Growth and Development (ECON 420)

2022 Fall
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Economics(ECON)
3
6
Ivan Lopez Cruz ilopezcr@sabanciuniv.edu,
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English
Undergraduate
ECON202 ECON204
Formal lecture,Interactive lecture,Seminar
Interactive,Communicative,Discussion based learning,Project based learning,Task based learning,Guided discovery
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CONTENT

Basic features of modern economic growth; theories of economic growth: neoclassical growth model, endogenous growth models, convergence of income levels political economy of development and economic growth; growth and inequality; poverty and undernutrition; population growth and development; rural-urban interaction and growth; role of factor markets in economic development; international trade and growth.

OBJECTIVE

The course addresses a wide ray of economic development and growth issues from an empirical perspective. To that end, the students first become acquainted with various causal statistics techniques and their implementation using R. Afterward, the class gravitates around the matters of policy evaluation, comprising the following topics: poverty reduction, environmental change, the economic origins of crime and violence, human capital and development, and modern growth patterns. By the end of the semester, the student will know how to critically and practically asses the workings of public interventions in the above areas.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

  • On completion of the module, students should be able to a) set up and solve some dynamic problems related to economic growth, b) develop intuitive economic reasoning to the growth issues that nations face, c) understand and illustrate the implications of certain government policies on economic growth.

PROGRAMME OUTCOMES


1. Understand the world, their country, their society, as well as themselves and have awareness of ethical problems, social rights, values and responsibility to the self and to others. 4

2. Understand different disciplines from natural and social sciences to mathematics and art, and develop interdisciplinary approaches in thinking and practice. 5

3. Think critically, follow innovations and developments in science and technology, demonstrate personal and organizational entrepreneurship and engage in life-long learning in various subjects; have the ability to continue to educate him/herself. 5

4. Communicate effectively in Turkish and English by oral, written, graphical and technological means. 5

5. Take individual and team responsibility, function effectively and respectively as an individual and a member or a leader of a team; and have the skills to work effectively in multi-disciplinary teams. 3


1. Develop knowledge of theories, concepts, and research methods in humanities and social sciences. 5

2. Assess how global, national and regional developments affect society. 5

3. Know how to access and evaluate data from various sources of information. 5


1. Provide constructive analysis of economic phenomena at the national and international level, and interactions between the two. 5

2. Develop an understanding of organizations and institutions in the society as well as their influence on the economy. 5

3. Recognize how incentives shape the behavior of individuals and organizations. 5

4. Identify "economic" problems and propose alternative models and/or design and conduct research to provide viable solutions using theoretical tools and/or quantitative methods. 4

5. Communicate problems and solutions to managerial and policy decision-making units as well as to lay audiences. 3

ASSESSMENT METHODS and CRITERIA

  Percentage (%)
Assignment 70
Participation 10
Presentation 20

RECOMENDED or REQUIRED READINGS

Readings

1) Banerjee, A. V., & Duflo, E. (2019). Good economics for hard times. Allen Lane.
2) Acemoglu, Daron, and James A Robinson. 2012. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty (1st).
3) Robinson, James A, and Daron Acemoglu. 2006. Economic Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
4) CORE team,. (2019). Economy, society, and public policy.

The students should, as soon as possible (preferably during the first two weeks), become familiarized with R by reviewing the following sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V8eKsto3Ug : thorough introduction to R. Watch everything up to "Entering Data"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWjqLW-u3hc : Introduction to the package "DPLYR" for a data manipulation.
https://mgimond.github.io/ES218/Week03a.html : I strongly encourage you to review Manuel Gimond's material on DPLYR.