Suspended in 2025/26
GV366 One Unit
Political Economy of the Developing World
This information is for the 2025/26 session.
Course Convenor
Dr Steffen Hertog
Availability
This course is available on the BA in Social Anthropology, BSc in History and Politics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a Year Abroad), BSc in Politics, BSc in Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics and International Relations, BSc in Politics and Philosophy and BSc in Social Anthropology. This course is not available as an outside option to students on other programmes. This course is not available to General Course students.
This course is capped at one group.
Requisites
Pre-requisites:
Students must have completed GV101 before taking this course.
Course content
This course introduces students to the broad theoretical traditions in the study of political economies outside of the OECD, and provides an empirical overview of a number of concrete phenomena that shape the interplay of the politics and economics in different world regions. It will address puzzles like: Why did some developing countries grow much faster than others after WWII? Are some forms of corruption more compatible with development than others? Which impact do natural resource rents have on politics and development? Under which conditions can countries with a short history of independent statehood build efficient institutions?
GV366 will engage with broad theoretical traditions like modernization theory, dependency theory, and neo-patrimonialism, and with concrete empirical topics like state-business relations, the developmental state, corruption and clientelism, the politics of public enterprise, and the political economy of resource-rich countries.
Teaching
1 hours of classes in the Spring Term.
15 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the Winter Term.
15 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the Autumn Term.
Formative assessment
One essay of 3,500 words to be submitted in the WT.
Indicative reading
Bardhan, Pradeep (1997). "Corruption and Development", Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 35.
Evans, Peter (1995). Embedded Autonomy: States and industrial transformation (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Ross, Michael (2012). The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Schneider, Ben Ross, and Sylvia Maxfield (eds.) 1997. State-Business Relations in Developing Countries (Ithaca: Cornell University Press).
Wade, Robert (2003). Governing the Market: Economic Theory and the Role of Government in East Asian Industrialization (Princeton: Princeton University Press).
Waterbury, John (1993). Exposed to Innumerable Delusions: Public Enterprise and State Power in Egypt, India, Mexico, and Turkey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
Assessment
Exam (40%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period
Course participation (20%)
Essay (40%)
Key facts
Department: Government
Course Study Period: Autumn, Winter and Spring Term
Unit value: One unit
FHEQ Level: Level 6
CEFR Level: Null
Total students 2024/25: Unavailable
Average class size 2024/25: Unavailable
Capped 2024/25: NoCourse selection videos
Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.