2016/2017

2016/2017

DM270

SECS-P/02 (POLITICA ECONOMICA)

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

ECONOMICS, POLITICS AND INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

2nd semester (27/02/2017 - 27/05/2017)

6

40 lesson hours

ITALIAN Teaching materials are predominantly in English. Bibliography may be subject to partial change before the start of the course.

ORAL TEST

PRENNUSHI GIOVANNA (titolare) - 3 ECTS
VON JACOBI NADIA LAURA - 3 ECTS

The goal of the course is to familiarize students with development theory and practice, with a focus on the role of institutions and on aid.

Development cooperation in support of national policies can help countries achieve better development oucomes. The course covers development and the evolution of cooperation over the last seventy years, looking at emerging and developing countries and fragile states. It highlights the complex interplay between cooperation and local institutions. Weak or absent institutions are a key cause of underdevelopment, together with other structural factors, much as the agency of policy and program beneficiaries plays an important role in their success.

What is development?
Development in figures: indicators and trends
Development theory and practice. From the Marshall plan until today
Structural factors of underdevelopment: cultural and geographic theories
Institutions and development
Ownership of development processes: critical perspectives
International cooperation: actors, numbers, trends, intervention typologies
Examples of development projects
Impact evaluation of development projects
Aid, institutions and development in fragile states
Impact of international aid: debates

Lectures. The course aims at providing students with analytical skills to understand, assess and evaluate cooperation and development policies. Specific case studies will be analyzed with a focus on assessing the institutional context and the impact of policies and programs.

The course makes use of academic papers, audiovisual material and project documents.


The course makes use of academic papers, audiovisual material and project-internal documentation for the study of examples.

The bibliography may be subject to changes at the end of the course.
Starred references are compulsory for all. Double-starred references are obligatory, additional reading for students who have not attended the course.

What is development?
* Land Rush (video) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_pKnP-2mOQ)
* Collective Love (video): social policies and inequalities in Brazil, (http://nadiavonjacobi.com/collectivelove/)

Development in figures: indicators and trends
* Marchionatti e Mornati (2010), parte V, cap. 1
* Gertner, J. (2010). The Rise and Fall of GDP. New York Times Sunday Magazine, May 16, 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/16/magazine/16GDP- t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
* United Nations (2008). 2007-08 Technical Note 1 (pp. 1-2)
* Kenny, C. (2015). "SDGs: Not Much to Cheer Yet"
* 2. United Nations (2016). The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2016. New York. http://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2016/ http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2015_MDG_Report/pdf/MDG%202015%20rev% 20(July%201).pdf
Maddison, A. (2005). L’economia mondiale. Una prospettiva millenaria. Giuffré.
OECD (2010). The World Economy. The Contours of World Development. http://www.theworldeconomy.org/

Development theory and practice
* Harriss, J. (2014). Development Theories. In Bruce Currie-Alder, Ravi Kanbur, David Malone and Rohinton Medhora (eds), International Development: Ideas, Experience and Prospects. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/handle/10625/51544
* Devarajan, S. and R. Kanbur (2014). Development Strategy: Balancing Market and Government Failure. In Bruce Currie-Alder, Ravi Kanbur, David Malone and Rohinton Medhora (eds), International Development: Ideas, Experience and Prospects. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. http://idl- bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/handle/10625/51546
* Ajakayie, O. and A. Jerome (2014). Economic Development: The Experience of Sub-Saharan Africa. In Currie-Alder, Ravi Kanbur, David Malone and Rohinton Medhora (eds), International Development: Ideas, Experience and Prospects. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. http://idl-bnc.idrc.ca/dspace/handle/10625/51585
* Sahn, D.E. and S. Younger (2004). Growth and Poverty Reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa: Macroeconomic Adjustment and Beyond. Journal of African Economies, Vol. 13, Supplement, pp. 66-95

Structural factors of underdevelopment: cultural and geographic theories
*Trebilcock, M. and Mota Prado, M. (2011), What Makes Poor Countries Poor? Institutional Determinants of Development, pp. 1-25

Institutions and development
*Trebilcock, M. and Mota Prado, M. (2011), What Makes Poor Countries Poor? Institutional Determinants of Development, pp. 25-40
*Shirley, M. (2008), Institutions and Development, pp. 1-44.
* Engerman, S. and Sokoloff, K., (2002), Factor Endowments, Inequality, and Paths of Development among New World Economies, NBER WORKING PAPER SERIES, WP 9259, pp. 1–55.
Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. and and Robinson, J. A., (2001), The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation, The American Economic Review, 91:5, pp. 1369-1401.

Ownership of development processes: critical perspectives
*Pritchett, L. (2012), “Folk and the Formula - Pathways to Capable States”, UNU- WIDER Annual Lecture.
*Barder, O. (2012), Complexity and Innovation in Development, Kapuscinski Development Lectures. Section 5
**Barder, O. (2012), Complexity and Innovation in Development, Kapuscinski Development Lectures. All sections.
Rodrik, D., Subramanian, A. and Trebbi, F. (2004) “Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions over Geography and Integration in Economic Development”. In: Journal of Economic Growth 9.2, pp. 131–165.
**Ferrero, G. and Zepeda, C. (2014), in Frediani, A. et al. (eds.), Rethinking Development Management Methodology: Towards a "Process Freedoms Approach", Journal of Human Development and Capabilities Special Issue, 15:1, pp. 28-46.
*Frediani, A., Boni, A. and Gasper, D. (2014), Approaching Development Projects from a Human Development and Capability Perspective, Journal of Human Development and Capabilities Special Issue, 15:1, pp. 3-27.

International cooperation: actors, numbers, trends, intervention typologies
* OECD. Development Finance Data Frequently Asked Questions 1-2. http://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-data/faq.htm
* OECD (2016). Development Finance Data. http://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-data/

Examples of development projects
* Moving Mumbai (video) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz84x8mdE_4)
* World Bank/Government of India (2012). "Community-run Centers Improve Nutrition for Women and Children: APRPRP". Innovations in Development 6. World Bank, Washington, DC

Impact evaluation of development projects
* Esther Duflo (2012). “Social Experiments to Fight Poverty” (video) (https://www.ted.com/talks/esther_duflo_social_experiments_to_fight_poverty)
* Ravallion (2011), Blog on Impact Evaluations. http://blogs.worldbank.org/impactevaluations/node/570

Aid, institutions and development in Fragile States
* Gisselqist, R. (2015), Aid and Institution-Building in Fragile States: Findings from Comparative Cases, UNU-WIDER Special Issue.

Impact of international aid: debates
** Glennie, J. and A. Sumner (2014). The $138.5 Billion Question: When Does Foreign Aid Work (and When Doesn't It)? CGD Policy Paper 49. Washington DC: Center for Global Development. http://www.cgdev.org/sites/default/files/CGD-Policy-Paper-49- Glennie-Sumner-When-Does-Foreign-Aid-Work.pdf

Written exam (for those who present themselves at the exams between june and september 2017), written/oral for subsequent exam dates. Students who do not attend the course and students who attended but do not successfully complete the exam within september 2017, will be required to prepare additional material (see previous section, material with double asterisks).

We highly recommend attending the course, as participation in class contributes to the final evaluation. For students attending, participation in class will matter both, in terms of actively contributing to discussions and in terms of a presentation in class.