The course provides an overview of the literature in development economics. The overarching interest is what creates and what reduces poverty and how poor people live their economic lives. Students will be introduced to theoretical and empirical approaches to the understanding of binding constraints to development, household decisions and organisation, effectiveness of public policy and alternative arrangements that arise when markets and institutions fail.

Learning Outcomes
Successful students will
o Have a comprehensive knowledge about the main issues in development microeconomics that are currently driving state-of-the-art research.
o Be able to engage analytically and critically with theoretical and empirical articles.
o Obtain a good understanding of policy issues: tools at hand, what are the likely mechanisms at play, different strategies to assess policy effectiveness.