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
    90.0100.0A
    85.089.9B+
    80.084.9B
    75.079.9C+
    70.074.9C
    069.9F

    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