Economics, Finance and Development Study Group
50 Years of Development Economics: Taking Stock of Controversies
Thursday 3rd July 2003 Overseas Development Institute,
111 Westminster Bridge Road, London

ANNOUNCEMENT AND CALL FOR PAPERS
Please check regularly on the DSA Website (www.devstud.org.uk) for further developments and details of this meeting. Look under the Economics, Finance and Development Study Group within the Study Groups area.

Rationale
The Economics, Finance and Development Study Group of the DSA is to hold a one-day meeting on Thursday July 3rd. The meeting will take stock of 50 years of development economics, with a particular focus on controversies. It will consider the evolution, current state and future direction of the subject area, particularly in terms of its capacity to support policy formulation. It is likely that the papers will be published in the Journal of International Development in 2004.

In recent years, although development economists have had a strong presence in the activities of the DSA, there has been little opportunity to discuss the basic tenets of the sub-discipline, or to systematically discuss the basis that it gives for consistent and effective policy formulation. Within the economics profession there is considerable disagreement over some very important theoretical and empirical issues relating to the analysis of the economies of developing countries and their interaction with the international economy. There is also tension between economists and other social scientists over the nature and appropriate extent of inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary studies. Recent articles published in World Development by Ravi Kanbur, Howard White, Cecile Jackson, John Harriss and Ben Fine bear witness to the controversies. The Development Studies Association is a very appropriate body to provide a forum within which some of these controversies can be aired and discussed in a constructive atmosphere. With the demise of the former ESRC Development Economics Study Group we are conscious of the need to provide a new forum within which such discussions can take place.

The absence of any "development economics" sub-group within the Economics subject categories of the HEFCE/QAA teaching Subject Review process for UK universities was a major omission. The serious limitations of the "Development Studies" sub-group of the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, not least its location within the "Geography" panel, is another issue of concern to UK university development economists. The extent to which university research and teaching in the development economics area is positively supportive of the needs of policy makers and practitioners in developing and transitional economies is itself open to question. There is much for us to discuss.

Venue and Fees
The meeting will be held at the Overseas Development Institute, 111 Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7JD (near Waterloo station and near the Lambeth North underground station, directions at http://www.odi.org.uk). Refreshments, including lunch, will be provided. The fee for to participants will be £20. There is a reduced rate for full time postgraduate research students at £10, and about 20 of these students can claim up to £50 for their travel (provided that they have confirmed the cost with the organisers before the meeting, and present receipts when making their claim). The event is intended to attract a range of people with a professional interest in development economics including academics, policy /decision makers and NGO staff.

The Programme
The meeting will last from 9.30am until about 5pm. It will open with a keynote paper by Professor John Toye (Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies, University of Oxford – and a former President of the DSA). The day will consist of four sessions with discussion after each of the presentations, and an open structured discussion in the final hour. Participants may attend part or all of the day. Offers of papers are invited but please note that the organisers are inviting specific individuals to make contributions within each of the sessions so that there will only be limited space for unsolicited papers.

The four sessions will be:

1. The Current State of Development Economics
2. Growth, Development Finance and Poverty Reduction
3. Developing Countries and the World Economy
4. Open Discussion

To propose a paper, please email an abstract (up to 100 words) to the organisers by March 31. We anticipate that negotiation with those offering papers may be necessary. The programme will be finalised in the first week of April 2003. If contributors wish to circulate complete papers before the meeting they can be made available to participants and other DSA members through the DSA Website.

Booking
If you wish to attend, please make a reservation by sending a cheque to Andrew Sumner (made payable to 'the Development Studies Association') together with your contact details (including your email address).

February 18, 2003.