NIFB14033U CHANGED: Development Economics

Volume 2018/2019
Education

BSc Programme in Agricultural Economics

Content

This course examines the challenges posed by poverty affecting billions of people in low-income countries across the world, taking an economic approach to conceptualizing those challenges, their causes and solutions. The course will provide the students with theoretical frameworks enabling them to understand, measure, analyse and discuss themes within the development economics literature focusing on poverty and its alleviation. Key questions discussed during the course include: What is life like when living with under a dollar a day? Are famines unavoidable? Is child labour necessary? Is education and health key to lifting people out of poverty? Why are the poor forest-dependent and the forest-dependent poor? Does growth help the poorest of the poor? And does  aid matter for development?

The course includes the seven thematic topics:

  • Poverty and inequality
  • Economic growth and development
  • Health and Education
  • Agricultural transformation  
  • Poverty and the environment
  • Aid
  • Democracy, governance and conflicts
Learning Outcome

Towards the end of the course, students should be able to:

 

Knowledge:

  • Define  development economic concepts and models
  • Describe common economic characteristics and problems of life in low income countries

 

Skills:

  • Apply development economic concepts to explain the causes and the interconnection of problems faced by households and institutions in low income countries
  • Analyse quantitative data using excel to answer development economic questions
  • Interpret the implication of development economic measures and models for development policy-related questions

 

Competences:

  • Discuss and cooperate with fellow students to solve problems
  • Critically reflect on  and discuss causes and consequences of economic problems faced by households and institutions in developing countries
Literature

The course takes departure in various textbook material provided through Absalon. The curriculum will be described on Absalon prior to course start. Additional material including scientific articles, book chapters and reports will be supplied throughout the course.

No prior academic qualifications are needed, yet a bit of knowledge of basic economic theory is an advantage, as well as some experience using MS Excel for basic data analysis.
CHANGED FOR THE STUDY YEAR 2018/19
Blended learning combining online quizzes, group and individual assignments, lectures and classroom exercises. Each week, students will be asked to: (1) read the mandatory literature; (2) take an online quiz (multiple choice or similar) covering the topic of the week’s reading; (3) meet up in class to attend lectures, discuss the weeks theme and reading material, and (4) participate in classroom exercises to solve assignment problems (based on quantitative and qualitative data). In addition, the course involves a number of written group or individual assignments upon which the group/student will receive feedback.
An interest in global affairs, life in low-income countries and the alleviation of poverty is a plus.
  • Category
  • Hours
  • E-Learning
  • 24
  • Exam
  • 4
  • Lectures
  • 24
  • Practical exercises
  • 21
  • Preparation
  • 133
  • Total
  • 206
Credit
7,5 ECTS
Type of assessment
Written examination, 4 hours under invigilation
Written examination. 4 hours under invigilation.
The course has been selected for ITX exam on Peter Bangs Vej.
Exam registration requirements

CHANGED FOR THE STUDY YEAR 2018/19

Two written group assignments submitted and approved. 

Aid
All aids allowed

CHANGED FOR THE STUDY YEAR 2018/19

All aids allowed for the written examination including books and written notes.

When the exam is taking place at ITX, computers will be made available by the University. Students are therefore not permitted to bring their own computers, tablets or mobile phones. If textbooks and/or notes are permitted, according to the course description, these must be in paper format or on a USB flash drive.

Marking scale
7-point grading scale
Censorship form
No external censorship
One internal examiner
Re-exam

CHANGED FOR THE STUDY YEAR 2018/19

Written or oral examination depending on the number of students. The exam will be oral if less than 10 students register for the re-exam. Oral examination of 20 minutes duration with no time for preparation and no aid allowed. Written examination 4 hours under inviligation. All aid allowed for written examination.

If the student has not handed in and gotten two group assignments approved, the student must hand in the assigments indvidually three weeks prior to the reexam and they must be approved before the reexam.

Criteria for exam assesment

Assesment in accordance with the learning outcomes