Economics B: Economics of Development

The course begins with a short survey of the characteristics of developing economies and presents different measures that are used to measure development as well as a discussion of economic growth versus development. Then, different growth theories are analysed followed by a discussion of the role of the state in the development process, in theory and in a historical perspective. The rest of the course attempts to deal with questions such as: What is meant by poverty and how is it measured? What is the link between economic growth, poverty and income distribution? Is the swift population growth a serious problem? What have the education and health trends been for these countries in the last few decades and what are the future prospects? Are these countries to become industrialised at the expense of agriculture? What is meant by foreign aid and globalisation, how are the developing countries affected? The discussions also cover various economic policies that can be beneficial for development. Agricultural policy, industrial policy and trade policy are a few such examples. During the course, several examples are used from developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America in order to better illustrate different aspects of the issue of development.