Competencies and objectives

 

Course context for academic year 2024-25

 

The study of Development Economics is simply put the study of Economics in developing countries. As such, development encompasses various sub-fields in both macro and microeconomics including Growth, Education, Health, Population, Labor, Migration, Inequality, and Political Economy. Its main aim is to answer the fundamental question of why some countries are poor and others are rich.

The course starts by looking into some stylized facts of growth, inequality and poverty. We will document the staggering difference between and within countries. We will then delve into questions about nutrition, health, education and movements of people. Lastly, we will touch on the recent advances in the field of culture and historical development, and discuss the development aid policies.

 

 

 

Course content (verified by ANECA in official undergraduate and Master’s degrees) for academic year 2024-25

General Competences (CG)

  • CG1 : Capacity to find and analyse information.
  • CG8 : Analyse problems using critical reasoning, without prejudices, precisely and rigorously.
  • CG9 : Capacity to synthesise.

 

General Competences acquired at University of Alicante (CGUA)

  • CGUA2 : Use computer, I.T. and communications technology tools as a matter of course in all of one's professional activities.
  • CGUA3 : Capacity for oral and written communication.

 

Specific Competences (CE)

  • CE10 : Capacity to apply the knowledge and skills acquired to solve theoretical and applied economic problems.
  • CE11 : Analytical skills for developing theoretical frameworks that simplify study of the real economy and the capacity to set appropriate levels of abstraction when studying different economic questions.
  • CE3 : Bring a rational approach to the analysis and description of any aspect of economic reality.
  • CE5 : Issue expert reports on specific economic situations (international, national or regional) or on sectors of the same.
  • CE6 : Draft economic management projects at international, national or regional level.
  • CE8 : Identify the sources of relevant economic information and their content.
  • CE9 : Understand economic institutions as the result and application of theoretical or formal representations of how the economy works.

 

 

 

Learning outcomes (Training objectives)

To increase understanding of the wide divergence observed between countries in terms of income levels and of the evolution of world income distribution.

- To understand the main determinants of economic growth process and of the process of economic and social development.

- To use economic analysis to explain the factors which can engender poverty traps or coordination problems.

- To understand the interconnections between inequality and development: be able to explain the reasons for and against the Kuznets Hypothesis on growth and inequality.

- To understand the types of policy measures that can be adopted to promote development using simple models of structural change and their possible conflict with redistribution policies.

 

 

Specific objectives stated by the academic staff for academic year 2024-25

To answer the fundamental question of why some countries are poor and others are rich.
To think critically about the fundamental topics encompassed in Development Economics.

 

 

General

Code: 35038
Lecturer responsible:
TONINI, SARA
Credits ECTS: 6,00
Theoretical credits: 1,50
Practical credits: 0,90
Distance-base hours: 3,60

Departments involved

  • Dept: FOUNDATIONS OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
    Area: FOUNDATIONS OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
    Theoretical credits: 1,5
    Practical credits: 0,9
    This Dept. is responsible for the course.
    This Dept. is responsible for the final mark record.

Study programmes where this course is taught