Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Roots of Development
Other languages of instruction: Catalan, Spanish,
Teaching staff
The opening hours for students will be on Tuesday, from 11.00 to 12.00, either in person or online. Email confirmation is mandatory.
Introduction
Roots of Development is a foundational course of the master's programme. It deals with one of the most significant questions of the modern world: what do we mean by development, why do some societies prosper while others do not, and which normative and causal assumptions are embedded in every cooperation or socio-economic intervention?
Rather than a chronological history of economic thought or an encyclopaedic catalogue of development theories, the course is organised around a set of persistent dilemmas that continue to structure contemporary debates: growth versus welfare and distribution; market versus state and community; accumulation versus sustainability; openness versus protection; and agency versus structure. Historical and theoretical material — from the classical economists to the most recent work on growth, institutions, human capabilities, ecological limits, technological knowledge and the new industrial policy — is introduced as a genealogy of these live problems, never as erudition for its own sake.
The course is deliberately plural and non-ideological: each school of thought is presented with both its contributions and its blind spots, and students are trained to recognise which theory is operating behind any practical decision and what that theory leaves out. In this way, Roots of Development furnishes the conceptual framework on which the more applied and professional courses of the programme will build.
Pre-course requirements
No prerequisite is demanded. The course is designed for students from heterogeneous academic backgrounds and does not presuppose prior training in economics.
Objectives
The student will be able to:
1. Distinguish the main theories and currents of development (classical, modernisation, structuralist and dependency, institutionalist, human-capabilities, ecological, and the new industrial policy), recognising their causal and normative assumptions.
2. Situate each theory historically as a response to a live practical dilemma, rather than as a point in a chronology of authors.
3. Understand the role of technological knowledge and innovation as engines of economic growth and structural change, and their implications for policy.
4. Critically interpret the principal indicators of development (GDP, HDI, poverty, inequality and sustainability), knowing what each metric reveals and what it conceals.
5. Analyse the practical implications of each approach for real cases of development and cooperation, including the role of the social economy.
6. Diagnose an ill-defined development problem by mobilising theories and dilemmas, and defend a reasoned position, in writing and orally, before professional audiences.
Competences/Learning outcomes of the degree programme
- C100 - Diagnose root causes of inequality and apply theoretical and empirical development frameworks.
Learning outcomes of the subject
The student is able to identify and distinguish the main theories and practices of development that have emerged throughout history, together with the assumptions that support them and the strengths and shortcomings of each.
The student is able to situate each theory as a historically located answer to a persistent development dilemma, and to recognise those dilemmas at work in contemporary policy and cooperation decisions.
The student is able to interpret critically the main indicators of development, understanding what each measure captures and what it omits.
The student has developed a personal, critical and plural view on development, which he or she is able to present and defend, with its strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
The student is able to diagnose a concrete development problem — mobilising the appropriate theories, indicators, actors and institutions — and to propose a reasoned line of intervention.
Syllabus
The course is delivered in twelve sessions organised in five blocks. It follows a semi-flipped methodology (see Teaching and learning activities).
Block 1. What is development?
- Session 1. What is development? Growth, welfare and measurement
- Session 2. The long roots of development: five dilemmas that never disappear
Block 2. How development was theorised and pursued
- Session 3. Development after 1945: modernisation, planning and the big push
- Session 4. Structural transformation, productivity and technological knowledge
- Session 5. Structuralism and dependency
- Session 6. Globalisation, trade and policy space
Block 3. The state, institutions and industrial policy
- Session 7. State, institutions and governance
- Session 8. The return of industrial policy: innovation, clusters and smart specialisation
Block 4. Distribution, capabilities and ecological limits
- Session 9. Inequality, poverty and inclusion
- Session 10. Sustainability, ecological limits and post-growth
Block 5. Integration and assessment
- Session 11. Final discussion: real cases in development economics
- Session 12. Examination: diagnosing a development case (open-notes)
Teaching and learning activities
In person
The course combines traditional lectures with a semi-flipped classroom methodology: before each couple of sessions, students are required to read a text (or texts) and may submit a short reading note; class time then combines a conceptual lecture (50–60 min) with a text-discussion block and a closing applied mini-case, structured debate or diagnostic exercise.
Evaluation systems and criteria
In person
In accordance with the university's policy, class attendance is mandatory: the student must attend a minimum of 80% of the classes in order to pass the course.
In the first call, the course grade is calculated on the basis of the following tasks and weightings:
Attitude and participation............................................................................................... 10%
Reading notes............................................................................................................... 30%
Group project and presentation....................................................................................... 25%
Final examination (case-based, open-notes)...................................................................... 35%
Description of the assessed tasks
- Attitude, participation and reading notes: informed participation in class discussion, together with short reading notes of 300–500 words submitted before class. IMPORTANT: AI use is welcome, but reading notes must reflect real knowledge. If a significant discrepancy between written and oral knowledge is detected, the final grade can be severely penalised.
- Group project and presentation: a structured diagnosis of a development problem applying the course contents to a real case chosen by the students — written report of 1,800–2,000 words plus a 15–20-minute presentation — linked to the integrative workshop (Session 11).
- Final examination: an open-notes, case-based or problem-based examination (Session 12) in which the student diagnoses a development case or problem by mobilising the theories, indicators and dilemmas of the course.
Assessment criteria
Theoretical understanding (correct, non-superficial use of the frameworks); application (capacity to illuminate a real case, not merely to expound theory); critical thinking (recognition of assumptions, limits and unintended effects); intellectual pluralism and honesty (consideration of alternative positions); and clarity and rigour in written and oral communication.
Bibliography and resources
Basic bibliography (manuals)
- Szirmai, A. (2015). Socio-Economic Development (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- Willis, K. (2021). Theories and Practices of Development (3rd ed.). Routledge.
These two manuals provide the structural backbone of the course and serve as reference works throughout: Szirmai offers a comparative, non-technical treatment combining economics, economic history, political science and sociology, while Willis maps the main theories and practices of development in an accessible format.
Supplementary bibliography
Compulsory per-session readings — an article or book chapter of approximately 20–30 pages, organised as paired and often opposing texts for class debate — are drawn from the works below and shared through the virtual campus.
Further textbooks and reference works
- Giménez Esteban, G. (2017). Introducción al crecimiento económico y desarrollo. Pirámide.
- Peet, R. & Hartwick, E. (2015). Theories of Development: Contentions, Arguments, Alternatives (3rd ed.). Guilford Press.
- Perkins, D. H., Radelet, S., Lindauer, D. L. & Block, S. A. (2012). Economics of Development (7th ed.). W. W. Norton.
- Thirlwall, A. P. & Pacheco-López, P. (2017). Economics of Development: Theory and Evidence (10th ed.). Red Globe Press.
- Todaro, M. P. & Smith, S. C. Economic Development (latest edition). Pearson.
Key monographs
- Acemoglu, D. & Robinson, J. A. (2012). Why Nations Fail. Crown.
- Aghion, P., Antonin, C. & Bunel, S. (2021). The Power of Creative Destruction. Harvard University Press.
- Chang, H.-J. (2002). Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective. Anthem Press.
- Chang, H.-J. (2014). Economics: The User's Guide. Pelican.
- Foray, D. (2015). Smart Specialisation: Opportunities and Challenges for Regional Innovation Policy. Routledge.
- Hickel, J. (2020). Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World. William Heinemann.
- Hirschman, A. O. (1958). The Strategy of Economic Development. Yale University Press.
- Mazzucato, M. (2013). The Entrepreneurial State. Anthem Press.
- Milanovic, B. (2016). Global Inequality. Harvard University Press.
- Mokyr, J. (2016). A Culture of Growth: The Origins of the Modern Economy. Princeton University Press.
- Nussbaum, M. (2011). Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Harvard University Press.
- Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons. Cambridge University Press.
- Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Harvard University Press.
- Prebisch, R. (1950). The Economic Development of Latin America and Its Principal Problems. United Nations / ECLAC.
- Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut Economics. Random House.
- Rodrik, D. (2007). One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalization, Institutions, and Economic Growth. Princeton University Press.
- Rodrik, D. (2011). The Globalization Paradox. W. W. Norton.
- Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press.
Articles, working papers and reports
- Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. & Robinson, J. A. (2001). 'The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation'. American Economic Review, 91(5), 1369–1401.
- Cherif, R. & Hasanov, F. (2019). 'The Return of the Policy That Shall Not Be Named: Principles of Industrial Policy'. IMF Working Paper 19/74.
- Juhász, R., Lane, N. & Rodrik, D. (2024). 'The New Economics of Industrial Policy'. Annual Review of Economics, 16, 213–242.
- Lewis, W. A. (1954). 'Economic Development with Unlimited Supplies of Labour'. The Manchester School, 22(2), 139–191.
- Rodrik, D. & Stiglitz, J. E. (2024). 'A New Growth Strategy for Developing Nations'. Working paper.
- Rosenstein-Rodan, P. (1943). 'Problems of Industrialisation of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe'. The Economic Journal, 53(210/211), 202–211.