Economic Development · Economics
A wide array of development research that broadened my perspective.
5 problem sets (20%), midterm (30%), final (50%).
We learned about applications of econometrics into research of various aspects of developmental economics (education, finance, health, etc.)
I think Wellisz is possibly the worst professor in the economics department. His lectures are unorganized, rambling, and unclear. At one point in his life, he clearly knew economics--he still may--but he is not able to communicate it in an interesting or effective way. He used vague and unclear powerpoint slides which did little to add structure to obscenely boring lectures. He covered topics VERY vaguely in class, and then expected you to know them in detail on the exams... which was particularly ridiculous because some of what we studied was not adequately explained in the textbook. The sad thing about this is that the subject matter (economic development) is potentially really interesting. The biggest problem with this class is that the homework and exams bore surprisingly little relationship to what we read or talked about in class. The exam was graded pretty harshly, and the final definetely asked a question or two that we barely touched on in class, the book, or anywhere... I advise you to stay away from his Economic Development class at ALL costs. It was an unpleasant, boring experience. Even if you are a good econ student, I guarantee that you will lose interest. Seriously, just stay away from this class; I am warning you. It was by far my worst experience in the columbia economics department.
Learned about the field of and literature in development economics, especially the Nobel prize work and winners in this field, anchored on poverty traps, microfinance and government improvement studies.
Midterm and Final- (weighted 1/3 and 2/3)
Applied microeconomics in the context of development economics (education, finance, health etc. in developing countries) with the use of econometrics such as DID, RD, IV.
Attending Prof. Wellisz's class is definitely a key point to this class. He has extensive knowledge and experience with economic development. You can get away without doing much of the reading by taking notes in class (if you can decipher all the handwriting), but the textbook is good source for this class.
Econometric techniques, how to more effectively read economic papers, and a general overview of developmental economics as a field.
Overview of how to conduct and analyse experiments in the field of development economics.