SP&E 359 - Economic Development: Household and Local Development Issues

What are the barriers to economic growth, and what might lower them? This class reviews cutting edge research on these questions in low- and middle-income countries. The first part of focuses on household-level barriers to growth and the second part considers community, market, or regional-level constraints. There is an emphasis on empirical readings, with studies drawn mainly from South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America. By the end of the course, students will be able to: 1) Identify the major barriers to wealth accumulation faced by households and firms in low- and middle-income countries; 2) Learn how to critically read cutting edge research on political behavior in developing countries; 3) Synthesize and evaluate some of the most common or promising policy solutions to lowering these barriers; 4) Identify an open area of inquiry in development economics, pose a research question related to this area, and develop a research design to begin investigating potential answers.
Units: 4
Course Type: Seminar