Why are some countries so poor and others so rich? Can governments act to eliminate poverty or must the poor remain poor? What sorts of interventions work and how do we evaluate them? Through this course, you will question the meaning of economic development and identify the factors that affect growth, poverty and inequality. You will engage with contemporary research on markets, institutions, education and health. You will analyse these questions by using both theoretical frameworks as well as empirical evidence based on survey data. In doing so, you will gain an insight into the challenges and constraints faced by developing countries in their quest to improve the quality of human life.
Prerequisites: ECO-2101 (Microeconomic Theory I), ECO-2400 (Econometrics),
hemanshu.kumar@ashoka.edu.in