Graduate (or upper undergraduate) courses developed but not taught:

• Impact evaluation of international development projects (quantitative methods) (3 cr.)

  • Development intervention is at the heart of development practice and policy. The success of new policies depends on whether similar interventions in other settings were effective and, if not, what international organizations should do to increase the effectiveness of projects in the new settings. This course focuses on the current development projects of international development organizations, i.e., the Word Bank, in developing countries. It uses statistical analysis and causal inference methods to answer questions such as: Did investment in rural road infrastructure increase agricultural production in India? What was the most efficient tool for microenterprise development in Tanzania? Did an increase in education spending increase school performance among students in Indonesia? The course is designed for students interested to learn how to implement the evaluation of the outcomes (the impact) of international development projects and programmes for evidence-based development policy. The first part of this course deals with the fundamental of statistics. The second part focuses on key causal inference techniques and examines several real-world impact evaluation research published in scholarly journals

• International political economy (3 cr.)

  • This graduate seminar examines the interaction between the political and economic factors (policy and institution) that shape international economic relations in the areas of trade, investment, production, development, and finance. It draws on classic and state-of-art theoretical and empirical literature on political science, economics, and development. Beyond the course material, the seminar aims to get students to practice presenting a research puzzle and pushing an argument. Students will do this by taking turns leading the first part of the seminar and presenting their own research design to the seminar’s participants.

• International Political Economy: International trade (focus on trade-development nexus) (3 cr.)

  • This course introduces students to the economics and politics of international trade. It focuses specifically on the relations between trade and economic development. It aims to provide students with a sufficient understanding of the political economy of trade theory to critically assess and think about the causes of change in policies related to trade and development. Through the assignment of classic as well as state-of-the-art literature in the IPE of trade and individual assignments, the course examines broad theoretical and policy concepts in international politics: the political origin of trade and economic thoughts, the design and role of international trade institutions, the distribution of economic gains from trade liberalization across and within countries, the demand for compensation, and current trade issues such as trade wars, supply chain disruptions, and global value chains.