Teaching

Econ 184. Economic Development in Africa

Spring 2009

Syllabus | Slides | Problem sets | Blog | Presentations | Additional material

Syllabus

Syllabus [pdf] .

Course description:
This course will examine major current issues in development economics with special emphasis on how they relate to Sub-Saharan Africa. The course will combine macroeconomic (e.g. growth determinants, structural adjustments) and microeconomic issues (e.g. health, human capital, vulnerability) as well as institutional explanations for the lack of economic growth in the region. The course will pay particular attention to the policy implications from each of the topics covered here.

Textbooks
Required:

• Kevane, Michael (2004) Women and Development in Africa: How Gender Works. Lynne Rienner Publishers. [HQ1240 5 A35 K48 2004].
• Collier, Paul (2007) The Bottom Billion [HC79.P6 C61 2007 and on reserve].
• Moss, Todd (2007) African Development. Manking Sense of Issues and Actors, Lynne Rienner Publishers. [On reserve]

Suggested:

• Easterly, William (2002) The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. The MIT Press. [HC59.72.P6 E17 2001].
• Banerjee, Abhijit; Roland Benabou and Dilip Mookherjee (2006) Understanding Poverty. Oxford University Press. [HC79.P6 U534 2006].
• Fafchamps, Marcel (2004) Market Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa: Theory and Evidence. MIT Press. [HC800 .F33 2004]

Slides

Introduction [pdf]

I. Patterns of economic development in Africa [pdf]

Statistical analysis [pdf] (other examples: [.pdf] and a comic [website])

II. Economic growth: capital accumulation [pdf]

III. Economic growth: geography [pdf] (variables) vs. institutions [pdf].

IV. Agriculture and land tenure [pdf]

V. Poverty and inequality [pdf]

VI. Health and education [pdf]

VII. The aid debate [pdf]

VIII. Economic development and conflict [pdf]

IX. Corruption [pdf]

Problem sets

Problem set 1: [pdf] (Due April 23) files [world.xls] and [ssa.xls].

Problem set 2. [pdf] (Due May 21) file [za.xls].

Presentations and paper

Guidelines for presentations and paper [pdf]

Presentations:

Tuesday, June 2nd: 1,3,4,7,8. Thursday, June 4th: 2,5,6,9,10

1. Dan Wu: Sierra Leone. [pdf]
2. Samantha Wilson: Sudan. [pdf]
3. Brenden Riley: Kenya. [pdf]
4. Victoria Iacobelli: Ivory Coast. [pdf]
5. Raquel Salinas: Nigeria. [pdf]
6. D'Iaxara Batani-Khalfani: Ghana. [pdf]
7. Afshin Khazaeli: Rwanda. [pdf]
8. Edgar Asatryan: Mozambique. [pdf]
9. Jourdan Quevedo: Cameroon. [pdf]
10. Jason Melville: Zimbabwe. [pdf]

Additional material

A. Deaton "Measuring poverty" [pdf]
W. Easterly "How the Millennium Development Goals are Unfair to Africa" [pdf].