Economic Growth & Development (325-0-20)

Instructors

Kiminori Matsuyama

Meeting Info

Locy Hall 318: Mon, Wed, Fri 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

This course focuses on macroeconomic aspects of development economics, and deals mainly with historical and long term patterns of economic development. The main questions we ask are "How can economies grow or fail to grow?" "What explains the difference in the income levels and growth performances across countries?" No one can claim to have the answer to these difficult questions (and don't trust anyone who claims to know the answer). However, economic theories tell us what are important determinants of long run growth and development performances. More specifically, we will discuss the roles of investment (i.e., physical capital accumulation), of education (i.e., human capital accumulation), of technological change (i.e., knowledge capital accumulation through innovation and R&D), of income distribution, of population growth and demographic change, and others.

Registration Requirements

Econ 310-1, and 310-2 (recommended) or the permission of the instructor

Learning Objectives

N/A

Teaching Method

Two lectures and one TA session each week

Evaluation Method

Two in class quizzes, each counts equally for the total grade

Class Materials (Required)

Development Economics, by Debraj Ray, 1998 (ISBN: 978-0691017068) Lecture slides and some supplementary reading materials will be posted.

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for Economics Majors & Minors until the end of preregistration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites. Pre-requisite: Students must have taken ECON 310-1 or MMSS 211-1 and ECON 281 or ECON 381-1 or MATH 386-1 or IEMS 304 or STAT 350 to successfully enroll in this course.