Department of Economics and Social Sciences (ESS)

Summer 2015
ECO 311 Syllabus & Course Outline
Adnan M. S. Fakir
Email: adnanfakir@bracu.ac.bd
Class Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays, 12:30 PM 01:50 PM
Office: UB 40713
ECO 311: Growth & Development
It is an important and popular fact that things are not always what they seem. For instance, on the
planet Earth, man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had
achieved so much, the wheel, New York, wars and so on, while all the dolphins had ever done was
muck about in the water having a good time.
But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man, for
precisely the same reasons. In fact there was only one species on the planet more intelligent than
dolphins, and they spent a lot of their time in behavioral research laboratories running round inside
wheels and conducting frighteningly elegant and subtle experiments on man. The fact that once again
man completely misinterpreted this relationship was entirely according to these creatures plans.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
Course Description
The aim of the course is to provide you with an understanding of the challenges faced by both
developing and developed nations, although the focus will be on the developing worlds. Since we are
dealing with growth and development together in one course, we have to divide the curriculum into
two major segments. Starting with growth theories which were devised with primarily the developed
world in mind, we will move on to notions of factor segregation models and convergence. From the
development part of the curriculum, given time permitted, you can expect us to touch on topics of
poverty, institutions, education, conflict, microfinance, population and migration.
One important to keep in mind: I will only be teaching what is contemporary in practice in the current
world. Simple poverty indicators such as HDI and the like are extremely forward and easy to grasp.
One can simply google this to know about them. Even though I might not touch base with such topics
in class, you will come across them as you read the papers. In such cases, Google is your best friend.
Prerequisite
The course requires that students successfully complete Eco 303 where basic econometric concepts
were covered. Besides this knowledge of optimization techniques will also be useful.
Evaluation
Attendance
Quizzes
Term Paper
Presentations
Midterm
Final Exam
Total:

5%
15%
20%
10%
20%
30%
100%

Department of Economics and Social Sciences (ESS)

Fall 2014
Course Outline
Textbooks
(1) Development Economics by Debraj Ray, Oxford University Press, 2012.
Plagiarism Warning
BRAC University requires students to act in an honest manner. Copying from another student or
copying from published or unpublished or electronic sources without appropriate citations or
quotations is plagiarism. Such dishonest practices will automatically result in students getting zero
marks. Additionally they will be reported to the university authorities for further disciplinary actions.
You should also note that extensive quotation from the same source, even if properly acknowledged,
does not demonstrate your understanding. Such work cannot receive a high grade.

Week
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12

Topic
Banerjee and Duflo (2007) Paper
Harrod-Domar
Solow
Poverty Overview: Poverty analysis
Sens Functionings and Capabilities
Alkire-Foster MPI (AF-MPI) Methodology
Poverty Traps: Carter & Barrett (2006) The economics of poverty traps
and persistent poverty: An asset-based approach
Using STATA for basic poverty analysis, FGT and AF-MPI
Institutions: Banerjee and Iyer (2005) The Legacy of Colonial Land
Tenure Systems in India
Education: Colclough et al. (2010) The Changing Pattern of Wage
Returns to Education
Microfinance: Fakir (2015) A Framework for Balancing MFI
Regulation
Conflict: To be announced
Population Modelling: To be announced
Migration: To be announced

The rest of the syllabus will be updated soon. Check back!