Faculty: David Canning

Class Description:

The course looks at the interrelationship between health and population on the one hand and economic growth and development on the other. The two key ideas that will be developed will be the role of health as a form of human capital that leads to economic returns both for the individual and at the aggregate level, and that changes in health, longevity and fertility can affect economic growth through changes in life span and life cycle behavior as well population age structure. The feedback from economic growth to changes in health and fertility, and the evolution of development as a multi-dimensional system will also be examined. The course will focus in particular on the methods employed to identify the direction of causality between health and economic development. The course will require preparation based on the readings each week. For each topic students will be expected to prepare a presentation based on the readings. Those not presenting will be expected to take part in a discussion based on the readings. This will count towards the students mark for class participation. There will be 3 assignments that will give students familiarity with the data sets used in the literature. In addition, there will be a required research paper.