Impact evaluation of public policies in internation al development

This course introduces several topics of new development economics, an approach that is grounded on the growing global concern for issues such as poverty and inequality coupled with rigorous economic analysis. The “old” approach to development economics was based in industrial economics, public planning and economic thinking, among others. The “new” approach is equally concerned with issues such as the elimination of poverty, the determinants of poverty traps, the causes and consequences of population growth, the implications of wealth and income inequalities on a country's growth prospects and the role and evaluation of policies. The exposure to new theories of economic development will give the students the chance to use economic theory and economic tools in ways that promote the welfare of underprivileged people. One of the primary challenges in international development is to determine the policies and interventions that are effective at improving the welfare of the world’s poor. In recent years, rigorous impact evaluations are increasingly used to assess whether a development program, policy or intervention works, i.e. causes actual improvements in welfare outcomes.

This course will provide a detailed understanding of impact evaluations in practice. Many of the topics, such as measuring outcomes and dealing with threats to the validity of an evaluation, are relevant for all methodologies. Students will be provided with tools to determine the strength of current evaluations and critically raise interesting questions, both from a theoretical and practical view.

The course will present material through interactive lectures and case studies using examples from completed or ongoing field experiments.

Knowledge and understanding:

• Summarize the main issues facing developing countries.

• Demonstrate familiarity with and assess the use of economic tools and statistical analysis in analyzing the problems of developing countries.

Skills:

• Select and apply appropriate techniques to analyze problems based on scenarios from development economics.

• Analyze, evaluate and interpret various measures of economic inequality.

Language of instruction : English
Semester : Fall Semester