TOPICS IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS - 2025/6

Module Overview

Why have some countries developed and others not? What can policy do today to foster economic development, and how much is out of a country’s control? How does this affect the people behind such development - how does work change, and who loses in the process? The course begins with an empirical overview of the change in living standards in different countries across time, and how to define such development. The core of the course then focuses on how countries develop, considering various approaches ranging from micro-interventions to sectoral, institutional and trade policies. The last few weeks place labour at the centre of development, looking at rural-urban migration, informality and the underdevelopment of marginalized groups. This course will have strong empirical and theoretical components, and will draw strongly on recent academic articles as well as standard texts. It aims to equip students with an awareness of policy options and constraints around economic development.

Module provider

Economics

Module Leader

BASSIER Ihsaan (Economics)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

Students in the BSc in Politics and Economics programme must have taken ECO2051 (Intermediate Microeconomics 2) in their second year as a pre-requisite for this module.

Module content

Indicative content includes an introduction to economic development, transforming the economy, and the people behind structural transformation.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the course and their ability to apply the concepts learned. The mix between in-semester test and the final examination is instrumental to this. Assessments will combine essay-style questions, problem-style questions and multiple choice questions. The style encourages students to relay their understanding of development processes, both historical and hypothetical, and will include hypothetical scenarios which mimic the policy challenges faced by states and development organisations. In doing so they will apply concepts and analytical tools acquired during the lectures and in the further reading.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of a class test and final examination:

• 
  A mid-term test 
  


• 
  A final examination 
  

Module aims

• Make students aware of the modern theories of development and the difficulties in sustaining long-run growth (sustainability)
• Provide students with tools to assess the degree of social mobility across different countries and regions (global capabilities)
• Prepare students to be able to assess and evaluate development policies appropriate to the economic context (resourcefulness and resilience, employability)
• Make students aware of the most recent empirical methods used by applied development economists so they can use this knowledge to evaluate the quality of evidence for different policies (resourcefulness and resilience)

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to: make students aware of the fundamental difficulties hindering social    mobility and long-run growth; assess the impact of poverty alleviation policies in the light of modern theories of development.

As the module develops students will be exposed to the most modern theories and debates in Development Economics, stimulating them to develop their own capacity to synthesise and critically analyze research in this field.

The learning and teaching methods include:

- Lectures

- Workshops

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ECO3058

Other information

Surrey's Curriculum Framework is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas: 

Global and Cultural Intelligence: The course focuses on the challenges faced by less developed economies and the unique contexts in which their economies operate.

Sustainability: A key aspect of the course is its focus on sustainable development policies and improving institutions so that all citizens can benefit from economic growth.

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.