2019/2020

2019/2020

DM270

SECS-P/02 (POLITICA ECONOMICA)

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

AFRICAN AND ASIAN STUDIES

PERCORSO COMUNE

1°

1st semester (30/09/2019 - 16/12/2019)

6

40 lesson hours

ITALIAN

ORAL TEST

CHIAPPERO ENRICA (titolare) - 9 ECTS

Basic competencies in economics (micro and macro) and statistics acquired in BA courses are welcome. For those who do not have these basic competencies, specific readings will be suggested.

The goal of the course is to familiarize students to the meaning and issues of development.
The course will cover the basics of development economics and highlights cooperation strategies over the last seventy years.
The course will introduce students to: i) the main development theories aimed to explain the different trends and development gaps at a global level; ii) how development, poverty and inequalities can be measured; iii) the role and impact of development policies, aids and international cooperation may have in different institutional contexts.

What is development? What works and what doesn’t in development models? Why are some countries very rich and others extremely poor?
Meanings and determinants of development: economic development, economic growth and human development; globalization and development; sustainable development; poverty and inequalities; economic development and structural change; agriculture; education and health; institutions.
Measuring development, poverty and inequalities
Evolution of development indicators as a reflection of the evolution of the idea of development.
International development cooperation: principal actors, numbers, trends, intervention typologies. Project cycle management. Examples of development projects. Ownership of development processes: critical perspectives

The course aims at providing students with analytical skills to analyze and measure development and to understand cooperation and development policies and projects.
The course makes use of academic textbooks and papers, audiovisual material, database and project documents.
Practical exercises (using Excel) and working group activities will be organized for facilitating learning and retention of some of the topics covered.

Given the contents and the nature of the teaching course, all teaching material will be in English.
The reference textbook for the introduction to development economics is J.E. Taylor and T.J. Lybbert, Essentials of development economics, 2015, 2nd edition, University of California Press; it can be easily buy on Amazon to an affordable price.
The interactive teaching platform KIRO will make available all the teaching materials used during the lessons (powerpoint presentations, compulsory and supplementary readings, useful links, etc.). You can access to KIRO by means of username and password (http://elearning2.unipv.it/scipol/ )

The exam is written and based on multiple choice and open questions.
We highly recommend attending the course, as participation in class (i.e. working group activities, contribution to discussion, presentation in class on specific topics or case studies) will contribute to the final evaluation.

A shorter version of this course, 6CFU, is offered for students of the LM program in Studies of Africa and Asia. In this case the number of teaching hours and the contents of the course will be proportionate to the amount of credits provided. A calendar with the lessons to be attended and the teaching material to be used for the exam will be communicated before the lectures will start and made available on KIRO