Course Details

ECON 227 - Introduction to Development Economics

In the past decades, the health condition of individuals has improved, the mortality rates of infants have declined, the universal access to fundamental education is foreseeable, and the poverty of citizens across nations have fallen. Twenty years ago, about 40% of the global population lived in extreme poverty with less than $1.25 per day, and that has fallen to about 20% today. How did developing countries get to this? What contributed to the differences in the economy of developed and developing countries?
The growth and development of an economy is an enduring process of many decades. The goal of this course is to understand how we got where we are, how great progress has been made in recent years, and why many development problems remain so difficult to solve. Topics will include economic growth, poverty and inequality, health, education, population, migration, human capital, agriculture, and environment. This course will utilize both theoretical and empirical approaches in analyzing problems associate with economic development.
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