Prospectus

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Economy: South & South-East Asia

Course
2022-2023

Admission requirements

This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies programme.
Limited places are also open for exchange students.
Please note: this course takes place in The Hague. Traveling between University buildings from Leiden to The Hague may take about 45 minutes.

Description

This course offers a broad survey of contemporary South and Southeast Asian economies. The main focus is on long-run economic growth and the accompanying social changes. Why did some countries perform far better than its neighbours? Why long-term growth takes places (or does not) in South and Southeast Asian economies in the last 30-40 years? What are the effects of crisis, including Covid-19, on the South and Southeast Asia? What was the political economy of growth in these countries? And, what were social developments that went along with the growth? Special attention is given to the role of the state and economic policy. The lectures utilize various relevant journal articles and book chapters on South and Southeast Asian economies. The lectures are also accompanied by tutorials to discuss auxiliary topics.

Course objectives

Students have:

  • Acquired an overview of the historical and contemporary economic developments and political economy dynamics in their chosen area and deepened their existing knowledge and understanding of different economic systems, economic institutions, economic processes and actors in the different regions / countries of the region, using the concepts acquired during the courses Principles of Economics and Foundations of Political Economy.

  • Been acquainted with academic debates on selected topics in the specific region.

  • Acquired skills to access relevant (online) economic and development datasets.

Timetable

Visit MyTimetable.

Mode of instruction

Lectures

Lectures are held every week, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Weekly lectures will cover issues both inside and outside the readings.

Tutorials

Tutorials are held once every three weeks, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Attending all tutorial sessions is compulsory. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform your tutor in advance. Being absent at more than one of the tutorial sessions will result in a lowering of your tutorial grade (40% of the end grade) with 1 point for each session missed after the first session. Please note that being absent at any tutorial session may have a negative impact on the grade of the assignment due for that particular tutorial session. This is at the discretion of the tutor.

Assessment method

Assessment

  • Midterm Exam:
    Take-home examination with two long essay questions – approximatey 2000-2500 words in total.

  • Final Exam:
    Written examination with 4 (four) short essay questions.

Weighing

Partial grade Weighing
Tutorials 40%
Midterm Exam 30%
Final Exam 30%

End Grade

To successfully complete the course, please take note of the following:

  • The end grade of the course is established by determining the weighted average of Tutorial grade, Midterm Exam grade, and Final Exam grade.

  • The weighted average of the Midterm Exam grade and the Final Exam grade needs to be 5.5 or higher.

  • This means that failing Exam grades cannot be compensated with a high Tutorial grade.

Resit

If the end grade is insufficient (lower than a 6.0), or the weighted average of Midterm- and Final Exams is lower than 5.5, there is a possibility of retaking the full 60% of the exam material, replacing both the earlier Midterm- and Final Exam grades. No resit for the tutorial is possible.
Please note that if the Resit Exam grade is lower than 5.5, you will not pass the course, regardless of the tutorial grade.

Retaking a passing grade

Please consult the Course and Examination Regulations 2022 – 2023.

Exam review and feedback

How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organised.

Reading list

Reading list will be made available on Brightspace before the start of the course. There is no particular textbook for this course. Readings are mostly journal articles and chapters of books indicated in each lecture topic. We expect students to read them before coming to the class. We also encourage students to read popular development economics books even when they do not specifically discuss South and Southeast Asian economies. Ideally, students should read widely and critically.

Registration

Contact

Remarks

All other information.