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Course Criteria
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3.00 Credits
This class is about microeconomic and empirical analysis of government expenditure programs in developing and transitional countries. It provides tools for understanding the effects of government policies, as well as a useful conceptual framework for analyzing normative questions such as "what role should government play in the economy" and "what is a good policy?" The course begins by considering the efficiency of market economies, and rationales for government intervention in the market, such as public goods, externalities, information-based market failures, imperfect competition, and equity. We also consider ways that human behavior might deviate from perfect rationality, and what that might imply for policy. Along the way, we apply these concepts to various examples of policy issues, including, among other things, the environment, education, health, infrastructure, security, social insurance, microfinance, and aid to the poor. We then turn to the general question of how to make the government work better, addressing questions such as the following. When is it better to have the government own and produce things, and when is it better to privatize? What are the incentives of politicians and government employees, and how does the design of political and budgetary institutions affect the degree to which they serve the public interest? How should responsibilities be divided up between the central government and local governments, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of "decentralization?" What can be done to improve the delivery of basic services? For example, how might one address problems of corruption and absenteeism? Throughout the course, we consider examples of empirical research, and to facilitate this, we will occasionally introduce econometric tools that are particularly useful for microeconomic policy evaluation.
Prerequisite:
Economics 110; in addition, an empirical methods course (Economics 253, 255, 510 or 511, or Statistics 346) must be taken before or concurrently with this class; undergraduate enrollment limited and requires instructor's permission
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3.00 Credits
This course focuses on the relationship between macroeconomic policies and economic growth in developing countries. After examining the links between macroeconomic stability and long-run growth, the rest of the course is divided into three parts. The first part is devoted to the construction of an analytical model that is suitable for analyzing a wide variety of macroeconomic issues in developing countries. This model provides the general framework for a more specific analysis of fiscal and monetary policies in the two remaining parts. In analyzing fiscal policy, the course will consider in particular the requirements of fiscal solvency and the contribution that fiscal policy can make to macroeconomic stability. It will also examine alternative methods for achieving fiscal credibility, including the design of fiscal institutions. The final part of the course will turn to an analysis of central banking, focusing on central bank independence, time consistency of monetary policy, and the design of monetary policy rules in small open economies.
Prerequisite:
Economics 251 and 252; undergraduate enrollment limited and requires instructor's permission
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3.00 Credits
This class covers the basic principles of macroeconomics, with an emphasis on the issues facing for developing, transition, and emerging market economies. The course begins with an introduction to core macro concepts and definitions. It then looks at the sectors and institutions that play major roles in the economy: households, businesses, the external sector, the fiscal authority, and the central bank. It goes on to develop a simple analytical framework for thinking about economic performance and policies. The course concludes with a discussion of some of the macroeconomic problems encountered in developing economies, and some of the policies that can be used to deal with them. The class is offered as an alternative to Econ 505 for those not intending to specialize in macroeconomics. Consequently, it does not qualify as a prerequisite for Econ 515.
Prerequisite:
Enrollment limited to CDE students
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3.00 Credits
Macroeconomics and related fields in international finance and development have evolved specialized empirical techniques, known generally as macroeconometrics, which are designed to meet the practical challenges that the data and the empirical questions pose in these fields. The course will introduce the theory and application of these techniques, and students will learn how to implement these techniques using real world data to address practical questions drawn from the fields of macro, international finance and development. Topics to which these techniques will be applied include business cycle analysis and forecasting, sources of exchange rate volatility and determinants of long run economic growth. Computer work and programming will be an important and integral part of the course, but no previous training is expected. Economics majors who are considering writing an honors thesis on related topics are encouraged to enroll in this course during the spring semester of their junior year. Students studying abroad during their junior year may nonetheless take this course during their senior year.
Prerequisite:
Economics 252, Economics 255 or equivalent, and Economics 393 (Economics 360 may substitute for Economics 393); not open to students who have taken Economics 471
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3.00 Credits
Taxes are half of what government does. So if you are interested in what government policy can do to promote efficiency, equity, and economic development, you should be interested in tax policy. Governments must raise tax revenue to finance critical public goods, address other market failures and distributional issues, and to avoid problems with debt and inflation. Taxes typically take up anywhere from ten to fifty percent of a country's income, they profoundly affect the incentives to undertake all varieties of economic activity, and the government expenditures that they finance have potentially large consequences for human welfare. So the stakes involved in improving tax policy are quite large. All of these issues are of great importance in developing and transitional countries (also known as "emerging markets"), but in these nations taxation is especially challenging because of serious problems with tax evasion and administration, among other things. This class provides an in-depth exploration of tax policy, with an emphasis on the challenges and issues most relevant in emerging markets. Topics addressed in this class include: how basic economic principles can be applied to help one think about the efficiency and equity consequences of tax policies; how personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, and value-added taxes are designed and administered and how they influence the economy; ideas for fundamental reforms of these taxes; theory and evidence in the debate over progressive taxes versus "flat" taxes; how various elements of tax design affect incentives to save and invest; how market failures may influence the optimality of different tax policies; the implications of global capital flows and corporate tax avoidance for the design of tax policy; tax holidays and other special tax incentives for investment; empirical evidence on the influence of taxes on economic growth, foreign direct investment, labor supply, and tax evasion; case studies of efforts to reform tax administration and reduce tax evasion and corruption; taxes on land and property; presumptive taxation; the "unofficial" economy and its implications for tax policy; tax policy towards natural resources such as minerals and oil; taxes on imports and exports; non-tax methods of raising revenue; and political economy considerations in tax policy.
Prerequisite:
One public economics course or microeconomics course (ECON 503 or ECON 110), and one empirical methods course (ECON 253, 255, 510, or 511); students who have previously taken ECON 351 will not be enrolled
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3.00 Credits
This lecture course is a continuation of Economics 505. The first part of the course extends the analysis of the first semester to several open-economy issues that arise in developing countries, especially with respect to the interactions among exchange rate regimes, monetary policy regimes, and policies directed at the financial account of the balance of payments. The second part of the course will apply these analytical tools, as well as those developed in Economics 505, to an examination of the various types of crises that have afflicted developing countries over the past three decades, considering in particular the implications of such crises for growth and development.
Prerequisite:
Economics 505; undergraduate enrollment limited and requires instructor's permission
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3.00 Credits
This course will examine the causes and consequences of international trade and its implications for less developed countries. We will examine a few models of international trade and the empirical relevance of these theories. In addition, international economic issues of particular importance to developing countries will be covered, such as brain drain, remittances, foreign direct investment, trade policies, infant industry protection, trade and growth, the World Trade Organization, and the resource course.
Prerequisite:
Economics 251, and familiarity with econometrics
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3.00 Credits
Economics has a rich body of advice for policymakers struggling to manage and preserve environmental assets in developed and developing countries. In this course, we will study environmental policy and natural resource management from a microeconomic (and, to a lesser extent, macroeconomic) perspective. Throughout the course, we will emphasize issues of efficiency and equity, and we will be reminded again and again that the challenges are both technical and ethical. We will learn to identify cases in which markets may work well and cases of market failures. We will also look at actual policies worldwide to learn about policy implementation and pitfalls. The course is undergirded by concepts like sustainability, welfare within and across generations, market failure, and valuation of environmental assets. We will study pollution, generally seeking an efficient level of pollution, since reducing pollution always comes at a cost. We will study both localized air and water pollution and larger global problems, with special attention to climate change. There are many policies (including taxes and "cap and trade") that may be useful in cost-effectively fighting pollution, and we'll study them. We will study the exploitation and management of both nonrenewable and renewable resources, including global energy issues. We will also examine the relationship between development and the environment, touching on controversial topics such as the "natural resources curse" and the relationship between economic growth and the demand for environmental quality.
Prerequisite:
Economics 251, familiarity with statistics
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3.00 Credits
Unequal access to finance (loans, savings, insurance) contributes to the persistence of poverty in developing countries. We review evidence that the entrepreneurial poor lack access to loans, and discuss how repayments can be enforced even when borrowers do not have collateral. We discuss how recent innovations in micro-insurance can reduce vulnerability. We will study the role of governments and donors in equalizing financial access through subsidies or targeting. Finally, we shall explore how microfinance can empower women within the household. Readings include current empirical and theoretical research in development economics. This course is an EDI course because it critically analyzes how microfinance interventions can reduce inequality both within and across households.
Prerequisite:
ECON 251 and ECON 255
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3.00 Credits
Why isn't the whole world developed? This course (and instructor) is of the opinion that the difficulty of getting incentives right is the key source of inefficiency. The course therefore studies how limited enforcement and asymmetric information constrain development, and about innovative development designs that attempt to overcome these constraints. The course readings will be a mix of field studies, empirical evidence and theoretical tools from game theory. Incentive and corruption problems in health, education, the regulation of banks and natural monopolies, privatization, budgeting, debt forgiveness, foreign aid, microfinance, climate treaties and ethnic violence will be studied using a unified framework.
Prerequisite:
Undergraduate enrollment limited and requires instructor's permission
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