Durham University
Programme and Module Handbook
This is an archived handbook for a previous year. The current undergraduate and postgraduate handbooks can be viewed using the links above.

Postgraduate Handbook 2025-2026 (archived)

Module ECON44415: Development Economics

Department: Economics

ECON44415: Development Economics

TypeLevelCreditsAvailabilityModule CapLocation
Tied 4 15 Available in 2025/2026 None. Durham

Tied To

Pre-requisites

  • None

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combinations

  • None

Aims

  • To develop advanced knowledge and analytical skills in the theory and practice of development economics.

Content

  • The module covers the economics and policies of development. Topics may include:
  • Development and Poverty
  • Proximate determinants of economic development
  • Deep determinants of economic development
  • Foreign direct investment and growth
  • Inequality and income redistribution
  • Human capital and education market
  • Healthcare policy
  • Foreign aid
  • Political economy of development and environment
  • Development policymaking and role of market, state and civil society

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge
  • be able to interpret scholarly literature at the frontier of research in development economics;
  • have a critical understanding of the economic differences between developing and developed countries and of the policies aimed at addressing those differences
  • have explored, understood and appreciated the complexity and contradictions of the current academic literature and its implications for professional practice, and be able to identify open questions for their own research in development economics.
Subject-specific Skills
  • be able to apply advanced problem-solving and analytical skills to complex issues in development economics;
  • be able to offer policy recommendations informed by the knowledge and analytical skills acquired in the module to address the differences in economic performances between developing and developed countries.
Key Skills
  • Written Communication;
  • Planning, Organising and Time Management;
  • Problem Solving and Analysis;
  • Using Initiative;
  • Numeracy;
  • Computer Literacy.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • Lectures will present the topics in detail, give suggestions for further reading, give guidance for the problems for the seminars, and give students the necessary knowledge to read and understand the relevant scholarly literature.
  • In the seminars students will be encouraged to actively participate and solve problems. The seminars will train the students to solve analytical problems in theory of developments economics, critically discuss its applications as well as giving students the opportunity to identify research questions.
  • The summative written examination will test students knowledge and critical understanding of the material covered in the module, their analytical and problem-solving skills.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotal HoursAttendance Monitored
Lectures 10 1 per week 2 hour 20
Seminars 4 Fortnightly 1 hour 4 Yes
Revision lecture 1 2 hour 2
Preparation & Reading 124
Total 150

Summative Assessment

ComponentComponent WeightingElementLength/DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Exam 75% On Campus Written Examination 2 hour 100%
Assignment - Written critical review of a research paper 25% Assignment 750 words maximum 100%

Formative Assessment

Formative assessment consists of written seminar questions assignments.


Students who do not attend monitored activities shown under Teaching Methods and Learning Hours, or who fail to complete the summative or formative assessment(s) specified above, may be subject to the Academic Progress procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University.