Διοίκηση Επιχειρήσεων

Course Contents

Economics, institutions and development: How the other half live? Economics and development studies; Economies as social systems; What do we mean by development?

Comparative development: differences and commonalities among developing countries. Defining the developing world; The structural diversity of developing economies; Common characteristics of developing nations; How developing countries today differ from developed countries in their early stages; Are living standards of developing countries and developed countries converging?

Classic theories of economic development: Development as growth and the linear-stages theories; Structural change models; The international-dependence revolution; The neoclassical counterrevolution: market fundamentalism; Classic Theories of development: reconciling the difference

Contemporary models of development and underdevelopment: The new growth theory: endogenous growth; Underdevelopment as a coordination failure;

Poverty, Inequality and development: Measuring inequality and poverty; Social welfare; Absolute poverty; Policy options

Population growth and economic development: causes, consequences and controversies. The basic issue; A review of numbers; The demographic transition; The cause of high fertility in developing countries – the Malthusian model; The consequence of high fertility; Policy approaches

Urbanisation and rural-urban migration: theory and policy. The migration and urbanisation dilemma; The role of cities; The urban gigantism problem; The urban informal sector; Urban unemployment; Migration and development

Human capital: Education and health in economic development. Investment in education and health: the human capital approach; Child labour; The gender gap; Educational systems and development; Health systems and development

Agricultural transformation and rural development: Agricultural growth: past progress and current challenge; The role of women; The economics of agricultural development; Policy implications

The trade policy debate: export promotion, import substitution and economic integration. Export promotion versus import substitution; The industrialisation strategy approach to export policy; South-South trade and economic integration; Trade policies of developed countries: the need for reform

Balance of payments, debt and macroeconomic stabilisation controversy: The balance of payment account; Financing and reducing payment deficits; The debt crisi of the 1980s; IMF stabilisation policies

Foreign finance, investment, and aid: controversies and opportunities. The international flow of financial resources; Private foreign direct investment and the multinational cooperation; Private portfolio investment; Foreign aid

Some critical issues for the twenty-first century: Global independence and the growth of developing world markets; The global environment; The crisis in sub-Saharan Africa; Globalisation and International financial reform

Learning Outcomes of the course unit

By the end of the course, the students should be able to:

1. Differentiate the various theoretical models used to explain economic development and uneven growth
2. Identify policy measures designed to alleviate economic problems faced by developing countries
3. Explain the increasing interdependence of the world economy in terms of food, energy, natural resources, technology, information and financial flows; coordinated approaches are necessary
4. Recognize the fact that problems of development should be treated from an institutional, structural and market perspective; relevant theories must always been combined with realistic institutional analyses
5. Classify common developing countries problems but also realise that such countries can be very different from each other