Posted: September 13th, 2017

ECON 261 001: Economics of Developing Countries

ECON 261 001: Economics of Developing Countries

Course Description

Term Paper (25%)
Students are required to write an essay on a specific question related to the economics of development. This essay must be prepared in teams of 5 students. You must create your own team and email me the name, student numbers of each person in the team and your topic, before February 20th.
Some guidelines.
Topic: For the choice of your topic, you have two options:
1. You can work on any development question: it can be related to a theme of the course but this is not necessary. However, the topic must be approved by the instructor.
General guidelines: you have to explain why this particular topic is important, what has been done in the literature and what is your contribution (to what extent is your essay different from the earlier work on the same topic).
2. You can choose to work on a specific developing country. Be sure that your country is a developing one.
General guidelines: Suppose for example that you were a World Bank economist and your mission is to elaborate an economic policy reform for a given developing country. You first need to evaluate the economic performance of this country over time and economic indicators such as per capita GDP, HDI, poverty rates, GINI coefficient and some statistics related to education, health or foreign debt, will be very useful. You have to contrast the country’s economic situation a few decades earlier with its current economic performance. You must explain any changes (they can be due to the implementation of specific development policies). Then, you will have to explain what features of the economy and what specific areas of government policy would you be more willing to improve.
Examples of topics.
Option 1 (development question): Topic: Child labour in the Least Developed Countries: you can start by presenting data on the importance of child labour in the LDCs and discuss why child labour is more common in LDCs. Make sure you review
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the standard economic literature on the benefits and problems of child labour. Comment the pros and cons of possible solutions to child labour.
Option 2 (specific developing country): Topic: Burkina Faso: start with a brief introduction of your country (location, history etc.)
-Step 1: Present the economic situation a few decades ago, based on economic indicators.
-Step 2: Explain the current economic performance of Burkina Faso and all changes recorded so far.
-Step 3: What kind of policies (health, education, population, etc.) will be necessary to the development process of Burkina Faso?
Length and references: The paper must be between 10-15 double-spaced pages in length. Be sure to properly reference all sources by including a bibliography. You must give sources for any quotes, data, figures or tables taken from other sources.
Example references for a book, an article and an electronic document:
– D. House (1999) Against the Tide. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
– X. Martin and R. Miller (2004) “Determinants of Long Run Growth” American Economic Review v. 94, 813-835.
– J. Smith (2000) The Case Against Something. Retrieved from http://www.some.com/some.html.
Due Date: The due date for the term paper is: April 20th, by 5:00 PM.
An electronic version of the term paper must be sent by email before 5:00 PM.
Midterm Test (35%)
There will be one closed book midterm test during lecture.
Date
Midterm Test 1 Thursday, February 5
Midterm Test 2 Thursday, March 12
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Final Exam (40%)
The actual date of the final exam will be determined and announced later. It is expected to be between April 14 and April 29. The final examination is cumulative.
The midterm tests and final exam will be multiple choice questions and short answer questions. They are designed to enhance your understanding and ability to apply the economic concepts including definitions covered in the course and the required textbook.
There will be no make-up test. Students who miss the midterm test will be assigned a mark of zero unless, within one week of the test date, they submit to the instructor a written request for special consideration explaining the reason for missing test and attaching appropriate documentation (e.g., a medical certificate). For students with satisfactory explanation for having missed a test, the weight of the missed test will be added on the final examination.
Some suggested resources available online
UBC Library: http://www.library.ubc.ca/
World Bank www.worldbank.org
International Monetary Fund www.imf.org
OECD www.oecd.org
EBRD www.ebrd.org
Inter-American Development Bank www.iadb.org
United Nations www.un.org
World Trade Organization www.wto.org
Winter 2014/15; Term 2 : ECON 261 001