Sadoulet, E., and de Janvry, A., 1995. Quantitative Development Policy Analysis. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Ray, D., 1998. Development Economics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
de Janvry, A., and Sadoulet, E., 2021. Development Economics. Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
Obiettivi Formativi
1) Knowledge and comprehension of theoretical models and analytical approaches for the quantitative analysis of development policies and interventions aiming at eradicating poverty and ensuring food security in rural areas in LDCs.
2) Ability to apply knowledge and comprehension of the theoretical models and empirical approaches.
3) Ability to communicate the results of the empirical analyses to various stakeholders (e.g. policymakers, project/program managers, beneficiaries, etc.).
Prerequisiti
Metodi Didattici
The course consists of three types of activities:
a) lectures: 22 lectures of two hours each (total 44 hours);
b) case studies: 5 homeworks to be prepared in small groups every other week;
c) seminars (2-3) on specific topics given by non-UNIFII scholars on specific topics.
Altre Informazioni
The lecture handouts and all relevant materials (background papers, videos and other internet sources) can be downloaded/accessed from the course website on the Moodle e-learning platform.
The course website on the Moodle platform provides also a direct link to Webex platform for lecture videostreaming (or downloading recorded lectures as needed).
In order to have access to the course website on the Moodle platform, students are required to:
a) first, access the Moodle e-learning platform (http://e-l.unifi.it/login/index.php), and
b) then access the course website on the Moodle platform.
The access to Moodle does not require any password for UNIFI students.
Incoming students who do not have yet an UNIFI account can request the password to access the course website, writing an email to the lecturer (donato.romano@unifi.it).
Modalità di verifica apprendimento
Lectures, homeworks and seminars are meant as coordinated components of the course and jointly contribute to the student evaluation mechanism.
The evaluation mechanism considers the following items:
- AP: attendance and participation to class and seminars;
- HW: homeworks on the 5 case studies;
- MT: mid-term exam, on the contents of the course first half (lectures 1 to 12);
- FI: final exam, on all course contents (lectures 1 to 22).
The 5 case study homeworks analyze the impacts of specific interventions using datasets provided by the lecturer every other week. The homeworks are developed by small groups of no more than 3-4 student each. Each group has to prepare a short report on the results of the analysis that will be used as base for class discussions guided by the lecturer.
Both the mid-term and the final exam are written exams. Each of them consists of a short essay (no more than 2 pages) and 3 short answer questions (no more than half a page each). The students will be given twice as much essay topics and questions among which she/he will pick the essay topic and the answer to respond. The time for both the mid-term and the final exam is 1.5 hours.
In the case the final exam grade is lower than the mid-term grade, the overall grade is a weighted average of the above items according to the following formula:
GR=0.10AP+0.25HW+0.25MT+0.4FI
where, GR overall grade,
AP attendance and participation,
HW homeworks,
MT mid-term exam,
FI final exam.
In the case the final exam grade is higher than the mid-term grade, the overall grade is computed according to the following formula:
GR=0.10AP+0.25HW+0.65FI.
Non-attending students can take the exam provided that they had delivered all due homeworks at least two weeks before the exam session. In the case, the following formula applies:
GR = 0.25HW + 0.75FI.
Programma del corso
1. Introduction to quantitative development policy analysis
• Course presentation
• The role of quantitative policy analysis
• Criteria for policy evaluation: welfare and feasibility
• The role of modeling
2. Policy impact evaluation
• The policy process and the role of policy evaluation
• Causal inference and counterfactual
• Experimental design and randomization
• Matching
• Difference in difference
HW1: Impact of female participation to microcredit program on household consumption in Bangladesh
3. Demand analysis (I):
• The basic theory of consumer behavior
• Demand analysis
• Separability and stepwise budgeting
• Engel functions
4. Demand analysis (II):
• Estimation of price elasticities from cross-sectional data
• Estimation of complete demand systems: LES, AIDS, GAIDS
• Effects of household characteristics
• Policy implications
5. The profit function approach (I): factor demand
• The basic theory of production
• Examples of profit functions
• Derived systems of output supply and factor demand
• Cost function and systems of factor demands
6. The profit function approach (II): output supply
• Short-run vs. long-run supply response
• Aggregate supply response
7. Supply response
• Alternative approaches to the measurement of supply response
• Nerlovian models of supply response
• Examples of Nerlovian models
8. Supply response
• Limits and extensions of Nerlovian models
• Producer response to lagged prices (cobweb models) and market dynamics
• Alternative expectation models
HW2: Supply response for groundnuts in Sub-Saharan Africa
9. Food security
• Definitions and levels of analysis
• Alternative approaches to food security analysis
• Food production and food security: the role of agriculture
• Trade and food security
• Methods for measuring food security
10. Farmer behavior and welfare under risk
• Technical and economic features of agricultural production processes
• Risk modeling in production economics
• Measuring the cost of risk
• Household response to risk
• Market integration and price stabilization
11. Agricultural household models
• Household behavior and policy analysis
• Producer problem
• Consumer problem
• Worker problem
• Household problem
• Specification of a household model
12. Agricultural household models
• Separable household models with perfect markets
• Non-separable household models with market failures
• Calibration and simulations
HW3: Household response to price incentives
13. Price distortions: partial equilibrium analysis
• Reference prices
• Indicators of protection and incentives
• Indicators of comparative advantages
14. Price distortions: partial equilibrium analysis
• Partial equilibrium analysis of price distortions
• Distortions on tradables
• Distortions on non tradables
• Multiple interventions
HW4: Effects of price distortions and investment in research on efficiency and welfare in Argentina
15. Effects of macroeconomic policies
• Stabilization and structural adjustment: impacts on rural households
• Exchange rate policy
• Fiscal policy
• Monetary policy
16. The real exchange rate
• Market and effective exchange rates
• The equilibrium exchange rate
• Forces affecting the real exchange rate
• Impact of trade distortions on the real exchange rate
HW5: Exchange rate and trade policies in Pakistan
17. Transaction costs and agrarian institutions
• Efficiency: definitions and measurement
• Technical change and productivity growth
18. Transaction costs and agrarian institutions
• Efficiency and productivity under transaction costs
• Household behavior under transaction costs
• Transaction costs and institutional solutions: sharecropping
19. Input-output tables
• Structure of an input-output table
• The input-output model: equations
• Interpretation and extensions
• I-O multipliers
20. Social accounting matrices
• SAM structure
• Construction of a SAM: data requirements
• SAM multipliers
• Interpretation and extensions
HW6: Input-output and SAM multipliers in Morocco
21. CGE models (I)
• Structure of CGE models
• Agents’ behavior and market equilibrium
• The macroeconomics of CGE models
• Foreign trade and the real exchange rate
• Labor market
22. CGE models (II)
• Construction of a CGE model
• Flow chart and functional specifications
• Data requirements
• Closure rules
• Exogenous variables