- Docente: Paolo Masella
- Credits: 8
- SSD: ECON-01/A
- Language: English
- Teaching Mode: In-person learning (entirely or partially)
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Economics, Politics and Social Sciences (cod. 5819)
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course students have achieved the following knowledge: (a) acquired an enhanced empirical knowledge of economic conditions in low and middle income economies; (b) acquired an understanding of the functioning of economic and political institutions in developing countries; (c) consolidated the understanding of those elements of basic economic theory which we apply to the problems of development; (d) acquired an understanding of the main theoretical results and empirical methods that are used by the profession to study developing countries.
Course contents
Topics:
1) Foreign Aid
2) Credit Markets
3) Microfinance
4) Insurance Markets
5) Savings
6) Education
7) Corruption
8) Property Rights
9) Civil Wars
Advanced knowledge of microeconomics and econometric methods is extremely important
Readings/Bibliography
During the course several papers will be discussed. Advanced knowledge of econometric methods is crucial to understand the content of these papers.
Below you can find a preliminary (and incomplete) list of papers to be discussed:
Kuziemko I, Werker E. 2006. How Much Is a Seat on the Security Council Worth? Foreign Aid and Bribery at the United Nations. J. of Poli. Econ. 114: 905-930
Werker E, Ahmed F Z, Cohen C. 2009. How Is Foreign Aid Spent Evidence from a Natural Experiment. Amer. Econ. J. Macro.1:225-44 Only pp225-237
Khwaja, Asim, and Atif Mian. (2005). Do Lenders Favor Politically Connected Firms? Rent Provision in an Emerging Financial Market, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 120(4).
Field, Erica, Rohini Pande, John Papp and Natalia Rigol. 2013.”Does the Classic Microfinance Model Discourage Entrepreneurship among the Poor? Experimental Evidence from India.” American Economic Review, 103(6): 2196-2226.
Banerjee, Abhijit, Esther Duflo, Rachel Glennerster, and Cynthia Kinnan. 2015. ”The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 7(1): 22-53.
Paxson, Christina H. ”Using Weather Variability to Estimate the Response of Savings to Transitory Income in Thailand,” American Economic Review, Vol. 82, No. 1 (Mar., 1992), pp. 15-33
Dupas, Pascaline, Dean Karlan, Jonathan Robinson, and Diego Ubfal. 2018. ”Banking the Unbanked? Evidence from Three Countries.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 10 (2): 257-97.
Nava Ashraf Dean Karlan Wesley Yin, 2006. ”Tying Odysseus to the Mast: Evidence From a Commitment Savings Product in the Philippines,” The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 121(2), pages 635-672.
Kast, Felipe Meier, Stephan Pomeranz, Dina, 2018. ”Saving more in groups: Field experimental evidence from Chile,” Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C)
Duflo, Esther. 2001. ”Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia: Evidence from an Unusual Policy Experiment.” American Economic Review, 91(4): 795-813.
Robert Jensen, ”The (Perceived) Returns to Education and the Demand for Schooling” Quarterly Journal of Economics 125 (2) (2010): 515-548.
Robert Jensen, ”Do Labor Market Opportunities Affect Young Women's Work and Family Decisions? Experimental Evidence from India” The Quarterly Journal of Economics (2012) 127(2): 753-792
Bjorkman.M and J.Svensson (2009) Power to the People: Evidence of a Randomized Field Experiment on Community-Based Monitoring in Uganda, Quarterly Journal of Economics 24:735-69.
Besley, Timothy (1995). Property Rights and Investment Incentives: Theory and Evidence from Ghana, Journal of Political Economy, 103(5), 903-37. (only until pp931)
Field, Erica (2007), Entitled to Work: Urban Property Rights and Labor Supply in Peru, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(4), 1561-1602.
Galiani, Sebastian, and Ernesto Schargrodsky (2010), Property Rights for the Poor: Effects of Land Titling, Journal of Public Economics, 94(9-10)
Teaching methods
Slides and Blackboard
Assessment methods
Written examination and presentation/discussion of a research topic
The maximum possible score is 30 cum laude, in case all anwers are correct, complete and formally rigorous.
The grade is graduated as follows:
<18 failed
18-23 sufficient
24-27 good
28-30 very good
30 e lode excellent
Teaching tools
PDF slides of the course distributed to students.
Office hours
See the website of Paolo Masella