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Special Topics in Economics: The Challenge of World Poverty >> Content Detail

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Readings

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Required Text

Banerjee, Abhijit V., Roland Benabou, and Dilip Mookherjee, eds. Understanding Poverty. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780195305203.

Readings by Session

SES #	TOPICS	READINGS
1	The Measure of World Poverty	Deaton, Angus. "Measuring Poverty." Chapter 1 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 3-15. ———. "Is World Poverty Falling?" Finance and Development 39, no. 2 (June 2002).
2	The Record of Growth	Easterly, William. "Solow's Surprise: Investment Is Not the Key to Growth." Chapter 3 in The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002, pp. 47-69. ISBN: 9780262550420. Pritchett, Lant. "Divergence, Big Time." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 11, no. 3 (Summer 1997): 3-17. Piketty, Thomas. "The Kuznets Curve: Yesterday and Tomorrow." Chapter 4 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 63-72.
3	The Historical Context of Growth: Colonialism, Globalization and All That	Acemoglu, Daron, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson. "Understanding Prosperity and Poverty: Geography, Institutions, and the Reversal of Fortune." Chapter 2 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 19-36. Engerman, Stanley L., and Kenneth L. Sokoloff. "Colonialism, Inequality, and Long-Run Paths of Development." Chapter 3 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 37-62. Aghion, Philippe, and Beatriz Armendáriz de Aghion. "New Growth Approach to Poverty Alleviation." Chapter 5 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 73-84. Banerjee, Abhijit Vinayak. "Globalization and All That." Chapter 6 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 85-98.
4	Can Foreign Aid Help?	Easterly, William. "The Legend of the Big Push." Chapter 2 in The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2006, pp. 37-59. ISBN: 9781594200373. ———. "The Rich Have Markets, The Poor Have Bureaucrats." Chapter 5 in The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. New York, NY: Penguin Press, 2006, pp. 165-209. ISBN: 9781594200373. Banerjee, Abhijit, Ian Goldin, F. Halsey Rogers, Nicholas Stern, Mick Moore, Ian Vásquez, Angus Deaton, Alice H. Amsden, Robert H. Bates, Carlos Barbery, Howard White, Jagdish Bhagwati, Raymond C. Offenheiser, Didier Jacobs, and Ruth Levine. "Making Aid Work: How to Fight Global Poverty—Effectively." Boston Review: A Political and Literary Forum, New Democracy Forum (July-August 2006).
5	The Economic Lives of the Poor	Banerjee, Abhijit, and Esther Duflo. "The Economic Lives of the Poor." The Journal of Economic Perspectives 21, no. 1 (Winter, 2007): 141-167. Hartmann, Betsy, and James Boyce. "The Trials of a Poor Peasant Family." Chapter 12 in A Quiet Violence: View from a Bangladesh Village. London, UK: Zed Press, 1983, pp. 160-168. ISBN: 9780862321727.
6	Improving Education	Udry, Christopher. "Child Labor." Chapter 16 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 243-258. Basu, Kaushik. "Policy Dilemmas for Controlling Child Labor." Chapter 17 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 259-268. Case, Anne. "The Primacy of Education." Chapter 18 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 269-284. Easterly, William. "Educated for What?" Chapter 4 in The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists' Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2002, pp. 71-85. ISBN: 9780262550420. Banerjee, Abhijit, Shawn Cole, Esther Duflo, and Leigh Linden. "Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India." National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 11904, December 2005, pp. 1-34.
7	Health and Fertility	Cutler, David, Angus Deaton, and Adriana Lleras-Muney. "The Determinants of Mortality." National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 11963, January 2006, pp. 1-50. Schultz, T. Paul. "Fertility and Income." Chapter 9 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 125-142. Eswaran, Mukesh. "Fertility in Developing Countries." Chapter 10 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 143-160.
8	Delivering Healthcare	Film: The Name of the Disease (2006). Edited by Sumit Ghosh. Directed by Abhijit Banerjee. Kremer, Michael. "Public Policies to Stimulate Development of Vaccines for Neglected Diseases." Chapter 21 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 319-336.
9	The Poor and Financial Services 1	Armendariz de Aghion, Beatriz, and Jonathan Morduch. "Why Intervene in Credit Markets?" Chapter 2 in The Economics of Microfinance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 25-56. ISBN: 9780262012164. Armendariz de Aghion, Beatriz, and Jonathan Morduch. "Roots of Microfinance: ROSCAs and Credit Cooperatives." Chapter 3 in The Economics of Microfinance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pp. 57-83. ISBN: 9780262012164.
10	The Poor and Financial Services 2	Morduch, Jonathan. "Microinsurance: The Next Revolutions?" Chapter 22 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 337-356. Mullainathan, Sendhil. "Better Choices to Reduce Poverty." Chapter 25 in Understanding Poverty. pp. 379-388. Rutherford, Stuart. "The Need to Save." Chapter 1 in The Poor and Their Money. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 1-12. ISBN: 9780195652550. ———. "Three Ways to Save." Chapter 2 in The Poor and Their Money. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 13-30. ISBN: 9780195652550. ———. "Promoters and Providers: New Ways to Manage Money." Chapter 5 in The Poor and Their Money. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 77-103. ISBN: 9780195652550.
11	Negotiating with Corruption	Bertrand, Marianne, Simeon Djankov, Rema Hanna, and Sendhil Mullainathan. "Does Corruption Produce Unsafe Drivers?" National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper No. 12274, June 2006, pp. 1-43. Banerjee, Abhijit. "Can Anything Be Done About Corruption?" Chapter 4 in Current Issues in Economic Development: An Asian Perspective. Proceedings of the Third Asian Development Bank Anunual Conference. Edited by M. Quibria and J.-M. Dowling. Hong Kong, China: Oxford University Press for the Asian Development Bank, 1996, pp. 107-131. ISBN: 9780195877595.

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