introduction to regional and economic development, 56:824:705
[note the class was envisoned as a PhD class and largely remains so;
master's students: bar is lower and focus more on application than research]
Spring 2020 Mon 6-8.50 location: ATG-207
professor
Adam Okulicz-Kozaryn
adam.okulicz.kozaryn@gmail.com
office: 321 Cooper St, room 302
office hours: Mon 4.30-5.30, and by appointment
teaching assistant/graduate assistant (GA)
Shourjya Deb
shourjyadb@gmail.com
office: 321 Cooper St, 1st fl computer lab in the back
office hours: Tue 3-5, 321 Cooper St, 1st fl computer lab in the back and by appointment
course pre-requisites
none
course description
This course introduces economic (and other) development at local level. We will
briefly cover basic development theory, and focus on practical
issues such as planning and analyzing.
We will try to make it a discussion-based seminar; not a lecture! So I
expect you to be prepared and talk a lot!
student learning objectives/outcomes
become familiar with basic development theories
learn planning for local development
learn strategies for local development
review literature
learn how to find the local data and produce descriptive statistics at different levels of aggregation and make basic inferences
demonstrate mastery of the material by writing a paper, which you
should submit to a journal
books
NOTE: i have put Blakely and Green on the reserve at the library
NOTE: you do not have to buy any books; i am trying to summarize key points in slides, and
only material covered in lectures and posted on the syllabus is required,
but your understanding will be deeper if you read the books...You can
largely pick, but you have to read quite a bit for this class
NOTE: Blakely, O'Sullivan and Green et al are typical classroom textbooks, and hence, comprehensive
but dry; Other books are topic specific, and more story-like...We
will go over them in first class you should get at least one!
required
none
recommended for practitioners
Edward J. Blakely (Author), Nancey Green Leigh Planning Local
Economic Development: Theory and Practice http://amzn.com/1412960932
It is a book for practitioners/planners at county, city and
neighborhood level. We will mostly follow its chapters in slides.
Green, Gary Paul and Anna Haines (2011). Asset Building and Community
Development, 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
http://amzn.com/1412982235
This book focuses on community, social capital, and hence the "soft" side
of the development.
recommended for researchers [some of best and my favorite books in
the area]
Okulicz-Kozaryn, Adam. Happiness and Place: Why life is better
outside of the city (will send you a copy)
Green, Gary Paul and Anna Haines (2011). Asset Building and Community
Development, 3rd edition. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
http://amzn.com/1412982235
This book focuses on community, social capital, and hence the "soft" side
of the development.
Arthur O'Sullivan, Urban Economics (McGraw-Hill Series in Urban Economics)
http://amzn.com/0073375780
An alternative to Blakely book: more theoretical and academic text;
rather for economists - it has lots of curves and some formulas.
Edward L. Glaeser, "Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest
Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier"
http://amzn.com/159420277X
This book lists many advantages of city living, compares different
cities (e.g. Chicago and New York) and contrasts
urban and rural areas. Glaeser advocates dense city living.
Richard Florida, "Who's Your City?: How the Creative Economy Is
Making Where to Live the Most Important Decision of Your Life"
http://amzn.com/0465018092
Creativity is key for local development. Florida shows measures of
creativity and maps them in the US and Canada.
Jane Jacobs, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities"
http://amzn.com/067974195X
A classic.
Jane Jacobs, "The economy of
cities"http://amzn.com/B0006BZ2K6
A classic.
Robert Putnam, "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of
American Community" http://amzn.com/0743203046
A book about social capital and its decline in the US.
Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett "The Spirit Level: Why Greater
Equality Makes Societies
Stronger" http://amzn.com/1608193411
A book about income inequality across US states and countries, and
negative consequences of income inequality for development.
David Harvey "17 contradictions of capitalism" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0190230851/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_nXZlEbCJATS7F
A different
perspective by a probably leading contemporary Marxist.
Duany "Suburban nation" https://www.amazon.com/dp/0865477507/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_hZZlEb781KEBF
Probably best treatment of suburban
problems from planning/policy perspective.
Richard H. Thaler "Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth,
and
Happiness" http://a.co/82yiFSY
Using basic psychology that businesses (eg supermakets) use, but for
common good
Natemeyer, W.E. and McMahon, J.T. "Classics of organizational
behavior" http://a.co/8ikYj9s
As the name indicates. Classics.
requirements
midterm exam - you will write a short essay and try to solve few
problems based on the class materials and assigned readings
problem sets - you may work in groups on problem
sets, but write up answers separately
and the more people in the group the better/longer the product should be.
[publishable!] paper - max 10 single spaced pages (if you
need more see me) covering at least one of the
topics covered. It may be an empirical paper, literature review or a
strategy/plan for local development. If you submit an early draft, I will give you comments.
You may cowrite one paper (upto 2 people) but then the paper
quality needs to higher than a single-authored paper.
Ideally, the paper should be submitted to a professional journal for a
publication.
Your paper should read like a story (be engaging, have some point)
and your conclusions should be 'robust', i.e. exclude alternative explanations
presentation - a week or two weeks before the paper is due, you
will present it to the class. Presentation will be 10-15 min and you
should expect questions from the audience. Note: some ps will also
involve a presentation.
grading
midterm 30%
problem sets 30% (6x5points) [plus one for extra credit]
class discussions 10%
paper (and paper presentation) 30%
min | max | grade |
90.0 | 100.0 | A |
85.0 | 89.9 | B+ |
80.0 | 84.9 | B |
75.0 | 79.9 | C+ |
70.0 | 74.9 | C |
0 | 69.9 | F |
core values
Ethics--at the international, national and local levels
Justice--economic, social and equality
Diversity
Transparency
(tentative: the most uptodate calendar is always on my website)
very important notes
for weekly book readings see slides from that class (so to
see what you need to read for next week see next week's slides): "outline" on p. 2
there will be additional paper readings listed starting on p.3;
if any reading is required, it will say at the top of page 3:
"NECESSARY READING: reading_names..." e.g. hard_economic_development_theory.pdf
when printing handouts you can print multiple slides per sheet ((i
like 6)http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/332/332720.html#main_Print multiple
some slides are lengthy and will continue over more than one
class--we will go as fast as we can, but also allow time for discussion
introduction, background, data
1/27 ps0.pdf intro.pdf
vid
2/3 ps1.pdf data_and_description.pdf
vid
basic theory
2/10 ps2.pdf, ps3.pdf,
and hard_economic_development_theory.pdf
vid
2/17 continue hard_economic_development_theory: sec "urban eco axioms"
vid
2/24 soft_development_theories.pdf
vid
3/2 continue soft development theories (sp20: slide on tax, top tax was 94percent)
AND people-who-own-guns-are-stiupid.pdf
vid
3/9 midterm [open book open note; 2hrs only!]
3/23 ps4.pdf;
midterm discussion midterm20.pdf
;
planning_and_strategy-locality_and_business_development.pdf vid
different aspects of development
3/30 ps5.pdf human_capital.pdf
ps4 presentations;
for video see sakai
4/6 ps6.pdf ps7.pdf
creative_class.pdf; lili:
jane
jacobs; kaya Robert Putnam's "Bowling
Alone" vid
4/13 pick up with criticism from last week; final project
discussion final_project.pdf (just
briefly discuss each TOC item; and go through Mankiw, King, Gelman;
discussion of your ps, again deadline pushed to next week, but lets
discuss the progress;
jacqueline spirit level
4/20 inequality_welfare.pdf vid ps6 presentations
4/27 finish inequality-welfare:"inequality of what" AND quick class
on happiness based on my full class https://theaok.github.io/swb/
just skim through more relevant slides mostly from initial classes
and later relevant specific topics
joe 2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America
david: Wilkinson and Pickett "Why Greater Equality Makes Society Stronger"
5/4 student presentations <20min each; ps7: Lili: feminist perspective on development; ps7 if any other; and continue with happiness if time
sulman happiness and place
5/11 10am! paper due
rules
do not share or link to class videos!
These videocasts and podcasts are the exclusive copyrighted property of Rutgers University and the Professor teaching the course. Rutgers University and the Professor grant you a license only to replay them for your own personal use during the course. Sharing them with others (including other students), reproducing, distributing, or posting any part of them elsewhere -- including but not limited to any internet site -- will be treated as a copyright violation and an offense against the honesty provisions of the Code of Student Conduct. Furthermore, for Law Students, this will be reported by the Law School to the licensing authorities in any jurisdiction in which you may apply to the bar.
attendance
Attendance is recommended. But you are
responsible for everything covered in the class, whether or not it was
listed in the syllabus. You are also responsible for any announcements made in class. If you miss a
class, be sure to consult with a fellow student to learn what
transpired. Also class discussion is a part of the final grade, so
you'll miss points if absent.
incompletes: Generally speaking, the material in this course is best learned as a single unit. I
will grant incompletes only in cases where a substantial change in life circumstances occurs that
is beyond the control of the student, and only with appropriate
documentation.
study groups. You are encouraged to form a regular study group. Many students over the years
have found the study groups to be very helpful. Study groups are permitted and encouraged to
work on the problem sets together. However, each individual student should write up his or her
own answer to hand in, based on his or her own understanding of the material. Do not hand in a
copy of another person’s problem set, even a member of your own group. Writing up your own
answer helps you to internalize the group discussions and is a crucial step in the learning process.
Academic Integrity. I am very serious about this. Make no
mistake--I may appear accommodating and informal--but I am extremely
strict about academic integrity. Violations of academic integrity include cheating on tests or handing in
assignments that do not reflect your own work and/or the work of a study group in which you
actively participated. Handing in your own work that was performed not
for this class (e.g. other class, any other project) is cheating,
too. I have a policy of zero tolerance for cheating. Violations will be referred
to the appropriate university authorities.
For more information see http://fas.camden.rutgers.edu/student-experience/academic-integrity-policy
Everything that you submit in this class (problem sets, presentation,
paper) is assumed to be your original idea; if it is not yours, you
need to cite the source. If you do not cite the source, it is
plagiarism and I will penalize it with F grade. Likewise, any
communication with anybody else during the exam or use of
unauthorized devices (e.g. phones, notebooks) will be penalized with
F grade. In addition, any violation may result in disciplinary
action.
To be safe, ask questions when in doubt and be explicit:
e.g. using text that you wrote for other classes in this class is
plagiarism (yes, you can plagiarize yourself); but on the other
hand you want to built on your previous work. To be safe, just mention
somewhere (e.g. footnote, appendix, etc) that, say, the introduction
section was written for another class and build on your previous work.
Accommodating Students with Disabilities.
Any student with a disability affecting performance in the class
should contact the disability office ASAP: http://learn.camden.rutgers.edu/disability/disabilities.html