140573 VO+UE Development Economics (2009S)

Few issues in economics have experienced as much attention in recent years as the role of institutions in development economics. Effective formal and informal institutions, as nowadays recognized in the writings of notable development economists, are fundamentally influencing economic development and performance. While the global economy is facing increasing challenges and difficulties, it is expected that developing countries would devise their development policies being conscious of this new environment. Expected changes are so complex and intense that they would require not only a response to the external environment and existing socio-economic conditions, but also a new approach to development. This course attempts to provide: first, a synopsis of the theories of economic growth and economic development; a review of views on inequality and poverty; and a conceptual approach to international development assistance; all of these with a view to understand the development problems of poor countries and to assess current approaches for the alleviation of these problems; second, an assessment of debt financing and conditionality, covering their scopes and forms and aiming at the evaluation of recent arrangements for the improvement of government policies and administrative practices; and third, an examination of the development role of major international development institutions, including the World Bank and the IMF. The course will focus heavily on the options for reaching development; on the importance of economic growth; and on the assessment of the extent of the conditionality imposed on developing countries by major international donors, within the framework of their Official Development Assistance (ODA). The course will also provide for the consideration of loan agreements and conditionality on operations financed by major international development institutions (World Bank) in Africa and Latin America.