Course Syllabus

 

Semester & Location:	Spring 2025 - DIS Copenhagen
Type & Credits:	Elective Course - 3 credits
Major Disciplines:	Economics, International Relations
Prerequisites:	One course each in macro- and microeconomics at university level.
Faculty Member:	Ransom Lekunze Please contact via canvas inbox
Time & Place:	Mondays and Thursdays 16:25-17:45 Classroom: N7-D10

Development Economics ...

... studies one of the key challenges of our time, namely, economic growth and development in low-income countries, and the transformation of these economies into modern, richer, or at least less poor countries. In this course, development and underdevelopment will be looked at through the lens of key economic concepts, policy prescriptions, development assistance architecture, and applied project management tools. 

The course provides the students with the basic knowledge and theories of economic growth and development. It also examines the way key social institutions and economic policies of developing and emerging economies have affected their economic performance. The knowledge acquired is important in evaluating investment projects in emerging and developing countries and provides useful skills for local economic consulting firms and local or international organizations.

Developing countries are not alike – substantial differences exist concerning per-capita income levels, efficiency, and income growth. Some of these countries, primarily in East Asia and Central and Eastern Europe, have grown at rates above those of the industrialized countries. These high-growth emerging countries have typically liberalized their international trade and investments and built good institutions of law and order. Other countries, e.g. in sub-Saharan Africa, have not succeeded in economic growth and many have even for periods experienced a fall in per capita income. For this reason, they have been important beneficiaries of aid from the rich countries – directly or through international organizations such as the World Bank. For international economic consultants working with projects directed to the third world, it is important to understand the main barriers to economic development to be able to find solutions to overcome these barriers. Important questions are:

• What is actually "development"? How can development be measured?
• What are the main theories and factors explaining economic development?
• Why are some countries rich and others poor?
• Why are many of the least developed countries in Africa?​
• What should be done to raise living standards to those of rich countries? And who should do it?
• Does development aid work? Or under which circumstances does aid work?
• Which policies are needed for a successful transition of the poor countries?
• Does one size fit all? Are successful policies transferable from one country to another? 
• What is or should be the role of the private sector in economic development?

The way this course addresses these themes is grounded in real life, practical, and case-based while relying on a solid theoretical framework. Field studies and guest lectures will add additional perspectives.

Learning objectives

• Understand the complexity of economic growth and development and the debates surrounding the ways and means to support it.
• Gain knowledge of various paradigms of economic development, and their application in a geographic and historic perspective.
• Knowledge of the main international institutions that assist developing countries and the ability to use and apply institutional knowledge in an economic context
• Gain insight into Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in developing countries, including topics related to sustainability and the specificities of business operations in emerging markets and developing countries
• Be able to critically address current debates surrounding development assistance, as well as their underlying theoretical and ideological underpinnings
• Understand the debt problem in low-income countries and possible solutions
• Skills enabling students to evaluate and potentially formulate policies to alleviate specific problems in developing and emerging economies, and to understand the effect of policy spill-overs from other countries
• Become better at presenting in front of the class. 

We encourage you to take responsibility for your learning. Your teachers make an offer, but how much you will get out of it, depends on you. 

Faculty 

Your main teacher for this course is Ransom Lekunze. There will also be a few guest lecturers. In the Canvas Calendar, you can see which teachers will be present for each class.

Ransom Lekunze (R) is a Senior Consultant in Development Economics, ESG, and Sustainability at ProMinds Consulting DK. He holds a Master’s and a PhD in Development Economics from Lund University, Sweden. From 2009 to 2022, Ransom served as a Senior Lecturer at University College Copenhagen, where he taught and conducted research in areas such as food security, climate change, inclusive growth, emerging economies, CSR, and ESG. Between 2022 and 2023, he worked as a Global DEI Consultant for DanChurchAid. He was a visiting Professor at the University of Makerere, Uganda, and the University of Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa from 2016 to 2018. Since 2023, he has been an external lecturer at DIS, teaching Development Economics and Urban Economics.

Grading Breakdown

Grades will be based on individual and as well as group work. Please see the table to the right. 

• Engagement/Participation
  Your participation grade will be determined by three factors: attendance, preparedness for class, and active engagement in class including field studies. You are required to attend all classes, be prepared (see Canvas readings), and engage. If you miss a class, you are expected to contact your teacher ahead of class and provide an explanation. An unexcused absence may impact your grade. 
• In the midterm exam, we want to check your knowledge and progress after ca. ten class sessions (including guest lectures). It will be a mix of multiple-choice, short-answer, and essay questions. You will have ca. one week to work on the questions. There will be a deadline, but no time limit.
• In the presentation on important development economists, you will be asked to present the work and ideas of one of these economists. You can choose, whether you do this assignment alone or in groups of two.
• Many low-income countries bear a heavy debt burden. In a graded exercise related to the debt problem, you will be asked to argue - and possibly solve the debt problem - from the point of view of different parts, e.g. the indebted country, the so-called Paris Club of creditors, private creditors, China/India, etc. 
• The final Research Project counts most for your total grade (30%). You will work in groups to analyze a specific topic centered around Sustainability and sustainable business in Developing Countries. You will have to present your work in class. 

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

• Course Enrollment and Grading  
• Academic Expectations and Honor Code 

On the use of electronic devices in class:

The use of electronic devices in class is only allowed for purposes related to this class like taking notes or searching information. 

On the use of AI tools: 

In this course, students are permitted to use AI tools, such as Chat GPT, for their academic tasks. However, be critical and acknowledge academic integrity by citing all usage of these tools in your work. Remember that your papers, presentations, etc. always have to be written by you, not by some AI tool. This follows the DIS Academic Honor Code that clearly states: “Submit your own work and never allow others (including Chat GPT or other AI) to write any part of your papers or exams.“ The information provided by AI tools can provide beneficial input for your tasks, but can never be your output. 

Readings

Please see the Canvas Calendar for readings. For preparing most classes, we will indicate readings, some compulsory, some optional. 

For a first impression of what DevEcon is all about, check out this video https://mru.org/courses/development-economics/basic-facts-growth-and-development.It is part of a great, free online course on DevEcon ( https://mru.org/development-economics). that we will use in this course from time to time. 

If you want, also take a look at the textbook by Todaro, Michael P. & Smith, Stephen C. Economic Development, 11th ed. (Addison-Wesley, 2011), Chapters 1-3.

DIS_DE_Todaro_and_Smith_Chapter_1.pdf

DIS_DE_Todaro_and_Smith_Chapter_2.pdf

DIS_DE_Todaro_and_Smith_Chapter_3.pdf

Among the other books we will work with are 

• Acemoglu, Daron, and James A Robinson. 2012. Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty 
• Taylor, J. Eward, and Lybbert, Travis J., 2020, Essentials of Development Economics, 3rd. edition

It's always a good idea to read e.g. The Economist or the magazine Finance & Development , issued by the IMF. We also recommend this website https://voxdev.org/ , where you find articles, videos, podcasts, and a newsletter. 

 

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