Syllabus (2024-2)

Course
Course Title International Economic Development 37236
No.
Department/
International Studies Credit 3
Major
Class Time/ Tue 6 & Thu 4
Classroom IEB 1202
Prof. Jinhwan Oh Department: GSIS
Instructor
E-mail: [email protected] Office: IEB 1004

1. Course Description and Objectives

This course has three parts. First, it explores international development from economics
perspective. Topics include poverty, growth, inequality, and development cooperation. Then, this
course investigates international economics, particularly international trade, from development
perspective (e.g. trade and development, trade and inequality, etc. Last, but never the least,
theories learned in the first two parts will be empirically examined to analyze a variety of real-
world data. Using a statistical software, like STATA, students are expected to produce meaningful
outputs using their own datasets. This course wraps up all previously-taught economics-related
courses at DIS and shows a guideline on what empirical research is about in the field of
international and development economics. Final objectives of this course are to prepare students
to be able to:

 Obtain main theories in international development (economics aspect) and international

economics (development aspect)
 Obtain basic knowledge in econometrics and read empirical papers.
 Obtain skills to conduct empirical research by analyzing data “from scratch”, including
data collection, programming, and output interpretation

2. Prerequisites
Introduction to Economics at DIS or elsewhere, and a high school level of mathematics and
statistics. Background in microeconomics would certainly be helpful but is not required. Basic
economic theories will be reviewed throughout the course.

3. Course Format

Lecture Discussion/Presentation Lab Practice

60% 20% 20%

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 4. Evaluation System

Attendance &
Exams Projects
Participation
30X2=60% 30% 10%

1. Exams (30% X 2 = 60%): There will be 2 non-cumulative in-class exams.

2. A Research Project (5%+10%+15%=30%): A few students (depending on the class size)

will make a group and go through all the way from topic selection, data collection,
analysis, and presentation.

- Topic selection and data collection (5%): Each group will submit the interested topic with
hypothesis, previous studies (a very brief literature review), and dataset that would like to
be collected and sources of variables. And then, each group will complete collecting data
by given dates. Due dates should be kept strictly.

- Presentation (10%) and a term-paper (15%): Each group will analyze the data and make a
presentation on major findings. Then, each group will submit a short term-paper (5-10
pages), including tables and figures.
5. Course Materials and Readings

Most course materials will be uploaded in the cyber campus, which include PPT slides, a basic
STATA manual and several book chapters and journal articles.
6. Computer Software: STATA
What is research? Academic research (empirical one, in particular) means testing a hypothesis using
quantitative dataset. In this course, students are expected to implement their own research project –
design research questions, collect supporting data, and analyze the data to accept or reject the
hypothesis. In doing so, helps from a computer software is A MUST. The last third of this course will
use STATA, which is relatively easy and inexpensive, yet very solid. Visit the following website to
get a quote for student pricing, which is quite discounted from the regular price. STATA/BE is
enough for this course. Both 6 months and perpetual licenses are available. Those who do not want to
purchase the license can still use the software at IEB computer lab.
http://www.stata.com/order/new/edu/gradplans/student-pricing/

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 Course Schedule

Week Topics & Class Materials, Assignments

Course Introduction, Stylized Facts, HDI, MDG, SDG

Poverty – Growth – Inequality Nexus and Kuznets Hypothesis
PART I
Measuring Poverty and Inequality: HCR, PG, FGT, Lorenz, Gini, CV, Theil
Week 1-5
Poverty Trap, Institution, Corruption,
Development Financing – Determinants and Effectiveness
Exam 1
Trade Theories (Ricardian, Hecksher-Ohlin, Krugman’s NTT), Immigration
PART II Trade and Development: Immiserizing Growth, Trade and Inequality, Offshoring
Week 6-10 Empirical Research in Trade (Gravity Model), Aid for Trade
Exam 2
Understanding Basic Statistics and Econometrics
STATA Practice
PART III Data Collection (WB WDI, OECD QWIDS, IMF DOTS), Analysis, Interpretation
Week 11-15 Sub-group meetings
Presentation
Term Paper

A Sample Research Project

1. Topic: Role of Trade in Development

- Hypothesis: Trade will promote a country’s development, but will exacerbate inequality
problem
- Data to be collected: GDP per capita of sample countries (say, 100) (Source: WDI) –
Dependent variable 1, Gini coefficient of these countries (Source: WDI) – Dependent
variable 2, Total trade volumes of the countries (Source: WDI) – Independent variable. Any
other variables that may affect countries’ development and/or inequality (control variables)
- Previous studies: Search for keyword in Google Scholar and find some relevant ones
- Contribution: What is uniqueness of your research that is different from the previous ones?
Which variables did you add or how did you add timespan of your data, etc? Or, the previous
study examined Country ABC, but I am interested in Country DEF because there has been no
research on that country so far.

2. Topic: Revisiting the Kuznets Curve

- Hypothesis: The Kuznets Curve indeed exists (or, the Kuznets Curve is wrong)
- Data to be collected: Gini coefficient (or similar ones) – Dependent variable, GDP per capita
of sample countries – Independent variables, Any other variables that may affect countries’
inequality (control variables)

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Special Accommodations

According to the University regulation #57, students with disabilities can request special accommodation
related to attendance, lectures, assignments, and/or tests by contacting the course professor at the
beginning of semester. Based on the nature of the students’ requests, students can receive support for such
accommodations from the course professor and/or from the Support Center for Students with Disabilities
(SCSD).

* The contents of this syllabus are not final—they may be updated.

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