how should we define development

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Development Policy

Department of Management

Birkbeck, University of London

Autumn term, 2020

Essay topics - choose one of the following:

1. Why was Britain first to industrialize? Compare and contrast alternative accounts.

2. Does late industrialization always rely on protecting markets from international competition?

3. How should we define development?

4. ‘ ”Sustainable economic growth” is an oxymoron.’ Discuss

5. What is the best strategy for ensuring that development – in the sense of enhanced human

capabilities in the near term – proceeds, while ensuring long-run viability?

6. Does meeting basic needs contribute to other aspects of development, or does the ability to meet

basic needs result from development?

7. Can the capabilities definition of development be a useful guide to development policies?

8. How can a government improve learning through international cooperation?

9. Can Foreign Direct Investment upgrade the national innovation system?

10. What is the best approach to poverty reduction in cities of developing countries?

11. Is urban growth environmentally sustainable?

12. Do relatively wealthy centres keep peripheries poor? Answer with regard either to richer and poorer regions in one or more countries, OR to rich countries and poor countries.

13. What is good governance, how does it affect development, and what can be done to ensure that it’s in place?

14. Is there a particular set of institutions which are most conducive to economic growth?

15. How can the assignment of rights connected with use of agricultural land affect development?

16. Why has it been so hard to make land reform work?

17. “Commodification of agricultural land, including its sale to foreign investors, ensures that the land is put to its most productive use.” Discuss.

18. Why are plentiful supplies of mineral resources so often associated with corruption, war, poverty and slow economic growth?

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19. Is China following a classic “late industrialization” path? Is that/would that be the best thing for it to do?

20. Assess the effect of neo-liberal/Washington Consensus reforms on Latin American development.

21. Assess the role of social capital in development.

22. Assess the role of civil society in development.

23. “Development policies are worthless without good institutions, but we don’t know how to get good institutions.” Discuss.

24. “Manufacturers in developing countries offer a relatively undifferentiated service – i.e., one that many others could provide just as well – and thus face tremendous price pressure in international markets. This drives a race to the bottom in wages and working conditions, and makes it impossible for workers in these countries to benefit from economic growth.” Discuss.

25. “Increased inequality is the price of economic growth.” Discuss.