Development and Institutional Economics

IEF 370a Mr. Jefferson

Reading list x2253

Spring 2018

(limited revisions and updates in process)

All of the assigned readings for this course will be available through the course Latte website.

Course requirements will include a mid-term exam (20%), a final exam (30%), and a semester paper with a 15-page maximum (35%). Credit will also be given for homework problem sets and for thoughtful class participation (25%), which will include the in-class team presentation of certain class assignments.

You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. The University policy on academic honesty is distributed annually as section 5 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Instances of alleged dishonesty will be forwarded to the Office of Campus Life for possible referral to the Student Judicial System. Potential sanctions include failure in the course and suspension from the University. If you have any questions about my expectations, please ask.

If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University, and if you wish to request a reasonable accommodation for this class, please see me immediately. Please keep in mind that reasonable accommodations are not provided retroactively.

Sections:

I. Introduction

Spolaore, Enrico and Roman Wacziarg, “How Deep Are the Roots of Economic Development?” Journal of Economic Literature 2013, 51(2), 325–369

http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/jel.51.2.325

Sachs, Jeffrey and Larraine, Felipe (1993), Macroeconomics in the Global Economy,

Chapter 21 (Tradeable and Nontradable Goods), pp. 657-662.

II. Macroperspectives: Growth theory

VanDenBerg, Hendrik (2001), Economic Growth and Development,

Sec. 3.1 and 3.2, pp. 84-94.

Charles I. Jones and Dietrih Vollrath (2013) Introduction to Economic Growth, Ch. 2, The Solow Model, pp. 20-44.

Charles I. Jones and Dietrih Vollrath (2013) Introduction to Economic Growth, Ch. 5, The Engine of Growth, pp. 97-111.

Easterly, William (2001) The Elusive Quest for Growth, Oxford University Press, Ch. 3. “Solow’s Surprise: Investment is Not the Key.”

Jefferson, “Malthus, the Industrial Revolution, and the Technology Multiplier”

Easterly (2001), Ch. 8. “Tales of Increasing Returns, Leaks, and Traps”

Jefferson (2017), “Growth: The Role of Technology in a Fixed Physical World”

III. Growth accounting

Young, Alywn (1995) “Confronting the Statistical Realities of the East Asian Growth Experience,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110(3):641-68.

Hsieh, Chang-Tai (1999). “Productivity Growth and Factor Prices in East Asia,” American Economic Review,” 89,2:133-138.

Jefferson, “Capital and Technology,” Misconceptions and New Directions”

IV. The new institutional economics

North, Douglas C. (June 1994), “Economic Performance Through Time,” American Economic Review, 84,3:359-368.

Coase, Ronald H. (September 1992), “The Institutional Structure of Production,” American Economic Review, 82,4:713-719.

Williamson, Oliver., “New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead,” Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. XXXVIII (September 2000) pp. 595–613.

V. Institutions, growth, and development

Acemoglu, Daron and James Robinson, (2012) Why Nations Fail” The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, “Harvard University Press (selected readings)

S. Djankov, E. Glaeser, R. La Porta, F. Lopez-de-Silanes, and A. Shliefer (Dec. 2003), “The new comparative economics,” Journal of Comparative Economics, 31,4: 595-619.

Glaeser, E, R. La Porta, F. Lopez-de-Silanes and A. Shleifer (June 2004) “Do Institutions Cause Growth?,” Journal of Economic Growth, 2000 and NBER Working Paper no. 10568, June 2004.

Dani Rodrik (August 2004), “Growth Strategies,” at http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/rodrik/

Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo (March 2004), “Growth Theory Through the Lens of Development Economics”

VI. Poverty and inequality

The Economist, “Global Income Inequality: More or Less Equal,” March 11, 2004.

Sal-i-Martin, Xavier (April 2002) “The Disturbing ‘Rise” in Global Income, Inequality,”

NBER working paper, No. 8904.

Piketty, Thomas, “Putting Distribution Back at the Center of Economics: Reflections on Capital in the Twenty-First Century,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Volume 29, Number 1, Winter 2015, Pages 67–88.

Persson, Torsten and Tabellini, Guido (1994), “Is Inequality Harmful for Growth,”

American Economic Review, 84,3:600-621.

VII. The dual economy:

Perkins, Dwight (2001), Economics of Development, , Ch. 3, The Two-Sector Model, pp. 83-99.

Perkins (2001), Harris-Todaro, migration model, pp. 298-300.

VIII. Population

Schultz, T. Paul (1981), Economics of Population, Chapter 6, Addison-Wesley

Publishing Company.

IX. Sustainable development and limits to growth

Perkins et al., Ch. 6, Sustainable Development, pp. 197-220.

Nordhaus, William (1992) “Lethal Model 2: The Limits to Growth Revisitied, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity,” 1992, 2: 1-43.

X. Some Trade Issues

Perkins et al, Ch. 11, Dutch Disease, pp. 643-651.

Romer, Paul (1994). “New Goods, Old Theories, and the Welfare Costs of Trade

Restrictions,” Journal of Development Economics, 43:1.