Teaching

Empirical Development Economics

Why are some countries more developed than others? How do we measure development? How can countries get on a growth-path that will lead them to catch-up with others? What are the historical patterns that explain this? What are the main economic forces driving development? What is the role of government economic policies in development? Who are the big international development actors? In this course, you will understand the questions that concern roughly 7 billion people and the policymakers responsible for them. These questions revolve around a classic chicken-and-egg dilemma: Do poor institutions hinder development, or do weak development dynamics lead to bad institutions? Armed with innovative data, computational tools, and advanced statistical techniques, empirical economists are better equipped now than ever before to tackle these challenges. This course draws on papers using all these elements to answer key development problems. The course is designed to help students bridge the gap between the big picture questions and the tools we should use to answer them. It will give you a critical reading of the current development research and how to apply its lessons.

Growth Theory

Why do some economies prosper while others stagnate? How can we explain the persistent gaps in income and productivity across countries? What determines whether growth can be sustained in the long run? This course examines the principal framework used to understand economic growth. From the foundational Solow model, to the intertemporal decision-making process of Ramsey and Diamond, to the canonical AK endogenous growth framework, to Romer and Aghion–Howitt, the course provides a microfounded understanding of growth: how capital accumulation, saving choices, learning-by-doing, human capital accumulation, innovation, and creative destruction drive long-run development. By the end of the course, students will be able to interpret macroeconomic models formally and empirically, assess their policy implications, and critically connect theory to real-world development patterns. The course provides a foundation for advanced work in macroeconomic growth theory.