COMSATS- Institute of Information Technology,

Defence Road, Off Raiwind Road, Lahore

COURSE HANDBOOK

1 Course Title Introduction to Development Economics

2 Course Code ECO 200
3 Credit Hours 3(3,0)
4 Semester SDP/BBA-FA15-A&B
5 Resource Person Hina Amir
6 Supporting Team Members ---------------
7 Contact Hours (Theory) 3 hours per week
8 Email ID [email protected]
9 Office Hours Will be informed later
10 Course Introduction
The objective of this course is to provide an introduction to the analysis of some central
issues concerning the developing countries. The concept of development employed in the
course includes equity and social dimensions as well as an economic growth dimension. This
course utilizes, modifies, and elaborates some of the concepts and tools of economics at an
introductory level, applying them within the different institutional and social contexts of the
developing countries in analyzing some key economic issue areas. The course begins with an
analysis of the concept and measurement of development and the nature of economics for
development. The recent development experience of the main groupings of developing
countries is also reviewed quickly as part of the Introduction. Various theoretical approaches to
the analysis of development are then examined. The inter-relationships between economic
growth, income distribution, and poverty are explored. Following this, some aspects of human
resource development are analyzed. Attention is then focused on environment, rural
development and urbanization. Finally, some international dimensions of development are
explored, including foreign finance, investment and aid.

11 Learning Objectives
This module aims:
1. To expose students to the diversity of economic realities around the world.

2. To be able to consider many economic, social, and institutional problem of

underdevelopment.

3. To provide students with the tools to use economic theory to evaluate the
effects of specific economic policies.

4. To analyze how the effects of particular policies may differ substantially

across countries, and across groups within a country.

5. To examine the role that the perspective of those who frame development
policy may have on the success of these initiatives.

6. To give students the opportunity to critically evaluate the development policies

that have been implemented in various countries.
12 Course Contents
The course would mainly focus on factors that contribute to rate of economic growth and the
kind of structural changes, introduction to issue of economic development and how human
resources are transformed in the process of economic development. However, It would also
deal with how capital is mobilized and allocated for this purpose and developing the strategy to
enhance the industrial productivity.
13 Lecture Schedule
Weeks Topics of Lectures Reading
Assignments/Activities
Week 1. Economic Development, An Introduction: Todaro, Chapter 1
A Global Perspective: What do we mean by The Millennium
Development; The Millennium Development Goals Development Goals
(MDGs) (MDGs)(Economic survey
of Pakistan)

Comparative Economic Development: Basic Todaro, Chapter,

Week 2. Indicator of economic development; Holistic Health,education,poverty
Measures of Living levels and capabilities and economy (Helping
Activity Hand outs)
Find out the HDI of developed and developing 2.Human development
countries and growth (Hand outs)
Case study: Bangladesh
and Pakistan Economy
Week 3. Comparative Economic Development: Todaro, Chapter 2
Characteristics of Developing world; diversity within
commonality ; Differences in historical conditions in Article about China’s fast
earlier stages economic growth: Key
Activity factors
Find out the current growth rates of developed and
developing countries
Make a list of developed and developing countries
and their common characteristics and Growth rates.
Economic Growth & Development: The Todaro, Chapter 2
Week 4. Components of Economic Growth Case study:China
production possibility curves
long run causes of comparative development
Role of Govt

Week 5. Vicious Circle o f Poverty as a major obstacle of VCP(Hand out)

Economic Growth in Developing countries
How to break this circle

Sessional 1

Week 6 Classic Theories of Economic Growth & Todaro, Chapter 3

Development : Linear Stage Theories
Classic Theories of Economic Growth: Structural
Change Models; The international-dependence
Revolution
Growth Models
Harrod Dommar Growth Model
Solow’s Growth Model
 Week 7. Factors effecting Economic Development: Poverty Todaro, Chapter 3
and inequality ;Measuring inequality and Poverty Documentry
Underdevelopment as a coordination Failure Chapter 4
The Big Push Contemporary Models of
O-ring Theory Development
Poverty and inequality :Economic characteristics of Todaro, Chapter 5
Week 8. high poverty groups; Policy option on income Documentry
inequality and poverty
Week 9. Factors effecting Economic Development: Todaro, Chapter 6
Population growth: causes, consequences and
controversies
Week 10. Factors effecting Economic Development: Todaro, Chapter 7
Urbanization and Rural-Urban migration
Current Issue News Papers
Famine-Hit-Thar parkar Media
Pakistan China Economic Corridor

Sessional 2
Week 11. Factors effecting Economic Development: Todaro, Chapter 8
Human Capital; Education and health.

Week 12. Factors effecting Economic Development: Todaro, Chapter 9

Agriculture and rural Development Research Article

Week 13. The Environment and Development: Todaro, Chapter 10

Issues related to environment and development Chapter 11
Role of Market and state.

Week 14. International Trade Chapter 12

The Role of Foreign Finance, Investment and Aid in Todaro, Chapter 14
economic development: Research Articles
Issues and opportunities

Week 15. Submission of Term project and Presentations

14 Course Assessment
The assessment of this module shall have following breakdown structure

First Sessional Test 10%

Second Sessional Test 15%
Quizzes 10%
Term paper & Presentation 15%
Terminal Examination 50%

The minimum pass marks for each course shall be 50%. Students obtaining less than 50%
marks in any course shall be deemed to have failed in that course. The correspondence
between letter grades, credit points, and percentage marks at CIIT shall be as follows:
Grades Letter Grade Credit Points Percentage Marks

A ( Excellent) 4.0 90and above

A- 3.7 85-89
B+ 3.3 80-84
 B (Good) 3.0 75-79
B- 2.7 70-74
C+ 2.3 65-69
C (Average) 2.0 60-64
C- 1.7 55-59
D (Minimum passing) 1.3 50-54
F (Failing) 0.0 Less than 50
Note: The marks to be assigned to students shall be in whole numbers and are not same as
followed in the annual system of Lancaster University.
15 Assessment Schedule
Before 1st sessional 1st Quiz
Between 1st sessional and 2nd Quiz
midterm
Before the final exam 3rd Quiz and submission of term paper + presentation
16. Format of Assignment
The students are required to make a policy or project. A group of 2 to 3 students have to
choose a topic paper among various themes covered during the course. The topics will be
related to the issues in developing countries in general and to Pakistan in particular. They
are required to submit the project and present the same at the end of the course before the
final exam.
17. Text Book Economic Development by M.P Todaro and Stefan C
Smith. Pearson/Addison Wesley, 2011, Eleventh Edition.
This is a classic text on development economics.
18. Reference Books/ 1-Poor Economics by Banerjee and Duflo. This is a state-
Material of-the-art text on development by leading development
micro-economists. http://www.pooreconomics.com/
2-Economic Development in South Asia by Mohsin Khan.
Publisher TATA McGraw Hill. EAN- 9780070588112

Sen, A. (1983). Development: Which Way Now?

Economic Journal, Vol. 93 Issue 372. pp. 745–762.

Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2011. "Rethinking Development

Economics," World Bank Research Observer, World Bank
Group, vol. 26(2), pages 230-236, August.

i)World Development Reports

http://wdronline.worldbank.org/
ii)Human Development Reports
http://hdr.undp.org/
iii)World Economic Outlooks
(http://www.imf.org/external/pubind.htm);
iv) Various issues of the Economic Survey of Pakistan
http://finance.gov.pk/survey_1213.html
19. Plagiarism
Plagiarism involves the unacknowledged use of someone else’s work, usually in coursework,
and passing it off as if it were one’s own. Many students who submit apparently plagiarised
work probably do so inadvertently without realising it because of poorly developed study
skills, including note taking, referencing and citations; this is poor academic practice rather
than malpractice. Some students, particularly those from different cultures and educational
systems, find UK academic referencing/acknowledgement systems and conventions awkward,
and proof-reading is not always easy for dyslexic students and some visually-impaired
students. Study skills education within programmes of study should minimise the number of
students submitting poorly referenced work. However, some students plagiarise deliberately,
with the intent to deceive. This intentional malpractice is a conscious, pre-mediated form of
cheating and is regarded as a particularly serious breach of the core values of academic
integrity.
Plagiarism can include the following:
1. collusion, where a piece of work prepared by a group is represented as if it were the
student’s own;
2. commission or use of work by the student which is not his/her own and representing it
as if it were, e.g.:
a. purchase of a paper from a commercial service, including internet sites,
whether pre-written or specially prepared for the student concerned
b. submission of a paper written by another person, either by a fellow student or a
person who is not a member of the university;
3. duplication (of one’s own work) of the same or almost identical work for more than
one module;
4. the act of copying or paraphrasing a paper from a source text, whether in manuscript,
printed or electronic form, without appropriate acknowledgement (this includes quoting
directly from another source with a reference but without quotation marks);
5. submission of another student’s work, whether with or without that student’s
knowledge or consent;
6. Directly quoting from model solutions/answers made available in previous years;
7. cheating in class tests, e.g.
a. when a candidate communicates, or attempts to communicate, with a fellow
candidate or individual who is neither an invigilator or member of staff
b. copies, or attempts to copy from a fellow candidate
c. attempts to introduce or consult during the examination any unauthorised printed or
written material, or electronic calculating, information storage device, mobile
phones or other communication device
d. Personates or allows himself or herself to be impersonated.
8. Fabrication of results occurs when a student claims to have carried out tests,
experiments or observations that have not taken place or presents results not supported
by the evidence with the object of obtaining an unfair advantage.
These definitions apply to work in whatever format it is presented, including written work,
online submissions, group work and oral presentations.
20. Attendance Policy
Every student must attend 80% of the lectures/seminars delivered in this course.
21. Field Trips/Case Studies/Seminars/Workshop
- Videos on developmental issues.