1 University of Vermont- Burlington Econ 195: Special Topics in Development Term: Fall 2009 Instructor: Dr. Maharouf Oyolola Phone: 802-656-0640 Time: 5:30PM-6:45PM Room L403 Office: Old Mill room 229 Office Hours: TH 4:00-5:00PM or by appointment Email: [email protected] COURSE DESCRIPTION This course touches a wide-range of current and interesting topics concerning the relationship between developed and developing countries. Topics such as foreign aid, foreign direct investment, migration and welfare are widely discussed. The overall objective of the course is to familiarize students with a number of compelling issues in both developing and developed countries. Prerequisites Ec 11 and Ec 12 Textbook there is no required textbook for this course Organization of the course This course is divided into five different parts. The first part deals with the various measures of development variables and problems with some of them. The second part deals with the foreign aid and its impact on aid-recipient developing countries. The third part of the course deals with FDI, its impact on developing countries and some of the problems its investment measures. The fourth and final part looks at the impact of immigration on various host developed countries. This last part will focus mainly on the United States and two Scandinavian countries, namely Sweden and Denmark.2 Exam and grading policy Your final grade will depend on your performance in the 2 exams- the midterm and final exam- the two group projects, the presentation and the class participation. The weight of each component of the course grade will be as follows: - Midterm exam 1: 20% - Final exam: 30% - Group projects: 30% - Presentation: 15% - Class participation: 5% Group Projects There will be two group projects. Each group is made up of 3 members. I will provide a list of countries from which your group project should be based upon. You may also choose to work on a country that is not one the list; however, it has to be done with my approval. September 15, 2009 is the last day for the submission of the members of the group and the country of the study. Presentations Starting on November 17, 2009, each group will present its work within the last couple of weeks of the semester. Assessment of the quality of the presentation will be done by both the instructor and the students. I will provide ample details on the evaluation later on. ACADEMIC HONESTY Group papers will be rigorously graded and any plagiarized sentence from the source will result in an automatic F and possible dismissal from the University. Students with Disabilities If you have a disability that requires a special accommodation, please inform me of your needs within the first week of the semester. Additionally, you need to provide a letter from the office of disability that specifies your needs and the accommodation needed. Classroom Policies and Expectations - Students are expected to remain polite during classroom discussions. You must treat everyone with respect, even if you disagree with them. - Your cellular phones must always be off in class. If you forget to turn it off and it rings once, I expect you to turn it off after the first ring. Failure to do so, I might3 ask you to leave the classroom. However, if there is an emergency situation that requires you to have an active phone, you must notify me beforehand. In such case, your phone should be set to vibrate. Repeated violations of classroom violations will be reported to the appropriate authorities and will result in disciplinary actions. - Attendance Although not required, I expect you to attend the lectures. I strongly believe there is a strong correlation between student attendance and grade. It can be a key factor in helping me decide the type of student you are when you seek help and when you are at borderline of a grade. - Class Participation I expect an active participation of the students during class discussions. Also, read the articles beforehand. Important Dates - Add/Drop: September 14, 2009 - Midterm exam 1: October 22, 2009 - Project 1 due: October 29, 2009 - Last day to withdraw: November 6, 2009 - Project 2 due: December 1, 2009 - Final Exam: TH 12/10/2009 Time: 07:00 - 10:00 PM Room Lafayette L403 Tentative Weekly Schedule Week 1-3 Discussions on the measures of Development Week 4-6 Discussions on Foreign Aid Week 7-8 Discussions on FDI Week 9- 11 Discussions on welfare Week 12 presentations Week 13 Thanksgivings Recess Week 14 presentations Week 15 Review Session Disclaimer Changes may be made to any aspect of this syllabus. If such a situation occurs, I will make an announcement in class.4 Reading List Foreign Aid - Burnside, Craig and Dollar, David. “Aid, Policies, and Growth.” American Economic Review, September 2000, 90(4), pp. 847–68.* - New Data, New Doubts: Revisiting “Aid, Policies, and Growth” By William Easterly, Ross Levine, David Roodman* - Boone, Peter. “Aid and growth.” Mimeo, London School of Economics, 1994. - Collier, Paul and Dehn, Jan. “Aid, Shocks, and Growth.” World Bank (Washington, DC) Working Paper 2688, October 2001. - Dalgaard, Carl-Johan and Hansen, Henrik. “On Aid, Growth and Good Policies.” Journal of Development Studies, August 2001, 37(6), pp. 17–41.* - Guillaumont, Patrick and Chauvet, Lisa. “Aid and Performance: A Reassessment.” Journal of Development Studies, August 2001, 37(6), pp. 66–92. - Hansen, Henrik and Tarp, Finn. “Aid Effectiveness Disputed.” Journal of International Development, April 2000, 12(3), pp. 375–98. - _______. “Aid and Growth Regressions.” Journal of Development Economics, April 2001, 64(2), pp. 547–70. - Todd Moss, Gunilla Pettersson, Nicolas van de Walle “An Aid-Institutions Paradox? A Review Essay on Aid Dependency and State Building in Sub-Saharan Africa- Working Paper 74, 2006 FDI - Asiedu, Elizabeth, “Policy Reform and Foreign Direct Investment to Africa: Absolute Progress but Relative Decline,” Revised version published in Development Policy Review, 22 (1) (2004), 41-48.* - Asiedu, Elizabeth “On the Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment to Developing Countries: Is Africa Different?” Revised version published in World Development, 30 (1) (2002), 107-119. * - Asiedu, Elizabeth and Hadi S. Esfahani, "Ownership Structure in Foreign Direct Investment Projects," Revised version published in