Course content: The central themes in this course include: (i) The role and importance of the agricultural sector in economic transformation. (ii) The relationship between national and international economic growth and policies. (iii) The socio-political consequences of different growth patterns. (iv) The role of institutions and policies in the development process. (v) Project evaluation and selection: cost-benefit analysis and logical framework approach (LFA) to project assessment. Various devel-opment paradigms are introduced and analysed along with different development approaches such as export-led growth, import substitution, structural adjustment and neoliberalism. Attention is paid to foreign trade, foreign debt and international aid. On the sectoral level, the course deals with the labour market (including population issues) and the capital market. On the project level the course introduces various economic tools for project assessment and management. A thor-ough discussion of the pros and cons of market forces versus various planning techniques in de-veloping countries will also be dealt with. Special attention is devoted to the micro and macro as-pects of agriculture, food supply, food aid and pricing of agricultural commodities. The course is designed to meet the needs of students who are interested in understanding the conditions under which 2/3 of the world population live and in learning about the barriers to, and achievements of, development. The course is essential to anybody planning a career in international organisations or in export companies that deal with developing countries. A broad understanding of the socio-economic conditions in developing countries is also recommended for students who are planning to undertake a purely natural science research project in these countries.
Teaching and learning methods: The teaching is based on lectures that introduce the central and crucial ele-ments of the curriculum. These central topics will further be touched upon in assignments and group work where the students will read, present and discuss various relevant texts. Furthermore there will be both theoretical and practical exercises in witch the students can develop there un-derstanding of the subject further.
Examination: Written exam, all aids allowed. Internal examiner.
Competences acquired: After this course the students will understand the mainstream economic concept of economic growth and development. After this course the students will understand: the process of economic development in a socio-political perspective, different growth paradigms, the transfor-mation of agriculture under economic growth, the role and importance of institutions in economic development, and economic evaluation of development projects. After this course the students will be aware of sustainable development, rationale for development aid, economic growth and in-come distribution and income redistribution, and problems in relation to economic cost-benefit analysis of development projects.
Course homepage: http://kursus.kvl.dk/dev.ec.1