Economic Development

Last taught in summer 2023

Course description

Economic Development
Official course title: Economic Development (Course ID: 2952311)
Tentative Syllabus | Summer 2023 | Page last updated on: 4 June 2023
EBA Program | Faculty of Economics | Chulalongkorn University | Bangkok, Thailand

Instructors: Prof. Shikha Silwal, Ph.D. [Ajarn Shikha] & Prof. Jurgen Brauer, Ph.D.  [Ajarn Jurgen]


Level: Intended for 2nd and 3rd year students.

Description: The official catalog description is this: "Principles, concepts, and theories of economic development; basic characteristics, structures, and problems of developing countries; economic and other factors influencing development; agricultural and rural development; industrial development; technological change; population; education and health; savings; investment; international trade, investment, and debt; problems and alternatives of development." This description covers "a little bit of everything". Instead of focusing on principles of economics, however, the emphasis is placed on real-life economic issues and complexities. Throughout the course, it will be good to remember that all countries, even economically admired countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, and Singapore once were developing countries. How did they progress to where they are now, and why are there still so many places in the world that are struggling economically?

 Prerequisite: 2952101 Principles of Economics

Course details

All times and deadlines listed in this syllabus are in Bangkok time. 

First things first: Welcome to class. We hope that you will have an enjoyable and formative learning experience in this class on economic development.

Class level: Intended for 2nd and 3rd year students.
Class type: The professors will provide recorded lectures and posted assignments. Lectures must be viewed, and assignments completed, prior to class. Class time consists of small-group-based micro-teaching sessions during which student teams report and discuss with each other and with the instructors their work progress on assigned country studies. Your instructors will serve as your mentors & advisers.
Class day/time: See the course schedule section on this web page..
Class room: [To be announced]
Class size: Limited to a maximum of 30 students (10 study groups of 3 students each).
Office room/hours: Email us at silwals@wlu.edu or jbrauer@duck.com to set up an appointment.
Professors: Shikha Silwal, Ph.D. [Nepal/U.S.] & Jurgen Brauer, Ph.D. [Germany/U.S.].
Course website: https://www.jbrauer.info and links found there.
Grading and grades: The Chulalongkorn grading schedule applies. It is as follows: 90+% = A (Excellent; 4.0 points); 85-89% = B+ (Very Good; 3.5 points); 80-84% = B (Good; 3.0 points); 75-79% = C+ (Fairly Good; 2.5 points); 70-74% = C (Fair; 2.0 points); 65-69% = D+ (Poor; 1.5 points); 60-64% = D (Very poor; 1.0 point); <60% = F (Fail; zero points). In our experience, the average Chulalongkorn economics student can be expected to earn a grade of Good (that is, a "B" or 3.0 points). It is usually that extra bit of devotion and dedication that makes students advance to and earn the Very Good or Excellent levels of which the majority of students are quite capable. That said, we have not hesitated in the past to record earned scores of less and far less than that.
Academic honesty, class attendance, and expected classroom behavior: Please refer to the relevant university policies. Academic dishonesty is not tolerated and results in expulsion from class, a failing grade for the entire course, and reporting to the university authorities. Sadly, this has happened in the past. Academic dishonesty is embarrassing, painful, and costly to both students and faculty. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, ghostwriting, plagiarism, or other forms of dishonesty on any assigned work. Enrolling in this course means that you promise and agree not to engage in any form of academic misconduct whatsoever. You also promise and agree to report other students to your teacher and to the EBA Program Director if you know or suspect that a classmate is violating the honesty rule. Classroom behavior that permits unimpeded exchange of academically relevant ideas and views is expected. Unless required for class, turn off cell phones or other electronic devices and put them out of sight.
Textbook: No textbook. Recorded lectures and other posted materials will serve the purpose.
Assignments: There are three components:
1. Absolutely punctual presence & thoughtful, constructive participation at small-group micro-teaching sessions (30%).
2. Peer evaluation of your contribution to the group assignment (20%).
3. Term paper: Groups of 3 students will collaborate on producing a written Country Briefing Paper (50%) which will serve as the final product or output of your work in and for this course. Details are given in the Country briefing paper section below.

Course schedule

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
Linked files are password protected. The passwords will be announced in class.
Link formats. Slides: pptx; lectures: mp4; assignment guides: pdf.

Tue 6 June (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 210]

Thu 8 June (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 210]

Fri 9 June  (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 409]

Tue 13 June  (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Thu 15 June (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Tue 20 June (1pm -4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Thu 22 June (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Tue 27 June

Thu 29 June (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Fri 30 June  (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Tue 4 July  (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Thu 6 July  (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Tue 11 July (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Thu 13 July (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Tue 18 July (1pm - 4pm) [Room: Econ 412]

Thu 20 July

Whom to select for your study team

The ideal student study team ...

Students' natural tendency is to form study teams with their "best buddies," their friends, their class mates studying in the same year at university.

This can be good and helpful but can also be to your disadvantage.

The reason why choosing your close friends as members of your study team may not be a good idea is that your friends are probably much like yourself in their interests, attitudes, and skills. This can suggest that - as a group - you may have less diversity to bring to the study task, especially if it is a complex task where, to be successful, different skills might be needed.

For the Country Briefing Paper, completion of which will determine by far the biggest percentage of your course grade, may I suggest that you think about 3 team members with the following joint skill set:

Of course, some students are good in all three of these aspects but as economics students you will be familiar with the concept of comparative advantage. Ideally, your team will consist of three students each of whom has a comparative advantage corresponding to the three skills outlined above. Diverse student teams usually accomplish more and perform better than narrow student teams.

Country briefing paper

Imagine …

Suppose that you are working for the International Monetary Fund or for the World Bank Group or for the Asian Development Bank or for the African Development Bank or for the Interamerican Development Bank or for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development or for the Bank for international Settlement or for UNESCO or for the World Health Organization and so on. That is, suppose that you work for an institution that is supra-national in character, composed of sovereign member states. Or suppose that you are working for one of the numerous international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) or perhaps even for EUROPOL or INTERPOL or for an international wealth management fund in the private sector or for one of the many international journalistic enterprises such as The Economist and its sister organization, The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Or suppose that you are working for one of the sundry nation-state or private sector security and/or intelligence services such as America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or for a global business consulting firm such as KPMG or the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In a word, suppose that you are to be a country economist.


… your task

And suppose that your task is to produce a tightly-written and argued 14-16 pages long briefing paper on a specific country (or other territorially identified entity), and that in that paper you are to succinctly cover (1) the country's present economic development situation, (2) its historical and more immediate antecedents (including, as necessary, nods to polity and culture), and (3) the important pressure points that need to be deal with urgently. Having done all that, (4) venture a reasoned opinion regarding the country's near-to medium term (1 to 5 years) economic prospects under the current conditions and (5) indicate what must be done now, within the next year or two, to ensure that this country moves onto a long-term (10+ years) sustainable developmental growth path of relative peace and prosperity for all of its current and future inhabitants.


Some details

√ You must address each and every topic the lecture material covers. For example, if a lecture addresses demographics, so must your briefing paper. Depending on the country (or territory) studied, there may be much or little to say, but we must see that you have well-considered each of the topics, and perhaps additional ones, if relevant, that the lectures may not have addressed.

√ With only 14-16 pages of writing space at your disposal, you must cleverly compress your assessment of all the many factors that play into economic development and distill the most critical, pressing issues of the day that the readers of your briefing paper should come to learn about. Remember the "assessment--diagnosis--treatment" analogy discussed in class.

√ Do not conclude your briefing paper with a wish list of “the country should do [this, that, and the following]”. The country and your readers already know what “should” be done. Instead, identify the main obstacles, the barriers, the bottlenecks, the pinch points, the constraints that must be addressed, resolved, and overcome for the country to make progress toward generalized peace and prosperity for all its current and future inhabitants. Prioritize not just what needs to be done but what can feasibly be done as a practical matter. Focus on what seems possible and achievable.

√ You will need to select a country other than your country of origin or the country in which you currently live or have lived in in the past.


The mechanics 1

√ 14-16 double-spaced pages of thoughtful, well-written, and well-edited substantive text, exclusive of cover page, reference pages, and Appendix

√ Times New Roman, 12-point font

√ Text in black, headings in black bold, subheadings in black italics

√ No more than 2 tables and 2 charts, placed in an Appendix following the reference section. Tables and charts should illustrate a point made in the text. They are not a substitute for thought. Do not let the reader interpret tables/charts. You must do the work for the reader in your main text (the reader wants to know what you think.)

√ 1-inch margins all around, portrait orientation

√ U.S. standard paper size (8.5 x 11 inches)

√ Final version to be emailed in PDF format


The mechanics 2 (term paper cover page)

Chulalongkorn University | Faculty of Economics

EBA Program | Summer 2023 | Course code: 2952311

Course name: Economic Development

Instructors: Shikha Silwal & Jurgen Brauer



Country Briefing Paper

[Name of country/territory]




Authors

1. [First name] [last name] [nick name] [Chula student ID number]

2. [First name] [last name] [nick name] [Chula student ID number]

3. [First name] [last name] [nick name] [Chula student ID number]

Date of submission: 24 July 2023


The mechanics 3 (term paper structure)


[Running header: Name of country/territory]           [p. 1]


Briefing paper: Name of country or territory

[A two paragraph overview of what your paper covers. This is where you may place the current economic situation and antecedents that have led to the present day. Suggest to the reader what's coming in the main portion of the paper and be sure to hint at your two or three major conclusions, or solution approaches, that can and should be implemented in the very near term.]

Heading 1

[text]

Subheading 1

[text]

Subheading 2

[text]

[etc.]

Heading 2

[text]

[etc.]

Conclusion

[Limit the conclusion to a well-thought-out page or page-and-a-half. Note that a conclusion concludes; it does not summarize; just having read the paper, the reader does not need a rehearsal. Instead, the reader wants to know what is your take-away from your study. Note that judgement calls are involved. One can have a brief hint (a "mini" conclusion) at the end of each heading and then write the big conclusion at the paper's end or one can elaborate within the headings and collect the main insights at the paper's overall conclusion. The judgement call depends on the material you have collected as well as on your sense of what's best way for the reader to absorb the flow of the material.]

References [these do not count toward your 14—16 pages but must be listed]

[…]

Appendix

If you use tables and charts (figures), headline them as Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, Figure 2.


The mechanics 4 (a structural tip to organizing your writing)

Suppose your briefing paper is 15 double-spaced pages long, that the introduction is 1/2 page long and that the conclusion is 1-1/2 pages long. You are left with 13 pages to fill with substance. Now summarize all the things you have learned about your country into 3 or 4 major points (the binding development constraints) to be conveyed to your readers. Say you decide that there are four major themes. This then leaves you with an average of 13 / 4 = 3.5 pages per major theme. You can see that succinct, compelling writing is an important aspect of research.

List of study countries to choose from

Choose one of the following countries to study. The restriction, however, is that with 10 study teams, only two countries per country group will be permitted. Focus on the post-World War II period. Depending on the country, data records may begin with the 1960s for at least some development indicators. Certainly attempt to cover the last 30 to 40 years in some detail, data-wise.