WOLLEGA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

CURRICULUM FOR A PH.D. DEGREE IN

DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

MAY, 2015

NEKEMTE, ETHIOPIA
 WOLLEGA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

THE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

The PhD. Program

1. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE

With a population of more than 80 million, Ethiopia is the third most populous state in
Africa after Nigeria and Egypt . in mos recent years the number of insitutions of higher
learning as well as technical and vocational education and training (TVET ) in Ethiopia has
been increasing , as indeed has the rate of student enrollement in those insitutions. During
the middle of the 1970s there stared a government drive to nationalize all private
educational institutions , and by 1990 all tertiary level educational institutions belonged to
govermment . Following the reform of the early 1990s, private educational institutions
began to reappear . Afeature of this development is the rapid increase of private
institutions, which is introducing significant departure from past practice in the mode of
fina ncing education .

Post -1990 devlopments also show that Ethiopa has become a major recipient of both
development and humanitarian assistance from the developed group of countries through
both multilateral and bilateral arrangements. It is evident that the large infusion of
monetary, material and technical resources into the economy has created additional capacity
in government (as evidenced by the full public sector employment and increased levels of
govermment spending ) , led to an expansion of its management , regulatory and
employment functions as well as enhancing the growth and development of the private
economy.

Many non- govermmental organizations (NGOs) have been established in Ethiopia in recent
years and existing international organizations and NGOs have also increased the scope of
their activities .
These conditions have created an unprecednted levels of demand for instructors in
institutions of higeher learning as well as experts in Economics in the country. In trying to
fill this demand the department of Economics has been running an MSc pogram in the
field for the past five years. Running the program for the last five years enabled the
Department to develop teaching material , upgrade its training and resarch activites , build
its computer and internet access capacities, improve its program management practice and
forge a network of professinol and institutional contacts.

Moreover, there is the general presupposition that with population growth and economic
development ,the social demand for tertiary education increases over time . It is also
assumed that the rate of return of domestically provided tertiary education is higher than
that of an alternative arrangement that provides for training abroad . Tertiary education in
Ethiopia would also have strong backward and forward linkages to the domestic economy.
The sources of the social demand are both the individual who is prepared to invest in
human capital formation and the collective , which is the state , which would like to have
the same in order to enhance economic growth and development .

Per the GTP II the proportion of the Ph.D holder should be above 30% among the university
lectureres as and this program contrbutes to this goal. As Ethiopia one among the countries
which follow the developemntal state the Ph.D in Economics will have a paparmount
significance for the national goal of poverty reduction and green economy strategy. In the light
of these develoments, the department of Economics belives that it has now reached a
stage where it could offer a PhD in Development Economics and has degined this
curriculum.

2. OBJECTIVES

The general objective of the Ph.D. Program in Development Economics is to generate

qulified economists with the capacity to educate in institutions of higher learning ,
engage in independent economic resarch, and contribute to economic analysis and policy
formulation . The specific objectives of the program is to :-

i. supply the institutions of higher education with a requisite amount of Ph.D.

graduates to teach and to carry out frontier research in specific areas of
cometence .
ii. Supply government departments with qualified policy researchers and professionals
to work in leadership and managerial positions.
iii. Supply international organizations (including those located within Ethiopia ) as well
as the African region with qualified resarchers and professionals capable of
undertaking responsibilites.
iv. Meet social demand and to draw benefits from the external economies associted
with a PhD program that would be provided domestically .
v. In addition reducing dependence on forign Univesities for the training of
ethiopians , the Wollega universiy based Ph.D. Program has the following
additional benefits .
 Maxmum Relvance of curricula ( A balance between utilizing good
international practices and applying African solution to African and
Ethiopian challenges );
 Developing comparative Advantage in Applied Economics : focusing on
skills relevant for Ethiopia ( applied macroeconomic modeling ; growth ;
agricultural Economics ; etc);
 Individual capacity Building ( annual graduation of 5-8 high –calliber Ph.D
. graduates );
 Institution capacity Building “Trickle – down " and “aspiration " effects of
the program ;
 A gradual build –up of professional and posibble reversal of the brain drain

3. GRADUATE PROFILE

A graduate from the PhD Program will independently be:

 Able to undertake graduate level teaching and advising in the field of

Economics and related courses
 Conversant with economic problem and policy issues relevant to the country
with the abilty of describing , analyzing and proposing solutions to pertinent
economic problems.
 Capable to undertake research on various fields in Economics and conduct
project analyses and write reports of high standard .
  Capable to undertake developemental project planning, montoring and evaluation,
feasiblity study, make impact evaluation of different developemnt interventions and
development alternatives

4. THE PH.D. PROGRAM IN DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

Achievement of the aforementioned objectives requires advanced training in the filed

of Economics in terms of theory , methodology and applications . This will be met by
the Ph.D. Program in Development Economics , which will be offered by the
Department of Economics at Wollega University .

4.1. Program Governance

The department of Economics in the college of Business and Economics of Wollega

University runs the Ph.D. Development Economics Program. The Department of
Economics has a Department Graduate Committee(DGC) with overseening and
pedagogical responsibilities and makes its recommendations to the Academic
Commisssion and Graduate council of the school of Gradute studies, which has a
decision making mandate relating to post –graduate programs.The Graduate council
itself works under the office of the University president and the senate of the Wollega
University, which is at the apex of the system of governance and management of the
Ph.D. Programs .

4.2. Requirements

There are a number of requirements , which must be met satisfactorly, for a successful
completion of the Ph.D. Program .

4.2.1.Admissions Requrements

Students are admitted into the Ph.D.Program on the basis of achievements in the
Masters program at the recognized higher institutions. Students should also pass the
enterance and interview prepared by the department and he/she should also present and
defend synopsis on a reaserch topic.

4.2.2. The Ph.D. Dissertation

Only students who have passed the examinations for the core course and field
courses at the required grades are allowed to proceed to work on the Ph.D.
Dissertation, which takes a minimum of two academic year to complete after
completion of course work.

Dissertation proposal approval is based on an evaluation process requiring the student

to make a seminar presentation of the proposal in front of a panel of examiners
established for the purpose by the Departement of Economics. The successful
candidates (i.e. whose theses proposals are formally approved by the Department ) will
carry out fieldwork,present preliminary results in seminars , and submit written
progress report to the supervisors(s). Copies of final Dissertations are formally
submitted to the Departement , which are then subjected to oral examination as per
Dissertation submission and evaluation rules.

4.2.3. Graduation Requirements

The Ph.D. Program in Development Economics builds on the existing graduate

programs in the Department . it is a 4-year program of studies . At least three of these
years must be spent in campus and constitute the residence requirement of the
program .

The program consists of courses in advanced Economics taken sequentially over a two-
year period . students are expected to pass the examinations of these courses at the
required grade .

The courses are divided into two groups. The first group consists of the core
courses: (i) microeconomics, (ii) macroeconomics ,and (iii) quantitative methods in
Economics .The second group is set up of a couple of seminar courses in specialized
fields ( and are categorized as field courses ), which are normally taken after
completion of the core courses with a minimum grade of B.The students would also
need to pass field seminar courses .

The other major component of the Ph.D. is Dissertation. The third and fourth years of
the program will be devoted to research and it is expected that this process will end
with the completion , production and distribution of the Dissertation .The student is
required to submit a stipulated number of copies of her/his Dissertation(produced as
per standards set by the Departement ) to the DGC through the Departement.The
Dissertation will eventually subjected to a viva , and must be completed with a “pass”
grade.

The process of carrying out this aspect of the program reqirements is formalized.First ,
the Department approves the candidate’s proposal.The student is expected to research
into her/his respective research topic and ascertains its originality , pedagogical
relevance , high research standard and timeliness. The Departement’s approval process
includes holding of proposal seminar and appointment of dissertation supervisor
(s).Two options are open in the form of the dissertation.It could either follow the
traditional method of producing a monograph on a specified topic , or consist of 3
(three) articles that are publishable in an international reputable journal.

The Ph.D. candidate is entitled to graduation upon successful completion of 24 credit

hours of course work, a two-semester non–credit seminar on the field of his /her
specialization and the PhD Dissertation. The course work , field research and write up
of the Ph.D. dissertation will cover a minimum period of four years.

The maximaum number of years a student will stay as a Ph.D. candidate is six years.
The student will be awarded the Ph.D. Degree in Development Economics upon
successful completion of the study and when all the above requirements are fully met
.

4.2.4.Teaching Methods

Much of the course will be delivered in the form of lectures and seminars. There will
also be intensive reading assignments as well as exercises .Computer labs are also
integral parts of the teaching learning process.

4.2.5. Assessment /Evaulution of Examinations

The student is expected to take examination at the completion of each course and
obtain a grade of B or better in each such course in order to proceed to the next
course in the sequence .Alternatively, a stay in the program is also possible provided the
student gets a minimum average grade of B or better for the core courses. Students in
this second group are, however, expected to take make –up examinations in those
courses where they had scored less than B grades and clear those grades (i.e.raise the
grades to B or better ). If the student earned in the make –up examinations a grade of
B or better , that better grade will replace his/her less than B grade in the records and
GPA is calculated accoordingly.

Performance evaluation in course work will involve two components (a) a continuous
assessment ( which may involve ac combination of assignments , exercises, in –class
presentations ,mid-term exam,etc) and (b) a final exam . The Continuous assessment
should count for 50 % of the total mark while the final exam takes 50% .

The Ph.D. Dissertation is evaluated at each stage of its development: acceptance of

proposal; fieldwork and seminars; write-up, production and distribution; oral examination.
A”pass” grade in the Dissertation is required for a successful graduation from the
program. This pass grade may be qualified by one of the following citations ,
whichever is fiting to the particular Dissertation: excellent, very good, or satisfactory.
Letter or numerical grades are not awarded to Ph.D. Dissertation.

4.2.6. Grading

Examination results of core courses are graded based on the grading system of
graduate programs of the Wollega University. The grading system of the non –credit
courses will be assigned P or F standing for pass and fail, respectively.

4.2.7.Degree Nomenclature

የፍልስፍና ዶክትረት በኢኮኖሚክስ

Doctor of Philosophy in Developemnt Economics

4.3. Resource Profile

4.3.1 College
Currently , the Department has four PhD holders (1 associate proffessor and 3 Assitant
Professors). In addition, the department has three PhD candidates expected to join in
2015.Detailed staff profile is provided in Appendix a.The University will Provide the
necessary financial resources for engaging examiners.

4.3.2. Material Resources

The Department is planning to have a documentation center with uptodate books and
journals. Most of the Materials in the documentation center will be accumulated over
time from donations of the collaborators and donars. Moreover, the Department will have
two computer centers that cater its undergraduate and grauate programs. Video
conference room with all interanet facilities and infrastructures will be owned by the
department. A moderate vichele that can accommodate four individuals should be owned
by the department/college to accommodate scholars timely and to provide timely
transportation services. Lab top and offices will be provided to individual Ph. D
candidates.

4.4. Quality Assurance

Quality of a program depends on the policies and procedures for recruitment of

teaching staff, admission requirements, the teaching –learning –research facilities
available, policies for determination of academic status,etc .To ensure delivery of the
PhD program at the required quality ,internal and external quality assurance mechanism
will be used . As part of the internal mechanism, evaluation of students based on
continuous assessment as well as standardized exams , evaluation of teaching staff,
periodic evaluation of the curriculum and assessment of adequacy of teaching facilites
will be used .Besides, feedback will be obtained from students on regular basis .The
external examiners (for both course work and PhD Dissertation ) as well as independent
assessment of the teaching-learning –research process. In addition to examining the
students, the external examiners will evaluate the standards of exams, rigor and
currency of text and refernce materials, depth of course tretment and coverage
,adequacy of teaching faclitis , and competence of teaching staff .

4.5.Core and seminar courses, and the Ph.D. Dissertation

The core course consist of microeconomics , macroeconomics and quantitative
methods (mainly econometrics) and are offered during the first two years of the
Ph.D.program.The core courses are designed in such a way that they build on the core
courses of the existing MSc program in economics.The courses are sequentially
arranged and students are expected to register for them in the order shown in sections
4.6.3.

After student has taken the core courses, she/he can then register for the field
courses,beginning in the first semester of the second year.Each student is expected to
select her/his area of specialization from a growing field of elective courses.The
elective courses are also sequentially arranged and can only be taken in the order
given in the program.A less advanced course in an elective set becomes a prequisite for
and is taken before the more advanced course.Currently , the seminar courses are
focused on the following :

 Agricultural Economics
 Development Economics
 Economic Policy
 Public Sector Economics
 Resource and Environmental Economics
 Financial Economics

Only student who has successfully completed his/her course work (i.e.completed both
core and elective course requirement at grades of B or better ) can seek approval to
register for the Ph.D. research . The Ph.D research takes a minimum of two years to
complete after Dissertation proposal approval. The expectation is that the Ph.D.
student will seek approval of the Dissertation proposal in the first semester of his /her
third year, after completion of the course work.It is quite possible that candidates may
not be ready to develop an independent research program and defend their decision to
do so ,immediately after completion of the course work ,If a student wishes to defer
submission of the Dissertation proposal beyond the first semster of the third year in the
program it is necessary to have the permission of the Department to delay submission .It
must also be understood that re-registration after deferment is not automatic .The
requirements for the (Dissertation) research work may change and new conditions
may be attached to approve any such delayed request for Dissertation approval .

4.6.The list and sequencing of courses in the Ph.D. Program

The list of couses offered in the Economics Department are based on current capacity
andcurrent needs.It is quite possible to drop some courses and introduce a new field
list depending on changing circumstances.The list of courses currently offered in the
Ph.D. program at the Economics Department ,Wollega University ,is shown below .The
list includes course titles and course numbers for both core courses and field courses
.Moreover,it shows the sequencing of the courses.Normally, the odd numbered courses
are offered in the first semster,while the even numbered ones are second semester
courses.

4.6.1.Core courses

The following presents the list of core courses offered by the Ph.D. Program.

Course Course Title

No
Econ 901 Advanced Microeconomics
Econ 902 Advanced Macroeconomics
Econ Advanced Econometrics
903
Econ 904 Mathematics for Economists
Econ 911 Advanced Developemnt Economics
Econ 912 Developemnt Planing, Monitoring and Evaluation
Econ 913 Advanced Research Methods and Statistical Data Analysis
Econ 914 Developemnt and Environment
4.6.2. Seminar courses

The Seminar courses will increase as new demand arises and as the capacity to offer
new courses is enhanced . The current list of Seminar courses is shown below.

Course Course Title

No
Econ Seminar in Development Economics I
931
Econ Seminar in Development Economics II
932
4.6.3. Course List and Credits
The list of courses offered in the Economics Departement, the sequences in which
courses are offered as well as the credits ( weights ) of these courses are summarized
in the Table below .

Year Semster Course/Activities Credit

1 I Econ 901:Advanced Microeconomics 3
Econ 903: Advanced Macroeconomics 3
Econ 905: Advanced Econometrics 3
Econ 907: Mathematics for Economists 2
II Econ 911: Advanced Developemnt Economics 3
Econ 912: Developemnt Planing, Monitoring and 3
Evaluation
Econ913:Advanced Research Methods and Statistical 3
Data Analysis
Econ 914: Developemnt and Environment 2
2 I Econ 931: Development Economics I 1
II Econ 932: Development Economics II 1
3 & Econ 991: Ph.D. Dissertation
4
TOTAL CREDITS 24
The feild seminar courses will be taken during the second year of her /his stay on
campus . The student is advised to devote her /his spare time for study toward
identification of suitable topic (s) for his dissertation and develop the Dissertation
proposal .
4.6.4. Other rules
For issues not raised in this document, the rules and regulations of Harmonized
Academic Policy of Ethiopian Public Higher Education Institutions pertaining to the
functioning of graduate studies will apply.
5. COURSE DESCRIPTION
Econ 901 : Advanced Microeconomics
A minimum of (three ) advanced and contemporay topics in microeconomics covered
in this course . The topics to be coverd will include,among others; Applications of
consumers and producers behaviour; Market structures,General equilibrium theory and
applications (CGE modeles ); Game theory and applications; Therory of information
asymmetry and contract theory ;. The topics will be delivered in module form .
Completion of three or more modules and passing a written exam on each module
and cumulatively earns completion of 3 credit hours .Advanced and contemporary
topics in microeconomics covered in this course . Topics to be covered inculude: Social
welfare and chosce ; institutional economics; experimental economics, classical political
economy,etc. The topics will be delivered in module form . Completion of three or
more modules and passing a written exam on each module and cumulatively earns
completion of 3 credit hours.
Econ 903 : Advanced Macroeconomics
A minimum of 3 (three) advanced and contemporary topics in Macroeconomics will be
covered in this course .Topics to be covered include : Overlapping
generations;Determinants and measurement of technological progress; Endogenous
growth models; Role of human capital in economic growth ; Open macroeconomics and
growth in a global economy.

Econ 905: Advanced Topics in Econometrics

Advanced statistical methods for econometrics :Expectations : both unconditional and
conditional , and related concepts in econometrics;Asymptotic theory : including issues
of consistency and asymptotic inference ; Non – linear estimation methods ;Maximum
likelihood methods ;statical methods for time series data. advanced cross section
 econometrics:Topics here will include;overview of the single equation model linear
model: The omitted variables problem and solutions; instrumental varibels estimation of
single –equation linear models;general treatment of 2SLS; simultaneous Equations
Models; Nonlinear models and related topics (Discete response models –The linear
probability model,Index models, MLE of binary models , Binary endogenous explanatory
variables,Ordered response modeles , censored regression models;problems and solution
of sample selection.Estimating avrage tretment rffects and program evalution ;count
data models)
Econ 906: Advanced Topics in EconometricsII
Two advanced modules will be covered in these 6 credit (two-semster) courses .These
modeles are:
1. Time series econometrics : Stationary univariate models; Nostationary univariate models
(Trend /cycle decomposition, deterministic and stochastic trend models,unit
roottests,statinarity tests; structural change and nonlinear models ; Statinory multivarite
models (Dynamic simultaneous equations models,cector autoregression (Var) models
Granger causality, impulse response functions , variance decompositions structural var
models);Nonstationary mutivariate models (Spurious regression,cointegration ,Granger
representation therem,vector error correction models (VECM),structural var models with
conitegration,testing for cointegration,estimating the conitergrating rank,estimating
cointegrating vectors )
2. Panel data models : pooling cross sections over time ; The Linear panel Data Model;
Estimating unobserved effects models by pooled OLS;Ninary response models for
panel data ;pooled Tobit;Duration models
Econ 907:Mathematics for Economists
Advanced linear algebra ; calculus;static optimization ;Dynamics (continous time : single
and simultaneous differential equations ;discrete time : single and simulatneous
difference equations); Optimal control problem and Hamiltonians ;The Ramsey model;
Stochastic control and the certainty priciple; Dynamic optimization and Euler equations
;Optimality principle of dynamic programming and value functions;Non – linear
dynamical systems , etc

Advanced Development Economics

This course provides an overview of problems of growth and development, with an
emphasis upon less developed countries, transition economies and industrialized countries
undergoing extensive liberalization. It will examine the vigorous debates that have taken
place regarding economic development. Why do some economies grow, while others do
not? Are the great differences in the wealth of nations due mainly to differences in the
quality of their institutions and economic policies? The historical and contemporary process
of transformation of less-developed economies, internal and international sources of and
barriers to development; strategies for effective use of internal and external finance; growth
theory and development; models of dualistic development, unemployment, and migration;
problems of income distribution, population growth, education, and rural development.
Current topics in economic development in their theoretical, empirical, and policy contexts.
Issues include the north-south dialogue, appropriate technology, the role and limitations of
the state, population and development policy, urbanization, human resource development,
and prospects for private and public foreign assistance.

Environment and Development

on theory of resource economics and 3 on empirical applications in resource economics.
The second term of the course focuses on topics in the empirical application of resource
economics. Typical topics in the second term include agriculture and development,
adaptation to climate change, and the measurement of green growth and innovation. The
course introduces graduate students to six research topics in the field of resource
economics, and at the interface with development economics
Advanced Research Method and Statistical Data Analysis
Students integrate economic theory, empirical techniques, and analytical tools to solve real-
world problems. Students undertake (1) a comprehensive and critical literature survey of an
applied topic in recent economic literature and (2) original analytical and/or empirical work
on that topic.

Seminar in development economics I and II

 A good general reference for the theory underlying this course, and the level at which it will
be pitched, is Bardhan, P. and C. Udry (1999): Development Microeconomics (Oxford
University Press). The focus of the course will be on how to go from rigorous micro theory
to the appropriate empirical test, as illustrated by a selection of classic papers in the field, as
well as several more recent papers that are worth looking at. A good knowledge of micro
theory and econometrics is essential.

Seminar courses
The Ph.D. student will select a filed of specialization after completing core
courses.The filed course consist of a two –semester seminar .They will review
advanced and recent development ; study the research methouds and techiques applied
;present at least two term papers in their respective fileds.

APPENDIX A : Staff profile of the Department

N Full Name Qualification Academic Rank Status

o
1. Akshaya K. PhD Associate Prof. Indian
Mohanty
2. Admassu Tesso PhD Assistance Prof. Ethiopian
3. Getachew Bashargo PhD Assistance Prof. Ethiopian
4. Kumaravel K.S PhD Assistance Prof. Indian

Collaborators

1. Prof sisay Assefa from West Michigan State University, USA

2. Dr. Zaid Negash, Adigrat University
3. Dr. Jemal, Haramaya University
4. Dr. Hussen, Addis Ababa University
5. Dr. Beyene Tadesse, researcher and consultant