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| Semester | spring semester 2018 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | William Georg Jack (jack.william@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Economic development is a process of trial and error, innovation and experimentation, success and failure. Given the right institutions, some not unfavorable resource endowments, and a bit of luck, incomes can grow, health can improve, and human development can flourish; other times, things don’t turn out so well. While the last 150 years have seen broad improvements in well -being around the world, and deep reductions in poverty have been achieved in just the last 25 years, there remains huge disparities in living standard between and within countries. There is much work to be done before we can claim to have reached a just, prosperous, and sustainable world. Given the urgency of development challenges, it is imperative that we learn quickly from our mistakes and build robustly on our successes. The hope is that by understanding what kinds of innovations and policies “work” to improve the lives of the deprived and vulnerable, and how they work, we might be better placed to accelerate the process of development more generally. To that end, this course will provide an overview of empirical methods and analytical techniques for assessing the impact and effectiveness of development innovations at both the product and policy levels. |
| Bibliography | There is no textbook for this course. As background, I invite students to read the following books prior to the course: • Banerjee, Abhijit V. & Esther Duflo (2011): Poor Economics, Random House • Duflo, Esther, Rachel Glennerster, and Michael Kremer (2007): “Using randomization in development economics research: a toolkit,” Centre for Economic Policy Research Discussion Paper No 6059. • Deaton, Angus and Nancy Cartwright (2016): “Understanding and misunderstanding Randomized Controlled Trials,” NBER Working Paper No 22595. • Karlan, Dean and Jacob Appel (2012): More Than Good Intentions, Plume. I will provide further readings to complement each lecture. I may have some early -stage on-line video material that I will make available to students ahead of the classes. |
| Weblink | Weblink |
| Admission requirements | The course will adopt an empirical microeconomic approach to the subject of measuring development effectiveness. As such, students should have taken courses in Microeconomic Theory and Econometrics, both at the Intermediate undergraduate level. They should also be comfortable with basic calculus. |
| Course application | Course application: All applications have to be processed through the Summer School office. Please fill in the application form, which can be found on the weblink: https://wwz.unibas.ch/summerschool/orientation-and-admission/ There is an orientation for all Summer School courses on Thursday 1 March, 2018; 17:00 at the WWZ, Auditorium. The online application is open from 2 March until 26 March 2018. Applications that are submitted by 12 March (23:59) will be handled on a priority basis. For more information please visit the Summer School website: https://wwz.unibas.ch/summerschool/home/ The enrollment for the lecture is at the same time the application for the exam! If there are still vacancies, we will accept late applications until 31 May 2018. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Specialization Module: International Trade, Growth and the Environment (Master Business and Economics) |
| Assessment format | end-of-semester examination |
| Assessment details | There will be one homework assignment worth 25%, due at the 5pm on Friday 20 July 2018. Active classroom participation will count for 25%. Students will take a 1.5-hour final exam worth 50% on Thursday, 26 July 2018. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Registration/deregistration: faculty |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,1 |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Business and Economics , studiendekanat-wwz@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Faculty of Business and Economics |