Development Economics
Development Economics
This course provides analytical and empirical tools to understand economic development processes. It connects development theory with global public-policy issues and adopts an interdisciplinary and critical perspective. Students will develop the skills required for analytical, policy-oriented and field-based work in international development.
Development Economics: what development is and how development outcomes are assessed
Economic growth: from stagnation to growth, Unified Growth Theory and growth diagnostics
Poverty reduction: theories and empirical evidence
Inequality: theories and empirical evidence
Conflict and development: determinants of conflict, development consequences and post-conflict recovery
Students attending the course who wish to undertake a project must first pass a one-hour written test covering economic growth, poverty and inequality.
Students who pass the test will develop a project in collaboration with the instructor and deliver a final presentation. The presentation should discuss the research question, methodology, data, empirical analysis, main results and policy implications.
For non-attending students, the examination consists of an oral examination covering the entire course syllabus.
De Janvry, A. and Sadoulet, E. (2021). Development Economics: Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. Routledge.
Galor, O. (2011). Unified Growth Theory. Princeton University Press.
Brauer, J. and Dunne, J. P. (2012). Peace Economics: A Macroeconomic Primer for Violence-Afflicted States. United States Institute of Peace Press.
Ghatak, M. (2015). “Theories of Poverty Traps and Anti-Poverty Policies.” World Bank Economic Review, 29(S1), S77–S105.
Galor, O. and Zeira, J. (1993). “Income Distribution and Macroeconomics.” Review of Economic Studies, 60(1), 35–52.
This course provides the fundamental conceptual and analytical tools required to understand how markets function, how the main economic agents make decisions, and how macroeconomic dynamics evolve in the short and medium run. By the end of the course, students will be able to interpret key economic phenomena using basic theoretical models and to relate them to empirical evidence and economic policy.
Microeconomics
Introduction and basic concepts
Demand and supply
Consumer theory and the demand curve
Labour supply and saving
Theory of the firm and the supply curve
Technology and production costs
Competitive markets: product and factor markets
General equilibrium and Pareto optimality
Incomplete markets
Monopoly
Macroeconomics
Introduction to macroeconomics
National-accounting aggregates and relationships
The short run: goods market, financial markets and the IS–LM model
The medium run: labour market, Phillips curve, the natural rate of unemployment and inflation, and the IS–LM–PC model
The written examination lasts one hour and thirty minutes and consists of:
10 multiple-choice questions covering the entire syllabus
One exercise
One open-ended question
The exercise and the open-ended question are assessed only if the student answers at least 6 out of 10 multiple-choice questions correctly.
Attending students may complete the examination through two exemption tests: the first on Macroeconomics and the second on Microeconomics. Each test consists of 10 multiple-choice questions, one exercise and one open-ended question. The second part is assessed only when at least 6 multiple-choice questions are answered correctly.
Passing both exemption tests is equivalent to passing the full examination. Students who do not pass the first exemption test cannot take the second one. Students who do not pass either exemption test cannot sit the examination in the first session of the summer examination period.
Saltari, E., Di Bartolomeo, G. and Tilli, R. Principi di Economia Politica. Carocci Editore, fifth reprint. Chapters 1–10.
Blanchard, O., Amighini, A. and Giavazzi, F. (2020). Macroeconomia: Una prospettiva europea. Il Mulino. Chapters 1–9.