1 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 1 LECTURE, LEISURE, LEARNING: TEACHING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ABROAD IN INDIA Feler Bose1 Abstract Nearly every college and university has a travel abroad program that students are encouraged to take advantage. There is a great deal of literature regarding studying abroad, but very little information on how to design an undergraduate study-travel economic course. This paper attempts to bridge this divide by tying insights from the travel abroad literature to my experience teaching economic development in India. The development course taught in India can be seen as a course with a lab component. This article describes what was done during a recent economic development course in India and reflects on what could be done in the future. Key Words: Economic Development, Travel Abroad, India JEL Classification: A22 Introduction Numerous people have written how to teach economics to undergraduates in an innovative way. Becker and Watts (1998) covers different ways to teach economics using sports, drama, or literature, etc. Hall, et al., (2008) suggests using music to teach undergraduates, Leet and Houser (2003) talk about using movies to teach undergraduates, and Hartley( 2001) uses great books from western civilization to teach economics to undergraduates. After surveying the literature, however, I was unable to find any information regarding using a travel course to teach economics. This article seeks to fill this gap by incorporating the travel abroad literature with my experience of teaching economic development in India. During the academic year 2012-2013, 289,408 students studied abroad for academic credit with 60% spending eight weeks or less2. This amounts to approximately 1% of the students enrolled in U.S. universities and colleges (Babb, et al., 2013). Based on data from the end of the last decade, about 3000 students from the U.S. go to India to study abroad on a yearly basis. In Asia, India is the third most popular destination after China and Japan. Typically, U.S. students spend either a summer or a semester abroad. Study abroad programs to India fall into four major categories: programs focusing on increasing knowledge about India, programs promoting “peace and understanding,” programs tied to academic and cultural issues, and programs to help the youth understand global issues. Finding suitable faculty to make the study abroad program work in India is a major concern. One may utilize faculty from the home institution, or a local Indian professor, although finding suitable Indian faculty to teach American students can be a challenge (Chow and Kimberly, 2011). 1 Associate Professor of Economics and Business, Falls School of Business, Anderson University, 1100 E. Fifth Street, Anderson, IN, 46012. 2 http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Infographic (accessed September 29, 2015). http://www.iie.org/Research-and-Publications/Open-Doors/Data/US-Study-Abroad/Infographic 2 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 2 Yigitcanlar (2013) surveyed students who did not go abroad vs. students who did go abroad. The results show that students who went abroad received higher scores on the assignments. While this study is a major improvement over previous studies, the sample was not randomized. Students who went abroad valued the networks formed, the cross-cultural engagement, and the unique experience. Further, professors observed that students gained unique insights into the subject matter as well as cultural differences. One of the challenges of international travel is making sure that the logistics and organization is done properly to increase student satisfaction. A student can experience an economics course abroad in three primary ways. First, student may take any number of standard economics courses in a foreign institution. Second, a college or a professor offers a standard economics course abroad for a few weeks. These two methods are not really a new way of teaching economics, but just offer a traditional course in an international environment. The two methods require a lot of planning. Numerous standards have been written for student conduct, student outcomes, program resources, health and safety, and so forth, (Custodi and Lenhart, 2015). The third method involves taking a class abroad and using the country as a case study in understanding the subject matter. This third method is the most difficult to organize, requiring one to follow the above standards, but also to engage in additional program planning. Nevertheless, it may be the most rewarding. I focus my attention on this third method. In my career, I have taught a dozen different economics courses at the undergraduate level. The course that I found most suitable for teaching abroad was Economic Development. When students are coming from a developed country like the U.S., the most suitable countries to visit are fast growing developing countries.3 This allows the use of the developing country as an example during lectures and also allows for visits to places, like companies, for students to learn about how changing institutions affect development. Therefore, I chose India.4 Section two provides background information on the course. Section three details some applications of course content to India. Section four provides information on how I organized the travel abroad program. Section five reviews student responses from the on campus and travel courses as well as my response to the courses. Section six concludes. Background Information and Course Development The college where I taught offered four-week Spring Term in the month of May during which students take an intensive course in one subject area. Each student is required to take two spring term courses prior to graduation. One of these spring term courses must be a course that crosses “geographical, cultural or disciplinary boundaries.” For this reason, many faculty offer travel courses, often to other countries, in different subject areas.5 In order to reach a sufficient enrollment, provost office asked that I teach the development course as both a 300 level course (ECN 380) with prerequisites and as a 100 level course (ECN 180) with no prerequisites. The 300 level students were typically economics or business majors and had taken at least the two principles of economics courses. 100 level students ranged from freshmen to seniors who needed to meet a liberal arts requirement for graduation and had no economics background. Designing and teaching a course at the 100 and 300 levels simultaneously produced several challenges. Immediately, it was difficult to use a standard economic development textbook written 3 In a fast growing developing country, one can compare highly developed areas with areas that have seen very little development. 4 I also grew up there. 5 There are also many spring term courses offered on campus. 3 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 3 for an upper level course. The course instead revolved around books and journal articles that were easily accessible to a person with little economics background, but were also challenging enough for an upper level student. Further, the use of mathematics in the course was minimized. The course benefited from being designed from the bottom up as a travel course. A standard textbook-based Development course focusing on growth models, savings, investment, capital flows, and monetary policy would be difficult to teach as a travel course. The only people of interest in such a course are policy makers and top-down planners. Further, a textbook creates too many constraints in a travel course. Consequently, I chose five easily readable economic development books, one book on India,6 and numerous articles that were available online so that the students could print them beforehand7 or keep them in a digital format. Appendix A provides a complete list. My course emphasized topics such as property rights, legal systems, trade, religion, education, medical tourism, and anarchy that are easily incorporated into a travel course. These topics allow students to interact with firms, individuals, and policy makers that had a vested interest in these topics. Further, these topics impact development at the micro level which then impacts overall growth and development. To proceed, I broke the course up into fourteen units (see Appendix A). Each unit would take about one week to cover in a regular semester and would take approximately one class meeting during the spring term.8 The first four units laid the foundations of the course covering free trade, supply and demand, externalities, what is meant by economic growth, property rights, public choice economics, etc. These topics made sure that all the students were on the same page, as the students did not all have the same economics background. For the 100 level students, these topics were all new, whereas for the 300 level students, this was review. Moreover, to minimize lecture time during the travel component, the students were required to complete the first four units prior to start of travel date.9 The next two units mainly used Easterly’s book (Easterly, 2001) on the failure of the top down approach to development (as directed by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund), which has been dominant for decades, to help the countries in question. Easterly’s book highlights growth theories without too much emphasis on the math. After dismissing the 100 level students, however, I spent additional time with the 300 level students doing some of the math behind the growth theories. The final eight units covered topics that I felt the students should be aware of and that could be used in the “lab” component of the course. For example, these topics included field experiments in development economics, the natural resource curse, property rights, culture/religion, legal systems, and the Geography Hypothesis. The importance of property rights in development was tied to De Soto (2000), who states that the reason countries are poor is because the average person in that country does not have representation of their property. De Soto’s solution for civil governments is to title all the property so that dead capital is converted to live capital. The problem with this solution is that it will only work if one lives in a culture that respects property rights. Otherwise, this is a wasted exercise by 6 These were lightweight and inexpensive. The students could have also shared the text if they so desired. 7 Printing in the hotels we stayed in was not always possible. 8 For the travel course in India, the amount of reading was reduced compared to an on campus course. Nevertheless, all the topics in the campus course were covered and I incorporated additional readings tied to India. 9 The students met with me if they had questions and turned in notes from their readings. During the first lecture in India, we reviewed this material. 4 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 4 the state (Raghuram Rajan, 2004). The discussion of legal systems is focused on the Common law system vs. Civil law system and whether one has access to the informal or the formal legal system. The role of religion/culture in development and whether development can occur without the state (anarchy) were also discussed. We talked about how different beliefs result in different development paths. The discussion also delved into whether certain beliefs are a hindrance to development and what can be done about it. Can the beliefs change without changing the character of the religious faith behind it? While most of the readings in this unit were from economists, I did use one article from an economic anthropologist (Ensminger, 1997). On the topic of anarchy, the question is: will development occur without a central government? Can other forms of governance help with development? From the readings written by economists, we find that sometimes the state is a hindrance to development. Each day of lecture lasted about 2 hours and 50 minutes, including a break. During the first 15 to 20 minutes of the lecture, the 300 level students went over the readings with the 100 level students and answered any questions. I also occasionally dismissed the 100 level students early so I could go deeper into the material with the 300 level students. The students also had to provide daily notes on the readings they did prior to class. The assignments were different for the 100 and 300 level students. On similar assignments, I had different expectations for the 100 level versus 300 level students. For example, when students turned in notes on the readings, I expected the 300 level student notes to be of higher caliber and greater depth. For the project component of the course, I had the 100 level students do a photo album in which they used photos to discuss the cultural and economic factors they discovered. The 300 level students had to complete and present a research paper on an industry that was impacted by the major reforms of 1991. Applying Course Content to India The advantages of a travel course are the numerous applications of what students learn in the lecture, in addition to cultural experiences. This ties-in with Frank’s (2002) notion of learning economics through varied repetition and various experiences that help the student retain the economic concepts. I summarize these applications below. 1) In the area of property rights, the students saw how insecure property rights hinder economic development (DeSoto, 2000). One person in India told us a story of someone who fought for property in the courts for over 40 years. Due to the uncertainty of ownership in the property, they were unwilling to develop the property (the lengthy court case was also an indication of a poor legal system).10 Further, shop owners who are unable to claim rights to property will not invest in their shops; the students noticed how shopkeepers in certain areas without property rights had their shops on wheels.11 This allows shopkeepers to move their shops easily, if needed to avoid official harassment. Expansion of the shops was out of the question. 2) The students learned about the private city of Gurgoan, including the challenges of a private city that depends on the government to provide some of the infrastructure and how this affects development (Tabarrok, 2011; Yardley, 2011). This ties to the unit on development without the state. In India, we visited Gurgoan and compared it with traditionally managed cities. From touring the cities around Delhi, it was visibly clear that Gurgoan was much more developed than the others. 10 The court case started in 1966. 11 Some of the shop owners were given short-term leases. 5 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 5 3) When crossing state boundaries, the students saw numerous trucks stopped at the border. The trucks could not cross the state borders without paying registration fees12 and showing paperwork. They seemed to be waiting at the border for a long time.13 This illustrated the benefits of free trade. Hindering trade by increasing transaction costs also hinders development by minimizing specialization, increasing smuggling and crime, etc. India was compared with the U.S., which is mostly a free trade zone of 50 states. 4) We learned about recent Indian development from a book by Nirmalya Kumar (2009). Both older and newer business houses said that the major turning point for India was the reforms in 1991 when India moved from a socialist outlook14 to a market outlook. When we visited various companies in India,15 we learned how the Indian reforms of 1991 changed the dynamics of the Indian market from an insular outlook toward a global outlook. The students also learned how development affected cultural and religious attitudes in areas such as the caste system. For example, globalization required individuals to look beyond caste and be willing to work with individuals from different castes. 5) The students had a chance to visit educational institutions and were surprised to see the continued active role the state plays in higher education (e.g. controlling salary structures and student admissions) and how it hinders India from developing many world class institutions (Chow and Cho, 2011). 6) Students visited an educational institution that was a charitable venture of a billionaire from the IT sector. They were able to understand how prosperity via liberalization in India allowed entrepreneurs to perform large acts of charity. 7) Since trust is an important part of economic development, the students were asked to observe trust in the India. For example, the students pointed out how their bags were checked in numerous stores. In many places, homes were surrounded with walls and had iron bars in the windows. 8) The students had a chance to visit a premier dental clinic and had their teeth cleaned. We noticed numerous expats getting their teeth cared for. Students saw how the 1991 liberalization in India allowed new areas, such as medical tourism, to develop and prosper, and how medical tourism might be a solution to some of the high health care costs in the U.S. and other western countries. 9) Finally, some of the cultural visits to temples, the Taj Mahal, etc. also had relevance to economics, even though the primary reason for the visit was not economics. For example, the students learned from the tour guide that the Taj Mahal almost bankrupted the Mughal Empire in India, resulting in a coup. Reflecting back, the taxation and property rights scheme of the Mughal Empire, and how it affects development today, could have been studied (Chakravorty, 2013). Further, one of the units discussed the effect of religion on development. However, due to a lack of a causal link in the economic literature, we were unable to discuss directly the link between Hinduism, the dominant religion in India, and development.16 12 This would also include bribes. 13 The trucks were turned off. 14 The vast majority of the constituent assembly that wrote the Indian constitution consisted of Fabian and Laski-ite socialists. They believed that “’socialism is everyday politics for social regeneration’ and that ‘democratic constitutions are…inseparably associated with the drive towards economic equality.’” One notable exception was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who supported property rights and free enterprise (Granville, 1966). 15 Including Information Technology companies, a Biopharmaceutical Company, a Clothing Company, etc. 16 Some recent work by Sriya Iyer and others could be included in a future trip to India (www.econ.cam.ac.uk/.../SRIYA-IYER_CV.pdf accessed September 22, 2015). http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/.../SRIYA-IYER_CV.pdf 6 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 6 An assignment that I would like to have the students complete on my next trip is a survey of the multitude of mom and pop stores in India. The survey would include questions on the ownership of the property the store is on and the challenges for expansion; if the store is not registered, what it would take to register the store; how improvements to the store can be financed; taxes paid, etc. These issues would emphasize the importance of property rights and an impartial legal system. Organizing a Travel Abroad Program In this section I will discuss how I organized my travel course, how I chose the four locations in India, and issues of concern. Locations chosen Four primary locations were chosen for this trip. They were Kodaikanal, Chennai, Bangalore, and New Delhi. The main locations were in southern India. This was because I was familiar with the language. Also, more people speak English in South India, making it easier for the students to get around on their own. Further, the weather in South India is slightly better in May than that of the North. Finally, the locations were based on contacts. Some of these were my personal contacts and others came through the college (board members and faculty). Kodaikanal is a small town located in the mountains. The weather is cooler there (70s and 80s), while the weather in May in the plains of India is usually in the 90s and 100s. We spent 10 days there. This was the primary place for the academic lectures which lasted about 3 hours daily. The small town atmosphere allowed a gentle introduction to India where students to got used to the culture and adjusted to jet lag. The lengthy stay of ten days also allowed students to adjust to the food and water, as nearly all students got sick at least one time.17 While I chose three major metropolises for the next stage of my trip, any other growing metros could have also been chosen (Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, etc.). The next destination was Chennai, a metropolis where we spent five days. Here, the focus of the trip changed to visiting institutions, medical tourism, and cultural tourism in general. Since Chennai is a hub for medical tourism in India, we visited a premier dental clinic where the students experienced treatment and were given a tour. From my contacts in the U.S., I was able to arrange for a visit with a large Information technology (IT) company where students learned about the process of globalization and its effects on the IT industry. Finally, the students were able to visit a university started by the philanthropic efforts of a very successful IT entrepreneur in India. The third destination was Bangalore where we stayed three days. This city is known as the Silicon Valley of India and is a booming metropolis. Here the students were able to visit another IT company, a clothing company that has been around for over 100 years, and a biopharmaceutical company. The visit to the clothing company got the most positive reviews from the students as they were able to learn how Indian policy over many decades affected the company as well as Indian development overall. Our final destination was Delhi, where we stayed two days. Since it was the weekend, I was unable to schedule any visits, so this portion of our trip focused on tourism in general. We visited the Taj Mahal, the Lotus Temple, forts, etc. 17 The immunity developed by getting sick one time prevented them from getting sick again during the second half of their stay in India. This is important, since if students are getting sick during the travel part of the trip, it creates logistical problems as the sick students stay behind and others go on ahead. 7 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 7 We also visited a number of cities for cultural experiences, including Madurai (known as temple city), Mahabalipuram (with a world heritage site), and Agra (Taj Mahal). Many students expressed gratitude for limiting the destinations visited, as it allowed them to absorb the experience at a slower pace.18 Issues of Concern While many travel websites give you advice on travelling in India, there are additional issues of concern for a travel course. In India when travelling across states, one encounters different languages. Ideally, one’s local travel guide speaks English. When booking a hotel, make sure that a doctor or hospital is available nearby so one can handle emergencies should they arise. If enough students are enrolled in the course, I highly recommend that either a faculty from the opposite sex or one’s spouse come along for the trip as an additional guide/chaperone. Having another adult helps with unexpected scenarios (Williams and McNeil, 2010). If a student gets sick, one adult can stay behind while the rest of the group continues with the itinerary. The students are also more comfortable talking about illness and problems with someone of the same sex. Setting up appointments with companies two or three months in advance is usually very difficult. Some of my appointments were finalized one or two weeks in advance of arriving in India. One needs to have sufficient flexibility in the schedule to change things around as needed. Further, to avoid cramming a lot of reading into the travel period, students were asked to complete units 1 to 4 prior to the May term. The students were also required to watch videos on India to get some familiarity with the people and traditions. This reduced the academic load during the actual travel portion of the class and allowed for a relaxing atmosphere. A post trip session was not completed, mainly because students spent the full May term in India.19 The only feedback the students completed prior to their departure to the U.S. was to provide a college approved standard course feedback (Appendix C). If I were to do this course again, I would fly to an airport closer to Kodaikanal to avoid the lengthy road trip. I would incorporate a service-oriented component to allow for more interaction with locals. Further, I would continue to cultivate the contacts that I have in India. I also learned that, if one really wants to visit a company in India, one just needs to contact the Human Resources department of the company. Many companies are willing to accommodate student visits. Evaluation of the Course Due to a small number of students that took the travel course and an equivalent number that took the on campus course a few years earlier, it is not possible to make quantitative comparisons.20 The survey completed was a post-course evaluation. The survey was a standard college survey not tied specifically to travel courses. While a pre- and post-comparison cannot be made, I taught a similar course on campus during the May term for an earlier year that can be compared to the travel course. Nevertheless, the sample size is small and there is no randomization. The survey questions are shown in Appendix C. Most are of a qualitative nature with some quantitative feedback tied to classroom delivery. A more scientific analysis of travel abroad courses are generally needed as seen in the study by Tucker, et al. (2011). 18 This observation came from students who had gone on other travel abroad programs. 19 Many travel courses at the college do not utilize the full May term to travel and hence those courses would have more extensive pre or post trip sessions. 20 Courses above 30 students would allow for better statistical analysis. 8 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 8 In the surveys, many of the students who visited India realized the importance of learning economics and saw the material as “worthwhile.” Many saw the link between their readings and what they observed in India. One student stated that the “case study on India was excellent.” Another stated that it was “really cool” to observe and learn about economic development after doing the course work. One student learned “how globalization is changing the world in many positive ways.” Another stated that, “It was because I was able to experience first hand [sic] what we were learning in class” that the course content was worthwhile for their education. Student evaluations also showed that students enjoyed visiting companies that tied in with their major. For example, a biology major was happy to have visited a biopharmaceutical firm and an education major enjoyed visiting the educational institutions. Some students said that flexibility was a requirement as plans “change suddenly; an independent attitude towards travelling a [sic] coursework is necessary.” An upper level student writes, “This course was also a truly liberal arts course in that it incorporated politics, religion, culture, trade, etc.” Another student writes, “Good content and ideas.” A third student writes, “The material was interesting, compelling, and thought provoking” and that his/her advice to other students was “Since much of the material is different than what is taught in other classes, I would encourage an open mind.” In general, these comments were consistent with my desire to take a spring term abroad. The students learned more from the travel, especially the students who are taking it as a 100 level course. Because there was a motley crew of students from different backgrounds and majors, with vastly different skill sets, it was clear almost from the beginning that certain students were well prepared for course, while others had trouble with the subject matter. The 100 level students who had travelled to India seemed to have done better than their counterparts that stayed on campus.21 Further, including a global/international component to higher education is an important component of the accreditation process (Babb, Womble and De'Armond, 2013; Langlois and Langlois, 2010). Intercultural competence and international experiential learning are areas that accrediting agencies take into consideration to reflect overall quality of the educational institution. If there was one comment I heard from many students during our time in India, it was that they could see themselves “working in India” for a few years, especially if the opportunities in the U.S. were not available. This indicates to me that the trip fulfilled the purpose of internationalizing some of the students. Conclusion Trying something new comes with tradeoffs, and for the travel study course the main trade off is less lecture time. This can be rectified by using repetitions (through visiting companies) and different types of assignments in getting across the main economic ideas (Frank, 2002). This is possible in a travel study course, as one narrows the readings to the most important concepts and the students hear it again on the field trips. Numerous applications of the material learned were easily seen in the India trip. Careful observation could have easily led to more examples. The 100 level students would have benefited from having an introductory course in economics. However, the 100 level students in the travel course seemed to learn a lot more economics than those in the on campus course, and had few 21 The final average grade for 100 level students between the on campus and off campus class was showed a difference of around seven percent with the off campus students doing better. While this could be attributed to slightly different assignments, when comparing the final exam which was nearly the same, the difference was even larger at nine percent. This result should be taken with caution due to self-selection issues. 9 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 9 complaints about the difficulty of the material. The syllabus developed for both the 100 and 300 level students was successful for the travel course. The locations chosen are ultimately up to the person organizing the trip. Finally, a better measure is needed to understand the efficacy of the course in not just discipline specific knowledge content, but also in intercultural understanding, intercultural communication skills, etc. (Tucker, Gullekson and McCambridge, 2011). References: Austin, Granville. 1966. The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation. London: Clarendon Press. Babb, Jeffry; Lynsee A. Womble and De' Arno De'Armond. 2013. "Embedding International Experiences in Business Curriculum Design: Cultivating a Study Abroad Program." Research in Higher Education Journal, 20(June). Becker, William E. and Michael Watts eds. 1998. Teaching Economics to Undergraduates: Alternatives to Chalk and Talk. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar. Chakravorty, Sanjoy. 2013. The Price of Land: Acquisition, Conflict, Consequence. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Chow, Patricia and Kimberly Cho. 2011. "Expanding U.S. Study Abroad to India: A Guide for Institutions," New York: Institutue of International Education, Custodi, Andrea and Mark Lenhart. 2015. Standards of Good Practice for Education Abroad. Carlisle, PA: The Forum on Education Abroad. DeSoto, Hernando. 2000. The Mystery of Capital: Why Captitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. New York: Basic Books. Easterly, William. 2001. The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economist’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Ensminger, Jean. 1997. "Transaction Costs and Islam: Explaining Conversion in Africa." Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 152(1), 4-29. Frank, Robert H. 2002. "The Economic Naturalist: Teaching Introductory Students How to Speak Economics." The American Economic Review, 92(2), 459-62. Hall, Joshua C.; Robert A. Lawson and G. Dirk Mateer. 2008. "From Abba to Zeppelin, Led: Using Music to Teach Economics." Journal of Economic Education, 39(1), 107. Hartley, James E. 2001. "The Great Books and Economics." The Journal of Economic Education, 32(2), 147-59. Kumar, Nirmalya. 2009. India's Global Powerhouses: How They Are Taking on the World. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. Langlois, Ann and Ed Langlois. 2010. "Designing and Marketing a Global Business Travel Course." Research in Higher Education Journal, 6(March). Leet, Don and Scott Houser. 2003. "Economics Goes to Hollywood: Using Classic Films and Documentaries to Create an Undergraduate Economics Course." Journal of Economic Education, 34(4), 326-32. Rajan, Raghuram. 2004. "Assume Anarchy." Finance & Development, 56-57. Tabarrok, Alex. 2011. "India's Voluntary City," www.marginalrevolution.com. Tucker, Mary L.; Nicole L. Gullekson and Jim McCambridge. 2011. "Assurance of Learning in Short-Term, Study Abroad Programs." Research in Higher Education Journal. Williams, Jacqueline A. and Kimberly R. McNeil. 2010. "Using Scenario Analysis to Build University Faculty & Student Travel Competencies." Research in Higher Education Journal, 6(March). http://www.marginalrevolution.com/ 10 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 10 Yardley, Jim. 2011. "In India, Dynamism Wrestles with Dysfunction," The New York Times. online: Yigitcanlar, Tan. 2013. "Cultivating the Pedagogy of Experience through International Field Trips." SAGE Open, 3(2). Appendix A An Abridged Reading List & Required Texts Main Texts: 1) William Easterly, The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economist’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics. 2) Johan Norberg, In Defense of Global Capitalism. 3) Hernando De Soto, The Mystery of Capital 4) James Tooley, The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey Into How the World's Poorest People Are Educating Themselves 5) J. Gwartney, R. Stroup, D. Lee, and T. Ferrarini, Common Sense Economics Unit 1: What We Need to Know About Economics and Prosperity Gwartney, Stroup et. al. Chapter 1 – Twelve Key Elements of Economics Leonard Reed, I Pencil Friedrich Hayek. “Use of Knowledge in Society,” American Economic Review. Bastiat: What is Seen and What is not Seen Unit 2: Basic Concepts Property Rights by Armen A. Alchian Efficiency by Paul Heyne Competition by Wolfgang Kasper Free Market by Murray N. Rothbard Economic Growth by Paul M. Romer Entrepreneurship by Russell S. Sobel Free Trade by Alan S. Blinder Protectionism by Jagdish Bhagwati Unit 3: Why Countries Grow Gwartney, Stroup, et. al. Chapter 2 – Seven Major Sources of Economic Progress Bastiat: Candle Maker’s Petition Unit 4: Role of Government Gwartney, Stroup, et. al. Chapter 3 – Economic Progress and the Role of Government Tragedy of the Commons, Garrett Hardin Public Goods by Tyler Cowen Public Choice by William F. Shughart II Unit 5: What Happens When Countries Don’t Grow and When Countries Do Grow? Easterly and Norberg texts http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Tree-Personal-Educating-Themselves/dp/1933995920/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292646195&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Tree-Personal-Educating-Themselves/dp/1933995920/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292646195&sr=8-1 http://oldfraser.lexi.net/publications/books/econ_prosp/part1.html http://oldfraser.lexi.net/publications/books/econ_prosp/part2.html http://oldfraser.lexi.net/publications/books/econ_prosp/part3.html 11 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 11 Unit 6: Why Has Growth Been So Elusive? Why Do Countries Still Lag Behind? What is the Hope for the World’s Poor? Easterly’s Text Unit 7: Property Rights & Economic Development The Mystery of Capital, De Soto Property Rights and Beliefs: Evidence from the Allocation of Land Titles to Squatters by Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani, Ernesto Schargrodsky. The Quarterly Journal of Economics Unit 8: Law & Economic Development Robert Cooter. “The Rule of State Law versus the Rule of Law State” Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics. Glaeser, Edward and Andrei Shleifer. “Legal Origins,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, Benito Arrunada & Veneta Andonova. “Market Institutions & Judicial Rulemaking” Published in Claude Menard and Mary M. Shirley, eds., Handbook of New Institutional Economics Unit 9: Religion/Culture and Economic Development Timur Kuran. “Why the Middle East is Economically Underdeveloped,” Journal of Economic Perspectives. Benito Arrunada. “Protestants and Catholics: Similar Work Ethic, Different Social Ethic,” The Economic Journal. Luigi Guiso, et.al. “Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes?” Journal of Economic Perspectives. Gary Richardson, “Craft Guilds and Christianity in Late-Medieval England: A Rational Choice Analysis,” Rationality and Society. Ensminger, “Transaction Costs and Islam: Explaining Conversion in Africa,” Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics. Unit 10: Anarchy: Development Without the State Benson, Bruce. “The Spontaneous Evolution of Commercial Law,” Southern Economic Journal. Leeson, Peter. “Better Off Stateless: Somalia Before and After Government Collapse” Journal of Comparative Economics. Rajan, Raghuram (2004). “Assume Anarchy,” Finance & Development. Adolphson, Mikael, Ramseyer, J. Mark (2009) “The competitive enforcement of property rights in medieval Japan: The role of temples and monasteries” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. Unit 11: Institutions & Geography North, Douglass. “Institutions,” Journal of Economic Perspectives. Acemoglu & Johnson. “Reversal of Fortune: Geography and Institutions in the making of the world income distribution,” Quarterly Journal of Economics. Frye, Timothy and Andrei Shleifer. “The Invisible Hand and the Grabbing Hand,” American Economic Review. Sachs, Jeffery et. al. "Geography, Economic Policy, and Regional Development in China," Asian Economic Papers. http://www.atypon-link.com/AEAP/loi/jep http://www.atypon-link.com/AEAP/loi/jep http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=879798 http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=879798 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01672681 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01672681 12 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 12 Unit 12: Natural Resource Curse SA Beaulier, JR Subrick. “Mining institutional quality: How Botswana escaped the natural resource curse,” Indian Journal of Economics and Business. Unit 13: Miscellaneous Avner Greif. “History Lessons: The Birth of Impersonal Exchange: The Community Responsibility System and Impersonal Exchange,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives. James Tooley’s Text. Esther Duflo. “Field Experiments in Development Economics.” Joshua C. Hall & Peter T. Leeson. “Good for the Goose, Bad for the Gander: International Labor Standards and Comparative Development.” J Labor Res. Leigh Turner. “First world Health Care at Third World Prices,” Globalization, Bioethics and Medical Tourism Fuller and Romer, “Cities from Scratch.” Unit 14: India Nirmalya Kumar’s Text Carl Dahlman and Anuja Utz. “India and the Knowledge Economy: Leveraging Strengths and Opportunities,” (World Bank Study). Alex Tabarrok. “India Voluntary City,” www.marginalrevolution.com. “In India, Dynamism wrestles with Dysfunction,” The New York Times, June 8, 2011 Gurcharan Das, “India Grows at Night” Appendix B: Travel Itinerary Day 1: Leave U.S. from Detroit International Airport Day 2: Flight. Day 3: Arrive in Thiruvananthapuram Airport early morning. Road trip to Kodaikanal (about 8 hours away) with short stop in Kanyakumari (tip of India as a tourist destination). Day 4 to Day 13: About 2 hours and 50 minutes of classes every morning at the hotel conference room. No class on Sunday. Afternoon: visit local tourism spots (temple, boating) and educational institutions (schools, colleges, and an observatory), shopping, hiking, and free time. Nightfall curfew (mainly for safety reasons) but also for some study time. Hotel had a bonfire at night. Day 14: Travel to Chennai. Visit Meenakshi temple in Madurai. Day 15 to 19: Visit with companies and experience dental tourism. Visit Mahabalipuram (World Heritage Site) and nearby beach. Take final exam in Chennai hotel lobby during inconspicuous hour. Day 19-22: Travel to Bangalore. Visit with companies. Local Tourism (visit palace of local maharaja) and shopping. Student project presentations in hotel. Day 22-24: Travel to New Delhi. Tourism in the city. Visit the Taj Mahal. Day 25: Depart early morning from New Delhi to Detroit. Appendix C Standard course evaluation. Questions 1 to 7 were scored from 1 (strong disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) with additional space for comments that a student can provide. http://www.scottbeaulier.com/REVISEDCURSE2__2_.doc http://www.scottbeaulier.com/REVISEDCURSE2__2_.doc http://www.amazon.com/Nirmalya-Kumar/e/B001JRVILS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1323234073&sr=8-1 13 | JOURNAL FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATORS, 17(1), 2017 13 1. I found the classroom atmosphere conductive to learning. 2. The instructor appeared to be well-prepared for class sessions. 3. The instructor seemed enthusiastic about teaching. 4. If I needed help outside of class, the instructor was accessible. 5. My interest in the subject matter increased as a result of taking this course. 6. The instructor created assignments which were helpful to me in understanding the course material. 7. The instructor’s comments on my work (e.g., assignments, exams, projects, presentations) were helpful. Questions 8 to 11 required students to provide additional feedback. 8. A course should challenge students to stretch themselves intellectually. Did this course challenge you in ways which strengthened your ability to think and learn? And if so, how? 9. Regardless of your own level of enjoyment or success in this course, do you consider the course content to have been worthwhile for your education? Why or why not? How serious was your own effort to understand and master the material covered in this course? 10. In a liberal arts setting, courses should increase students’ awareness of connections between related areas within their own major discipline as well as those between their own and other disciplines. Comments on those connections you became aware of during this course. 11. What advice would you give to other students who were planning to take this course? If you had known earlier what you now know, would you approach your own work in this course differently?