Last updated: September 22, 2025
COURSE TITLE:
Economic Approach to Southeast Asia II
Year/Semester: 2025-2026/Fall and Winter
Class time: Tuesday 15:00-16:30
Room: Inamori 3rd Floor Small Meeting Room I (R330)
Format: Lecture and discussion
Target year: 1-5
Credits: 2
Course ID: G-AAA01 81323 LE31
INSTRUCTOR:
Instructor: Tomohiro Machikita
Affiliation: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University
Office: Inamori 221
Office hours: Tuesdays 16:30-17:30 and Wednesdays 12:00-13:00
OVERVIEW AND PURPOSE:
This course studies economies of Southeast Asia through the lens from Development Economics, Industrial Development, Economic Geography, and Labor Economics. This course studies quantitative analytical frameworks and use historical case studies to examine the role of geographic and institutional factors such as incentives, trade, community development, skills, migration, agglomeration of economic activities in understanding the performance of regions in developing vs developed economies and comparative institutional analysis of cities. We may cover related and recommended topics analyzing regional differences through geography and institutions answering questions such as: How urbanization relates to economic development? How institutional difference has persistent effects on economic development?
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Through active participation in discussions and presentations of assigned papers, students will absorb the research designs of the most up-to-date study results, and each student will be involved in their own research thesis. Students will study the basic mechanisms of industrial development and prior empirical research, acquiring the basic knowledge that is needed to independently understand the latest research results.
TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE AND CONTENTS:
Each class meeting will open with a presentation by the instructor, followed by discussion of the assigned textbook. Active class participation will thus form a major component of one’s overall grade for the course. Students submit a term paper on a topic of interest by the end of the semester.
Lecture 1 (Oct 7, 2025) Introduction and stylized facts about development and economic history of Southeast Asia.
Lecture 2 (Oct 14, 2025) Measuring and explaining development, growth, and poverty.
Lecture 3 (Oct 21, 2025) Economic geography and trade: history.
Lecture 4 (Oct 28, 2025) Economic geography and trade: theory.
Lecture 5 (Nov 4, 2025) Economic geography and trade: empirics.
Lecture 6 (Nov 11, 2025) Institutions and political economy: history.
Lecture 7 (Nov 18, 2025) Institutions and political economy: theory.
Lecture 8 (Nov 25, 2025) Institutions and political economy: empirics.
Lecture 9 (Dec 2, 2025) Firms, technology, and industrial development: history.
Lecture 10 (Dec 9, 2025) Firms, technology, and industrial development: theory.
Lecture 11 (Dec 16, 2025) Firms, technology, and industrial development: empirics.
Lecture 12 (Dec 23, 2025) Labor, unemployment, and informality: history.
Lecture 13 (Jan 6, 2026) Labor, unemployment, and informality: theory.
Lecture 14 (Jan 13, 2026) Labor, unemployment, and informality: empirics.
Lecture 15 (Jan 20, 2026) Final exam.
ASSIGNED READINGS:
This is tentative. All readings will be uploaded before the semester begins. Readings marked by asterisks (*) are required. Others are recommended. Main textbooks are as follows.
Background/Fundamentals/Basic Facts/General References
What do empirical economics do?
Institutions and Development
*Avner Greif, Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy Lessons from Medieval Trade. Cambridge University Press, 2006
Eric Chaney. 2013. Revolt on the Nile: Economic Shocks, Religion and Political Power. Econometrica. 81(5): 2033-2053.
Dell, Melissa. 2010. “The Persistent Effects of Peru's Mining Mita.” Econometrica 78(6): 1863-1903. MIT News- The deep roots of inequality.
Dell, Melissa, Nathan Lane, and Pablo Querubin. 2018. “The Historical State, Local Collective Action, and Economic Development in Vietnam.” Econometrica, 86(6): 2083-2121.
Dell, Melissa, and Benjamin Olken. 2020. “The Development Effects of the Extractive Colonial Economy: The Dutch Cultivation System in Java.” Review of Economic Studies, 87(1): 164-203. MIT News- The complex effects of colonial rule in Indonesia.
Dippel, Christian, Avner Greif, Dan Trefler, 2020. "Outside Options, Coercion, and Wages: Removing the Sugar Coating," The Economic Journal. 130, issue 630: 1678-1714.
Rachel Kranton and Anand Swamy. “Contracts, Hold-Up and Exports: Textiles and Opium in Colonial India,” American Economic Review 98 (3), June 2008, pp. 967-89.
Sierra, Raúl Sánchez de la. “Whither Formal Contracts?.” Econometrica, 89, .no 5, (Econometric Society: 2021), 2341-2373. https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA16083
Cities in Developing Economies
Bryan, Gharad, Edward Glaeser, and Nick Tsivanidis. 2020. "Cities in the Developing World." Annual Review of Economics, Vol 12: 273-297.
Henderson, Vernon and Matthew A. Turner. 2020. "Urbanization in the developing world: Too early or to slow?" Journal of Economic Perspectives.
Marx, Benjamin, Thomas Stoker and Tavneet Sur. 2013. "The Economics of Slums in the Developing World." Journal of Economic Perspectives 27(4): 187-210.
Transport Infrastructure
Hjort, Jonas and Jonas Poulsen. 2019. "The Arrival of Fast Internet and Employment in Africa." American Economic Review, 109(3): 1032-1079. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20161385
Akbar, Prottoy A., Victor Couture, Gilles Duranton, and Adam Storeygard. 2018. "Mobility and congestion in urban India."
Rural-to-Urban Migration
Bryan, G., Chowdhury, S., and Mobarak, A. M. (2014): “Underinvestment in a Profitable Technology: The Case of Seasonal Migration in Bangladesh.” Econometrica, 82 (5), 1671– 1748.
Gharad Bryan and Melanie Morten 2019. The Aggregate Productivity Effects of Internal Migration: Evidence from Indonesia. Journal of Political Economy, 127:5, 2229-2268.
Young, A. (2013): “Inequality, the Urban-Rural Gap, and Migration.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128 (4), 1727–1785.
Lagakos, D. (2020): “Urban-Rural Gaps in the Developing World: Does Internal Migration Offer Opportunities?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34 (3), 174–92.
Rural Labor Markets
Emily Breza and Supreet Kaur, 2025. "Labor Markets in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Vol. 17: 747-776.
Carranza, Eliana, Aletheia Donald, Florian Grosset-Touba and Supreet Kaur (2025). “The Social Tax: Redistributive Pressure and Labor Supply.” forthcoming Econometrica.
Breza, E., S. Kaur, and Y. Shamdasani (2018). The Morale Effects of Pay Inequality. Quarterly Journal of Economics 133 (2): 611-663.
Breza, E., S. Kaur, and Y. Shamdasani (2021). Labor Rationing. American Economic Re view 111 (10): 3184-3224.
Bazzi, Samuel, Arya Gaduh, Alexander D. Rothenberg, Maisy Wong, 2016. "Skill Transferability, Migration, and Development: Evidence from Population Resettlement in Indonesia." American Economic Review, 106(9): 2658-2698.
Bazzi, Samuel, Arya Gaduh, Alexander D. Rothenberg, Maisy Wong, 2019. "Unity in Diversity? How Intergroup Contact Can Foster Nation Building," American Economic Review, 109(11): 3978-4025.
Farms, Relational Contracts, Transactions, and Networks
Macchiavello, R. and A. Morjaria (2015). The Value of Relationships: Evidence from a Supply Shock to Kenyan Rose Exports. American Economic Review 105 (9): 2911-2945.
Macchiavello, R. and A. Morjaria (2021). Competition and Relational Contracts in the Rwanda Coffee Chain. Quarterly Journal of Economics 136 (2), 1089-1143.
Conley, T. G. and C. R. Udry (2010). Learning about a new technology: Pineapple in Ghana. American Economic Review 100 (1): 35-69.
McMillan, J. and Woodruff, C. (1999). Interfirm Relationships and Informal Credit in Vietnam. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(4):1285–1320.
Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E. (2000). Reputation Effects and the Limits of Contracting: A Study of the Indian Software Industry. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115:989–1017.
Entrepreneurship, Credit Constraints, and Insurance
Banerjee, A. V. and A. F. Newman (1993, April). Occupational Choice and the Process of Development. Journal of Political Economy 101 (2): 274-298.
Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Narayan Das, Selim Gulesci, Imran Rasul, Munshi Sulaiman, Labor Markets and Poverty in Village Economies, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(2): 811–870.
Clare Balboni, Oriana Bandiera, Robin Burgess, Maitreesh Ghatak, Anton Heil, Why Do People Stay Poor?, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 137(2): 785–844.
de Mel, S., McKenzie, D. J., and Woodruff, C. (2008). Returns to Capital in Microenterprises: Evidence from a Field Experiment. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123(4):pp. 1329–1372.
Banerjee, A. and Duflo, E. (2014). Do Firms Want to Borrow More? Testing Credit Constraints Using a Directed Lending Program. Review of Economic Studies, 81:572–607.
Karlan, D. and Zinman, J. (2009). Observing Unobservables: Identifying Information Asymmetries with a Consumer Credit Field Experiment. Econometrica, 77(6):1993–2008.
Urban Labor Markets- Job Search and Frictions
Firms and Management Practices and Agencies
Alan Benson and Kathryn Shaw 2025. What Do Managers Do? An Economist's Perspective, Annual Review of Economics, Vol. 17: 635-664.
Bloom, Nicholas, Benn Eifert, Aprajit Mahajan, David McKenzie, and John Roberts. 2013. "Does Management Matter? Evidence from India." The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128(1): 1-51. DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjs044 (VoXDev)
Bloom, Nicholas, Aprajit Mahajan, David McKenzie and John Roberts. 2020. Do Management Interventions Last? Evidence from India. AEJ: Applied Economics, 12(2):198-219.
Bloom, Nicholas, Aprajit Mahajan, David McKenzie, and John Roberts. 2010. "Why Do Firms in Developing Countries Have Low Productivity?" American Economic Review, 100 (2): 619-23. DOI: 10.1257/aer.100.2.619
Giorcelli, Michela. 2019. "The Long-Term Effects of Management and Technology Transfers." American Economic Review, 109 (1): 121-52. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20170619
Atkin, David, Azam Chaudhry, Shamyla Chaudry, Amit K. Khandelwal, and Eric Verhoogen. 2017. "Organizational Barriers to Technology Adoption: Evidence from Soccer-Ball Producers in Pakistan." The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(3): 1101-1164. DOI: 10.1093/qje/qjx010
Chan, David C. 2016. "Teamwork and Moral Hazard: Evidence from the Emergency Department." Journal of Political Economy, 124(3): 734-770. DOI: 10.1086/685910.
Chan, David C. 2019. "The Efficiency of Slacking Off: Evidence from the Emergency Department." Econometrica, 86(3): 997-1030. DOI: 10.3982/ECTA13565
Karpoff, Jonathan. 2001. Public Versus Private Initiative in Arctic Exploration: The Effects of Incentives and Organizational Structure Journal of Political Economy 109(1): 38-78.
Firms and Market Integration
Verhoogen. 2021. "Firm-Level Upgrading in Developing Countries.”
Jensen, Robert. 2007. "The Digital Provide: Information (Technology), Market Performance, and Welfare in the South Indian Fisheries Sector." The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(3): 879-924. DOI: 10.1162/qjec.122.3.879
Jensen, Robert, and Nolan H. Miller. 2018. "Market Integration, Demand, and the Growth of Firms: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in India." American Economic Review, 108 (12): 3583-3625. DOI: 10.1257/aer.20161965
Felkner, John S. and Robert M. Townsend. 2011. "The Geographic Concentration of Enterprise in Developing Countries." The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 126(4): 2005–2061.
Trade, Misallocation, and Growth
Verhoogen, E. (2008). Trade, Quality Upgrading, and Wage Inequality in the Mexican Manufacturing Sector. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123(2):489–530.
Bustos, P. (2011). Trade Liberalization, Exports and Technology Upgrading: Evidence on the Impact of MERCOSUR on Argentinian Firms. American Economic Review, 101(1):304–340.
Atkin, D., Khandelwal, A. K., and Osman, A. (2017b). Exporting and Firm Performance: Evidence from a Randomized Trial. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(2):551–615.
Kugler, M. and Verhoogen, E. (2012). Prices, Plant Size and Product Quality. Review of Economic Studies, 79(1):307–339.
Alonso Alfaro-Ureña, Isabela Manelici, Jose P Vasquez, The Effects of Joining Multinational Supply Chains: New Evidence from Firm-to-Firm Linkages, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 137, Issue 3, August 2022, Pages 1495–1552, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjac006
Hsieh, C.-T. and Klenow, P. J. (2009). Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 124(4):pp. 1403–1448.
Hsieh, C.-T. and Olken, B. A. (2014). The Missing ‘Missing Middle’. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28(3):89–108.
Hsieh, C.-T. and Klenow, P. J. (2014). The Life Cycle of Plants in India and Mexico. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(3):1035–1084.
Industrialization and Industrial Policy
Réka Juhász, Mara P. Squicciarini, and Nico Voigtländer, Technology Adoption and Productivity Growth: Evidence from Industrialization in France, Journal of Political Economy 2024 132:10, 3215-3259, https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/730205?journalCode=jpe
Nathan Lane, Manufacturing Revolutions: Industrial Policy and Industrialization in South Korea, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 140, Issue 3, August 2025, Pages 1683–1741, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjaf025
Industrial Policy in the Global Semiconductor Sector, Pinelopy Goldberg, Reka Juhasz, Nathan Lane, Giulia Lo Forte, and Jeff Thurk, Aug. 2024, NBER Working Paper No. 32651. https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/campuspress.yale.edu/dist/6/3741/files/2024/08/Semiconductors_Paper.pdf
Barwick, Panle Jia, Myrto Kalouptsidi, and Nahim Bin Zahur. 2024. "Industrial Policy: Lessons from Shipbuilding." Journal of Economic Perspectives 38 (4): 55–80. DOI: 10.1257/jep.38.4.55
Juhász, Réka, and Nathan Lane. 2024. "The Political Economy of Industrial Policy." Journal of Economic Perspectives 38 (4): 27–54. DOI: 10.1257/jep.38.4.27
Reed, Tristan. 2024. "Export-Led Industrial Policy for Developing Countries: Is There a Way to Pick Winners?" Journal of Economic Perspectives 38 (4): 3–26. DOI: 10.1257/jep.38.4.3
Bown, Chad P., and Dan Wang. 2024. "Semiconductors and Modern Industrial Policy." Journal of Economic Perspectives 38 (4): 81–110. DOI: 10.1257/jep.38.4.81
Sylla, Richard. 2024. "Alexander Hamilton's Report on Manufactures and Industrial Policy." Journal of Economic Perspectives 38 (4): 111–30. DOI: 10.1257/jep.38.4.111
Migration, Adaptation, and Climate Change
Hsiao, Allan. 2025. Sea Level Rise and Urban Adaptation in Jakarta.
Robin Burgess, Matthew Hansen, Benjamin A. Olken, Peter Potapov, Stefanie Sieber, The Political Economy of Deforestation in the Tropics, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 127, Issue 4, November 2012, Pages 1707–1754, https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjs034.
BACKGROUND READINGS:
*Debraj Ray, Development Economics. Princeton University Press, 1998
*John McMillan. 2002. Reinventing the Bazaar: The Natural History of Markets. W. W. Norton & Company.
*Abhijit Banerjee, Roland Benabou, Dilip Mookherjee, (ed). 2006. Understanding Poverty. Oxford University Press.
Samphantharak, Krislert, 2021. Economic Development of Southeast Asia. Book Project.
Reid, Anthony. 2015. A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads (Blackwell History of the World), Wiley-Blackwell.
Reid, Anthony. 1990. Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680 Volume One: The Lands below the Winds. Yale University Press.
Reid, Anthony. 1995. Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680 Volume 2, Expansion and Crisis. Yale University Press.
Lieberman, Victor. 2003. Strange Parallels Southeast Asia in Global Context, c.800-1830, Volume 1: Integration on the Mainland. Cambridge University Press.
Lieberman, Victor. 2009. Strange Parallels Southeast Asia in Global Context, c.800-1830, Volume 2: Mainland Mirrors: Europe, Japan, China, South Asia, and the Islands. Cambridge University Press.
Bates, Robert H., Avner Greif, Margaret Levi, Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, and Barry R. Weingast. Analytic Narratives, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1998.
Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. 2012. Why Nations Fail: Origins of Power, Poverty and Prosperity. Currency.
Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. 2019. The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty. Viking.
Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen. 2013. An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions. Princeton University Press.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Without imposing a strict requirement, I assume familiarity with the concepts taught in basic undergraduate-level Statistics, Econometrics, and Microeconomics. This is an economics class that employs quantitative reasoning. Students should read the papers that are assigned for each upcoming class and participate in class discussions.
EVALUATION METHODS AND POLICY:
Grades will be based on attendance/participation and final exam. Final exam will be short essays. Active and constructive participation during the class discussions will influence your grade as well.
TEXTBOOKS:
All of the required readings are available on electronic reserve via Panda. Supplementary to course content, students are also encouraged to pursue self-study on statistical methods, qualitative research methods, and microeconomics in order to better understand related academic papers. Please check the following textbooks: (1) Varian's Microeconomic Analysis; (2) Gibbons' Game Theory for Applied Economists; (3) Cunningham's Causal Inference: The Mixtape; (4) Hernan and Robins' Causal Inference: What If; (5) Angrist and Pischke's Mostly Harmless Econometrics.
OFFICE HOURS:
Tuesdays 16:30-17:30, and by appointment.