Many developing countries suffer from endemic poverty, slow economic growth, unequal distribution of income and wealth, low levels of agricultural and industrial investment, and ineffective government services. Compounding, and partly giving rise to, these problems are shocks emanating from the world economy.
In this setting, the economics of development major provides students with, on the one hand, the theoretical knowledge, policy awareness, and necessary analytical techniques to tackle many of the key issues relating to economic development, and, on the other hand, a practical awareness of many recent and past successful development experiences. At the microeconomic level, students will come to appreciate the role of incentives and institutions in driving sustainable economic growth, reducing inequality and poverty, and enhancing human development. They will be able to assess and analyse the relevant economic and non-economic relations underlying the interactions and responses of individuals, households and firms to processes of change. At the macroeconomic level, students will be made familiar with modern open-economy macroeconomic theory as applied to the study of both long- and short-term macroeconomic phenomena in developing economies. There will be an in-depth review of various macroeconomic models, particularly growth models, which are considered important for this study. Students will also be provided with the requisite building blocks to enable them to understand the ongoing economic and financial crises affecting the world economy, and the actual and potential policy responses of countries to these crises.
Upon completion of the specialization, students will be knowledgeable of contemporary academic and policy making debates in development, including the different economic development perspectives underlying these debates. As a consequence they will be well prepared to participate in decision-making on balanced, sustainable and equitable economic development.
Target group
The Major is designed to train individuals wishing to pursue a career in the academic world, government administration, development banking, international development agencies and NGOs.
Specializations
To deepen their knowledge in specific areas, students will be able to choose between two specializations (i) Econometric Analysis of Development Policies and (ii) The Global Economy.
Econometric Analysis of Development Policies will equip students with the necessary methods to conceive, organize and conduct empirical research using modern econometric techniques. The specialization will focus on analysis of panel data and methods of impact evaluation. Empirical applications will be drawn from a variety of areas including the effect of trade, remittances, aid and foreign investment on growth, and evaluations of policies in the area of education and labour markets, health and nutrition, prevention of corruption and rent-seeking.
The Global Economy will provide students with an understanding of the nature and functioning of the world economy and process of economic globalization which will aid them in making sense of the competing arguments in respect of the alleged benefits and adverse consequences of this integration process for developing countries. Particular attention will be paid to the international division of labour and globalised system of production, international migration, aid, the global trading system, and the global financial system.
The application deadline is 1 July 2012 for self-funded students and 1 January 2012 for those interested in fellowships. Fellowships are restricted to applicants from 61 developing countries. For more information and to apply, visit www.iss.nl