This course is available on the CEMS Exchange, Global MSc in Management, Global MSc in Management (CEMS MIM), Global MSc in Management (MBA Exchange), MBA Exchange, MSc in Development Management (Applied Development Economics), MSc in Development Management (Applied Development Economics) (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Development Management (Political Economy), MSc in Development Management (Political Economy) (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Economic Policy for International Development, MSc in Health and International Development, MSc in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies, MSc in International Political Economy, MSc in International Political Economy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in Media, Communication and Development, MSc in Political Economy of Late Development and MSc in Political Science (Global Politics). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply: Places will be allocated with priority to ID and joint-degree students. If there are more ID and joint-degree students than can be accommodated, these places will be allocated randomly. Non-ID/Joint Degree students will be allocated to spare places by random selection with the preference given first to those degrees where the regulations permit this option.

Students do not need to write a statement to apply for this course.

Deadline for application: You should make your request to take ID courses by 12 noon Friday 25 September 2026.

You will be informed of the outcome by 12 noon Monday 28 September 2026.

For queries contact: intdev.enquiries@lse.ac.uk

This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

2/3 of the spaces are reserved for ID and joint degree students, distributed on a random basis.

1/3 go to non-ID/joint students, distributed on a random basis.

All students not admitted in the initial allocation of spaces go on the waitlist, and as space opens the course leader will select students, without regard to degree/dept.

This course examines the politics of the international economy. We analyse the overarching rules that affect countries’ policies in a range of areas, i.e. the “international institutions,” and we assess the role of a range of actors (e.g. governments, firms, non-state actors) in shaping and reshaping these rules. We are particularly interested in understanding the ways that developing countries respond to international rules, how they participate in the bodies that make and enforce international rules, and how all of these aspects of global economic governance affect opportunities for economic development. Hence the name of the course, “International Institutions and Late Development.” The areas covered include restructuring of sovereign debt, international trade, international investment, and intellectual property rights, and we have a week dedicated to “South-South” dynamics, shifting the axis of the course from analysis of institutions and organizations dominated by rich countries to institutions and organizations of – and for – developing countries.

15 hours of seminars and 20 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.
2 hours of lectures in the Spring Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

A detailed reading list is presented at the beginning of term.

Exam (70%), duration: 120 Minutes in the Spring exam period.

Short answer questions (15%).

Presentation (15%).

Seminar participation accounts for 30% of the final mark. This consists of 15% for weekly short answers to selected questions (unassessed) and 15% for one assessed presentation.