International Development and Policy

Recognizing the economic interdependence between the U.S. and the rest of the world, Purdue offers an extensive research and teaching program on International Development and Policy.  Students may select from a variety of courses and thesis projects examining agricultural trade and economic growth, working with a large group of faculty specializing in international issues.  Students in this area often take additional courses in international finance and trade theory offered by the Department of Economics.

Purdue's program in international development and policy offers global coverage.  Staff members have extensive overseas experience in South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, Europe and the former Soviet Union, and several faculty members have on-going research programs providing opportunities for overseas fieldwork in countries such as Morocco, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Niger, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Hungary and others. Topics addressed include market reforms, trade and domestic policies, technical change in production, and the role of natural resources and environmental factors in the development process.  Faculty and student activities have been funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and other agencies in the U.S. government, as well as the World Bank and the United Nations, among other international organizations.

The international development and policy specialty area is designed to prepare students for careers in government or in the private sector with consulting firms, banks, and private voluntary organizations.  In the U.S., the government agencies that most frequently hire students with this specialty are the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Foreign Agricultural Service, and the International Economics Division of the Economic Research Service, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For a Master's degree in this area, students should complete AGEC 522 (intro math programming) and AGEC 650 (econometrics) for quantitative methods, and highly recommended electives are AGEC 644 (trade) as well as AGEC 643 (development) and AGEC 640 (policy).  Students following the Professionals M.S. program are encouraged to complement their work in development with additional course work in production, marketing, trade, or resources.  Students who plan to go on for a Ph.D. degree are encouraged to include more quantitative courses and more advanced economics theory in their M.S. plan of study.

Suggested Courses for the Master of Science Program:
AGEC 506	Ag Marketing and Price Analysis
AGEC 596I	Intl Food and Agribusiness Marketing
AGEC 604	Fund of Applied Welfare Economics
AGEC 612	Agricultural Production Economics I
AGEC 616	Resource Economics and Policy
AGEC 640	Agricultural Policy
AGEC 643	Ag Economic Development
AGEC 644	International Agricultural Trade
ECON 522	Public Finance and Taxation
ECON 523	State and Local Finance
ECON 535	International Monetary Problems

 

Required for the International Development and Policy specialty area in the Ph.D. Program:
AGEC 608	Benefit Cost Analysis
AGEC 640	Agricultural Policy
AGEC 643	Theory of Economic Development

 

Select one from:
AGEC 616	Resource Economics Policy
AGEC 618	Applied General Equilibrium Analysis
AGEC 644	International Agricultural Trade
ECON 635	Monetary Intl Economics