. In: Shirley, M.M. (ed.) Thirsting for Efficiency: The Economics and Politics of Urban Water System Reform, pp. 1-41. Amsterdam and others: The World Bank.

Topic: How can we explain the lack of water services in Sub-Saharan Africa?

• Ménard, C. and Peeroo, A. (2011). ‘Liberalization in the Water Sector: Three Leading Models’. In: Finger, M. and Künneke, R. W. (eds.), International Handbook of Network Industries: The Liberalization of Infrastructure, pp. 310-327. Cheltenham and others: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Session 4 Evolving Structures of Trade and Development

In this lecture we will discuss the role of foreign trade in development. We will briefly consider orthodox theories of comparative advantage and related trade promoting theories. We will then revisit the Prebisch-Singer Hypothesis and consider the growth of global value chains and the implications for LICs and economic development. Finally we will critically evaluate policy recommendations that emerge.

• T&S – Chapter 12: International Trade Theory and Development Strategy
• Deranyiagala, S. (2005). “Neoliberalism in International Trade: Sound Economics or a Question of Faith?” in Neoliberalism: A Critical Reader, edited by D. Johnston and A. Saad-Filho. London: Pluto Press.
• Balassa, B., (1988), “Outward orientation,” in H. Chenery and T.N. Srinivasan (eds.), Handbook of Development Economics, vol. 2, Amsterdam: North-Holland, pp.1645-1689.
• Cashin, P. and J. McDermott (2002), “The Long-Run Behaviour of Commodity Prices: Small Trends and Big Variability”, IMF staff papers, vol.49
• Fu, Xiaolan, Raphael Kaplinsky, and Jing Zhang. 2009. “The Impact of China’s Exports on Global Manufactures Prices”. No. 032. SLPTMD Working Paper Series. Oxford: Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
• Kaplinsky, R. (2006) “Revisiting the revisited terms of trade: Will China make a difference?”, World Development, 34(6): 981-995
• Krueger, A. (1998) “Why Trade Liberalisation is Good for Growth” The Economic Journal 108 (September): 1513-1522.
• Krugman, Paul and Maurice Obstfeld. International Economics: Theory and Policy. Eight edition or earlier edition. Boston: Pearson/Addison Wesley, 2009
• Lall, Sanjaya. (1999). The Technological Response to Import Liberalization in SubSaharan Africa. Houndmills: Macmillan.
• Lo, Dic. (2011). Alternatives to Neoliberal Globalization: Studies in the Political Economy of Institutions and Late Development. London: Palgrave Macmillan. See Chapter 2, section 2.3 on the New International Division of Labour
• Ocampo, Jose Antonio, and Lance Taylor. (1998). “Trade Liberalisation in Developing Economies: Modest Benefits but Problems with Productivity Growth, Macro Prices, and Income Distribution.” Economic Journal 108 (450): 1523–1546.
• Prebisch, R. (1959), “Commercial Policy in the Underdeveloped Countries”, The American Economic Review, vol. 49(2)
• Razmi, Arslan, and Robert A. Blecker. (2008). “Developing Country Exports of Manufactures: Moving Up the Ladder to Escape the Fallacy of Composition?” Journal of Development Studies 44 (1) (January): 21–48.
• Rodriguez, F., and Rodrik, D., (2000), “Trade policy and economic growth: a skeptic’s guide to the cross-national evidence”, NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2000, Volume 15 on http://www.nber.org/chapters/c11058.pdf
• Sindzingre, Nicole Alice, and Lee Robinson. 2012. “China’s Ambiguous Impacts on Commodity-Dependent Countries: The Example of Sub-Saharan Africa (with a Focus on Zambia)”. Working Paper 2012-39. Paris: Université Paris X Ouest Nanterre La Défense.
• Smith S. and J. Toye, (1979) `Introduction: Three Stories About Trade and Poor Economies', Journal of Development Studies, 15(3), April 1979.
• Stein, Howard, and Machiko Nissanke. (1999). “Structural Adjustment and the African Crisis: A Theoretical Appraisal.” Eastern Economic Journal 25 (4): 399–420.
• UNECA (2013). Making the Most of Africa’s Commodities: Industrializing for Growth, Jobs and Economic Transformation, Economic Report on Africa 2013.
• UNCTAD. (2008). Economic Development in Africa 2008: Export Performance Following Trade Liberalization: Some Patterns and Policy Perspectives. New York and Geneva: United Nations Publications.
• Film: http://blackgoldmovie.com/story

Topic: How are producers in LICs integrated into world trade and what problems does this create (think about the micro and macro channels)? Are ethical standards and codes, including the Fairtrade movement a solution?

• *Deranyiagala, S. (2005). “Neoliberalism in International Trade: Sound Economics or a Question of Faith?” in Neoliberalism: A Critical Reader, edited by D. Johnston and A. Saad-Filho. London: Pluto Press.

Session 5 From FDI and TNCs to ‘China in Africa’

This lecture will discuss the potential opportunities and challenges of foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries. We will discuss the particular role of transnational corporations in the developing world and the recent rise of Chinese investment in sub-Saharan Africa. We will also consider the growing emergence of transnational corporations from the global South and the possible implications of this.

• Markusen, J.R. and A.J. Venables (1997). “Foreign Direct Investment as a Catalyst for Industrial Development”. NBER Working Paper No.6241, http://www.nber.org/papers/w6241.pdf?new_window=1
• Kaplinsky, Raphael and Morris, Mike (2009). “Chinese FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa: engaging with large dragons”. European Journal of Development Research, 21(4), pp. 551–569.
• Bhagwati, J (2007), “Why Multinationals Help Reduce Poverty”, The World Economy, pp. 211-228.
• Buckley. P.J. (2010). Foreign Direct Investment, China and The World Economy, Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Chang, Ha-Joon (1998) “Globalization, Transnational Corporations, and Economic Development: Can the Developing Countries Pursue Strategic Industrial Policy in a Globalizing World Economy?” Chp 4 (pp.97-114) in Baker, Dean, Epstein, Gerald and Pollin, Robert (1998) Globalization and Progressive Economic Policy, London: Cambridge University Press.
• Dicken, P., H.W. Yeung, Weidong Liu (2006) "Transnational corporations and network effects of a local manufacturing cluster in mobile telecommunications equipment in China" World Development 34: 520-540
• Dicken, P. (2003)"’Placing’ firms: grounding the debate on the ‘global’ corporation" In Remaking the Global Economy: Economic-Geographical Perspectives, J. Peck & H. Yeung (eds), pp. 27-44.Sage.
• Dunning, J.H., R.V. Hoesel and R. Narula (1998), ‘Third World Multinationals Revisited: New Developments and Theoretical Implications’, in J.H. Dunning (ed.), Globalization, Trade, and Foreign Direct Investment, Amsterdam: Elsevier.
• Drysdale, P. and S.J. Wei (2012). “The rise of Chinese foreign investment”, East Asian Forum Quarterly, April-June 2012, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2012/06/11/the-rise-of-chinese-foreign-investment/
• Gorg, H. and D. Greenaway (2004). “Much Ado About Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Direct Investment?” World Bank Research Observer, 19(2): 171-197
• Lall, S. (2003). “Foreign Direct Investment, Technology Development and Competitiveness: Issues and Evidence”, in Lall and Urata (eds). Competitiveness, FDI and Technological Activity in East Asia, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Pp.12-56
• Lall, S. and Narula, R. (2004). FDI and its Role in economic development: Do we need a new agenda, European Journal of Development Research, 16(3), pp. 447-464.
• Lall, S. (2001) Competitiveness, Technology and Skills, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
• Lall, S. and Pietrobelli, C. (2002) Failing to Compete: Technology Development and Technology Systems in Africa, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
• Lall, S. and Teubal, M. (1998) ‘‘Market stimulating’ technology policies in developing countries: a framework with examples from East Asia’, World Development, 26(8), 1369-1386.
• Moyo, D. (2012). Winner Takes All: China’s Race for Resources and what it means for the World, New York: Basic Book

Topic: “The overall economic impact of Chinese investment on the economies of sub-Saharan Africa has been overwhelmingly positive”

Discuss Required readings:

• Kaplinsky, Raphael and Morris, Mike (2009). “Chinese FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa: engaging with large dragons”.  European Journal of Development Research, 21(4), pp. 551–569.

Session 6 Aid and Development

After having discussed various types of aid, a review of aid thinking over time will lay the foundations to better understand the contemporary debate on aid, namely whether it should focus on poverty reduction or on structural transformation. Special attention will be given to the political economy of aid as a way to explain changes in aid over time.

• T&S – Chapter 14: Foreign Finance, Investment and Aid: Controversies and Opportunities
• Easterly, William, Ross Levine, and David Roodman (2004) “Aid, Policies, and Growth: Comment.” American
• Economic Review 94(3): 774-80.
• Fraser A. (2010) “Aid-Recipient Sovereignty in Historical Perspective”, in: Whitfield, L. (ed.) The Politics of Aid:
• African Strategies for Dealing with Donors. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ch. 2, pp. 45-73.
• Burnside, Craig, and David Dollar. “Aid, Policies, and Growth.” American Economic Review 90, no. 4 (Sept. 2000): 847–68.
• Burnside, Craig, and David Dollar: “Aid, Policies, and Growth: Reply.” American Economic Review 94, no. 3 (June 2004): 781-84.
• Dahman-Saidi, Myriam, and Christina Wolf. 2011. “Recalibrating Development Co-operation: How Can African Countries Benefit from Emerging Partners?” OECD Publishing, OECD Development Centre Working Papers No. 302. Paris: OECD Development Center.
• Djankov, Simeon, Jose Montalvo, and Marta Reynal-Querol (2008) “The Curse of Aid.” Journal of Economic Growth 13(3): 169-94.
• Easterly, William. “Can the West Save Africa?” Journal of Economic Literature 47, no. 2 (June 2009): 373-447.
• Easterly, William, and Tobias Pfutze. “Where Does the Money Go? Best and Worst Practices in Foreign Aid.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 22, no. 2 (Spring 2008): 29-52.
• Kaufmann, Daniel, Aart Kraay, and Massimo Mastruzzi. “Governance Matters VIII: Governance Indicators for 1996-2008.” The World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 4978. 2009.
• Mawdsley, E. (2012). From recipients to donors: Emerging powers and the changing development landscape. London and New York: Zed Books. Chapter 1.
• Moyo, D. (2009) Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is a Better Way For Africa. London: Penguin
• Nissanke, Machiko, and M. Söderberg (2011). “The Changing Landscape of Aid Relations in Africa – Can China’s Engagement Make a Difference to African Development.” Ul Papers 2011/02. Stockholm: Swedish Institute of International Affairs.
• Olken, Benjamin, and Patrick Barron. “The Simple Economics of Extortion: Evidence from Trucking in Aceh.”
• Mimeo. May 2007. Shleifer, Andrei, and Robert Vishny. “Corruption.” Quarterly Journal of Economics 108, no. 3 (Aug. 1993): 599-617.
• Wade, Robert. “The System of Administrative and Political Corruption: Canal Irrigation in South India.” Journal of Development Studies 18, no. 3 (April 1982): 287-328.

Topic: Critically discuss if foreign aid is beneficial or not for growth and development.

• Oya, C. and N. Pons-Vignon (2010) “Aid, Development and the State in Africa”, in: Padayachee V. (ed.) The Political Economy of Africa, London: Routledge. Ch. 9, pp. 191-217.
• Ramalingham, B. (2013) “A System to Change ‘the system’”, in: Aid on the Edge of Chaos: Rethinking International Cooperation In A Complex World Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ch. 1, pp. 3-16.
• Whitfield, L. (2009) “Reframing the Aid Debate: Why Aid Isn’t Working and How It Should Be Changed”, DIIS Working Paper 2009:34.
• Universe of Economies: Interdependence and Complexity, System Trajectories, Chaos, and Self-Organization. San Diego, Academic Press: 57-96 & 251-276

Session 7 The Bretton Woods Institutions and their Role in Development

The emergence of the Bretton Woods system after WWII also involved the creation of a new set of institutions to govern the international monetary system and international trade. Although the Bretton Woods system collapsed in the 1970s, its institutions persisted over time. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the GATT’s successor, the World Trade Organisation, exist until today. Their role in the development of Low Income Countries will be studied in this lecture.

• T&S - Chapter 13: Balance of Payments, Developing-Country Debt, and the Macroeconomic Stabilization Controversy
• Easterly, W. (2001), The Effect of International Monetary Fund and World Bank Programs on Poverty. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 2517.
• Steinberg, R. H. (2002), In the Shadow of Law or Power? Consensus-Based Bargaining and Outcomes in the GATT/WTO. International Organization, 56:2 (Spring, 2002), pp. 339-74.
• Baqir, R., R. Ramcharan and R. Sahay (2003) ‘IMF Program Design and Growth: What is the Link?’, International Monetary Fund, April
• Blanchard, O., G. Dell’Ariccia and P. Mauro (2010) ‘Rethinking Macroeconomic Policy’, International Monetary Fund Staff Position Note SPN/10/03, February.
• Elson, D. and N. Cagatay (2000) ‘The social content of macroeconomic policies’, World Development, 28(7): 1347-1364
• Fine, Ben (2006) 'Financial Programming and the IMF: the developmental state and the political economy of development.' In: Fine, Ben and Jomo, K.S., (eds.), The New Development Economics: After the Washington Consensus. New Delhi: Tulika, pp. 87-100.
• Heintz, J. and R. Pollin (2008) ‘Targeting Employment Expansion, Economic Growth and Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Outlines of an Alternative Economic Programme for the Region’, paper prepared for the UN Economic Commission for Africa, Addis Ababa, March.
• Henning, C.R. (2009) ‘US Interests and the International Monetary Fund’, Peterson Institute for International Economics Policy Brief PB 09-12.
• IMF (2009) ‘The Fund’s Facilities and Financing Framework for Low-Income Countries’, prepared by Strategy, Policy and Review Department, approved by Reza Moghadam and Andrew Tweedie, February 25
• Rada, Codrina, and Rudiger von Arnim. (2011). “Structural Transformation in China and India: The Role of Macroeconomic Policies”. Department of Eoconomics Working Paper Series No. 2011/05. University of Utah.
• Stiglitz, J. 2003. “The East Asia Crisis: How IMF Policies Brought the World to the Verge of a Global Meltdown”, Chapter 4 in Globalization and Its Discontents.
• Wyplosz, C. (2007) ‘Debt Sustainability Assessment: the IMF Approach and Alternatives’, Graduate Institute of International Studies Working Paper 03/2007
• Film: http://www.thebigsellout.org/
• Interview of John Perkins on Democracy Now- Confessions of an Economic Hit-man, On YOUTUBE at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWo4ZhjdTHg
• Topic: Analysing a real life IMF Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) from Ghana. ONLINE at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/scr/2006/cr06225.pdf (you are not expected to read the entire report; we will mainly be looking at Appendix II- Policy Matrix).

Session 8 Capital Account Liberalisation, Financialisation and Development

In the context of the Washington Consensus developing countries were expected to open up to international trade as well as to international capital flows. This lecture looks at the various types of international capital flows and then examines their impact on economic development by carefully weighing the arguments of proponents and opponents of capital account liberalisation.

• M. Ayhan Kose, Eswar Prasad, Kenneth Rogoff, and Shang-Jin Wei (2006), Financial Globalization: A Reappraisal, IMF Working Paper WP/06/189.
• Jonathan D. Ostry, Prakash Loungani, and Davide Furceri, Neoliberalism: Oversold? Finance & Development, June 2016, Vol. 53, No. 2.
• Bhagwati, Jagdish (1998). “The Capital Myth: The Difference Between Trade in Widgets and Trade in Dollars”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 77, pp. 7-12.
• Cavallo, E, Eichengreen, B and Panizza, U (2016), Can Countries Rely on Foreign Saving for Investment and Economic Development?, CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP11451. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2831955
• Atish R. Ghosh ; Mahvash Qureshi (2016), What’s In a Name? That Which We Call Capital Controls, Working Paper No. 16/25.
• Schmukler, Sergio L (2004), “Financial Globalization: Gain and Pain for Developing Countries.” Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Economic Review, Q2: 39–66.
• Williamson, J., and Z. Drabek, (1999), Whether and When to Liberalize Capital Account and Financial Services.
• Staff Working Paper ERAD-99-03. World Trade Organization. Economic Research and Analysis Division.
• Ghosh, Atish R., Jonathan D. Ostry, and Mahvash S. Qureshi (2016) “When Do Capital Inflow Surges End in Tears?” American Economic Review, Vol. 106, No. 5.
• Dell’Ariccia, Giovanni, Julian di Giovanni, André Faria, M. Ayhan Kose, Paolo Mauro, Jonathan D. Ostry, Martin Schindler, and Marco Terrones (2008), Reaping the Benefits of Financial Globalization, IMF Occasional Paper 264 (Washington: International Monetary Fund).
• Edison, H., R. Levine, L. Ricci, and T. Slok. (2002) ‘Capital Account Liberalization and Economic Performance: Survey and Synthesis’, IMF Working Paper, 02/120.
• Davide Furceri ; Prakash Loungani (2015), Capital Account Liberalization and Inequality, IMF Working Paper No. 15/243
• Rodrik, Dani, 1998, “Who Needs Capital-Account Convertibility?” in Should the IMF Pursue Capital-Account Convertibility? Essays in International Finance 207 (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University).
• Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine (2008), Finance, Financial Sector Policies, and Long-Run Growth, Commission on Growth and Development.
• Eichengreen, B., (2000),"Capital Account Liberalisation: What do Cross-Country Studies Tell us?" World Bank Economic Review, 15(3): 341-365.
• Eswar S. Prasad & Raghuram G. Rajan (2008), A Pragmatic Approach to Capital Account Liberalization, Institute for the Study of Labor, Discussion Paper No. 3475 April 2008.

Topic: What are the advantages and disadvantages of capital account liberalisation for developing countries?

• Stiglitz, J.E., (2000),"Capital Market Liberalization, Economic Growth, and Instability." World Development, 28 (6): 1075-1086.
• Maurice Obstfled (2009), International Finance and Growth in Developing Countries: What Have We Learned?, NBER Working Paper No. 14691
• Wade, R (2000), Wheels Within Wheels: Rethinking the Asian Crisis and the Asian Model, Annual Review of Political Science, Vol. 3: 85-115.

Session 9 The Development Challenges of Small Island States

Small Island Developing States have specific characteristics that set them apart from other developing countries. In addition, climate change poses a particular threat for these islands. This lecture will consider how these specificities constrain development of SIDS and it will also link back to some of the topics already discussed, namely industrialisation, globalisation and trade, and the role of the State.

• Briguglio, L. (1995). ‘Small Island Developing States and their economic vulnerabilities’. World Development, 23 (9): 1615-1632.
• Bertram, G. and Poirine, B. (2007). ‘Island Political Economy’. In: UPEI (ed.), A world of islands: An island studies reader, Malta: PEI, pp. 325-373.
• Sobhee, S. (2009). ‘The economic success of Mauritius: Lessons and policy options for Africa’. Journal of Economic Policy Reform, 12 (1): 29-42.
• Baldacchino, G. and Bertram, G. (2009). ‘The Beak of the Finch: Insights into the Economic Development of Small Economies’. The Round Table, 98 (401): 141-160.
• Bunwaree, S. (2005). ‘Small Island Developing States: Challenges, prospects and international cooperation for sustainable development’. Paper prepared for the IRFD World Forum, 10-13 January 2005.
• Elahee, M.K. (2011). ‘Sustainable energy policy for small-island developing state: Mauritius’. Utilities Policy, 19 (2011): 71-9.
• Gray, M. and Lalljee, B. (2012). ‘Climate change adaptation in Mauritius: Considering the role of institutions’. Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Sciences, 11 (1): 99-111.
• Halstead, E. (2016). ‘Citizens of Sinking Islands: Early Victims of Climate Change’. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 23 (2): 819-837.
• Mohan, P. (2016). ‘Caribbean Diversification and Development’. The World Economy, 2016: 1434-1453.
• Robinson, C.J. (2017). Corporate Ownership and Management in Small Island Developing States: Implications for Academia, Public Policy and Management Practices. At: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2968183.

Topic: What differentiates Small Island Developing States from other low and middle income economies? How do these specific characteristics influence development possibilities for small island states?

Session 10 Changing Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries

This week is devoted to understanding the main features and trends in relation to labour markets in LICs. We will record the shift towards self-employment, informalisation, and flexibilisation of work across some case study countries as well as the integration of workers into global value chains. We will also consider theoretical approaches towards labour markets in LICs including labour market segmentation and the human capital approach.

• Al-Samarrai, S. y Bennell, P. (2003), Where Has All the Education Gone in Africa?: Employment Outcomes among Secondary School and University Leavers, Research Paper, August, Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.
• Fields, G. (2007). ‘Labor market policy in developing countries: a selective review of the literature and needs for the future ’, Washington, DC: World Bank, Policy Research Working Paper 4362.
• Bain, C. (2010). ‘Structuring the Flexible and Feminized Labor Market: GlobalGAP Standards for Agricultural Labor in Chile’, Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 35(2j)
• Bardasi, E.; K. Beegle; A. Dillon and P. Serneels. 2010. “Do Labor Statistics Depend on How and to Whom the Questions Are Asked? Results from a Survey Experiment in Tanzania”, in Policy Research Working Paper No 5192, Washington DC, World Bank.
• Barrientos S. and S. Smith (2007), ‘Do Workers Benefit from Ethical Trade? Assessing Codes of Labour Practice in Global Production Systems’ Third World Quarterly , 28(4): 713-729.
• Berg, J. (2011). ‘Laws or luck? Understanding rising formality in Brazil in the 2000s’. Regulating for Decent Work. New Directions in Labour Market Regulation. Geneva/Basingstoke: ILO/Palgrave Macmillan, 123-150.
• Bryceson D., C. Kay and J. Mooij (eds.) (2000), Disappearing Peasantries? Rural labour in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Especially chapters 2, 7, 13 and 17. London: ITDG Publishing
• Folbre, N. (2012). ‘The Political Economy of Human Capital’. Review of Radical Political Economics, 44(3), 281-292.
• Fox, M. L., Haines, C., Munoz, M. J. H., & Thomas, M. A. H. (2013). Africa's Got Work to Do: Employment Prospects in the New Century. IMF Working Paper No. 13-201. International Monetary Fund: Africa department.
• Gindling, T.H. (1991), “Labor Market Segmentation and the Determination of Wages in the Public, Private-Formal, and Informal Sectors in San José, Costa Rica”, Economic Development and Cultural Change Vol. 39, No. 3 (Apr., 1991), pp. 585-605.
• Glewwe P. (2002), ‘Schools and Skills in Developing Countries: Education Policies and Socio-Economic Outcomes’, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol XL, June.
• Li, H., Li, L., Wu, B., & Xiong, Y. (2012). ‘The end of cheap Chinese labor’. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26(4), 57-74.
• Luebker, M. 2008. Employment, unemployment and informality in Zimbabwe: Concepts and data for coherent policy-making. Issues Paper No. 32 and Integration Working Paper No. 90 (Harare and Geneva, ILO).
• Maertens, M., & Swinnen, J. F. (2012). ‘Gender and modern supply chains in developing countries’. Journal of Development Studies, 48(10), 1412-1430.
• Maloney, W. (1998), “Are labour markets in developing countries dualistic?”, and other working/research papers for the World Bank.
• Portes A. and R. Schauffler (1993), “Competing Perspectives on the Latina American Informal Sector”, Population and Development Review, 19:1, 33-59
• Schaffner J.A. (1993), ‘Rising incomes and the shift from self-employment to firm-based employment’, Economics Letters 41: pp. 435-440.
• Schneider, F. and D. Enste (2000), “Informal Economies: Size, Causes, and Consequences”, The Journal of Economic Literature, 38/1, pp. 77-114.
• Sender, John, Christopher Cramer and Carlos Oya (2005), Unequal Prospects: Disparities in the Quantity and Quality of Labour Supply in Sub-Saharan Africa, Social Protection Discussion Paper No.0525, Washington: World Bank.

Topic: “To improve the situation of workers in LICs, policy-makers should focus on improving educational outcomes and skills of the workforce.” Discuss Required readings:

• Al-Samarrai, S. y Bennell, P. (2003), Where Has All the Education Gone in Africa?: Employment Outcomes among Secondary School and University Leavers, Research Paper, August, Institute of Development Studies at the  University of Sussex.

Learning and Teaching ressources 

The main textbook for this module is:

• Todaro, M. and Smith, S. C. (eleventh edition; 2011). Economic Development. London: Addison Wesley [there are many earlier editions which are almost as useful if you can't find the latest edition] -henceforth T&S

Other very useful texts are:

• Chang. H. (2003) Rethinking Development Economics. London: Anthem Press.
• Cypher, J.M. and Dietz, J.L. (2009). The Process of Economic Development. London and New York: Routledge. (3rd Edition) – henceforth C&D (You can access this book online via the SOAS library).
• Hunt, D. (1989) Economic Theories of Development. An Analysis of Competing Paradigms. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf
• Jomo, K.S. and Fine, B. (eds) (2006) The New Development Economics After the Washington Consensus. Delhi, India: Tulika Books.
• Kohli, A. (2004). State-Directed Development: Political Power and Industrialization in the Global Periphery. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Good for country examples – India, South Korea, Brazil and Nigeria) – E-book available via SOAS library.
• Meier, G. and Rauch, J. (2005). Leading Issues in Economic Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press [earlier editions are also useful]
• Thirlwall, A. P. and P. Pacheco-López (tenth edition; 2017). Economics of Development. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Ray, D. (1998). Development Economics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
• Reinert, E., J. Ghosh and R. Kattel (2016). Handbook of Alternative Theories of Economic Development, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. – henceforth RGK (You can access this book online via the SOAS library).

Below is a short selection of background reading relevant to the course:

• Chang, H. (2002) Kicking Away the Ladder. Development Strategy in Historical Perspective. London:
• Anthem Press
• Easterly, W. (2002) The Elusive Quest for Growth. Cambridge MA: MIT Press
• Jerven, M. (2015) Africa: Why Economists Get in Wrong. London: Zed Books

Other Online Resources, Blogs, Podcasts and Websites

Below are a selection of useful resources, blogs and websites that provide up-to-date commentary on the topics and issues covered in the IDE course. You may find it useful to consult these from time to time.

• Conversations with Tyler Cowen Podcast : A great series of interview-style podcasts that touch upon issues in development economics, from conflict and war to crypto-currencies.
• IDEAS Network:  IDEAS has been established with the purpose of building a pluralist network of heterodox economists engaged in the teaching, research and application of critical analyses of economic development.
• Future Development:  This blog was first launched in September 2013 by the World Bank in an effort to hold governments more accountable to poor people and offer solutions to the most prominent development challenges. Continuing this goal, Future Development was re-launched in January 2015 at brookings.edu. 
• ELDIS : Our aim is to share the best in development policy, practice and research.
• Aid Thoughts : Aid Thoughts is a blog on international development, economics and foreign aid.
• Developing Economics : This blog takes critical approach to development economics. It seeks to stimulate debate and critical reflection on economic development among academics and practitioners from all relevant fields
• The Guardian Newspaper Global Development Site : This website is funded by support provided, in part, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Content is editorially independent and its purpose is to focus on global development, with particular reference to the millennium development goals and their transition into the sustainable development goals from 2015.
• Of interest might be the Poverty Matters blog in particular
• From Poverty to Power:   This is a conversational blog written and maintained by Duncan Green, strategic adviser for Oxfam GBand author of ‘From Poverty to Power’.
• Overseas Development Institute :  The Overseas Development Institute (ODI) is the UK's leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues.
• London International Development Centre :  The London International Development Centre (LIDC) facilitates interdisciplinary research and training to tackle complex problems in international development. We bring together social and natural scientists from across the University of London's Bloomsbury Colleges: Birkbeck, UCL Institute of Education, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Royal Veterinary College, and SOAS.
• Growth Econ Blog by Dietrich Vollrath

On the Nobel Prize in Economics:

• https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/11/nobel-prize-economics-not-science-hubris-disaster?CMP=share_btn_tw
• https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/503186/

Data Sources

Below are number of relevant sites where you can obtain useful data for this course. You are encouraged to consult these sites and to obtain information from here for your essays and tutorial presentations. We will be discussing some of the limitations and concerns with some of this data in our classes, so please make use of such data with caution and with caveats in mind!

• IMF (various databases ) 
• World Bank World Development Indicators published and regularly updated by the World Bank. 
• UK Data Service
• ILO Employment and labour data including Key Labour Market Indicators – KILM and Labour Force Surveys 
• FAO (Commodities and agriculture data) 
• UNCTAD (Trade and Commodities data)
• UNDP Human Development Report published annually by the UNDP
• OECD Aid Statistics 
• Historical Growth Trends Angus Maddison's estimates of historical GDP trends across countries up to 2016

 Stay tuned!

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This project is brought to you by the Network for Pluralist Economics ( Netzwerk Plurale Ökonomik e.V. ).  It is committed to diversity and independence and is dependent on donations from people like you. Regular or one-off donations would be greatly appreciated.

Department of Economics

Ec310: topics in development economics.

Subhasish Dey

Sharun Mukand

Total students will not give an accurate representation of student numbers until module registration is complete

Principal Aims

Principal learning outcomes.

Professional skills: … Review the relevant literature and evidence. The teaching and learning methods that enable students to achieve this learning outcome are: Lectures, background reading, and independent study. The summative assessment methods that measure the achievement of this learning outcome are: Assessed essay (2000 words) and unseen examination.

Subject knowledge and understanding: … demonstrate an improved awareness of the causes, consequences and possible remedies for serious Third World problems. The teaching and learning methods that enable students to achieve this learning outcome are: Lectures, background reading, and independent study. The summative assessment methods that measure the achievement of this learning outcome are: Assessed essay (2000 words) and unseen examination.

Subject knowledge and understanding: . . .demonstrate a greater awareness of selected institutional aspects of global poverty, conflict, trade and development. The teaching and learning methods that enable students to achieve this learning outcome are: Lectures, background reading, and independent study. The summative assessment methods that measure the achievement of this learning outcome are: Assessed essay (2000 words) and unseen examination.

Cognitive skills: … Apply critical analysis to the topics of the module, formulate concepts and hypotheses, and show how they are tested in relevant literature. The teaching and learning methods that enable students to achieve this learning outcome are: Lectures, background reading, and independent study. The summative assessment methods that measure the achievement of this learning outcome are: Assessed essay (2000 words) and unseen examination.

Key skills: … Communicate their knowledge and understanding to others. The teaching and learning methods that enable students to achieve this learning outcome are: Lectures, background reading, and independent study. The summative assessment methods that measure the achievement of this learning outcome are: Assessed essay (2000 words) and unseen examination.

Subject knowledge and understanding: … demonstrate an enhanced knowledge of microeconomic topics in development. The teaching and learning methods that enable students to achieve this learning outcome are: Lectures, background reading, and independent study. The summative assessment methods that measure the achievement of this learning outcome are: Assessed essay (2000 words) and unseen examination.

The precise syllabus varies each year. Typically, the course is centred around a relatively limited number of themes that are explored in great depth. Example of themes explored in recent years are: poverty traps; credit markets; the importance of trust and reputation; and trade and development.

EC204-30 Economics 2 AND

EC203-30 Applied Econometrics

EC226-30 Econometrics 1

EC201-30 Macroeconomics 2 AND

EC202-30 Microeconomics 2 AND

Modules: (EC204-30 and EC203-30) and (EC204-30 and EC226-30) and (EC201-30 and EC202-30 and EC203-30) and (EC201-30 and EC202-30 and EC226-30)

Exam Rubric

Time Allowed: 2 Hours

Read all instructions carefully - and read through the entire paper at least once before you start entering your answers.

There are TWO sections in this paper. Answer TWO questions in Section A and TWO questions in Section B.

Approved pocket calculators are allowed.

You should not submit answers to more than the required number of questions. If you do, we will mark the questions in the order that they appear, up to the required number of questions in each section.

Previous exam papers can be found in the University’s past papers archive . Please note that previous exam papers may not have operated under the same exam rubric or assessment weightings as those for the current academic year. The content of past papers may also be different.

What’s the latest in development economics research? Microsummaries of 150+ papers from NEUDC 2018

David evans, almedina music.

The saturation rate of communities with planting material for highly nutritious crop technologies (vitamin-A-rich orange sweet potato and high-iron biofortified beans) substantially increases the average probability of adopting the crops and increased spillovers to neighboring households by 16-19 percent. A treatment in which opinion leaders were invited to promote the technologies did not lead to no more diffusion of either technology. ( Baird, Gilligan, and McNiven ) #RCT

How much are women willing to sacrifice to avoid sexual harassment? In India (Delhi), “women  are  willing  to  choose  a  college  in  the  bottom  half  of  the  quality  distribution over  a  college  in  the  top  quintile  in  order  to  travel  by  a  route  that  is  perceived  to  be  one  standard deviation safer.” ( Borker )

Getting married one year later in India results in “a significant decline in physical violence, although it has no impact on sexual or emotional violence.” ( Dhamija & Roychowdhury )

The opening of all women police stations in India “increased reported crime against women by 22 percent. This is due to increases in reports of female kidnappings and domestic violence.” ( Amaral, Bhalotra, & Prakash )

A multi-year intervention that “engaged adolescents in classroom discussions about gender equality” improved gender attitudes and reported gender-equitable behavior (e.g., “boys report helping out more with household chores”). ( Dhar, Jain, & Jayachandran ) #RCT

Does your daughter think she’s bad at math? It’s probably because of her classmates’ parents. Evidence from China. ( Eble & Hu )

In recent years in Bangladesh, researchers find “a pro-female bias in enrollment decision but a pro-male bias in the decisions on the conditional expenditure and core share in education expenditure.” A program providing stipends to females helped with enrollment but didn’t overcome gender bias overall. ( Xu, Shonchoy, & Fujii )

Cash transfers in Kenya reduced physical violence against wives regardless of whether the husband or wife received them, but they reduced sexual violence against wives only when the wives received them. ( Haushofer et al. )

Participants in a lab experiment in Ethiopia “are ten percent less likely to follow the same advice from a female leader than an otherwise identical male leader, and female-led subjects perform .33 standard deviations worse as a result.” ( Ayalew, Manian, & Sheth )

Across 42 countries, what are the differences in infant feeding patterns by wealth, parental education, and community infrastructure? ( Choudhury, Headey, & Masters )

Teaching mothers how to improve children’s diets improved children’s diets in Ethiopia, but providing vouchers for them to afford more food did not. Combining the two was the most effective. ( Park, Han, & Kim ) #RCT

Give a multi-layered child nutrition program or its equivalent in cash? Mixed bag in Rwanda. But giving a lot more cash makes a real difference. ( McIntosh & Zeitlin ) #RCT

“Mothers who received free meals during primary school are less likely to have stunted children compared to mothers who did not receive free meals” in India. ( Chakrabarti et al. )

“Women exposed to cow slaughter bans” in India “in their year of birth have lower levels of hemoglobin (Hb) and are up to 10% more likely to be anemic in their prime reproductive ages between 15 and 35, particularly those who have not completed primary schooling or who come from poorer families.” ( Dasgupta, Majid, & Orman )

What’s the optimal level of health insurance subsidy? In Ghana, a one-time partial subsidy affects long-term health care service use more than a one-time full subsidy. This seems to be due to selection – sicker people opted into the partial subsidy program. ( Asuming, Kim, & Sim ) #RCT

Public anti-malaria investments in Senegal did not crowd out household investments in health. ( Rossi & Villar )

“Peers are… more effective than health workers in bringing in new suspects for testing” for tuberculosis in India. “Low-cost incentives of about $3.00 per referral considerably increase the probability that current patients make referrals.” ( Goldberg, Macis, & Chintagunta ) #RCT

The cost of low effort among clinicians in Nigeria is about US$350 million annually. Peer monitoring increases effort. ( Okeke )

A soda tax in Mexico increased gastrointestinal disease because of low-quality drinking water. ( Gutierrez & Rubli )

“Piped water at home reduces childhood” obesity in Morocco and the Philippines. ( Ritter )

Providing double-fortified salt to primary school children in India reduced anemia but didn’t affect test scores on average. However, for the kids who complied best with treatment, test scores did rise. ( Krämer, Kumar, & Vollmer )

In China, regulating salt to make sure it contained iodine resulted in higher test scores for girls but not for boys, reducing the math ability gap. ( Deng & Lindeboom )

Games in Kenya show that spouses don’t totally trust each other. Letting them communicate increase trust a bit. ( Castilla, Masuda, & Zhang ) #LabInField

When a carpet manufacturer offered jobs to women in India, their likelihood of taking the job was unchanged whether they received the offer directly or their husbands got the information to share with their wives. When couples discussed the opportunity together, women were less likely to take the job. ( Lowe & McKelway ) #RCT

Households differ in who makes decisions but also in why that person makes the decisions. Among farmers in Senegal, “households achieve greater milk production, higher hemoglobin levels among children, and more satisfaction with decisions when the most informed member or members of the household make the relevant decision.” ( Bernard et al. )

In Bangladesh, “women, children, and the elderly face significant probabilities of living in poverty even in households with per-capita expenditure above the poverty threshold.” ( Brown, Calvi, & Penglase )

“A drop of 1 percentage point in the earnings gap” between husbands and wives in Mexico led to “an increase in the divorce rate of 2 percent.” ( Davila )

Christian missionaries settled in healthier, safer and more developed locations in 43 sub-Saharan African countries (early 20 th century) and in Ghana (18 th -20 th century) – this endogeneity led to an overly optimistic account of the importance of colonial missions for long-term development. ( Jedwab, Meier zu Selhausen, and Moradi ) #RDD

Greater suitability for opium cultivation in India under British Rule is associated with lower present-day literacy outcomes and a lower rate of public good provision. In opium-growing districts, the Colonial administration spent less on education and health, while spending more on police forces. ( Lehne ) #RDD

The United Fruit Company (UFCo), active in Costa Rica from 1889 to 1984, had positive, large and persistent effects even after it stopped production: households in former UFCo areas have better housing, sanitation, education, and consumption capacity. UFCo invested in physical and human capital, such as sanitary and health programs, housing for its employees, and vocational training. ( Méndez-Chacón and Van Patten ) #RDD

In locations where plantation estates were ruled by private, foreign enterprises during the Dutch colonial period in Java (Indonesia) weaker economic outcomes and institutions persist to this day. ( Fetzer and Mukherjee )

A novel index of ethnic segregation – taking into account both ethnic and spatial distances between individuals and computed for 159 countries - reveals that countries where ethnically diverse individuals lived far apart, have higher-quality government, higher incomes and higher levels of trust. ( Hodler, Valsecchi, and Vesperoni )

Information can break the political resource curse: Giving information - related to a recent discovery of natural gas in Mozambique - only to community leaders increases elite capture and rent-seeking, while information targeted at the general population increases mobilization, trust, demand for political accountability and decreases conflict.  ( Armand et al.)  

Group size of minorities has no relation with its representation in national government under proportional electoral systems, while it shows an inverted-U shaped relationship in majoritarian electoral systems (i.e., if “too small” or “too large” they suffer a disadvantage against the majority group) based on 421 ethno-country minority groups across 92 democracies spanning the period 1946–2013. ( Chaturvedi and Das )

The majority of citizens in Bangladesh prefer taking common decisions via democratic and inclusive institutions, and these positive evaluations of participatory governance are reinforced by the exposure to a Community-Driven Development program. ( Cocciolo ) #LabInField

Rewarding politicians by making their political effort more visible to citizens - either through public recognition or by increasing their access to public funds - improves citizens’ wellbeing in south Indian state Tamil Nadu.  ( Mansuri et al. )

Caste quotas lead to political candidates with lower wealth, lower criminal records, but similar education levels. Quotas also increase women’s representation in politics. There is no difference in the level of public goods between quota-bound and non-quota-bound areas. ( Jogani ) #RDD

Presence of political opposition in the city council improves mayors’ performance in Brazil: it increases legislative oversight, reduces corruption, increases the probability that a physician will be present at the local health clinic, and decreases the infant mortality rate by 3.4 per 1000 births for uneducated mothers. ( Poulsen and Varjão ) #RDD

Registered citizens in Tanzania are more likely to work in the formal economic sector, have higher education, bank accounts, and pay taxes. ( Bowles ) #IV

A land certification program in Zambia improved perceptions of tenure security, but it had no impact on investment. ( Huntington and Shenoy ) #RCT

Improved schools increased satisfaction with government’s education policy, voter registration and vote share for incumbent representatives in Liberia. Electoral gains were concentrated in places where test score gains were largest, suggesting that voters perceive and reward school quality. ( Romero, Sandefur, and Sandholtz )

An alcohol ban led to an increase in crime in the Indian State of Bihar. Since state capacity and supply of police is fixed, diverting law enforcement resources towards implementing the alcohol ban effectively reduces capacity to prevent crimes. ( Dar and Sahay )

But wait! Alcohol regulation policies in the Indian State of Bihar led to a 0.21 standard deviation reduction in the incidence of violent crimes but had no significant impact on non-violent crimes. ( Chaudhuri et al. )

Brazil’s 2007 voter re-registration reform, intended to curb voter-buying, increased political competition and healthcare expenditures, which in turn led to better health outcomes: a 6.6 percent increase in prenatal visits, a 15 percent decrease in the incidence of low birthweight, and 5.3 percent reduction in the infant mortality rate.  ( Karim ) #RDD

Electing “parachuters” (those who have hereditary/dynastic background) leads to 0.2 percentage point lower GDP growth per year compared to constituencies where “climbers” are elected (those who have made their way up on their own). Impact is likely driven by misallocation of bureaucratic resources. ( Dar ) #RDD

Workers will privately accept jobs at a wage below the prevailing norm in India, but not when other workers can observe them making the choice. “Workers give up 38% of average weekly earnings in order to avoid being seen as breaking the social norm.” ( Breza, Kaur, & Krishnaswamy )

A youth training intervention subsidizing skills training and employment placement services in Nepal showed increased non-farm employment, hours worked and earnings one year after the program. The effects are mainly driven by women, who engage in non-farm self-employment activities carried out inside (but not outside) the house.  ( Chakravarty et al .) #RDD

The decline in Mexican net migration from 2006 to 2012 reduced employment for lower educated men and increased wages for higher education men and women. Informality does not change, and women switch from unpaid to salaried jobs (likely because of reduced remittances). ( Conover, Khamis, and Pearlman ) #IV

Fear of sexual assault reduces women’s labor market participation in India: a one standard deviation increase in sexual assault reports within one’s own district reduced women’s employment probability by 0.36 percentage points, especially among highly educated married urban women. There is no effect of lagged physical assault reports on employment outside home. ( Siddique )

Tax rate changes do not increase formal employment in Ghana, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. ( McKay, Pirttilä, and Schimanski )

Risk averse children in Kenya are more likely to make an independent decision to work, as opposed to being sent by or negotiating with parents over the decision. This suggests a strategic decision by risk averse children who face a risky outside option in semi-nomadic pastoralism. ( Walker and Bartlett ) #LabInField

Effects of local labor demand shocks can differ significantly by gender. In 1991-2010 Brazil, male labor demand shocks, relative to equivalent female shocks, lead to larger increases in population (migration), own-gender wages, and the gender economic gap, particularly for those without high school education. ( Chauvin )

In the short run, job application workshops and transport subsidies increase the probability of finding employment for young job seekers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The workshop also helped young people access stable jobs with an open-ended contract. Four years later, the workshop has a large and significant impact on earnings, while the effects of the subsidy have dissipated. ( Abebe et al. ) #RCT

Decision-making responsibilities shift towards women during the seasonal migration period in Bangladesh. Seasonal migration brings clear changes in some beliefs with respect to gender and income inequality, but no accompanying behavioral change. ( Mobarak, Reimão, and Shenoy ) #RCT

Migration generates bilateral cultural convergence even if migrants are excluded from the pool of respondents (hence eliminating social mixing). International migration appears as a stronger and more robust driver of cultural convergence than trade. ( Rapoport, Sardoschau, and Silve )

In the agrarian sector in the Philippines, self-selection effects accounts for 60% of the productivity difference between fixed wage and individual piece rate contracts. Social norms significantly alter the decision-making by workers: Guilt aversion and kinship taxation discourage workers to choose the remunerative option, whereas enviousness facilitates them to opt for it. ( Goto et al. )

Employment Protection Laws decreased employment of the disabled by 9 percentage points, particularly for women and employees. Employers reduce their demand for disabled labor to avoid the cost of workplace accommodations for disabled workers. ( Palmer and Williams )

What happens when a single sector is hit with a negative shock? The EU ban on black tiger shrimp pushed some workers out of the industry in Thailand, increasing incomes of those who stayed. But those who were pushed out also received a benefit in their children’s education. ( Banternghansa & Giannone )

“Countries’ dollar-denominated net external debt (dollar debt) helps explain the large differences in risk premia across currencies and how U.S. monetary policy affects the global economy.” ( Wiriadinata )

With novel data from Mexico, “larger firms (in terms of sales and employees) tend to use more interfirm trade credit relative to bank credit… These firms use interfirm trade credit as a mechanism to smooth variations in their prices. All else equal, firms with a higher trade-to-bank credit ratio tend to lower prices.” ( Shapiro et al. )

In China, the road network veers towards the birthplaces of top officials who were in power when it was built. ( Alder & Kondo )

When the poorest households in a cash transfer program in Kenya experience monetary penalties failing to comply with conditions, consumption drops significantly. Less poor households are better able to avoid getting fined in the future. ( Heinrich & Knowles )

A new model suggests the existence of a network-level poverty trap. “Transfer programs can be made more cost-effective by targeting communities at the threshold of the aggregate poverty trap.” Based on data in Bangladesh. ( Advani )

Not all marginalized groups in India are catching up! Mobility in India has remained the same overall since before the early 1990s, but in fact it has risen among some groups (the traditionally lowest castes) and fallen among others (Muslims). ( Asher, Novosad, & Rafkin )

Cash transfers in Indonesia decreased suicides by 18%. ( Christian, Hensel, & Roth )

How to incorporate ordinal measures (e.g., ranked positions rather than levels of income) into multidimensional poverty measurement. ( Seth & Yalonetsky )

Introducing formal insurance can crowd-out private redistributive transfers in Ethiopia’s rural communities. To donors, new information based on insurance decisions allows them to place recipients of private funds in a different light, and reduce their support. ( Anderberg and Morsink )

Increases in the generosity of in-kind food subsidies led to lower labor supply and higher wages, mostly in the low-skilled casual labor market in India. ( Shrinivas, Baylis, and Crost )

Insurance is an important factor in explaining effort supply and fertilizer use. Going from no sharing to full insurance, effort supply decreases by more than six times and fertilizer use drops by almost 50 percent in rural India. ( Pietrobon )

A large-scale HIV prevention program in public secondary schools in Malawi provided free circumcision and transport subsidies to clinics. Demand for circumcision increased in addition to positive peer effects among untreated students. In the long run, the preventive effect of circumcision is mitigated through risk compensation behavior in the group that got circumcised due to the intervention, but not for those induced by peer effects. ( Kim et al. ) #RCT

Access to a new financial product, offering guaranteed credit access after a shock, improves household welfare in Bangladesh through two channels: an ex-ante insurance effect where households increase investment in risky production and an ex-post effect where households are better able to maintain consumption and asset levels after a shock.  ( Lane ) #RCT

Without financial incentives such as discounts or rebates, farmers in Bangladesh do not use insurance to manage production risk during the monsoon season, even at actuarially-favorable prices. Purchasing insurance yields both ex ante risk management effects as well as ex post income effects on production practices ( Hill et al. ) #RCT

In India, the association between yield losses and rainfall index losses are stronger for large deviations. Therefore, demand for commercially priced rainfall insurance is more likely to be positive when coverage is restricted to extreme losses. ( Negi and Rawasmani )

A large-scale environmental disaster in 2016, when toxic industrial waste contaminated the marine ecosystem of Vietnam’s central coast, reduced fishing activities by 23 percent and fishermen’s income by 45 percent. ( Hoang et al. )

Do you want practical advice for your farm? Go to your local church or mosque! In Kenya, “shared attendance of two peers at” a religious institution “increases the likelihood of seeking out and receiving advice from their peer by 33 percentage points.” ( Murphy, Lee, & Nourani )

Based on a field experiment in Ethiopia, “conventional job referrals through social networks can reinforce labour market inequalities and prevent less socially connected individuals from getting access to jobs. However, when given referral opportunities, individuals can manage to escape exclusion.” ( Witte ) #RCT

Matching employers and employees using social networks can lead to bad matches, particularly among “less productive, poorer workers and firms” in Ethiopia. ( Matsuda & Nomura )

Business training for micro-entrepreneurs in Uganda rewires social networks, as entrepreneurs who don’t receive the training seek to network with trained peers. ( Stein )

When the social network is not completely informative, any self-report which is not supported by a third party must be discarded. ( Bloch and Olckers )

In Filipino villages with high social fragmentation, workers earn higher wages and occupations are disproportionately less likely to be dominated by a single social group. ( Caria and Labonne )

Households which experience climate shocks tend to invest more in family-caste (formal and informal) and vertical network relationships. Those networks bring benefits which are key to mitigating the impact of negative climate shocks. ( Ramsawak )

Income shocks facilitate altruistic giving that better targets the least well off within one’s network in Ghana. ( Barrett et al. )

What does major bridge construction do for economic activity (in Bangladesh)? In the formerly disconnected area, workers move from agriculture to services, population grows, and agricultural productivity rises. ( Blankespoor et al. )

Big, surprising oil and gas discoveries lead to lots of additional foreign direct investment (FDI). In Mozambique, each FDI job leads to between 4.4 and 6.5 additional other jobs. ( Toews & Vézina )

India’s Freight Equalization Scheme “contributed to the decline of industry in eastern India” but it took time. But repealing it reversed the decline, at least in some states. ( Firth & Liu )

In Brazil, trade with China reduced unemployment for areas exporting stuff and increased unemployment for areas importing stuff. ( Brummond & Connolly )

In Indonesia, “each percentage point of additional agriculture-driven poverty reduction also corresponds to around three percent of district area in forest loss since 2000.” ( Edwards )

New state-built formal housing on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, is popular among slum dwellers, despite longer, and slightly more expensive commutes. Moving to formal housing on the outskirts of the city has no effects on labor supply and earnings. ( Franklin )

Public housing projects in South Africa decrease close-by formal residential home prices by 16 percent. While there is greater access to services and improved home quality within project areas, surrounding neighborhoods experience substantial growth in informal housing which exacerbates congestions and generate declines in formal home prices.  ( Bradlow, Polloni, and Violette ) #DiD

Air pollution substantially lowers productivity among industries with labor intensive technology while industries that rely less on labor inputs are less affected. ( Hansen-Lewis ) #IV

The TransJakarta Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, a public transport initiative designed to improve mobility for the greater Jakarta metropolitan area, did not increase transit ridership and exacerbated congestion on the routes it served, leading to increased travel times for other modes. Motorcycle vehicle ownership increased substantially. ( Gaduh, Gračner, and Rothenberg )

Two light-touch psychological interventions – one that helped women improve planning and another that helped reduce impatience – both had impacts on sanitation behavior and health outcomes after ten weeks in Kenya. ( Haushofer, John, & Orkin ) #RCT

After training street food vendors in India on food safety, vendors knew a lot more but didn’t change what they actually did. ( Daniele, Mookerjee, & Tommasi ) #RCT

Providing subsidies lead more households to purchase latrines in India. “A household becomes more likely to invest if a larger fraction of its community are also offered a subsidy.” ( Guiteras, Levinsohn, & Mobarak ) #RCT

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51+ Economics Project Topics [Updated]

Economics may sound like a daunting subject, but it’s all around us, influencing every aspect of our lives. Economic projects delve into various aspects of how societies produce, distribute, and consume products or goods and services. Whether you’re a student looking for compelling economics project topics or someone curious about the world of economics, this guide will walk you through some fascinating areas to explore.

How Do You Write An Economic Project?

Table of Contents

Writing an economic project involves several steps to effectively research, analyze, and present your findings. Here’s a general guide on how to write an economic project:

• Choose a Topic: Choose an economic subject that captures your interest and is in line with the requirements of your assignment or the objectives of your research. It could be a macroeconomic trend, a microeconomic analysis, or a specific area like environmental economics or development economics.
• Conduct Research: Collect pertinent data and information from credible sources like scholarly journals, government reports, economic repositories, and literature. Make sure to critically evaluate the credibility and reliability of your sources.
• Outline Your Project: Create an outline that organizes your ideas and arguments logically. Include sections such as introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, discussion, and conclusion.
• Write the Introduction: Begin with an introduction that provides background information on your topic, states the purpose of your project, and outlines the structure of your paper.
• Review the Literature: Perform a thorough examination of existing literature and theories pertinent to your subject matter through a literature review. Identify any deficiencies or areas lacking sufficient research that your project intends to fill.
• Develop a Methodology: Describe the methods you used to collect and analyze data. This may include quantitative techniques such as econometric modeling or qualitative approaches like case studies or interviews.
• Present Your Findings: Present the results of your analysis in a clear and organized manner. Use tables, charts, and graphs to illustrate key findings and trends.
• Discuss Your Results: Interpret the implications of your findings and discuss their significance in relation to existing literature and theoretical frameworks. Address any limitations or constraints of your study.
• Draw Conclusions: Provide a condensed overview of your project’s key discoveries and derive conclusions from your analysis. Consider the broader implications of your research and suggest areas for further study.
• Write the Conclusion: Conclude your project by restating the main points and highlighting the contribution of your research to the field of economics. Discuss any practical implications or policy recommendations arising from your findings.
• Cite Your Sources: Make sure to cite all sources properly used in your project according to the appropriate citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).
• Proofread and Edit: Finally, carefully proofread your project to check for errors in grammar, spelling, and formatting. Ensure that your writing is clear, concise, and coherent.

By following these steps, you can effectively write an economic project that demonstrates your understanding of economic concepts, analytical skills, and ability to communicate research findings effectively.

51+ Economics Project Topics: Category Wise

Macroeconomic topics.

• The Impact of Fiscal Policy on Economic Growth
• Analyzing the Effects of Monetary Policy on Inflation
• Evaluating the Relationship Between Exchange Rates and Export Performance
• Assessing the Role of Government Spending in Stimulating Aggregate Demand
• Examining the Causes and Consequences of Economic Recessions

Microeconomic Topics

• Market Structure Analysis: A Case Study of the Smartphone Industry
• Consumer Behavior and Preferences in the Fast Food Industry
• The Impact of Price Elasticity on Revenue in the Airline Industry
• Producer Surplus and Profit Maximization in Competitive Markets
• Analyzing Market Failures and the Need for Government Intervention

International Economics Topics

• The Effects of Trade Liberalization on Developing Countries
• Exchange Rate Volatility and Its Impact on International Trade
• Globalization and Its Effects on Income Inequality
• Trade Policies and Their Influence on Foreign Direct Investment
• Comparative Advantage and Specialization in International Trade

Environmental Economics Topics

• The Economics of Renewable Energy Adoption
• Carbon Pricing and Its Implications for Climate Change Mitigation
• Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Services
• Environmental Regulations and Firm Behavior: A Case Study Approach
• The Role of Economics in Biodiversity Conservation Efforts

Development Economics Topics

• Microfinance and Poverty Alleviation: Lessons from Case Studies
• The Impact of Education on Economic Development
• Evaluating the Effectiveness of Conditional Cash Transfer Programs
• Gender Inequality and Economic Development: An Empirical Analysis
• The Role of Foreign Aid in Promoting Sustainable Development

Behavioral Economics Topics

• Behavioral Biases in Consumer Decision-Making: A Experimental Study
• Nudge Theory and Its Applications in Public Policy
• Prospect Theory and Risk Preferences in Investment Decisions
• The Influence of Social Norms on Economic Behavior
• Behavioral Economics Approaches to Addressing Climate Change

Econometrics and Quantitative Analysis Topics

• Time-Series Analysis of Stock Market Volatility
• Regression Analysis of Factors Affecting Housing Prices
• Forecasting Macroeconomic Indicators Using Machine Learning Techniques
• Panel Data Analysis of Regional Economic Disparities
• Causal Inference Methods in Economic Research

Policy Analysis and Evaluation Topics

• Cost-Benefit Analysis of Infrastructure Projects
• Evaluating the Impact of Minimum Wage Policies on Employment
• Welfare Effects of Tax Reform: A Microsimulation Approach
• Policy Responses to Economic Shocks: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Assessing the Effectiveness of Anti-Poverty Programs in Developing Countries

Monetary Economics Topics

• The Transmission Mechanism of Monetary Policy
• Central Bank Independence and Inflation Targeting
• Quantitative Easing and Its Effects on Financial Markets
• The Role of Interest Rates in Determining Investment Decisions
• Digital Currencies and the Future of Monetary Policy

Labor Economics Topics

• The Economics of Immigration: Impacts on Labor Markets
• Gender Wage Gap: Causes and Policy Implications
• The Effects of Automation on Employment Patterns
• Labor Market Dynamics and Unemployment Duration
• Evaluating the Impact of Minimum Wage Laws on Poverty

Health Economics Topics

• The Economics of Healthcare Financing Systems
• Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Healthcare Interventions
• The Impact of Health Insurance Coverage on Healthcare Utilization
• Behavioral Economics Approaches to Promoting Healthier Lifestyles
• Healthcare Market Competition and Patient Outcomes: Evidence from Empirical Studies

What To Avoid For Economics Projects?

When working on economics projects, it’s essential to be aware of common pitfalls to avoid. Here’s a list of things to steer clear of:

• Lack of Clarity in Research Question: Ensure your research question is clear, specific, and well-defined. Avoid ambiguity or broad topics that make it difficult to focus your research.
• Poor Data Quality: Avoid using unreliable or outdated data sources. Ensure your data is accurate, relevant, and obtained from reputable sources.
• Ignoring Assumptions: Be transparent about the assumptions underlying your analysis. Ignoring or glossing over assumptions can weaken the validity of your findings.
• Overly Complex Models: While sophisticated models can be impressive, avoid unnecessarily complex models that obscure key relationships or make interpretation difficult.
• Ignoring Alternative Explanations: Consider alternative explanations for your findings and address potential counterarguments. Ignoring alternative explanations can weaken the credibility of your analysis.
• Misinterpreting Correlation as Causation: Be cautious when interpreting correlations as causation. Correlation does not imply causation, so ensure you have robust evidence to support causal claims.
• Ignoring Feedback Effects: Consider feedback effects and dynamic interactions between variables in your analysis. Ignoring feedback effects can lead to biased or misleading conclusions.
• Ignoring Heterogeneity: Recognize heterogeneity within the population or sample under study. Ignoring heterogeneity can lead to overgeneralization of results.
• Overlooking Endogeneity: Be mindful of endogeneity issues, where the relationship between variables is bidirectional or influenced by unobserved factors. Addressing endogeneity requires careful modeling and appropriate techniques.
• Inadequate Literature Review: Conduct a thorough literature review to situate your research within the existing literature. Avoid overlooking relevant studies or failing to acknowledge prior research.
• Inadequate Discussion of Limitations: Acknowledge the limitations of your study and discuss their implications for the validity and generalizability of your findings.
• Poor Presentation and Organization: Ensure your project is well-organized and clearly presented. Avoid cluttered or confusing visuals, inconsistent formatting, or unclear writing.

By avoiding these common pitfalls, you can enhance the quality and credibility of your economics projects and contribute meaningfully to the field of study.

Economics is a dynamic and multifaceted field, offering endless opportunities for exploration and discovery. Whether you’re interested in understanding the forces shaping the global economy or seeking solutions to pressing social issues, there’s a wealth of topics to explore.

By delving into these areas, you’ll gain valuable insights into how economies work and how they can be improved for the benefit of all. So, don’t hesitate to dive into economics project topics and start exploring the fascinating world of economics.

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You are here Postgraduate > MSc in Economics > Course Structure > Topics in Development Economics

Topics in Development Economics

Module code: ecp77123.

• ECTS Credit : 5
• Mandatory/Optional : Mandatory for International Development, optional for others
• Module Coordinator : Professor Gaia Narciso

Aims of Module

The course will cover recent contributions in the field of Development Economics. We will study how informal markets operate in developing countries and we will discuss the functioning of the credit sector, with a detailed analysis of microcredit and its development. Next, we will cover issues related to health, both in terms of demand for health and supply of health in a developing country context. We will then cover recent work conducted in the field of migration, with a focus on the role of information between migrants and their transnational networks. Finally, we will analyse recent contributions on the role of media in development.  Throughout the course there will be a strong emphasis on experimental settings. Active participation of students will be sought.

Module Delivery

The module will be delivered through a combination of lectures (8 hours) and tutorials (3 hours).

Learning Outcomes

On completion of the course, students will be able to:

• Exposit and critically appraise recent contributions to the field of Development Economics;
• Use appropriately the main techniques and methodologies employed in the field of Development Economics;
• Propose original research ideas in the field of Development Economics.

The overall grade for the course is based on the end-of-year examination (50%) plus one research proposal and a presentation (50%).

Home » Blog » Dissertation » Topics » Economics » Development Economics » 99 Development Economics Research Topics | Dissertation Ideas

99 Development Economics Research Topics | Dissertation Ideas

By Adam Oct 8, 2023 in Development Economics , Economics | No Comments

Economic activity varies widely from region to region and is a crucial focus in development economics. Research topics in development economics cover a range of aspects related to income generation in developing nations, making it an essential area of study in academia. Whether you’re an undergraduate, master’s student or doctoral candidate, selecting a dissertation topic […]

Economic activity varies widely from region to region and is a crucial focus in development economics. Research topics in development economics cover a range of aspects related to income generation in developing nations, making it an essential area of study in academia. Whether you’re an undergraduate, master’s student or doctoral candidate, selecting a dissertation topic in Development Economics is critical to your academic success.

This Development Economics explores the complexities of economic progress, poverty reduction, and sustainable development and is often referred to as “Economic Growth,” “Global Development,” or “Economic Transformation.” This post provides a comprehensive overview of Development Economics, including many dissertation topics to inspire your research journey. So, let’s delve into this dynamic field and discover the numerous opportunities for academic exploration.

Download Development Economics Dissertation Sample

A list of development economics research topics:

The following is a list of research topics in development economics to help the learner choose a relevant topic and write his paper.

The role of foreign aid in fostering economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The effect of infrastructure development on regional economic disparities.

The impact of trade preferences on export diversification in developing countries.

National policies to promote specific regions and impact national development- China’s perspectives.

The effect of natural disasters on economic development in vulnerable regions.

The impact of agricultural policies on food security in developing nations.

The influence of natural resource abundance on economic diversification in resource-rich countries.

Investigating the relationship between healthcare expenditure and health outcomes.

Post-COVID healthcare system resilience and its effects on economic development.

The impact of trade preferences on agricultural exports from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Understanding the mechanics of budgeting and decision-making in poor households in emerging economies.

Investigating the influence of foreign aid on income inequality in Latin America.

Analyzing the impact of globalization on income distribution in emerging economies.

Evaluating the role of access to credit in entrepreneurship development.

A review of the economic consequences of natural resource mismanagement.

A review of the economic consequences of refugee crises.

The debate for development economics within higher education.

A review of the relationship between environmental sustainability and economic growth.

Investigating the role of infrastructure development in promoting economic growth.

Examining the impact of population ageing on economic development.

The role of foreign aid allocation strategies in achieving development goals.

Evaluating the impact of trade facilitation measures on export growth.

Investigating the relationship between financial development and economic stability.

The influence of trade liberalization on income inequality in emerging markets.

The influence of trade agreements on agricultural trade in the UK.

The determinants of high-performing institutions in a development economics context.

A review of the economic consequences of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction.

Examining the relationship between corruption and economic development.

The influence of political stability on foreign direct investment inflows.

Investigating the impact of transnational commodity trading through the development economic perspective.

A review of the economic implications of health epidemics.

Development economics- progress through field interventions or theoretical bases? An investigation.

The influence of institutional quality on foreign direct investment attraction.

The effect of climate change adaptation measures on economic resilience.

The impact of health system quality on healthcare access and outcomes.

Analyzing the effects of currency devaluation on export competitiveness.

Evaluating the effectiveness of public-private partnerships in infrastructure development.

Comparative economic patterns of villages across Europe- an investigation.

Post-COVID food security challenges and policy responses.

Post-COVID digitalization and its effects on financial inclusion.

Analyzing the role of foreign direct investment in technology transfer.

The impact of corporate governance on stakeholders’ firm valuation: A comparative review between developed and developing countries.

Measurement of poverty levels in the world- biased, random or concentrated efforts?

The effect of gender-based discrimination on economic development.

A review of the relationship between education and labour market outcomes.

The effect of land tenure systems on agricultural productivity.

The effect of education quality on human capital development in low-income countries.

Evaluating the effectiveness of poverty reduction programs in the UK.

The role of development aid in economic growth of developing economies- a review.

The impact of natural disasters on development economics in emerging economies.

Development economics- antecedents and current perspectives.

Post-COVID education system resilience and its impact on human capital.

Family planning, labour force and income fluctuations- investigating the relationship.

Examining the influence of trade openness on economic growth in East Asia.

The role of financial inclusion in poverty reduction: A case study in South America.

A review of the relationship between foreign aid and governance in Africa.

A comparative analysis of rural and urban development strategies in India.

The impact of globalization on income inequality in China.

Evaluating the effectiveness of microenterprise development programs.

Waste management through a socioeconomic perspective- review of the literature.

The impact of economic policies on financial integration in Europe- literature review.

The role of financial inclusion in economic development in the Middle East.

A review of the effectiveness of conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America.

Evaluating the influence of agricultural subsidies on food security.

Post-COVID healthcare infrastructure and its effects on healthcare access.

The influence of trade openness on industrialization in South Asia.

The impact of land reform policies on agricultural productivity.

The role of infrastructure investment in stimulating economic growth.

The role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in economic development.

Analyzing the role of women’s empowerment in economic development.

Labour migration and development economics- investigating the relationship.

The impact of regional integration on trade and economic development.

The impact of globalization on income distribution in the UK.

Analyzing the effects of trade protectionism on global supply chains.

Examining the effects of export-oriented industrialization on job creation.

The role of renewable energy adoption in sustainable economic growth.

Post-COVID digital financial services and their impact on financial inclusion.

Evaluating the effectiveness of microfinance programs in poverty alleviation: A case study in the UK.

Post-COVID economic recovery strategies: A comparative analysis of developed and developing economies.

The effect of international migration on economic development in origin countries.

Analyzing the role of entrepreneurship in fostering economic development.

A review of the economic consequences of climate change in vulnerable regions.

Analyzing the effects of financial sector development on economic growth.

The connection between national economic growth and the financial sector- an analytical approach.

Analyzing the role of labour market policies in reducing informality.

Examining the influence of social safety nets on economic resilience during crises.

A review of the role of remittances in improving livelihoods in migrant-sending countries.

Analyzing the impact of foreign direct investment on economic development in Southeast Asia.

How do American multinationals integrate with domestic institutions for the economic development of the host nation?

The effect of urbanization on income distribution in developing countries.

The impact of infrastructure investment on access to healthcare and education.

Evaluating the role of foreign direct investment in Africa’s industrialization.

Post-COVID labour market dynamics: Implications for employment policies.

Analyzing the role of education quality in reducing income inequality.

The impact of population growth on development economics – review of India.

The impact of trade agreements on agricultural exports from developing countries.

Post-COVID supply chain disruptions and their economic implications.

A review of the economic implications of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

A review of the relationship between population growth and economic development.

There you go. Use the list of development economics dissertation topics well and let us know if you have any comments or suggestions for our topics-related blog posts for the future or want to get help with dissertation writing; send  us an email at [email protected] .

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100+ Indian Economy Topics For Presentation (Updated)

This post covers a list of more than 100 Indian economy topics for presentation. These Indian economy-related PowerPoint presentation topics can be used for seminars, webinars, conferences, discussions, essays, speeches, oral presentations and other events. Hope these updated presentation topics will help MBA, BBA, Bcom, Mcom, MCA, PGDM, MMM, MMS and other specializations students and other management researchers.

Let’s explore Indian Economy related presentation topics updated in 2021.

Will 2021 be better for Indian Economy?

Is Indian economy recovering !

The rise of Covidnomics

Role of IT in Small scale industries in mission 2021

How Indian Economy Works?

Ban on Chinese Apps in India: Impact on Indian economy!

Is the worst over for Indian economy?

Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package: Boon or Bane for Indian Economy?

Vocal for Local Vs. Global Aspirations of India!

Impact of deceasing value of rupee on Indian economy

What has gone wrong with Indian Economy?

Globalization and Indian Economy!

Is India still a favourite among foreign investors?

Indian Economy: Before GST, After GST!

Impact of Demonetization on Indian Economy?

Indian economy & Moody’s ratings!

The Role of the Government in the Economy

World banks view on Indian Economy!

Manmohan Singh & Economic reforms!

The role of Women in Indian Economy!

Making sense of the Global & Indian Economy!

India’s Economy SlowDown: Natural or Result of wrong policies?

India’s Journey towards $5 Trillion Economy

Aatmnirbhar Reality : India’s dream towards self reliant India

Next Economic Powers of Asia: India’s Position!

India’s economy: Why the time for growth is now?

Is India really developing?

India’s dependence on China

Impact of privatisation on Indian economy!

Impact of GST on Indian Economy!

The sectoral Imbalance In India!

Is Indian ready for cashless economy?

Future of Indian Economy!

Learning from an ancient India’s economy!

FDI – Foreign Direct Investment in India: advantages and disadvantages

Aatmanirbhar Bharat : Boon or bane for Indian economy!

Depreciation of Indian Rupee: Reasons & Remedies!

How do elections affect the Indian Economy?

The Indian Industry is positive on economic growth!

India Economy 2021: It is not a recession, the economy is growing!

Is China’s loss of India’s gain?

Indian Economy: Looking beyond crises!

India’s Cashless Economy: UPI’s contribution

Impact of Atmanirnhar Baharat scheme on Indian Economy!

What makes a country a developed one?

Uniquely Indian – is there any product like that?

Can the Indian economy afford boycotting Chinese products?

Can India become a developed country : Dream Vs. Reality!

Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan: A true commitment or a cosmetic gimmick?

India’s Economy: How Did We Get Here and What Can be Done?

The root cause for Indian Economy slowdown: Corruption or Wrong Policies

FDI to India: Advantages and Disadvantages

India needs a federal commission , not just a finance commission!

Role of IT in the Service Sector in mission 2021

Rise of E-commerce in India: advantages & disadvantages

Indian Service Sector – can it be peoples worth

Does India benefit from a Sino-US trade conflict?

Where does India stand in the International Forum?

What does India need to become a Superpower nation?

What happens if India survives only on service?

Standard of Indian service sector

The services sector :a key driver of India’s economic growth

Will the Indian economy recover in the year 2021?

Technology – really core strength of India!

Role of agriculture in Indian economy

Role of RBI in Indian Economy!

The need to care about the care economy

The modern face of Indian Manufacturing

Ideas to make India Economic Superpower

Impact of Make In India on Indian Economy!

The Indian service sector is a quality conscious

Is Indian economy moving towards recession?

Make in India – Key to Revival of Economy

Infrastructure in India is it at par with other developing nations

Economy Vs Environment : What’s important!

Impact of FDI on local companies and businesses!

Problem of Non Performing Assets in India

Impact of better ease of doing rank on Indian economy

Ease of doing business in India: Rankings improved, but issues remain

INR Vs. USD : Why so much of gap!

Indian economy on the eve of Independence !

India Vs the World: A brief economical comparison

Economic ideas of Gandhiji

Towards a more sophisticated Indian economy

The battle of 1991: How India’s economy was reformed!

Fundamentals of Indian Economy

Ease of doing business in India : Myths and realities

Contribution of Tourism Sector in Indian Economy

Sectors of Indian Economy

Economic and Social Development in India

Thalinomics: The Economics of a Plate of Food in India

Balance between economy & environment !

Indian Economy: Green Revolution

Sustainable Development and Climate Change: Challenges and opportunities

Chanakya’s Arthashastra & its relevance today.

Impact of National Education Policy 2019 on Indian Economy

Impact of National Health Policy on Health Sector & Indian Economy

The impact of India’s trade agreements on overall trade balance

Targeting Ease of Doing Business in India

India’s Balance of Payments (BoP) position

Future of coal: Economic & Environmental consequences!

This is all about Indian economy presentation topics updated in 2021.

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Sierra Leone Records Progress in Human Capital Development - But Requires Sustained Investments to Drive Economic Growth and Reduce Poverty

FREETOWN, March 25, 2024 – Sierra Leone has made commendable strides in improving human capital development with the government demonstrating a strong commitment to enhancing the well-being and productivity of its population through significant investments in health and education, according to a new World Bank report launched today in Freetown. The report also highlights the prioritization of social protection interventions like cash transfers to extremely vulnerable groups as a notable intervention aimed at reducing poverty and building human capital.

The Sierra Leone Human Capital Review: Maximizing Human Potential for Resilience and Inclusive Development , provides critical insights into the country's efforts to foster human capital development and economic growth. The report examines the current state of health, education, and social protection systems in the country and offers recommendations to enhance the effectiveness of human capital investments.

"The future socio-economic stability and prosperity of Sierra Leone is intrinsically linked to the well-being of its people," said Abdu Muwonge, World Bank Country Manager for Sierra Leone . "This report provides a roadmap for the government and its partners to strengthen human capital, which is essential for Sierra Leone to achieve its full economic potential and improve the livelihoods of its citizens."

‘Human Capital Development’ is the first Policy Cluster in the Government of Sierra Leone’s Medium-term National Development Plan (MTNDP) 2019–2023 with increased financing of inputs in key human development sectors such as health and education. The new MTNDP (2024-2030) also prioritizes human capital development among its five key pillars, with food security as the main flagship. This increased commitment towards social sectors has resulted in improvements in health and education outcomes. For example, maternal and under-5 mortality rates, adult survival rates, as well as expected years of schooling have all improved since 2005. The Free Quality Education, launched in 2018, helped to reduce barriers to accessing education with the Education Sector Plan (2022–2026) laying out the core priorities and presenting a road map to achieving the country’s education goals. There have also been improvements in social protection coverage – the flagship social protection initiative, ‘Ep Fet Po’ cash transfer program, financed through the World Bank-supported Social Safety Net (SSN) Project, provides direct financial support to the most vulnerable populations, thereby contributing to the development of a more resilient and capable workforce.

However, Sierra Leone still faces challenges related to low human development outcomes, high poverty rates, and limited access to basic services, the report notes. The country ranks 151 out of 157 countries on the Human Capital Index (HCI). The HCI value is lower than the region’s average, indicating significant challenges in human capital development. The report highlights that only around two-thirds of today’s 15-year-olds can be expected to survive to the age of 60, and about one-quarter of the country’s children are stunted due to chronic malnutrition. Additionally, the HCI measure predicts that a child born today in Sierra Leone can be expected to be only 35% as productive when he or she grows up as the child could have been if he or she had enjoyed complete education and full health.

"The government of Sierra Leone has demonstrated a strong commitment to human capital. This report makes the case that one of the best investments a country can make is investing in its people,” said Ali Ansari, World Bank Senior Economist and one of the lead authors of the report. "A healthy, educated and skilled population is the cornerstone of Sierra Leone's journey towards a resilient, prosperous and inclusive future."

As policy priorities over the short to medium-term, the report emphasizes the need to: (i) prioritize investments in high-impact interventions for foundational learning, health, youth skills and employability; (ii) improve workforce management; (iii) prioritize investments in ensuring a minimum social protection floor for Sierra Leone; (iv) strengthen governance and implementation capacity; and (v) improve national and local level coordination in human capital development. The report also identifies several cross-cutting areas that should be prioritized, including: (i) building resilient and adaptive human development systems; (ii) improving food security; (iii) leveraging technology to enhance service delivery; and (iv) targeting human capital interventions to vulnerable groups, especially adolescent girls, women, youth and the poorest.

The Sierra Leone Human Capital Review is part of the World Bank's broader commitment to supporting countries in their efforts to build strong human capital as a foundation for inclusive growth. This is in line with WBG’s vision of creating a world free of poverty on a livable planet. The report's findings will serve as a valuable resource for policymakers, development partners, and stakeholders working towards a prosperous future for Sierra Leone.

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