Agriculture
and Development
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Semester
3 (1999-2001)
Course
leaders: Tran Thi Ben &
1.0
Introduction
Economic
development can be viewed as a process of structural transformation, for which
the central activity is capital accumulation.
Accumulation can occur in the agricultural, industrial or service
sectors. However, differential
productivity growth between the agricultural and industrial sectors means that
rates of accumulation are higher in the industrial sector.
Nonetheless, despite differential productivity growth, agriculture can
have a critical role in the development process.
Agriculture may have the capacity to produce output in excess of the
consumption and investment requirements of the farm economy.
If such is the case, the rural sector may be capable of producing
resources that could, if used in the non-agricultural economy, be used to
finance non-agricultural investment and hence further the accumulation of the
physical, financial and human capital that facilitates structural
transformation.
Clearly,
the relationship between the agricultural and the industrial sectors, and more
particularly the flow of resources between the sectors of an economy, can have
a pivotal bearning on the rate of accumulation. It is therefore necessary for students to get a better
understanding of the quantitative and qualitative significance of
intersectoral resource flows, and the impact of such flows on productivity,
investment and economic growth.
2.0
Learning objectives
This
course will enhance the capacity of students to quantitatively and
qualitatively assess the signficance of intersectoral resource flows in the
process of economic development. This
will be achieved by enhancing the understanding of the student of:
i.
the role of agriculture in economic development;
ii.
the ways in which intersectoral resource flows can be
quantified;
iii.
the analytical signficance of intersectoral resource
flows.
iv.
the contribution of agriculture to the economic
development of specific Asian countries
3.0
Teaching methods
Teaching
will have three components:
1.
formal lectures focused on student learning requirements will be used
to develop analytical frameworks and survey the relevant literature;
2.
informal workshops directed by students will follow up, develop and
discuss issues raised in the lectures through the preparation and presentation
of pre-assigned teamwork. Teams
will be allocated on the first day of the course, and team workshops will take
place on 14 and 21 June and 5 July. For
each workshop, each team will be expected to prepare a presentation of no more
than 40 minutes.
3.
A team coursework paper based upon the workshop presentation will be
presented to the course leaders on 27 July at 09.00 and will be used to
evaluate the extent to which student capacities have been enhanced.
4.0
Student work load
This
course carries a weight of 30 MA Calendar hours.
However, the average student seeking to achieve an average performance
should be prepared to devote a minimum of 120 hours of work to it.
The breakdown of this minimum workload is as follows:
Lectures
=
3 lectures @ 3 hours per lecture
=
9 hours
Workshops
=
3 workshops @ 3 hours per workshop
=
9 hours
Workshop
preparation =
30 hours
Paper
preparation
=
20 hours
Reading
=
278@ 6 pages per hour
=
50 hours
Total
=
118 hours
5.0
Assessment method
The
course is assessed by teamwork. Students
will be expected to complete:
1.
a team workshop presentation =
40 %
2.
a team paper
=
60 %
6.0
Team workshop presentations and papers
The
second half of the course will be given over to student-led workshops that
will use country case studies to examine the role of agriculture in the
process of industrialization and economic development.
Students will be divided by the course leaders into 6 groups:
Group
A:
India
Group
B:
Japan
Group
C:
Taiwan
Group
D:
China
Group
E:
Korea
Group
F:
Iran
To
start, each group will be expected to gather information from the World
Development Indicators (1999) for the period 1965 to 1997 on the following:
*
share of agricultural/industrial/service labour force
*
value of agricultural/industrial/service production
*
rate of growth of agricultural/industrial/service production
*
share of agriculture/industry/services in production
*
key industrial products
*
key crops
*
average food production per capita
*
share of agriculture/industry/services in exports
*
cereal imports
*
cereal food aid
*
debt service ratio
*
population
*
income per capita
*
under-five infant mortality rate
*
adult female literacy rate.
Using
this information as a starting point, groups will then proceed to reading the
background literature for the case studies that are noted in the teaching
programme. Upon concluding the
background reading, it is expected that students will supplement their
knowledge as and when necessary by searching for additional materials in the
Project Library and from the Internet. The
purpose of this data review and literature study will be to address the
following questions:
1.
What have been the patterns of intersectoral resource
flows in the country under consideration?
2.
What
have been the processes responsible for intersectoral resource flows?
3.
To what extent have intersectoral resource flows
contributed to macroeconomic growth?
4.
To what extent have intersectoral resource flows
contributed to processes of structural transformation?
5.
To what extent have intersectoral resource flows
contributed to improvements in well-being?
6.
What are the implications of the team’s findings for
Vietnam?
These
questions will be answered before the entire class when each team makes their
in-class presentation of no more than 40 minutes. For each presentation, one group will be assigned to be a
discussant of the presentation, and one group will be assigned to summarize
the presentation, the comments of the discussant group, general comments, and
the response of the presenting group.
Based
upon the presentation of students in the workshop, and the comments, criticism
and corrections that are received from staff and students, each team will
submit a single paper of no more than 4000 words by 09.00 on Thursday 27 July
2000. The presentation and the
paper will form the basis of the assessment of students on the course. In the assessment of the team paper, the following criteria
will be used:
a. structure, coherence and presentation of the written
paper;
b. originality of the argument;
c. use of (i) general and (ii) empirical materials relevant
to the topic;
d. in addition, the course leaders reserve the right to vary
the mark assigned to the paper on the basis of the quality of the workshop
presentation, the group’s response to comments made in the workshop, and the
contributions of the individual members to both the team presentations and the
final team paper.
7.0
Teaching
programme
7.1
June 5 2000: Lecture:
Agriculture, industry and economic development
Learning
objective: to critically evaluate
the role of agriculture in economic growth
Key
concepts: structural transformation; capital accumulation; labour
productivity; Engel’s Law; investment; the multiplier; the agricultural
surplus; linkages.
Reading:
Timmer,
C P ‘The agricultural transformation’ in Chenery, H and Srinivasan, T N,
eds, Handbook of Development Economics
Volume I, Amsterdam: North-Holland,
1988, pp 275-331.
Storm,
S ‘Alternative theories of agriculture-industry interaction’ in Macroeconomic
Considerations in the Choice of an Agricultural Policy, Aldershot, UK:
Avebury, 1993, pp 23-53.
Karshenas,
M ‘Development theory and intersectoral resource flows’ in Industrialization and Agricultural Surplus: A Comparative Study of Economic Development in Asia,
Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1995, pp 9-25.
7.2
June 7 2000: Lecture:
Resource mobilization
Learning
objective: to critically consider mechanisms of surplus transfer
Key
concepts: savings; intersectoral resource flows; the intersectoral terms of
trade; price policy; tax policy; constraints on surplus transfer; conditions
that facilitate surplus transfer.
Reading:
Karshenas,
M ‘Determinants of surplus
transfer and policy constraints’ in Industrialization
and Agricultural Surplus: A
Comparative Study of Economic Development in Asia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp 48-63.
Krueger,
A O ‘Government policies and policy instruments affecting agriculture’ in The
Political Economy of Agricultural Pricing Policy Volume 5:
A Synthesis of the Political Economy in Developing Countries,
London: The Johns Hopkins Press,
1992, pp 7-33.
7.3
June 9 2000:
Lecture: Accounting for
intersectoral resource flows
Learning
objective: to develop the capacity to quantitatively evaluate intersectoral
resource flows
Key
concepts: price indices; the indicative method; the specific method; the
intersectoral resource accounts; the trade surplus; the factor services
surplus; the transfer surplus; the savings surplus.
Reading:
Karshenas,
M ‘Definitions and mechanisms
of surplus transfer’ in Industrialization
and Agricultural Surplus: A
Comparative Study of Economic Development in Asia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp 26-47.
Karshenas,
M ‘Intersectoral resource flows, economic growth, income distribution, and
poverty’ in Industrialization and
Agricultural Surplus: A
Comparative Study of Economic Development in Asia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp 167-191.
Karshenas,
M ‘A comparative overview and conclusions’ in Industrialization and Agricultural Surplus: A Comparative Study of Economic Development in Asia,
Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1995, pp 192-208.
Ishikawa,
S ‘Patterns and processes of intersectoral resource flows:
comparison of cases in Asia’ in Ranis, G and Schultz, T P, eds, The
State of Development Economics: Progress
and Perspectives, Oxford: Basil
Blackwell, 1988, pp 283-331.
Schiff,
M and Vald¾s,
A ‘The effects of intervention on
income transfers to and from agriculture’ in The
Political Economy of Agricultural Pricing Policy Volume 4:
A Synthesis of the Economics in Developing Countries, London: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1992, pp117-149.
7.4
June 14 2000: Workshop:
Indian and Japanese case studies
Learning
objective: to critically evaluate country
experiences
Group
A’s discussant is Group C, and Group F will summarize the workshop
Group
B’s discussant is Group D, and Group E will summarize the workshop
Background
reading:
Japan
Francks,
P with Boestel, J and Kim, C H ‘The role of agriculture in Japanese
industrialisation’ in Agriculture and
Economic Development in East Asia: From
Growth to Protectionism in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, Routledge, 1999, pp
47-72.
India
Karshenas,
M ‘Intersectoral resource flows in
India, 1951-1970’ in Industrialization
and Agricultural Surplus: A
Comparative Study of Economic Development in Asia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp 82-100.
7.5
June 21 2000: Workshop:
Taiwanese and Chinese case studies
Learning
objective: to
critically evaluate country experiences
Group
C’s discussant is Group E, and Group A will summarize the workshop
Group
D’s discussant is Group F, and Group B will summarize the workshop
Background
reading:
Taiwan
Francks,
P with Boestel, J and Kim, C H ‘The role of agriculture in Taiwan’s
economic development’ in Agriculture
and Economic Development in East Asia: From
Growth to Protectionism in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, Routledge, 1999, pp
159-188.
China
Karshenas,
M ‘Intersectoral resource flows in
China, 1952-1983’ in Industrialization
and Agricultural Surplus: A
Comparative Study of Economic Development in Asia, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995, pp 147-166.
7.6
July 5 2000: Workshop:
Korean and Iranian case studies
Learning
objective: to critically evaluate country experiences
Group
E’s discussant is Group A, and Group C will summarize the workshop
Group
F’s discussant is Group B, and Group D will summarize the workshop
Background
reading:
Korea
Francks,
P with Boestel, J and Kim, C H ‘Agriculture and industrialisation in
Korea’ in Agriculture and Economic
Development in East Asia: From
Growth to Protectionism in Japan, Korea and Taiwan, Routledge, 1999, pp
103-130.
Iran
Karshenas,
M ‘Intersectoral resource flows in Iran, 1963-1977’ in Industrialization and Agricultural Surplus: A Comparative Study of Economic Development in Asia,
Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1995, pp 116-129.
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Research
Methodology for Development
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Semester
2 (1999-2001)
Course
leader: Dr A Haroon Akram-Lodhi
1.0 Introduction
A
critical skill which students must develop is the capacity to analyze problems
and assess interventions seeking to solve those problems, within the context
of the major debates, theories and strategic interventions in development
economics. In order to create
this skill, it is necessary to develop the student’s capacities in research
methodology. Training in research
methodology permits a student to properly identify, formulate and develop a
research problem; develop and implement a design for research in relation to
that problem; translate a problem into specific and focused research
questions; collect and analyze the data necessary to answer the research
questions; and clearly and cogently write up the results of research.
Thus, research methodology is central to the problem solving process.
However,
the formation and enhancement of skills in research methodology is not
something that can be learnt from textbooks.
This is because the way in which the information which guides research
is selected is a fundamental normative issue.
There is always a theoretical framework inherent in how a particular problem
is presented and investigated. This
means that the research process is not a neutral search for ‘the truth’;
rather, the researcher always makes an implicit or an explicit choice
concerning alternative ways of conducting research, and the choice that is
made will affect the way in which a problem is solved. As a consequence, the outcome of the research process can
never offer a complete explanation; at best, explanation will only be partial. Moreover, the outcome of the research process must always be tentative: consistent with the scientific method, it is always possible
that the solution to a problem will be disproven.
2.0 Learning objectives
This
course will enhance the capacity of students to conduct policy-oriented
development economics research. This
will be achieved by enhancing the understanding of the student of:
1.
the theoretical and subjective nature of the research process;
2.
the elementary logic and sequence of a research design;
3.
the ways by which the primary, secondary and tertiary data necessary
for the research may be located;
4.
the relationship between managerial skills and technical abilities in
the research process.
3.0 Teaching methods
In
that every researcher has a different way of undertaking their research, it is
not possible for formal lectures to impart ‘correct’ research methodology
techniques. Rather, the role of
the lecturer must be to facilitate a student-led process in which individuals
learn what is best for their way of working.
To that end, this course will consist of a series of informal
student-focused lectures that will introduce questions, concepts, and the
application of concepts to questions. Student-focused
lectures will also include a set of practical skill-enhancing exercises
designed to further develop themes and issues that have been raised.
Some exercises are conducted in-class, while others require the student
to work on their own or in teams.
4.0 Student work load
Lecture
hours
=
15
Reading
=
187 pages @ 6 pp/hour
=
32
Preparation
and writing of assessed assignments
=
18
Total
student work load hours
=
65
Number
of MA calendar hours
= 25
5.0
Assessment method
The
course is assessed by individual and group coursework.
Students will be expected to complete:
1.
a preliminary thesis proposal (individual)
=
25 %
2.
a peer review of a preliminary thesis proposal (individual)
=
25 %
3.
a literature search (group)
=
40 %
4.
class participation
=
10 %
In
addition, several exercises that are not assessed will be conducted during the
course. Failure to complete these
exercises will however result in a penalty against the student.
6.0 Teaching programme
Thurday,
4 May 2000:
Theory and evidence in empirical
research
Learning
objective: to facilitate an
understanding of the way in which arguments are constructed in social
research.
Key
concepts: argument; theory;
subjectivity; evidence; association; causality.
Exercise
1:
Observation, theory and fact
Reading
Wuyts,
M (1992) ‘Unit 2: Theory, fact and method’ in M Wuyts (ed) Research Methods in Financial Economics, London:
School of Oriental and African Studies External Programme, pp 1-15.
Tuesday,
9 May 2000:
The research process:
from topics to questions
Learning
objective: to create the capacity to
understand the logical sequence of the research process.
Key
concepts: methods and methodology;
identifying a research problem; the formulation of research questions;
breaking down the research question; the sequence of the research process.
Exercise
2a:
Research topics versus research questions
Exercise
2b:
Assessing research questions
Reading
Mikkelson,
B (1995) ‘Different types of development studies and complementary field
study methods’ in Methods for Development Work and Research: A Guide for Practitioners, London: Sage Publications, pp 210-249.
Monday,
15 May 2000:
Research design
Learning
objective:
to establish an elementary
understanding of the issues involved when planning an empirical enquiry.
Key
concepts:
concepts; the operationalization of
a problem; formulating hypotheses; developing an analytical framework.
Submit:
Exercise 2b
Exercise
3:
Developing a preliminary thesis proposal
Reading
Coombes,
P (1992) ‘Unit 1: Getting started’ in M Wuyts (ed) Research Methods in Financial Economics, London:
School of Oriental and African Studies External Programme, pp 1-23.
Tuesday,
16 May 2000:
Locating the evidence
Learning
objective: to enhance
the capacity to differentiate between alternative pieces of information.
Key
concepts:
types of quantitative evidence; structured and semi-structured
interviews; sources of evidence; non-quantitative evidence; literature
searches; literature surveys; literature studies; the data matrix; grey
material.
Exercise
4:
Conducting a literature search
Reading
Barientos,
S (1998) ‘How to do a literature study’ in A Thomas, J Chataway and M
Wuyts (eds) Finding Out Fast:
Investigative Skills for Policy and Development, London:
Sage Publications, pp 87-106.
O’Laughlin,
B (1998) ‘Interpreting
institutional discourses’ in A Thomas, J Chataway and M Wuyts (eds) Finding
Out Fast: Investigative Skills
for Policy and Development, London: Sage
Publications, pp 107-126.
Woodhouse,
P (1998) ‘People as informants’ in A Thomas, J Chataway and M Wuyts (eds) Finding
Out Fast: Investigative Skills
for Policy and Development, London: Sage
Publications, pp 127-147.
Thursday,
18 May 2000:
Managing the research process
Learning
objective: to
improve the ability to manage complex flows of information.
Key
concepts:
time management; reading techniques; note-taking; file management.
Reading
Poate,
C D and Daplyn, P F (1993) ‘Presenting the results’ in Data
for Agrarian Development, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, pp 302-326.
Poate,
C D and Daplyn, P F (1993) ‘Field work’ in Data
for Agrarian Development, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, pp 179-207.
Friday,
19 May 2000:
Submit:
Exercise 3
Exercise
5:
Peer review of a preliminary thesis proposal
Monday,
12 June 2000:
Submit:
Exercise 5
Monday,
19 June 2000:
Submit:
Exercise 4
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