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OxfordX: OXBSG01x From Poverty to Prosperity: Understanding Economic Development

Syllabus

How can poor societies become prosperous and overcome obstacles to do so? Professor Sir Paul Collier is one of the world’s leading scholars on this question, and in this economics course you will have the opportunity not only to interact with the course materials but also to participate in a Q&A session with Professor Collier.

Course Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

    • Identify the role of government and the key political, social and economic processes that affect development.
    • Understand why societies need polities that are both centralised and inclusive, and the process by which these polities develop.
    • Understand the social factors that are necessary for development, including the importance of identities, norms, and narratives.
    • Recognise the impact of economic processes on development, including discussion about how government policies can either promote or inhibit the exploitation of scale and specialisation. 
    • Identify the external conditions for development, including trade flows, capital flows and labour flows.
    • Apply the concepts learned by completing a final assignment that allows learners to practice the analysis of development challenges using the concepts of the course.

Assessments

Your participation in the course will be evaluated through four types of assessment: quizzes, discussion forum participation, final assignment, and participation in the optional surveys.

The quizzes will give you a chance to review your understanding of the main concepts presented in the module. Each module will end with a quiz, which consists of multiple-choice questions. You have two attempts for each quiz to get the answers correct. There are five quizzes in the course. 

The discussion forum will give you an opportunity to present your ideas and insights to the other participants in the course, and in turn, learn from them. There are six discussion forum assignments in total, five are graded. 

The final assignment will allow you to practice the analysis of development challenges using the concepts of the course. This assignment will consist of three questions, and you will be expected to answer each question in 200-300 words. Peer assessment will be used to grade the final assignment. This means your peers will assess your final assignment answers using a pre-defined assessment guide (rubric), and you will do the same. Each student is only required to assess three assignments.

**IMPORTANT**: Please note that the final assignment consists of two parts: the first part is your answers to the final assignment questions, and the second part is your assessment of your peers' assignments.

Note: You will not receive grades for your final assignment submission unless you submit your assessment of your peers' answers.

As this course is self-paced, there will be a chance you will not find peer assignments to review. Tutors will check the peer assignments every two weeks. If your work can not be reviewed by a peer, a tutor will review your work following the same rubric.

The optional surveys will allow us to learn more about you and your experience in taking the course, which will enable us to better serve all learners in this course and future courses. There is a Pre-Course and a Post-Course Survey, each one should only take 5–10 minutes of your time. 

How to Earn a Certificate and Succeed in this course

To succeed in this course, you are expected to:

    • Watch all videos
    • Take all the quizzes
    • Reflect on what you’re learning
    • Share your ideas with your fellow learners in the discussion forum
    • Apply what you learnt to complete the final assignment

In order to pass the course and qualify for a verified certificate, you must receive an overall grade of 75% or higher. Your grade will be calculated as follows:

    • 30% for completing the five multiple-choice quizzes at the end of the modules (please note that you have two attempts to answer the quizzes).
    • 25% for participating in the five graded module discussion forums.
    • 40% for completing the final assignment and assessing your peers’ work. The final assignment details will be released in module 6. The final assignment will be assessed by your peers using a pre-defined assessment guide (rubric), and you will also be expected to assess your peers’ work as part of the grade.
    • 5% for completing the optional Pre-Course and Post-Course Surveys.

Course Assessment:

Note: Certificates do not indicate your score, only that you have passed. Your certificate will be issued by edX under the name OxfordX. 

Overview of Course content

This course is organised into six modules, one for each course week. The sixth module is the final assignment. In addition to the six modules, the course also includes a Getting Started section, a Pre-Course and a Post-Course Survey section.

The course material consists of lecture videos and texts, additional readings, quizzes, and discussion topics.

Below is a brief guide to the content of each module:

Getting Started

What is From Poverty to Prosperity: Understanding Economic Development? Learn more about what the course offers and how to navigate through it. Tell us more about yourself answering the discussion questions.

Module 1: From Anarchy to a Centralised State

Economic development needs polities that are centralised and inclusive. No society starts with such a polity. Starting from anarchy, what determines whether a centralised state emerges?

    1. Overview
    2. Anarchy to Centralised State: The Six Steps
    3. Why Not Everywhere?
    4. Summary
    5. Additional Reading
    6. Quiz
    7. Discussion

Module 2: From Centralised to Inclusive States

Economic development needs polities that are centralised and inclusive. No society starts with such a polity. What are the factors that develop a centralised state into an inclusive one?

    1. Overview
    2. Inclusive States
    3. Why Not Everywhere
    4. Summary
    5. Additional Reading
    6. Quiz
    7. Discussion

Module 3: Power, Identities and Narratives

Economic development needs an alignment between power and identities. What happens when power and identities are misaligned and how can that misalignment be addressed?

    1. Overview
    2. Empirical Evidence
    3. Identity and Power
    4. Narratives and Norms
    5. Social Networks
    6. Summary
    7. Additional Reading
    8. Quiz
    9. Discussion

Module 4: Growth through Urbanisation and Industrialisation

Economic development depends upon exploiting scale and specialisation, but poor societies start with neither. How can government policies promote or inhibit the exploitation of scale and specialisation both spatially (through urbanisation) and sectorally (through industrialisation)?

    1. Overview
    2. Urbanisation 
    3. Industrialisation
    4. Summary
    5. Additional Reading
    6. Quiz
    7. Discussion

Module 5: External Influences: Trade, Capital, and Labour flows

The political, social and economic processes covered in previous modules are fundamentally internal. External influences are peripheral but may still matter, for good or ill.

    1. Overview
    2. Trade Flows 
    3. Capital Flows
    4. Labour Flows
    5. Summary
    6. Additional Reading
    7. Quiz
    8. Discussion

Module 6: Final Assignment

The details of the final assignment and instructions on how to complete it are available in this module. 

Time Commitment and Prerequisites

You should plan to spend between 2–3 hours per week on this course. There are no prerequisites for this course. However, students with some knowledge of economics will find it easier to complete the course.