B5067 - Policies and Institutions for Development

Academic Year 2026/2027

  • Teaching Mode: In-person learning (entirely or partially)
  • Campus: Ravenna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in International Cooperation on Human Rights and Intercultural Heritage (cod. 6808)

Learning outcomes

The course is divided into two separate - yet connected - parts. During the first lecture block, we discuss alternative interpretations about the role of 'institutions' in the process of human development. Taken together, culture and institutions are the results of endogenous choices. They are influenced by geography, technology, epidemics, conflicts, history, as well as unexpected exogenous events. Objectives of the first part of the course are: to discuss the fundamental causes of international differences in income, to provide understanding on the role of the differences in 'formal' institutions across developed and developing countries, to explain the impact of the interaction between institutions and culture on long-term economic change, to discuss the causes of the preferences for the redistribution of income and its relation to poverty, to provide insight on the inner incentives for innovation as a driver for income growth. By the end of the course, the student: can identify the conditions that prevent 'bad' institutions from changing over time; can critically assess alternative theoretical interpretations on the role of institutions for the process of development.

Syllabus

The syllabus has not been published yet.

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Zagaglia