ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Fall 2010
Eco 31-443
Dr. Ken Roberts (robertsk@southwestern.edu)
Office:
Hours:
MBH 334
MW 10:30-11:30
Course Objectives
1. To introduce central economic and social issues facing the less-developed countries of the
world. The experience of China and Mexico, two rapidly developing countries that are especially
important to the United States, will be used to illustrate key concepts.
2. To impart an understanding of the controversies surrounding these issues through readings
written by leading scholars in the field.
3. To show how economic theory can shed light upon the causes of underdevelopment and
possible solutions. While there is no prerequisite for this course, an introductory economics
course is recommended.
4. To explore the problems and prospects for the development of one less-developed country in
depth through individual research, and in the process develop skills in the collection, analysis and
written interpretation of data.
Required Readings
The Atlas of Global Development, World Bank and Harper Collins, 2009.
Reader. Most of the required articles are included in a reader available at PostalAnnex in Round
Rock (828-4549); additional material will be handed out in class or made available on the course
website at http://segue.southwestern.edu/.
Assignments
1. The success of this course depends upon your active participation in class discussion of the
assigned readings, so it is essential that you complete the readings before the class for which they
are assigned and be prepared to discuss the concepts and issues raised.
2. For each of the major topics of the course (listed in the schedule below in bold), you will
prepare a short (2-3 pages), well-organized, and thoughtful essay consisting of a question and a
response that ties together the readings on the major topic. This essay should be posted on the
course website by the evening before the class it is due. Choose the two terms from the readings
that you think are most important and append them to your essay.
3. For a country of your choice, you will prepare a report in four parts that addresses major topics
of the course – history and culture, population, rural-urban interactions, and economic
liberalization – as they relate to your country. In the preparation of this report, you will need to
make full use of the library’s research resources, including journals, reference materials, and
databases. Data presented in these reports will be posted to a central source well before the due
date so that students can compare their country with others in the region.
1
Attendance
Active participation in class discussion and data analysis is the context for learning in this course.
To this end, attendance is required at all classes. You can take one absence that is not ‘officially’
excused by team travel or sickness; each additional absence will result in a deduction of 2 of the
10 points of your participation grade. (Note that if you do miss a class for whatever reason, you
are still responsible for turning in any assignments due by the end of class that day.) In addition,
when data is turned in online, a penalty will be assigned if it is late, incomplete, or improperly
formatted.
Grading
In addition to the essays and reports, there will be a final exam consisting of identification and
essays based upon readings and discussion. Many of the IDs will come from the lists you send me
with your essays. A map quiz, given the second week of class, will count as 10% of the exam
grade.
40%
30%
20%
10%
Country report and related presentations (4)
Essays on assigned readings (6)
Final exam
Participation
Aug 24
Course Outline and Schedule
Course Introduction
26
The Meaning and Dimensions of “Development”
Sen, Development as Freedom 4, “Poverty as Capability Deprivation”
World Bank, World Development Report 2001, “The Nature and Evolution
of Poverty”
Escobar, “The Invention of ‘Development’”
31
UNDP, Human Development Report 1990, Chapter 1.
MAP QUIZ
Sept 2
7
9
Sept 14
World Bank Atlas analysis (counts as ESSAY 1)
Historical Perspectives on Economic Development
Developing Countries in the World System
Wolf, Europe and the People Without History 9, “Industrial Revolution”
Sachs, “Twentieth-Century Political Economy: a Brief History of Global
Capitalism”
The Western European Experience
Rostow, “The Stages of Economic Growth”
Landes, “Why are We So Rich and They So Poor?”
ESSAY 2
Theoretical Perspectives on Development/Underdevelopment
Neoclassical
2
16
Oct
Meier and Baldwin, “Neo-Classical Analysis”
COUNTRY REPORT 1: OVERVIEW & COLONIAL HISTORY
Easterly, The Elusive Quest for Growth 3, “Solow’s Surprise”
Engerman and Sokoloff, “Factor Endowments, Inequality, and Paths of
Development among New World Economies”
21
Growth and Income Distribution
Williamson, “Inequality and the Industrial Revolution”
23
Classical, Neo-Marxist and Dependency
Baran, “On the Political Economy of Backwardness”
Frank, “The Development of Underdevelopment”
ESSAY 3
28
Population, Development and the Environment
Population
Tierney, “Fanisi’s Choice”
Easterly, The Elusive Quest for Growth 5, “Cash for Condoms?”
30
Population, Food and Famine
Sen, Development as Freedom 7, “Famines and Other Crises”
5
Development and the Environment
Dasgupta et al, “Confronting the Environmental Kuznets Curve”
ESSAY 4
7
City and Country
Structural Change
Lewis, “Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour”
12
FALL BREAK
14
Discuss Country Reports on Population
COUNTRY REPORT 2: POPULATION
19
Peasants and Modernization
Scott, “Economics and Sociology of the Subsistence Ethic”
Popkin, “The Rational Peasant”
21
Migration and Urbanization
Roberts, “The Changing Dynamics of Labor Migration”
TBA
Video: China Blue (Cove Media Room)
26
Development and Women’s Empowerment
Chang, “Min’s Path” and “Min’s Return
28
Guest lecturer:
Dr. Jack Goldstone, George Mason University
ESSAY 5
3
Nov
2
Discuss Country Reports on Agriculture and Urbanization
COUNTRY REPORT 3: AGRICULTURE & URBANIZATION
Economic Liberalization, Structural Adjustment, and Aid
The Neoliberal Agenda
World Bank, “The World Development Report, 1991”
4
9
Mexico: From ISI to Neoliberal Reform
“Respect Restored” The Economist survey of Mexico, 1992 and “Another
Dive” 1995
Video: Mexico: From Boom to Bust, 1940-1982\
11
Mexico, Latin America and Economic Reform
The Economist “A New Regional Agenda” 2006, “Mexico’s Vote” 2006,
and “Globalization’s Gains Come With a Price” 2007
Guest lecturer: Dr. Eric Selbin
16
Financial Crises and Development Institutions
Sachs, The End of Poverty 5, “Bolivia’s High-Altitude Hyperinflation”
Easterly, The Elusive Quest for Growth 6, “The Loans that Were, the
Growth that Wasn’t”
18
Individual Presentations of Country Reports on Economic Liberalization
COUNTRY REPORT 4: ECONOMIC LIBERALIZATION
23
Individual Presentations of Country Reports on Economic Liberalization
25
THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
30
African ‘Tragedies”
Collier and Gunning, “Why Has Africa Grown Slowly”
Guest lecturer: Dr. Suzanne Buchele
Dec
Dec
2
9
Africa and Aid
Sachs, The End of Poverty 12 and 13, “On-the-Ground Solutions”
and review by Easterly
ESSAY 6
FINAL EXAM 1:30 pm
CONGRATULATIONS ON (LOTS OF) GOOD WORK
4