Seminar: Political Economy of Development (WiSe 2025/26)

Veranstaltungszeitplan

Hinweis

Max number of participants is 20. The seminar language is English.

If you want to register for this seminar, please send an email to Dodlova, Marina ( Marina.Dodlova@wiwi.uni-muenster.de )

Beschreibung

Seminar: Political Economy of Development

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course presents fundamental elements of the political economy of development. The main puzzle of the course is how the political, social and other motives not related to pro-poor motives intervene the formulation and implementation of development policies. The course will consist of both lectures and seminars where the students discuss recent research articles in the field. A special focus will be done on up to date techniques of quantitative empirical research. In the lectures, the theoretical framework of the political economics and case studies with micro- and macroeconomic data from developing countries will be presented. In the seminars, the students will learn how to read and evaluate the research papers and make presentations. The goal of the course is to demonstrate how to think critically about development theory and practice.

The lectures and student presentations cover, amongst others, the following topics:

• Political cycles, electoral incentives and government policies
• Institutions, legacies and development outcomes
• Favoritism and corruption in developing countries
• Lab and field experiments on political institutions, corruption, and policies
• Conflict and development
• The political economy of foreign aid

Basic knowledge in quantitative analysis as well as micro- and macroeconomics is desired. While a strong mathematical or statistical background is not necessary to follow the course, students will be expected to engage with several papers using regression analysis and other econometric techniques. Prior knowledge in development economics and/or political economy is an advantage but not necessary.

TEXTBOOK AND READINGS

• Lecture notes
• Materials from the course (i.e. academic papers, published in international journals)
• Other additional readings:
  • Political Economics:
    • Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson (2012), Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty? Cambridge University Press.
    • Tim Besley (2006), Principled Agents? Oxford University Press.
  • Development
    • Debraj Ray (1998), Development Economics. Princeton University Press: Princeton.
    • Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo (2011) Poor Economics. Public Affairs. https://www.pooreconomics.com/
    • Dani Rodrik and Mark Rosenzweig (2010) Handbook of Development Economics. Volume 5. The Netherlands: North Holland. Free online.
    • *Pranab Bardhan and Christopher Udry (2000) Development Microeconomics, Oxford University Press.

GRADING

Students are expected to choose one of research articles from the list, write a three-to-five page referee report or research proposal based on the paper chosen, and present both the summary of the research paper and major points of the referee report/research proposal in class.

Essay (Referee report/Research Proposal) (50%) + Presentation (30%) + Participation in discussions (20%)

TIMING

Introductory session: Oct 30

2-day Seminar: Jan 22-23

You should rank three first-choice papers for your essay-assignment. The deadline for sending your preferences is November 6. I will do my best to take into account your choice but cannot promise that you get one of these papers.

Dozenten

• Professor Dr. Thomas Apolte (begleitend)
• Dr. Marina Dodlova (verantwortlich)