Political Economy of Development

This course explores the political economy of development, beginning with foundational models such as voting theories and politician behavior, and the roles of key actors in the political process, including the media and other interest groups. It then turns to essential topics like democratic successes and failures, state capacity, ethnicity and conflict, and the representation of historically marginalized groups. Additionally, it studies the interaction between culture and institutions and how this shapes political and economic outcomes in developing countries. The course places strong emphasis on empirical research, so a solid understanding of applied econometric methods is important. Paired with ECON 468. Graduate students require additional assignments. Prerequisite: ECON 608D.