This graduate seminar seeks to explore the mechanisms by which investment, institutions, and governance interact to shape development in a globalizing world. The seminar has three main objectives:
1) To review competing schools of thought on why some countries become rich while many others remain poor
2) To examine the alternative diagnoses these schools provide for underdevelopment
3) To consider how, if at all, contemporary changes in the structure of global production - and globalization more broadly -- have shifted the developmental challenge.
Participation:
Because this course is a discussion seminar, the degree to which you prepare readings in advance and actively participate in class will be critical in determining the course's success. The assigned readings for each week represent a range of (often conflicting) analytical approaches. Students should be prepared each week to discuss the relative merits of each approach.
Written Assignments:
A short analytical paper (5-7 pages) due at the beginning of the fourth session (Lecture #4). Among the readings for Lecture #4, choose at least two that represent conflicting approaches to the role of the state in economic development. Analyze the disagreement, and present your own ideas. Do not simply summarize the authors' positions (assume the reader of your paper is already familiar with them).
A seminar paper of approximately 25 pages on a topic to be agreed upon in consultation with the instructor. The paper may be an exploration of existing theoretical or empirical debates, or the paper may focus on your own original research. The paper will be due at the last class session, Lecture #14. Students will be expected to present their findings orally during the final two class sessions.