Mckenzie, DavidPaffhausen, Anna Luisa2016-01-122016-01-122015-12https://hdl.handle.net/10986/23621This paper uses a combination of survey questions to instructors and data collected from course syllabi and examinations to examine how the subject of development economics is taught at the undergraduate and masters levels in developing countries, and benchmark this against undergraduate classes in the United States. The study finds that there is considerable heterogeneity in what is considered development economics: there is a narrow core of only a small set of topics such as growth theory, poverty and inequality, human capital, and institutions taught in at least half the classes, with substantial variation in other topics covered. In developing countries, development economics is taught largely as a theoretical subject coupled with case studies, with few courses emphasizing data or empirical methods and findings. This approach contrasts with the approach taken in leading U.S. economics departments and with the evolution of development economics research. The analysis finds that country income per capita, the role of the state in the economy, the education level in the country, and the involvement of the instructor in research are associated with how close a course is to the frontier. The results suggest there are important gaps in how development economics is taught.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOCAPITA INCOMECOLLEGEECONOMIC GROWTHPRODUCTIONUNDERGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMEMPIRICAL WORKINDEX NUMBERSECONOMIC LITERATUREINCOMEMACROECONOMIC MANAGEMENTPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY TRAPSENROLLMENT RATIOINTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONSGDP PER CAPITAGRADUATE LEVELLABOR FORCEDEVELOPING COUNTRIESELASTICITYMARGINAL PRODUCTPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLICY OPTIONSGROWTH MODELBASIC KNOWLEDGEPAPERSINCENTIVESINDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENTMASTERS LEVELVARIABLESASYMMETRIC INFORMATIONDEVELOPMENT POLICIESGROWTH WITHOUT DEVELOPMENTPER-CAPITA INCOMEINPUTSUNDERGRADUATE LEVELRETURNS TO SCALEFACULTYDEVELOPING COUNTRYDEVELOPED COUNTRIESOPEN ACCESSPROFESSORSPOVERTY REDUCTIONLITERACYTEXTBOOKSDEVELOPMENTINDUSTRIAL POLICYPER CAPITA INCOMESPUBLIC POLICYCOURSE CONTENTANALYTICAL METHODSCOURSE SYLLABITOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYEDUCATION STATISTICSMEASURING POVERTYPER CAPITA INCOMEDEVELOPMENT ECONOMICSGRADUATEDEVELOPMENT STRATEGIESFAILURESIMPERFECT COMPETITIONINCREASING RETURNSMARKETSCONVERGENCE HYPOTHESISCAPITA INCOMESLEARNINGRESEARCHTRADE POLICYTEACHINGUNDERGRADUATE EDUCATIONECONOMIC RESEARCHUNEMPLOYMENTDEVELOPMENT RESEARCHINCOMPLETE MARKETSPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHDATA AVAILABILITYHUMAN CAPITALEXAM QUESTIONSRESEARCH CENTERSWORKERSDEVELOPMENT REPORTCOUNTRY LEVELECONOMICS ASSOCIATIONSCAPITALSCIENCEINTERNATIONAL TRADESTUDENTSCHOOLSMARKET FAILURESVALUEHUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORTPOLICY MAKERSCREDITMACROECONOMICSPOOR COUNTRIESFACULTIESNATIONAL INCOMEURBAN AREASABSOLUTE POVERTYRESEARCHERSEDUCATION LEVELAGRICULTURELITERATUREBENCHMARKLEARNING OBJECTIVESPRODUCTION FUNCTIONECONOMICSRESEARCH OUTPUTFACULTY MEMBERSDATA SETSECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTTRADERICH COUNTRIESGDPSYLLABITHEORYGROWTH RATETOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITY GROWTHINSTITUTESRURAL AREASPOVERTYUNDERGRADUATE STUDENTSMASTERS DEGREESWAGE DIFFERENTIALSRESEARCH FINDINGSEMPIRICAL EVIDENCEUNIVERSITYSTUDENTSAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITYPOLICY RESEARCHGROWTH THEORYRAPID GROWTHEXCHANGE RATEDEGREESMICRO DATAECONOMICS RESEARCHLABOR MARKETSSCHOOLUNDERGRADUATESTERTIARY EDUCATIONDEVELOPMENT INDICATORSSTUDENT LEARNINGMIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIESSIGNIFICANT CORRELATIONUNIVERSITIESDEVELOPMENT POLICYHUMAN DEVELOPMENTUNDERGRADUATE COURSESGROWTHWorking PaperWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-7521