GRA 5923 Development Studies; Trade, Aid and Microfinance - RE-SIT EXAMINATION

APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014

GRA 5923 Development Studies; Trade, Aid and Microfinance - RE-SIT EXAMINATION


Responsible for the course
Anne Welle-Strand

Department
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
The dynamics of development and knowledge of what affects it, is becoming crucial for handling an increasingly complex environment in an ever more globalized world. This course presents central topics in development studies in a theoretical framework, combined with practical case studies at home and abroad.

Learning outcome
This course provides an overview of central topics in international development. It will provide students with theoretical frameworks for analyzing multi-level development issues as well as practical knowledge of the actual challenges and opportunities. The course attempts to answer, among others, the following questions:

  • Why are some countries are rich and some are poor?
  • How does one define development and what affects it?
  • What is the relative comparative impact of different types of interactions between poor and rich countries in the form of remittance, trade, aid, foreign direct investments and microfinance?
  • What is the role of business in international development?
  • How do different channels of aid and transfers differ in nature and impact?
  • What is the role of political systems, institutions, resources and geography on development?
  • What is the role of competence in development aid and international business in relation to development?

The course is designed to enhance the students' ability to critically assess political, economic and management issues surrounding international development. In order to address the practical aspects of this, one or more of the sessions will be held during a voluntary excursion to a developing country.

Prerequisites
Microeconomics (GRA6031 or GRA6037 or eq.), foundation courses in strategy and/or political economy or eq.

Compulsory reading
Books:
Collier, Paul. 2007. The bottom billion : why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it. Oxford University Press

Collection of articles:
Compendium of Journal Articles, including articles/chapters.

Other:
During the course there may be hand-outs and other material on additional topics relevant for the course and the examination.


Recommended reading
Books:
Castells, Manuel. 2000-2004. The information age : economy, society and culture. 2nd ed. Blackwell. All Three Volumes
Counts, Alex. 2008. Small loans, big dreams : how Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus and microfinance are changing the world. New ed. Wiley. Tidligere utg. med tittel: Give us credit.
Daley-Harris, Sam and Anna Awimbo, eds. 2006. More pathways out of poverty. Kumarian Press
Dowla, Asif and Dipal Barua. 2006. The poor always pay back : the Grameen II story. Kumarian Press
Drake, Deborah and Elisabeth Rhyne, eds. 2002. The Commercialization of microfinance : balancing business and development. Kumarian Press
Easterly, William. 2006. The white man's burden : why the West's efforts to aid the rest have done so much ill and so little good. Penguin Press
Moyo, Dambisa. 2009. Dead aid : why aid is not working and how there is another way for Africa. Allen Lane
Perkins, Dwight H., David L. Lindauer and Steven Radelet. 2006. Economics of development. 6th ed. W.W. Norton & Co
Prahalad, C. K. 2010. The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid : eradicating poverty through profits. Rev. and upd. 5th anniversary ed. Pearson Education
Przeworski, A ... [et al.]. 2000. Democracy and development : political institutions and well-being in the in the world, 1950 – 1990. Cambridge University Press
Ray, Debraj. 1998. Development economics. Princeton University Press
Sachs, Jeffrey D. 2005. The end of poverty : how we can make it happen in our lifetime. Penguin Books
Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as freedom. Oxford University Press
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2003. Globalization and its discontents. W.W. Norton
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2006. Making globalization work. W.W. Norton

Course outline
  1. Development: How is it defined and what affects it. Historical, philosophical, economic and political explanations for the division between the rich and poor countries.
  2. Foreign Direct Investments: How can it enhance development, what is its limitations and challenges, how should it be managed and what are critical criteria for success?
  3. Political and economic systems: How are they related to a nation’s development?
  4. Trade: Is it a positive-sum game or an exploitative mechanism? Liberal, realist and Marxist perspectives on trade and exploration of empirical evidence of its impact on development.
  5. Aid: Historical overview and an exploration of the positive and negative effects of traditional development aid with an emphasis on the Norwegian case. Have we succeeded?
  6. Microfinance: What kind of institutions and other preconditions must be in place to develop the concept of microfinance further and is it really helping the poor?
  7. Evaluation and measurement: What methodological concerns will one encounter when studying and evaluating development aid? What is the rationale behind evaluation of the field? Education as development.

Computer-based tools
World Bank – The World Development Index
IMF – World Economic Outlook
Freedom House
World Competitiveness Report
Harvard Business School – Cluster profiles
It's learning/homepage

Learning process and workload
A course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of 160-180 hours.

The course will be run with lectures, which may include a study trip to a developing country. Partisipation in the study trip is not mandatory. The destination will be decided at a later stage, but will be a country where the interactions between business, government and civil society is clearly visible and to where MICRO and BI have good connections to government, organizations, corporations and educational institutions.

Please note that class attendance is compulsory. It is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.


Examination
100 % of the grade will be based on a term paper (written individually)

Specific information regarding student evaluation beyond the information given in the course description will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

Examination code(s)
GRA 59232 term paper accounts for 100% of the final grade GRA 5923.

Examination support materials
Exam aids at written examinations are explained under exam information in our web-based Student handbook. Please note use of calculator and dictionary. http://www.bi.edu/studenthandbook/examaids

Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.

Semester

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