Facoltà di Economia

Learning Objectives

Prerequisites

Program

Books

Bibliography

Teaching methods

Exam Rules

Learning Objectives

Prerequisites

Program

Books

Bibliography

Teaching methods

Exam Rules

Aggiornato A.A. 2021-2022

• MODULE Convenor   Prof. Alessandra Pelloni  alessandrapelloni@hotmail.com  Office hours: to be agreed by email.   Alessandra Pelloni is Professor of Economics at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ and  Senior Research Fellow  at the Rimini Center for Economic Analysis and at the International Center for Economic Analysis. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Asymmetries. She studied in Modena, LSE, EUI,  and worked in Warwick and Manchester Universities for six years  Her main research interests are in the economics of growth and development and in optimal taxation. Her main publications and further details are available on www.alessandrapelloni.it

Program
• Focus Why are some countries poor while others are rich? What explains the success stories of economic development, and how can we learn from the failures? How do we make sense of the enormous inequalities that we see, both within and across countries ? What is the difference between development and growth? These, among others, are the “big questions” of economic development.

• Objectives . By the end of the course, students will have acquired an understanding of the main issues  in development economics. Subjects as theories of economic growth, economic inequality and poverty, population growth and demographic issues, human capital accumulation, trade policy, the role of finance and international aid will be treated. Students will be exercised through intensive discussion of  topics and the critical appraisal of current research.

• For the course we will  make use of the following textbooks:  M.Todaro and S. Smith, Economic Development, Pearson Higher Education 2020  and A. de Janvry and E. Sadoulet Development economics : theory and practice. Routledge 2015.  Othe useful textbooks are  J. A Ocampo, C. Rada and L. Taylor Growth and Policy in Developing Countries: a Structuralist Approach,  2009, New York: Columbia University Press., G. Roland Development Economics Routledge 2016 and A.Thirwall and P. Pacheco-Lopez  Economics of Development , MacMillan 2017. These texts offer complementary approaches to development issues.  An extensive set lecture notes and of readings  will be made available  during the course.

Syllabus:

First Part:

1 Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective

• The Meaning and Measurement of Economic Development.
• Standard and Alternative Approaches to Development.

•  Poverty and Inequality: Measurement Issues
• Randomized Trials in the Fight against Poverty
• What’s Wrong  about Inequality?
• Kuznets’s Hypothesis
• Growth, Poverty  and Inequality

2  Economic Growth: Theory and Empirics
•  Development as Growth:
• Neoclassical Growth Theory
• Endogenous Growth Theory
• Rostow’s Stages of Growth
• The Harrod-Domar Growth Model
• The Lewis Model

3 The Perpetuation of underdevelopment

•  Coordination Failures and  Multiple Equilibria
•  The Big Push Model
• Dualism

•Centre-Periphery Models

4  Population and Economic Development

• World Population Growth throughout History
• The Demographic Transition
•  The  Malthusian  Model
• High Fertility: the Debate

5  Human Capital

•  Education and Health
•  Child Labor
• The Gender Gap in Education and Health
• Educational and Health Systems: Social versus Private Benefits

6 Institutions and Economic Development

•Political Institutions

•Legal and Fiscal Institutions

7  Trade and  Globalization

• Relative Factor Endowments and International Specialization: The Neoclassical Model
• Trade and Resource Growth: North-South Models of Unequal Trade
• Trade and New Growth Theory

8 Finance and Development

• Limits of credit markets
• Informal credit
• Microfinance

9  The Environment and Development

• Environmental Accounting
• Environment Relationships to Population, Poverty, and Economic Growth
• Economic Models of Environmental Issues

10 Foreign Aid

• Is Aid good for growth?,
• Why Donors Give Aid
• Different Kinds of Aid

Notice that topics 5-10 will be covered on alternate years. 

Grades: 

Pending the Covid Emergency the final examination will be oral. For details see the Assessment Methods document.    

Aggiornato A.A. 2020-2021

• MODULE Convenor   Prof. Alessandra Pelloni  alessandrapelloni@hotmail.com  Office hours: to be agreed by email.   Alessandra Pelloni is Professor of Economics at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ and   Senior Research Fellow  at the Rimini Center for Economic Analysis.  She studied in Modena, LSE, EUI,  and worked in Warwick and Manchester Universities for six years  Her main research interests are in the economics of growth and development and in optimal taxation. Her main publications and further details are available on www.alessandrapelloni.it

Program
• Focus Why are some countries poor while others are rich? What explains the success stories of economic development, and how can we learn from the failures? How do we make sense of the enormous inequalities that we see, both within and across countries ? What is the difference between development and growth? These, among others, are the “big questions” of economic development.

• Objectives . By the end of the course, students will have acquired an understanding of the main issues  in development economics. Subjects as theories of economic growth, economic inequality and poverty, population growth and demographic issues, human capital accumulation, trade policy, the role of finance and international aid will be treated. Students will be exercised through intensive discussion of  topics and the critical appraisal of current research.

• For the course we will  make use of the following textbooks:  M.Todaro and S. Smith, Economic Development, Pearson Higher Education 2020  and A. de Janvry and E. Sadoulet Development economics : theory and practice. Routledge 2015.  Othe useful textbooks are  J. A Ocampo, C. Rada and L. Taylor Growth and Policy in Developing Countries: a Structuralist Approach,  2009, New York: Columbia University Press., G. Roland Development Economics Routledge 2016 and A.Thirwall and P. Pacheco-Lopez  Economics of Development , MacMillan 2017. These texts offer complementary approaches to development issues.  An extensive set lecture notes and of readings  will be made available  during the course.

Syllabus:

First Part:

1 Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective

• The Meaning and Measurement of Economic Development.
• Standard and Alternative Approaches to Development.

•  Poverty and Inequality: Measurement Issues
• Randomized Trials in the Fight against Poverty
• What’s Wrong  about Inequality?
• Kuznets’s Hypothesis
• Growth, Poverty  and Inequality

2  Economic Growth: Theory and Empirics
•  Development as Growth:
• Neoclassical Growth Theory
• Endogenous Growth Theory
• Rostow’s Stages of Growth
• The Harrod-Domar Growth Model
• The Lewis Model

3 The Perpetuation of underdevelopment

•  Coordination Failures and  Multiple Equilibria
•  The Big Push Model
• Dualism

•Centre-Periphery Models

4  Population and Economic Development

• World Population Growth throughout History
• The Demographic Transition
•  The  Malthusian  Model
• High Fertility: the Debate

5  Human Capital

•  Education and Health
•  Child Labor
• The Gender Gap in Education and Health
• Educational and Health Systems: Social versus Private Benefits

6 Institutions and Economic Development

•Political Institutions

•Legal and Fiscal Institutions

7  Trade and  Globalization

• Relative Factor Endowments and International Specialization: The Neoclassical Model
• Trade and Resource Growth: North-South Models of Unequal Trade
• Trade and New Growth Theory

8 Finance and Development

• Limits of credit markets
• Informal credit
• Microfinance

9  The Environment and Development

• Environmental Accounting
• Environment Relationships to Population, Poverty, and Economic Growth
• Economic Models of Environmental Issues

10 Foreign Aid

• Is Aid good for growth?,
• Why Donors Give Aid
• Different Kinds of Aid

Notice that topics 7-10 will be covered on alternate years. 

Grades: In the two hour final examination there will be a mix of short answers (including multiple choice), and essay answers based on chapters 1-10 of Todaro-Smith. If less than five students register for a session the examination will be oral ( with similar kinds of questions). For attending students oral presentations of research projects, prepared under the supervision of the module convenor may substitute part of the final examination.

Pending the Covid Emergency the final examination will be oral. For details see the Assessment Methods document.    

Aggiornato A.A. 2019-2020

• MODULE Convenor   Prof. Alessandra Pelloni  alessandrapelloni@hotmail.com  Office hours: to be agreed by email.   Alessandra Pelloni is Professor of Economics at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ and   Senior Research Fellow  at the Rimini Center for Economic Analysis.  She studied in Modena, LSE, EUI,  and worked in Warwick and Manchester Universities for six years  Her main research interests are in the economics of growth and development and in optimal taxation. Her main publications and further details are available on www.alessandrapelloni.it

Program
• Focus Why are some countries poor while others are rich? What explains the success stories of economic development, and how can we learn from the failures? How do we make sense of the enormous inequalities that we see, both within and across countries ? What is the difference between development and growth? These, among others, are the “big questions” of economic development.

• Objectives . By the end of the course, students will have acquired an understanding of the main issues  in development economics. Subjects as theories of economic growth, economic inequality and poverty, population growth and demographic issues, human capital accumulation, trade policy, the role of finance and international aid will be treated. Students will be exercised through intensive discussion of  topics and the critical appraisal of current research.

• For the course we will  make use of the following textbooks:   G. Roland Development Economics Routledge 2016 and A.Thirwall and P. Pacheco-Lopez  Economics of Development , MacMillan 2017. . Othe useful textbooks are  J. A Ocampo, C. Rada and L. Taylor Growth and Policy in Developing Countries: a Structuralist Approach,  2009, New York: Columbia University Press. and M.Todaro and S. Smith, Economic Development.  Pearson, 2015 These texts offer complementary approaches to development issues.  An extensive set lecture notes and of readings  will be made available  during the course.

Syllabus:

First Part:

1 Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective

• The Meaning and Measurement of Economic Development.
• Standard and Alternative Approaches to Development.

•  Poverty and Inequality: Measurement Issues
• Randomized Trials in the Fight against Poverty
• What’s Wrong  about Inequality?
• Kuznets’s Hypothesis
• Growth, Poverty  and Inequality

2  Economic Growth: Theory and Empirics
•  Development as Growth:
• Neoclassical Growth Theory
• Endogenous Growth Theory
• Rostow’s Stages of Growth
• The Harrod-Domar Growth Model
• The Lewis Model

3 The Perpetuation of underdevelopment

•  Coordination Failures and  Multiple Equilibria
•  The Big Push Model
• Dualism

•Centre-Periphery Models

4  Population and Economic Development

• World Population Growth throughout History
• The Demographic Transition
•  The  Malthusian  Model
• High Fertility: the Debate

5  Human Capital

•  Education and Health
•  Child Labor
• The Gender Gap in Education and Health
• Educational and Health Systems: Social versus Private Benefits

6 Insitutions and Economic Development

•Political Institutions

•Legal and Fiscal Institutions

7  Trade and  Globalization

• Relative Factor Endowments and International Specialization: The Neoclassical Model
• Trade and Resource Growth: North-South Models of Unequal Trade
• Trade and New Growth Theory

8 Finance and Development

• Limits of credit markets
• Informal credit
• Microfinance

9  The Environment and Development

• Environmental Accounting
• Environment Relationships to Population, Poverty, and Economic Growth
• Economic Models of Environmental Issues

10 Foreign Aid

• Is Aid good for growth?,
• Why Donors Give Aid
• Different Kinds of Aid

Grades: In the two hour final examination there will be a mix of short answers (including multiple choice), and essay answers based on chapters 1-6 and 8 of Todaro-Smith . If less than five students register for a session the examination will be oral ( with similar kinds of questions).. For attending students oral presentations of research projects, prepared under the supervision of the module convenor may substitute part of the final examination.

Given the Covid Emergency, in May and July 2020  examinations will be oral.     

Aggiornato A.A. 2018-2019

• MODULE Convenor   Prof. Alessandra Pelloni  alessandrapelloni@hotmail.com  Office hours: to be agreed by email.   Alessandra Pelloni is Professor of Economics at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ and  Senior Research Fellow  at the Rimini Center for Economic Analysis and at the International Center for Economic Analysis. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Asymmetries. She studied in Modena, LSE, EUI,  and worked in Warwick and Manchester Universities for six years  Her main research interests are in the economics of growth and development and in optimal taxation. Her main publications and further details are available on www.alessandrapelloni.it

Program
• Focus Why are some countries poor while others are rich? What explains the success stories of economic development, and how can we learn from the failures? How do we make sense of the enormous inequalities that we see, both within and across countries ? What is the difference between development and growth? These, among others, are the “big questions” of economic development.

• Objectives . By the end of the course, students will have acquired an understanding of some central issues  in development economics. Subjects as theories of economic growth, economic inequality and poverty, population growth and demographic issues, human capital accumulation, trade policy, the role of finance and international aid will be treated. Students will be exercised through intensive discussion of  topics and the critical appraisal of current research.

• For the course we will  make use of the following textbooks:  M.Todaro and S. Smith, Economic Development, Pearson Higher Education 2020  and Essentials of Development Economics by Edward Taylor and Travis J. Lybbert Gruyter 2020.   Othe useful textbooks are A. de Janvry and E. Sadoulet Development economics : theory and practice. Routledge 2015, J. A Ocampo, C. Rada and L. Taylor Growth and Policy in Developing Countries: a Structuralist Approach,  2009, New York: Columbia University Press., G. Roland Development Economics Routledge 2016 and A.Thirwall and P. Pacheco-Lopez  Economics of Development , MacMillan 2017. These texts offer complementary approaches to development issues.  An extensive set of lecture notes and of readings  will be made available  during the course.

Syllabus:

First Part:

1 Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective

• The Meaning and Measurement of Economic Development.
• Standard and Alternative Approaches to Development.

•  Poverty and Inequality: Measurement Issues
• Randomized Trials in the Fight against Poverty
• What’s Wrong  about Inequality?
• Kuznets’s Hypothesis
• Growth, Poverty  and Inequality

2  Economic Growth: Theory and Empirics
•  Development as Growth:
• Neoclassical Growth Theory
• Endogenous Growth Theory
• Rostow’s Stages of Growth
• The Harrod-Domar Growth Model
• The Lewis Model

3 The Perpetuation of underdevelopment

•  Coordination Failures and  Multiple Equilibria
•  The Big Push Model
• Dualism

•Centre-Periphery Models

4  Population and Economic Development

• World Population Growth throughout History
• The Demographic Transition
•  The  Malthusian  Model
• High Fertility: the Debate

5  Human Capital

•  Education and Health
•  Child Labor
• The Gender Gap in Education and Health
• Educational and Health Systems: Social versus Private Benefits

6 Institutions and Economic Development

•Political Institutions

•Legal and Fiscal Institutions

7  Trade and  Globalization

• Relative Factor Endowments and International Specialization: The Neoclassical Model
• Trade and Resource Growth: North-South Models of Unequal Trade
• Trade and New Growth Theory

8 Finance and Development

• Limits of credit markets
• Informal credit
• Microfinance

9  The Environment and Development

• Environmental Accounting
• Environment Relationships to Population, Poverty, and Economic Growth
• Economic Models of Environmental Issues

10 Foreign Aid

• Is Aid good for growth?,
• Why Donors Give Aid
• Different Kinds of Aid

Notice that topics 5-10 will be covered on alternate years. 

Grades: 

Pending the Covid Emergency the final examination will be oral. For details see the Assessment Methods document.    

Aggiornato A.A. 2017-2018

• MODULE Convenor   Prof. Alessandra Pelloni  alessandrapelloni@hotmail.com  Office hours: to be agreed by email.   Alessandra Pelloni is Professor of Economics at the University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ and   Senior Research Fellow  at the Rimini Center for Economic Analysis.  She studied in Modena, LSE, EUI,  and worked in Warwick and Manchester Universities for six years  Her main research interests are in the economics of growth and development and in optimal taxation. Her main publications and further details are available on www.alessandrapelloni.it

Program
• Focus Why are some countries poor while others are rich? What explains the success stories of economic development, and how can we learn from the failures? How do we make sense of the enormous inequalities that we see, both within and across countries ? What is the difference between development and growth? These, among others, are the “big questions” of economic development. 

• Objectives . By the end of the course, students will have acquired an understanding of the main issues  in development economics. Subjects as theories of economic growth, economic inequality and poverty, population growth and demographic issues, human capital accumulation, trade policy, the role of finance and international aid will be treated. Students will be exercised through intensive discussion of  topics and the critical appraisal of current research.

• For the course we will  make use of the following textbooks:   Debraj Ray, Development Economics, Princeton University Press, 1998 and Michael Todaro and Stephen Smith, Economic Development.  Pearson,2015. An extensive set of articles will be made available  during the course.   
• A popular book on development economics is Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo,  Poor Economics Public Affairs 2011 You do not have to purchase it, but it is great read. 

Syllabus:

1 Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective

• The Meaning and Measurement of Economic Development.
• Standard and Alternative Approaches to Development.

2  Economic Growth: Theory and Empirics
•  Development as Growth:
• Neoclassical Growth Theory
• Endogenous Growth Theory
• Rostow’s Stages of Growth
• The Harrod-Domar Growth Model
• The Lewis Model

3 The Role of Initial Conditions

•  Coordination Failures and  Multiple Equilibria
•  The Big Push Model
• The O-Ring Model

4  Poverty
• Measurement Issues
• Randomized Trials in the Fight against Poverty
• Growth and Poverty

• 5 Inequality
•
• Measurement Issues
• What’s Wrong  about Inequality?
• Kuznets’s Hypothesis
• Growth and Inequality

6  Population and Economic Development

• World Population Growth throughout History
• The Demographic Transition
•  The  Malthusian  Model
• High Fertility: the Debate

7  Human Capital

•  Education and Health
•  Child Labor
• The Gender Gap in Education and Health
• Educational and Health Systems: Social versus Private Benefits

8  Trade and  Globalization

• Relative Factor Endowments and International Specialization: The Neoclassical Model
• Trade and Resource Growth: North-South Models of Unequal Trade
• Trade and New Growth Theory

9 Finance and Development

• Limits of credit markets
• Informal credit
• Microfinance

10  The Environment and Development

• Environmental Accounting
• Environment Relationships to Population, Poverty, and Economic Growth
• Economic Models of Environmental Issues

11 Foreign Aid

• Is Aid good for growth?,
• Why Donors Give Aid
• Different Kinds of Aid

Grades: In the two hour final examination there will be a mix of short answers (including multiple choice), and essay answers. If less than five students register for a session the examination will be oral ( with similar kinds of questions). For attending students oral presentations of research projects, prepared under the supervision of the module convenor will substitute the final examination.