Currículo

Topics in Development Economics TDE-LECO

Contextos

ECTS

6.0 (para cálculo da média)

Objectivos

This course explores some key challenges and policy debates in development economics. Students will examine topics such as structural change, institutions, conflict, poverty and inequality, forced displacement, corruption and governance, environmental sustainability, and the role of international aid. The course aims to equip students with the skills to critically read, analyze, and engage with contemporary development debates, usmg a rigorous, theoretically informed, and evidence-based approach.

Programa

PART I: STRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT (Alexandre Abreu) 1. The concept and measurement of development 2. Development and underdevelopment in historical perspective 3. Development lab 1: Development indicators 4. Dualism and structural change 5. Poverty and inequality 6. Development lab 2: Monetary and multidimensional poverty 7. Agrarian change and agricultural development 8. Industrialisation and industrial policy 9. Development lab 3: Economic complexity and industrial upgrading 1 0. Development finance: internal and external resources 11. Population, migration and urbanisation 12. Economic development and environmental sustainability PART II: RECENT ADVANCEMENTS IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS RESEARCH (Henri que Pita Barros) 13. Institutions, colonialism and state formation 14. Culture and religion 15. Econometric methods in development research (1/2) 16. Econometric methods in development research (2/2) 17. Health and nutrition 18. Education 19. Micro finance, savings, risk and insurance 20. Households and gender inequality 21. Conflict 22. Forced displacement 23. Corruption and governance 24. Aid and international organizations

Método de Avaliação

a) Lectures consisting of oral presentations of the course contents by the lecturers. b) Autonomous study by the students of reading materials to be made available in support of each topic. b) Applied practical classes in which the students will explore databases, answer specific development-related questions, and work in groups to present a paper of their choice, analyzing its academic and policy relevance, the intuition behind its identification strategy, the interpretation of key findings, and broader policy implications. c) One final written exam about all the lecture contents.

Carga Horária

Bibliografia

Principal

• Economics ofDevelopment: Theory and Evidence. Bloomsbury.: Thirlwall, A. P. and Pacheco-Lopez, P. 2017
• Handbook of Development Economics. North-Holland.: Rodrik, D. and Rozensweig 2010
• The Palgrave Handbook of Development Economics. Palgrave Macmillan.: Nissanke, M. and Ocampo, J. A. (eds.) 2019
• More than good intentions: Improving the ways the world's poor borrow, save, farm, learn, and stay healthy. Penguin.: Karlan, D. and Appel, J. 2012
• The Journey of Humanity: A New History ofWealth and Inequality with Implications for Our Future. Penguin.: Galor, 0. 2023
• The bottom billion: Why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it. Oxford University Press, USA.: Collier, P. 2008
• Poor economics (Vol. 619). New York: PublicAffairs.: Duflo, E. and Banerjee, A. 2011
• Rethinking development economics. Anthem Press.: Chang, H-J.(ed.) 2003
• Good economics for hard times. Pub1icAffairs.: Banetjee, A.V. and Duflo, E. 2019
• Why nations fail: The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. Crown Currency.: Acemoglu, D. and Robinson, J.A. 2013

Secundária

Disciplinas de Execução

2025/2026 - 1 Semestre