University of Pennsylvania Department of Economics, Fall 2011
Economics 261-001 Topics in Development
(Preliminary as of 27 August 2011)
Professor:
Office Hours:
Office Room:
E-mail:
Teaching Assistant:
Office Hours:
Office Room:
E-mail:
Class website:
Class meets:
Jere R. Behrman
T 10:00-11:00, W 9:30-10:30 or by e-mail appointment.
No office hours: October 11, November 7 and 8
McNeil 229
jbehrman@econ.upenn.edu
https://courseweb.library.upenn.edu/
MW 3:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., McNeil 286-7.
Subject line for all e-mails: Please start with “ECON 261”
Prerequisites: Economics 101 and Math 104 and Math 114 or Math 115. Economics 103 is recommended.
Course coverage: This is a 200 level course that considers selected topics on developing economies. Each student
will have the opportunity and responsibility to investigate in some depth one of the following 14 topics in the context of
developing countries through leading a discussion of a related paper and through writing an original research paper.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Population
Intergenerational Relations
Early Childhood Development*
Conditional Cash Transfers*
Health*
Nutrition*
Education*
Child Labor*
Labor Markets
Credit Markets
Shocks and Insurance
Social Networks
Agriculture and Natural Resources
Governance
*The topics with asterisks – that pertain basically to child development and human capital -- are ones in which Behrman
has particular expertise. It is expected that most students will concentrate on the topics with asterisks. Appendix A gives
readings related to all of these topics, but with more readings for the ones with asterisks.
Research Paper Groups:
The research paper assignment can be fulfilled individually or in research paper groups
of four or less formed by interested students. The primary advantages of students forming research paper groups
presumably include exploiting complementarities among the knowledge of various students, providing some economies of
specialization in various tasks, and facilitating learning new skills through interactions, such as undertaking statistical
analysis with Stata. The primary disadvantages presumably include coordination problems and possible “free-loading.”
Groups can be formed by students on their own initiative outside of class or during the first class meeting on Wednesday 7
September (but must be formed by noon on 14 September, see schedule below).
1
Schedule:
By 14 September noon at the latest (better if much earlier): Each student or paper-writing group of students up to four in
number should send Behrman an e-mail with the subject line starting with “ECON261” committing to focusing on one of
the 14 topics above. (If a student or a paper-writing group of students has a strong interest in some other topic related to
development, s/he (they) should send Behrman an e-mail with the subject line starting with “ECON261” with the
proposed topic by noon Tuesday 13 September – or better yet, much earlier --so that Behrman can provide feedback on
this proposal.)
By 14 September noon (better if much earlier): Each student should send Behrman an e-mail with the subject line starting
with “ECON261” (a) to indicate what times s/he is usually available for small group meetings during the week (please be
as flexible as possible between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm Monday-Friday so that we can find mutually convenient times for all
the members of each meeting group) and (b) with his/her three preferred proposed paper presentations in his/her topic of
interest (see “Leading Discussion” below). For most students these will be selected from the articles/papers listed in
Appendix A, but students may propose other articles if they wish. If more than one student proposes the same article, the
one who proposes first will be allocated that article.
Starting 12 September: Student presentations on articles (see “Leading Discussion” below for more detail).
The remaining critical dates pertain to five components of the “Research Paper” (see below for more detail):
By September 19 noon Feasibility Study Due
By October 3 noon Critical Literature Review and Proposed Study Plan Due
By October 31 noon Dataset Due
November 30-7 December Paper Presentation
By December 16 5 pm Final Paper Due
Meetings and Meeting Groups:
Students will meet in groups defined by their topics (one meeting group each
for the topics with a sufficient number of students enrolled; some consolidated meeting groups across topics for cases in
which few students are enrolled). 1 These meetings will occur during most Mondays and Wednesdays in the regular class
meeting time and location but also will be scheduled for other times in order to have sufficient time for the activities for
all the different meeting groups. The timing of these other meetings will be determined by the topics that students are
engaged in and the schedules of all those working on the same topics.
Assignments and Evaluation of Course Performance: The purpose of this course is to help students
develop an original research paper on an important topic in development economics. Students will be evaluated based on
their preparation for group meetings (10 percent), their performances in leading a group meeting discussion (20 percent),
their feedback on their classmates’ papers (10 percent), and their research paper (60 percent). As noted above, the
research paper may be individual or a group project with 2-4 students; all students in a research paper group will receive
about the same grade on their research paper, with slight differentials if individual group members’ contributions are
perceived by Behrman and/or the other group members as solicited via e-mail at the end of the semester to have differed
significantly.
Preparation: Preparation will be demonstrated by reading carefully all readings for each group meeting and
participating in group-meeting discussions. For group meetings with student-led discussions of others' research
papers, pop quizzes may be used to verify preparation. The probability a pop quiz is administered on any given
student-led discussion is 0.3 and is independent across groups. Students are expected to attend all group
meetings. Illness and interviews happen. Students are permitted two absences without need for explanation.
Beyond these two absences, students should expect to forfeit 25 percent of their participation grade per absence.
Students with open laptops for use other than facilitating participation in the discussion, interacting with
1
Note that meeting groups are not the same as the research paper groups (see above). The meeting groups will include students –
whether writing their research paper individually or as part of a research paper group – who are focusing on the same or similar topics.
2
handheld devices, arriving more than 10 minutes late, or who appear unprepared or unengaged for the group
discussions will be considered absent.
.
Leading Discussion: One the best ways to learn the ins and outs of research is to present the research of others.
Each student will lead a class discussion on a research paper of their choosing from the list of papers in
Appendix A below (or possibly some other studies proposed by the students) on the topic on which the student
is focusing for the semester. Student presenters should provide a context for the study, summarize related
research, and then present their chosen study in detail for a total of a maximum of 20 minutes. This is an
individual assignment whether or not the student is part of a research paper group. Powerpoint presentations
should be sent to Behrman with the subject line starting with “ECON261” at least 24 hours before the presentation.
Research Paper: The research paper grade is calculated based on the following five components:
• September 19, noon--Feasibility Study (5 percent of paper grade): This one-page report in Word2 is
designed to narrow the topic that individual students or research paper groups will work on for their
research paper and should be sent to Behrman with the subject line starting with “ECON261” by noon on
September 19. A more detailed study is feasible when the question being addressed is explicit and
narrowly-defined, the relation to economic modeling of behaviors is clear, and data have been identified
to use. Note that the data that are available condition very much what is possible for an empirical
research study and obtaining data may take some time both to learn what are options and, in some cases,
obtaining permission for using the data. Appendix B gives some hopefully useful leads for obtaining
data, as well as for using Stata and for analyzing data.
• October 3, noon--Critical Literature Review and Proposed Study Plan (15 percent of paper grade): This
five single-spaced page (max) report plus bibliography in Word reviews the existing evidence on the
topic being studied, provides a study plan that articulates exactly what the research paper will do and
what data needs to be assembled for the analysis, and concludes with an explanation of how the
proposed study plan will fill holes identified within the literature. This should be sent to Behrman with
the subject line starting with “ECON261” by noon on October 3.
•
•
•
October 31, noon--Dataset (15 percent of paper grade): The final, cleaned Stata dataset with an
accompanying discussion (not more than five pages in Word) is to be submitted by e-mail to Behrman
with the subject line starting with “ECON261” by noon on October 31. All variables that will be used in the
data analysis should be included in this submission with complete labels, descriptions of all missing
observations, and basic statistics (mean, standard deviations, ranges).
November 30-7 December--Paper Presentation (20 percent of paper grade): Individual students or
student research paper groups will each give 20 minutes maximum (25 minutes maximum for group
projects) presentations of their original research papers. Powerpoint presentations should be sent to
Behrman with the subject line starting with “ECON261” at least 24 hours before the presentation.
December 16, 5:00 pm--Final Research Paper (45 percent of paper grade): The final research paper
synthesizes the literature review, the economic framework being used for the analysis, describes the data
and presents and interprets the data analysis. It should incorporate comments from classmates received
during the paper presentation. It should not exceed 15 pages of single-spaced, 11 point text (20 pages
max for research paper group projects) in Word. Tables, figures and bibliography do not count towards
these page limits. The text should cite all sources where appropriate and the bibliography should include
all references cited in standard form. It should be sent by e-mail to Behrman with the subject line starting
with “ECON261” by 5:00 pm on December 16.
Feedback: Students are expected to contribute to their classmates' research papers by providing written and
oral feedback. Each student will be responsible for providing feedback throughout the term to two classmates
or research paper groups that will be assigned in group meetings. Written feedback must be a maximum of
2
The texts for all assignments are to be in Word to facilitate the use of the Word tracking and comment features in providing feedback
for the students.
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single-spaced one page in length and contain constructive, original comments that result in feasible
improvements to classmates' papers. Written feedback is expected on:
• The Critical Literature Review and Proposed Study Plan (submitted by author on 3 October, feedback
due by 8 October)
• The Paper Presentation (November 30-7 December, feedback due within four days of presentation)
Feedback should be sent to the student and to Behrman in a Word document with the subject line starting with
“ECON261.”
All deadlines are firm. Late submissions will not evaluated except for the final research paper, which will be
penalized at 5 percentage points per 12 hour period overdue (rounded up).
Required Text: There is no required text.
An excellent text in case students want to read more about various topics
is Debraj Ray, Development Economics, Princeton University Press (January 12, 1998), ISBN-10: 0691017069, ISBN-13:
978-0691017068. ECON 261 in 2009 and 2010 did use Ray as a required text and the related class ppts for 2010 are
available on the class website for 2011 in case students are interested in examining these. These ppts are organized into
the following seven components:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7
Introduction and Overview: Ray Chapters 1 and 2, Appendices 1 and 2;
Economic Growth Theories: Ray Chapters 3-5;
Inequality and Poverty: Ray Chapters 6-8;
Population Growth and Urban-Rural Migration: Ray Chapters 9 and 10;
Human Resources: Ray does not have separate chapter on this topic;
Markets, Policies and Policy Evaluation: Ray Chapters 11-15;
International Sector: Ray Chapters 16-18;
Academic Integrity:
Academic integrity is a very important part of student life, and the Department of Economics
takes it seriously. The department reserves the right to undertake procedures that would catch breaches of academic
integrity, should any arise. Students who are suspected of committing infractions will be reported to the Office of Student
Conduct. If a student is found in violation of academic integrity, it is at the professor's discretion to give the student a
failing grade for the assignment and the course.
Economics Departmental Course Policies:
See Appendix C.
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Appendix A. Readings by Topics for Assignments of
Leading Group Discussion and Final Papers
Notes:
(1) Copies of virtually all of these papers are available in Dropbox, to which Behrman has invited all class
members as of 27 August. If you did not receive an invitation, please send Behrman an e-mail to request one.
PLEASE feel free to COPY the papers from Dropbox, but do NOT remove them because other students may
want to see them.
(2) Students may propose by e-mail to Behrman additional papers for the assignment to Lead a Discussion.
Possible sources for such options include the leading economic general journals and the journal on economic
development and working papers for various organizations including the World Bank and BREAD.
(3) Final research papers may draw on these papers, but in general will be expected to draw on a broader set of
papers that students locate as part of their research project.
(4) It is anticipated that most students will concentrate on the topics with asterisks, which pertain substantially to child
development and human capital and in which Behrman has particular expertise. Therefore this appendix gives more
readings for the topics with asterisks.
(5) Some of the papers included overlap more than one topic (e.g., the impact of social networks on health; the impact of
nutrition on education).
1. Population
Baird, Sarah ,Ephraim Chirwa Craig McIntosh and Berk Özler, 2009, "The Short-Term Impacts of a Schooling
Conditional Cash Transfer Program on the Sexual Behavior of Young Women," Washington, DC: World Bank
Behrman, Jere R. and James Knowles, 1998, “Population and Reproductive Health: An Economic Framework for Policy
Evaluation,” Population and Development Review 24:4 (December), 697-738.
Do, Quy-Toan, and Tung D. Phung. 2010. "The Importance of Being Wanted." American Economic Journal: Applied
Economics, 2(4): 236–53. DOI:10.1257/app.2.4.236
Kremer, Michael. 1993. “Population growth and technological change: One million B.C. to 1990,” Quarterly
Journal of Economics (August), 108:3.
Li, Hongbin, Junsen Zhang and Yi Zhu, 2008, “The Quantity-Quality Tradeoff of Children in a Developing Country:
Identification Using Chinese Twins,” Demography 45(1): 223-243.
2. Intergenerational Relations
Behrman, Jere R., Alejandro Gaviria and Miguel Székely “Intergenerational Schooling Mobility In Latin America, ”
Economia 2:1(Fall 2001), 1-31.
Behrman, Jere R, Chong Huang, Hongbin Li and Junsen Zhang, 2009, “Transfers from Adult Children to Elderly Parents:
For Love or for Prize?” Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.
Li, Hongbin, Mark Rosenzweig and Junsen Zhang, 2010, "Altruism, Favoritism, and Guilt in the Allocation of Family
Resources: Sophie’s Choice in Mao’s Mass Send Down Movement,” Journal of Political Economy (February),
118(1), 1-38.
Magruder, Jeremy R.. 2010. "Intergenerational Networks, Unemployment, and Persistent Inequality in South Africa."
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(1): 62–85. DOI:10.1257/app.2.1.62
5
3. Early Childhood Development*
Behrman, Jere R., Yingmei Cheng and Petra Todd, 2004, “Evaluating Preschool Programs when Length of Exposure to
the Program Varies: A Nonparametric Approach,” Review of Economics and Statistics 86:1 (February 2004), 108132.
Berlinski, Samuel, Sebastian Galiani and Marco Manacorda. 2008. "Giving children a better start: Preschool attendance
and school-age profiles," Journal of Public Economics 92, 1416–1440.
Engle, Patrice L., Maureen M. Black, Jere R. Behrman, Meena Cabral de Mello, Paul J. Gertler, Lydia Kapiriri, Reynaldo
Martorell, Mary Eming Young, International Child Development Steering Committee, 2007, “Strategies to Avoid the
Loss of Potential Among 240 Million Children in the Developing World,” Lancet 369 (January), 229-242.
Ghuman, Sharon, Jere Behrman, Judith B. Borja, Socorro Gultiano and Elizabeth M. King, “Family Background, Service
Providers, and Early Childhood Development in the Philippines: Proxies and Interactions,” Economic Development
and Cultural Change 54:1 (October 2005) 129-164.
Paxson, C., and N. Schady. 2007. “Cognitive Development Among Young Children in Ecuador: The Role of Health,
Wealth and Parenting.” Journal of Human Resources 42(1): 49-84.
4. Conditional Cash Transfers*
Barrera-Osorio, Felipe, Marianne Bertrand, Leigh L. Linden, and Francisco Perez-Calle. 2011. "Improving the Design of
Conditional Transfer Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Education Experiment in Colombia." American
Economic Journal: Applied Economics 3(2): 167–95.
Behrman, Jere R. and John Hoddinott, 2005, “Program Evaluation with Unobserved Heterogeneity and Selective
Implementation: The Mexican PROGRESA Impact on Child Nutrition,” Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics
67:4, 547-569.
Behrman, Jere R., Piyali Sengupta and Petra Todd, 2005, “Progressing through PROGRESA: An Impact Assessment of
Mexico’s School Subsidy Experiment,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 54:1 (October) 237-275.
**de Brauw, Alan and John Hoddinott, 2010, “Must Conditional Cash Transfer Programs Be Conditioned to Be
Effective? The Impact of Conditioning Transfers on School Enrollment in Mexico,” Journal of Development
Economics, doi:10.1016/j.jdeveco.2010.08.014
**Diaz, Juan José and Sudhanshu Handa, 2006, “An Assessment of Propensity Score Matching as a Nonexperimental
Impact Estimator,” Journal of Human Resources 41:2, 319-345.
Doepke, Matthias & Tertilt, Michele, 2011. "Does female empowerment promote economic development ?," Policy
Research Working Paper Series 5714, The World Bank.
Gertler, Paul J., Sebastian W. Martinez and Marta Rubio-Codina, 2011, “Investing Cash Transfers to Raise Long Term
Living Standards,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
5. Health*
Banerjee, Abhijit V.; Duflo, Esther; Glennerster, Rachel. 2008. “Putting A Band-Aid On A Corpse: Incentives For Nurses
In The Indian Public Health Care System,” Journal of the European Economic Association (April/May) 6:2/3, 487500.
Bleakley, Hoyt. 2010. "Malaria Eradication in the Americas: A Retrospective Analysis of Childhood Exposure."
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(2): 1–45. DOI:10.1257/app.2.2.1
Cattaneo, Matias D., Sebastian Galiani, Paul J. Gertler, Sebastian Martinez and Rocio Titiunik, 2009, “Housing, Health
and Happiness,”American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 1:1 (February).
Cohen, Jessica; Dupas, Pascaline. 2010. “Free Distribution Or Cost-Sharing? Evidence From A Randomized Malaria
Prevention Experiment,” Quarterly Journal of Economics (February) 125:1, 1-45.
Cutler, David, Winnie Fung, Michael Kremer, Monica Singhal, and Tom Vogl. 2010. "Early-Life Malaria Exposure and
Adult Outcomes: Evidence from Malaria Eradication in India." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics,
2(2): 72–94. DOI:10.1257/app.2.2.72
Dupas, Pascaline. 2011. “Do Teenagers Respond to HIV Risk Information? Evidence from a Field Experiment in
Kenya,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 3 (January 2011): 1–34
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dePaula, Aureo, Gil Shapira, Petra E. Todd, 2009, “How Beliefs about HIV Status Affect Risky Behaviors: Evidence from
Malawi,” Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania,
PIER Working Paper 08-035. Online available at
http://pier.econ.upenn.edu
Galiani, Sebastian, Paul Gertler and Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2005,“Water for Life: The Impact of the Privatization of
Water Services on Child Mortality, Journal of Political Economy 113:1, 83-120
Gertler, Paul, Manisha Shah and Stefano M. Bertozzi, 2005, “Risky Business: The Market for Unprotected Commercial
Sex,” Journal of Political Economy 113:3, 518-550.
Giné, Xavier, Dean Karlan, and Jonathan Zinman. 2010. "Put Your Money Where Your Butt Is: A Commitment Contract
for Smoking Cessation." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(4): 213–35. DOI:10.1257/app.2.4.213
Kremer, Michael; Miguel, Edward. 2007. “The Illusion Of Sustainability,” Quarterly Journal of Economics (August)
122:3, 1007-1065.
Lucas, Adrienne M.. 2010. "Malaria Eradication and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Paraguay and Sri Lanka."
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(2): 46–71. DOI:10.1257/app.2.2.46
Oster, Emily, and Rebecca Thornton. 2011. "Menstruation, Sanitary Products, and School Attendance: Evidence from a
Randomized Evaluation." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(1): 91–100. DOI:10.1257/app.3.1.91
Robinson, Jonathan, and Ethan Yeh. 2011. "Transactional Sex as a Response to Risk in Western Kenya." American
Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(1): 35–64. DOI:10.1257/app.3.1.35
6. Nutrition*
Alderman, Harold and Jere R. Behrman, 2006, “Reducing the Incidence of Low Birth Weight In Low-Income Countries
has Substantial Economic Benefits,” World Bank Research Observer 21:1, 25-48.
Alderman, H., J. Hentschel, and R. Sabates. 2003. "With the help of one's neighbors: externalities in the production of
nutrition in Peru." Social Science & Medicine. 56(10):2019-2031.
Alderman, Harold, Hans Hoogeveen, and Mariacristina Rossi, 2009, “Preschool Nutrition and Subsequent Schooling
Attainment: Longitudinal Evidence from Tanzania,” Economic Development and Cultural Change January 57:2
(January), 239-260.
Almond, Douglas and Bhashkar Mazumder, 2011, “Health Capital and the Prenatal Environment: The Effect of Ramadan
Observance During Pregnancy,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Atkin, David, 2009, “Trade, Tastes and Nutrition in India,” New Haven: Yale.
Behrman, Jere R., 1988, "Nutrition, Health, Birth Order and Seasonality: Intrahousehold Allocation in Rural India,"
Journal of Development Economics 28:1 (February), 43-63.
Behrman, Jere R., 1988, "Intrahousehold Allocation of Nutrients in Rural India: Are Boys Favored? Do Parents Exhibit
Inequality Aversion?" Oxford Economic Papers 40:1 (March), 32-54.
Behrman, Jere R., Harold Alderman and John Hoddinott, 2004, “Hunger and Malnutrition” in ed. Bjørn Lomborg, Global
Crises, Global Solutions, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 363-420.
Behrman, Jere R., Maria Cecilia Calderon, Samuel Preston, John Hoddinott, Reynaldo Martorell and Aryeh D. Stein,
2009, “Nutritional Supplementation of Girls Influences the Growth of their Children: Prospective Study in
Guatemala,”
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 90 (November 2009),
1372-1379.
http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/abstract/90/5/1372?etoc
Behrman, Jere R., Andrew Foster, and Mark R. Rosenzweig, 1997, "The Dynamics of Agricultural Production and the
Calorie-Income Relationship: Evidence from Pakistan," Journal of Econometrics 77:1 (March), 187-207.
Christiaensen, Luc; Alderman, Harold 2004. “Child Malnutrition in Ethiopia: Can Maternal Knowledge
Augment the Role of Income?” Economic Development & Cultural Change (January) 52:2, 287-312.
Hoddinott, John, John A. Maluccio, Jere R Behrman, Rafael Flores and Reynaldo Martorell, 2008, “The Impact of
Nutrition During Early Childhood on Income, Hours Worked, and Wages of Guatemalan Adults“ Lancet 371
(February), 411-416.
Maluccio, John A., John Hoddinott, Jere R. Behrman, Agnes Quisumbing, Reynaldo Martorell and Aryeh D. Stein,
2009,“The Impact of Nutrition During Early Childhood on Education among Guatemalan Adults,” Economic Journal
119 (April), 734–763.
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7. Education*
Andrabi, Tahir, Jishnu Das, Asim Ijaz Khwaja, and Tristan Zajonc. 2011. "Do Value-Added Estimates Add Value?
Accounting for Learning Dynamics." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(3): 29–54.
DOI:10.1257/app.3.3.29
Angrist, Joshua D., Eric Bettinger, Erik Bloom, Elizabeth King and Michael Kremer, 2002, “Vouchers for Private
Schooling in Colombia: Evidence from a Randomized Natural Experiment,” American Economic Review 92:5
(December), 1535-59.
Banerjee, Abhijit, Shawn Cole, Esther Duflo and Leigh Linden, 2007, “Remedying Education: Evidence from Two
Randomized Experiments in India,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 122 (3), 1235-64.
Barham, Tania. 2011. “Enhancing Cognitive Functioning: Medium-Term Effects of a Health and Family Planning
Program in Matlab, “ American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Behrman, Jere R. and Nancy Birdsall, 1983, "The Quality of Schooling: Quantity Alone is Misleading," American
Economic Review 73, 928-946.
Behrman, Jere R., Andrew Foster, Mark R. Rosenzweig and Prem Vashishtha, 1999, “Women’s Schooling, Home
Teaching, and Economic Growth,” Journal of Political Economy 107:4 (August 1999), 682-714 (reprinted in Clive
Belfield, ed., Modern Classics in the Economics of Education, in the International library of Critical Writings in
Economics Series, published by Edward Elgar Publishing Co., 2007)
Clots-Figueras, Irma. 2011. “Are Female Leaders Good for Education? Evidence from India,” American Economic
Journal: Applied Economics.
Duflo, Esther (2001), "Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia: Evidence from an
Unusual Policy Experiment" American Economic Review , Vol. 91 (4), 795-813.
Duflo, Esther; Dupas, Pascaline; Kremer, Michael 2011. “Peer Effects, Teacher Incentives, and the Impact of
Tracking: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Kenya,” American Economic Review (August)101:5,
1739-1774; DOI: 10.1257/aer.101.5.1739
Glewwe, Paul, Nauman Ilias, and Michael Kremer. 2010. "Teacher Incentives." American Economic Journal: Applied
Economics, 2(3): 205–27. DOI:10.1257/app.2.3.205
Gertler, Paul; Levine, David I.; Ames, Minnie.2004. “Schooling and Parental Death,” Review of Economics & Statistics
(February) 86:1, 211-225.
Grant, Monica J. and Jere R. Behrman, 2010, “Gender Gaps in Educational Attainment in Less Developed
Countries,”Population and Development Review 36:1. 71-89 (March).
Kremer, Michael; Miguel, Edward; Thornton, Rebecca, 2009. “Incentives to Learn.Full,” Review of Economics
& Statistics (August) 91:3, 437-45.
Krishnan, Pramila and Sofya Krutikova 2010. “Can non-cognitive skills be raised? Evidence from poor neighbourhoods in
urban India,” University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.
McEwan, Patrick J.; Urquiola, Miguel; Vegas, Emiliana. 2008. “School Choice, Stratification, and Information
on School Performance: Lessons from Chile,” Economia (Spring), 8:2, 1-42.
Todd, Petra E. and Kenneth I.Wolpin, 2006, “Using a Social Experiment to Validate a Dynamic Behavioral Model of
Child Schooling and Fertility: Assessing the Impact of a School Subsidy Program in Mexico,” American Economics
Review 96:5, 1384-1417.
Urquiola, Miguel, 2006, “Identifying Class Size Effects in Developing Countries: Evidence from Rural Bolivia,” Review
of Economics and Statistics, 88(1).
Urquiola, Miguel; Verhoogen, Eric. 2009. “Class-Size Caps, Sorting, and the Regression-Discontinuity
Design,” American Economic Review (March) 99:1, 179-215.
8. Child Labor*
Beegle, Kathleen, Rajeev H. Dehejia, Roberta Gatti and Sofya Krutikova. 2008. “The Consequences of Child Labor:
Evidence from Longitudinal Data in Rural Tanzania,” The World Bank: Development Research Group,
Macroeconomics and Growth Team. WPS4677.
8
Cogneau, Denis and Remi Jedwab, 2010, “Commodity Price Shocks and Child Outcomes: The 1990 Cocoa Price Shock
in Cote d’Ivoire” Economic Development and Cultural Change, forthcoming
Dammert, Ana. 2008, “Child Labor and Schooling in Coca Production in Rural Peru”, Journal of Development Economics
86(1), 164-180.
Edmonds, Eric, 2010, "Trade, Child Labor, and Schooling in Poor Countries," in Guido Porto (ed.), Adjustment Costs and
Adjustment Impacts of Trade Policy (World Bank, Washington DC).
Edmonds, Eric and Nina Pavcnik, 2005. "The effect of trade liberalization on child labor: Evidence from Vietnam,"
Journal of International Economics 65, 401-41
Edmonds, Eric, Nina Pavcnik, and Petia Topalova. 2010. "Trade adjustment and human capital investments: Evidence
from Indian tariff reform", American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2(4), 42-75.
Kis-Katos, Krisztina and Robert Sparrow (2010), "Child Labor and Trade Liberalization in Indonesia," Journal of Human
Resources, forthcoming.
Kruger, Diana. 2007. “Coffee Production Effects on Child Labor and Schooling in Rural Brazil”, Journal of Development
Economics 82(2), 448-463
9. Labor Markets
Atkin, David. 2010, "Endogenous Skill Acquisition and Export Manufacturing in Mexico," Unpublished Working Paper
(Yale University Department of Economics).
Behrman, Jere R., Nancy Birdsall and Miguel Székely, 2007, “Economic Policy Changes and Wage Differentials in Latin
America,” Economic Development and Cultural Change 56:1 (October 2007), 57-98.
Behrman, Jere R., John Hoddinott, John A. Maluccio and Reynaldo Martorell, 2010, “Brains versus Brawn: Labor
Market Returns to Intellectual and Physical Human Capital in a Developing Country,” Philadelphia, PA: University
of Pennsylvania, mimeo.
Bobonis, Gustavo and Peter M. Morrow. 2010, "Labor Coercion and the Accumulation of Human Capital," Unpublished
Manuscript (University of Toronto Department of Economics).
Bosch, Mariano, and Marco Manacorda. 2010. "Minimum Wages and Earnings Inequality in Urban Mexico." American
Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(4): 128–49. DOI:10.1257/app.2.4.128
de Brauw, Alan and John Giles (2010), "Migrant Opportunity and the Educational Attainment of Youth in Rural China,"
Economic Journal, forthcoming.
Foster, Andrew D. and Mark R. Rosenzweig, 1993, "Information, Learning, and Wage Rates in Low- Income Rural
Areas," Journal of Human Resources 28:4 (Fall), 759-79,reprinted in T. Paul Schultz, editor Investment in Women’s
Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, 138-170.
Foster, Andrew and Mark R. Rosenzweig, 1994, "A Test for Moral Hazard in the Labor Market: Contractual
Arrangements, Effort, and Health," Review of Economics and Statistics 76:2 (May), 213-227.
Galiani, Sebastian, Martín A. Rossi, and Ernesto Schargrodsky 2011. “Conscription and Crime: Evidence from the
Argentine Draft Lottery,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 3 (April 2011): 119–136
Huang, Chong, Hongbin Li, Pak Wai Liu and Junsen Zhang, 2009, ‘Why Does Spousal Education Matter for Earnings?
Assortative Mating or Cross-productivity,” Journal of Labor Economics 27(4): 633-652.
Topalova, Petia. 2010. "Factor Immobility and Regional Impacts of Trade Liberalization: Evidence on Poverty from
India." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(4): 1–41. DOI:10.1257/app.2.4.1
10. Credit Markets
Bernard, Tanguy, Stefan Dercon and Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse, 2011. "Beyond Fatalism - An empirical exploration of
self-efficacy and aspirations failure in Ethiopia," CSAE Working Paper Series 2011-03, Centre for the Study of
African Economies, University of Oxford.
Giné, Xavier, Pamela Jakiela, Dean Karlan, and Jonathan Morduch. 2010. "Microfinance Games." American Economic
Journal: Applied Economics, 2(3): 60–95. DOI:10.1257/app.2.3.60
Kaboski, Joseph P. and Robert M. Townsend, 2011.” The Impact of Credit on Village Economies,” American Journal of
Economics: Applied Economics
9
11. Shocks and Insurance
Ainsworth, Martha, Kathleen Beegle, and Godlike Koda. 2005. “The Impact of Adult Mortality and Parental Deaths on
Primary Schooling in North-Western Tanzania.” Journal of Development Studies 41 (April): 412-39.
Beegle, Kathleen, Rajeev Dehejia, and Roberta Gatti (2006), "Child labor and agricultural shocks", Journal of
Development Economics 81: 80-96.
Conti, Gabriella , Jim Heckman, Junjian Yi and Junsen Zhang, 2010, "Early Health Shocks, Parental Responses and
Child Outcomes"
Gertler, Paul; Gruber, Jonathan. 2002. “Insuring Consumption Against Illness,” American Economic Review
(March) 92:1, 51-70.
Karlan, Dean; Kutsoati, Ed; McMillan, Margaret; Udry, Chris.. 2011. “Crop Price Indemnified Loans for
Farmers: A Pilot Experiment in Rural Ghana,” Journal of Risk & Insurance (March) 78:1, 37-55.
Parker, Susan and Emmaneul Skoufias, 2006, “Labor Market Shocks and Their Impacts on Work and Schooling:
Evidence from Urban Mexico,” Journal of Population Economics (February) 1 –19.
Miller, Grant and Piedad Urdinola, 2010, "Cyclicality, Mortality, and the Value of Time: The Case of Coffee Price
Fluctuations and Child Survival in Columbia," Journal of Political Economy 118(1): 113-155.
Thomas, Duncan, Kathleen Beegle, Elizabeth Frankenberg, Bondan Sikoki, John Strauss, and Graciela Teruel. 2004,
"Education in a Crisis," Journal of Development Economics 74(1), 53-85.
Yamano, Takashi; Alderman, Harold; Christiaensen, Luc 2005. “Child Growth, Shocks, and Food Aid in Rural
Ethiopia,” American Journal of Agricultural Economics (May) 87: 2, 273-288
12. Social Networks
Anderson, Siwan. 2011. "Caste as an Impediment to Trade." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(1):
239–63. DOI:10.1257/app.3.1.239
Angeluccia, Manuela, Giacomo de Giorgi, Marcos A. Rangel and Imran Rasul, 2010, “Family Networks and School
Enrolment: Evidence from a Randomized Social Experiment,” Journal of Public Economics 94:3-4, 197 – 221.
Attanasio, Orazio, Abigail Barr, Juan Camilo Cardenas, Garance Genicot and Costas Meghir, 2011,
“Risk Pooling, Risk Preferences, and Social Networks,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.
Kohler, Hans-Peter, Jere R. Behrman and Susan Cotts Watkins, 2001. “Density of Social Networks, Markets, and
Fertility Decisions: Evidence from S. Nyanya District, Kenya,” Demography 38:1 (February), 43-58.
Kohler, Hans-Peter, Jere R. Behrman and Susan C. Watkins, 2007, “Social Networks and HIV/AIDS Risk Perceptions,”
Demography 44:1 (February 2007), 1-33.
Luke, Nancy; Munshi, Kaivan; Rosenzweig, Mark. 2004. “Marriage, Networks, and Jobs in Third World Cities,” Journal
of the European Economic Association (April-May) 2:2/3, 437-446.
Miguel, Edward; Gertler, Paul; Levine, David I. 2006. “Does Industrialization Build or Destroy Social Networks?”
Economic Development & Cultural Change (January) 54:2, 287-317,
Munshi, Kaivan and Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2006, “Traditional Institutions Meet the Modern World: Caste, Gender and
Schooling Choice in a Globalizing Economy,” American Economic Review 96:4 (September), 1225-1252.
13. Agriculture and Natural Resources
Aker, Jenny C.. 2010. "Information from Markets Near and Far: Mobile Phones and Agricultural Markets in Niger."
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(3): 46–59. DOI:10.1257/app.2.3.46
Bardhan, Pranab and Dilip Mookherjee, 2011, “Subsidized Farm Input Programs and Agricultural Performance: A FarmLevel Analysis Of West Bengal's Green Revolution 1982-95,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Foster, Andrew and Mark R. Rosenzweig, 1995, "Learning by Doing and Learning from Others: Human Capital and
Technical Change in Agriculture," Journal of Political Economy 103:6 (December),1176-1209.
Foster, Andrew D. and MarkR. Rosenzweig, 1996, "Technical Change and Human Capital Returns and Investments:
Evidence from the Green Revolution", American Economic Review, 86(4), 931-953.
Foster, Andrew D. and MarkR. Rosenzweig, 2010 “Is There Surplus Labor in Rural India?” New Haven, CN: Yale
University, Economic Growth Center Discussion Paper No. 991.
10
Sekhri, Sheetal. 2011, “Public Provision and Protection of Natural Resources: Groundwater Irrigation in Rural India,”
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.
14. Governance
Beaman, Lori; Chattopadhyay, Raghabendra; Duflo, Esther; Pande, Rohini; Topalova, Petia. 2009. “Powerful
Women: Does Exposure Reduce Bias?” Quarterly Journal of Economics (November) 124:4, 1497-1540.
Di Tella, Rafael and Ignacio Franceschelli. 2011. “Government Advertising and Media Coverage of Corruption
Scandals,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.
Hsieh, Chang-Tai, Edward Miguel, Daniel Ortega, and Francisco Rodriguez. 2011. "The Price of Political Opposition:
Evidence from Venezuela's Maisanta." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3(2): 196–214.
DOI:10.1257/app.3.2.196
Olken, Benjamin A. and Monica Singhal, 2011, “Informal Taxation,” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.
Pandey, Priyanka. 2010. "Service Delivery and Corruption in Public Services: How Does History Matter?" American
Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2(3): 190–204. DOI:10.1257/app.2.3.190
11
Appendix B. Other Resources
Household datasets are available from:
• UNICEF: . http://www.childinfo.org/index.htm
• The World Bank: http://econ.worldbank.org/
• Measure - DHS: http://www.measuredhs.com/
• The ILO: http://www.ilo.org/ipec/ChildlabourstatisticsSIMPOC/Questionnairessurveysandreports/lang-en/index.htm
• IPUMS: https://international.ipums.org/international/
• Most recently published economics articles included in Appendix A have links to the data used for the
analyses in the articles that you can find by accessing the electronic versions of the articles through the
Penn library.
Stata software is in the McNeil UDAL and DRL computer labs. Some background material for Stata can be
found at http://www.sas.upenn.edu/computing/rds/notes (though these files refer to earlier versions of Stata,
probably they are fine for the currently available versions).
Some additional, hopefully useful references are:
• Banerjee, A. R. Benabou, and D. Mookherjee, editors, Understanding Poverty, Oxford University Press:
2006. This book provides concise, accessible summaries of fairly recent advances in research in
development economics. Its summaries and references may be useful for paper ideas.
• Bardhan, Pranab and Christopher Udry. Development Microeconomics. Oxford University Press, 1999.
An accessible graduate textbook with advanced treatment of much of the material covered in this course.
• Deaton, Angus. The Analysis of Household Surveys. John Hopkins Press, 1997. This book describes
empirical methods that might be used in this course.
• Ray, Debraj. Development Economics. Princeton University Press, 1998. This undergraduate textbook
provides theoretical background for many of the topics covered in this course (and, as noted above, was
the required text book for previous years).
• Wooldridge, Jeffrey. Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach. South-Western Press, 2002.
This undergraduate econometrics textbook may be useful in writing the research paper.
• Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 2002, Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data, Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press. A more advanced presentation.
12
Appendix C. Economics Departmental Course
Policies
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http://www.econ.upenn.edu/undergraduate/policies
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Courses taught in the Department of Economics are covered by a common set of course management
policies specified below.
Undergraduate Program
Exam Attendance
Advice for Freshmen
Advice for Wharton
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Departmental Course
Policies
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News & Announcements
Courses have individual policies regarding midterm exam attendance. Final exam attendance is
mandatory and is governed by a number of university regulations. Final exams can only be given on the
exam date scheduled by the university registrar. No instructor can hold a final exam or require
submission of a take-home exam except during the period in which final examinations are scheduled. No
final exams may be scheduled during the last week of classes or on reading days. All students must be
allowed to see their final exam, with an access period of at least one regular semester after the exam
has been given.
In cases where attendance at a midterm or a final exam is mandatory, there are only a few valid excuses
for missing an exam. They are:
3 exams scheduled within one calendar day
if exam is given outside of the regular class schedule and the timing conflicts with another class
in which the student is enrolled.
documented illness/health emergencies
religious observance
UPENN Business that takes you away from Campus
documented disabilities that allow you to take the exam under other circumstances
a death in the family
Examples of reasons that are not valid for missing an exam are:
job interviews
job internships
beginning fall or spring break early or returning after a scheduled exam
end of semester early flights
any other reason you would prefer not to be at the university when the exam is scheduled.
Students are responsible for making sure, at the beginning of the term, that they can attend the
exams. Registering for a course means that you certify that you will be present for the exam
(unless one of the explicitly stated exceptions above arises.)
If you are unexpectedly ill at the time of the exam and unable to reach the instructor ahead of time, then
you can give notification and documentation of your illness as soon as you are able. Do not take an
exam if you are ill and then expect to have an opportunity to retake the exam because you were ill the
first time and did poorly.
Absence from campus on UPENN business includes, for example, athletic events in which you are
actively participating. In such cases, you need to make arrangements with your professor ahead of the
exam date to take the exam at another time (preferably earlier than the schedule date).
Students who arrive late to an exam will generally be required to hand in their exam at the same time as
other students.
Academic Integrity
If a student is found in violation of academic integrity, it is at the professor's discretion to give the
student a failing grade for the assignment and the course.
Withdrawals and Incompletes
UPENN provides an option for students to withdraw from courses. Students may withdraw up to the
end of the 8th week of classes for any reason. Students may request incompletes after that deadline
provided (1) the only work that is incomplete is the course final exam or final paper and (2) there is a
health emergency or a death in their family. Students should work out an arrangement for clearing an
incomplete with the professor as soon as possible.
Make-up Exams
Make-up final exams are to be taken only during the designated make-up exam week, usually at the
beginning of the following semester.
Deadlines
Work should be handed in on time. Work that is not handed in on the day that it is due may, at the
professor's discretion, receive less or zero credit. Professors may request that a hard copy rather than
an emailed copy be handed in.
Grading
The relative weights on the different elements course work are set by the instructor. So are the rules
that permit (or do not permit) dropping the lowest problem set score. If a student is permitted to drop one
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http://www.econ.upenn.edu/undergraduate/policies
exam or problem set score, but misses more than one exam (for an invalid reason), then the student
may receive a zero for the missed exam.
One department-wide rule is that, if the course permits dropping the lowest problem set score, a student
who has entered a course late and missed the first problem set drops that one, not a later one.
Correcting Errors in Grading
Errors in grading sometimes occur; this section lays out rules and procedures for requesting a
correction. The important general rule is that such a request should clearly and succinctly state the
unambiguous error you believe has occurred.
Errors in grading arising from illegible or garbled answers are not subject to correction. Students who
believe their work has been graded incorrectly should petition for a correction in writing to the Professor.
Students should not approach either the instructor or the TA with an oral request before making their
written request. Requests should be focused on the specific error and should be made within a week of
the work being returned.
The entire graded work (problem set or examination) should be resubmitted; there is no guarantee that
grades will rise as, statistically, positive and negative errors in grading are equally likely. If the request
arises because you think different students have been graded differently, all the affected students
should submit their work as a group.
Here is a suggested way to request to correct an error grading: "Dear Prof. X: I am a student in your
economics 222 course. I believe that the grades on my midterm were added up incorrectly. As you can
see from the exam I left in your mailbox, I have 25 on each of the four questions, but 73 on the exam.
Sincerely, Z."
Academic Integrity Issues
Academic integrity is a very important part of student life, and the Department of Economics takes it
seriously. The department reserves the right to undertake procedures that would catch breaches of
academic integrity, should any arise, such as photocopying or scanning midterms or other work before it
is returned, and close proctoring during exams. Students who are suspected of committing infractions
will be reported to the Office of Student Conduct.
If a student is found in violation of academic integrity, it is at the professor's discretion to give the
student a failing grade for the assignment and the course.
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