In this chapter, students will be able to understand: what is development economics? what do we mean by development? happiness and development, distinction between economic growth and economic development, why study development economics?. | Development Economics Lecture 1 Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective 1 What is Development Economics? Use of economic analysis, methods and tools to understand the problems, constraints and opportunities facing developing countries Causes of poverty Roads to escape poverty Development and growth over time Theoretical and empirical work We study the economic, social, political and institutional mechanisms that lead to development and transformation of the economies CAN YOU GIVE EXAMPLES OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES? What is Development Economics? continued How do people achieve material opportunities to live an acceptable life? (and what is acceptable anyway?) We discuss broad tendencies and stylized facts, that depend on the context of each country. We have no (or few) universal laws . We want to: Achieve a better understanding of the problems of poor countries Achieve a better understanding of how to apply economics Answer policy questions What Do We Mean by Development? Traditional Economic Measures Gross National Income (GNI) Income per capita Utility of that income? The New Economic View of Development Leads to improvement in well-being, more broadly understood The Central Role of Women To make the biggest impact on development, societies must empower and invest in women Amartya Sen’s “Capability” Approach Development as Freedom (Amartya Sen)* Development can be seen, it is argued, as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy Development: enhancing the capability to lead the kind of lives we have reason to value. Focusing on human freedoms contrasts with narrower views of development, such as identifying development with the growth of gross national product, or with the rise in personal incomes, or with the industrialization, or with technological advance, or with social modernization. Development consists of the removal of various types of unfreedoms that leave people with little choice and little . | Development Economics Lecture 1 Introducing Economic Development: A Global Perspective 1 What is Development Economics? Use of economic analysis, methods and tools to understand the problems, constraints and opportunities facing developing countries Causes of poverty Roads to escape poverty Development and growth over time Theoretical and empirical work We study the economic, social, political and institutional mechanisms that lead to development and transformation of the economies CAN YOU GIVE EXAMPLES OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES? What is Development Economics? continued How do people achieve material opportunities to live an acceptable life? (and what is acceptable anyway?) We discuss broad tendencies and stylized facts, that depend on the context of each country. We have no (or few) universal laws . We want to: Achieve a better understanding of the problems of poor countries Achieve a better understanding of how to apply economics Answer policy questions What Do .
