Syllabus

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Core learning outcomes:

• Understanding different views about the causes of poverty
• Understanding the concept of market-based development, including the most common approaches
• Recognizing when market-based development approaches may be appropriate, and how market-based development supplements other development approaches
• Develop critical thinking skills to assess how well an intervention is embedded in the local context
• Understanding the need for multi-stakeholder partnerships in market-based development, and how to assemble and manage these partnerships
• Critically assessing the ethics involved in market-based development, especially the impact of unequal power balances

Credits: 6

Schedule: 05.09.2023 - 19.10.2023

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Patrick Shulist, Sara Lindeman

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

sara.lindeman@aalto.fi  (primary instructor)

patrick.shulist@aalto.fi (usual instructor, but on paternity leave)

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  The course introduces the concept of market-based development as it is broadly undertaken in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and other developing contexts; collectively, the Global South. Market-based development does not offer a panacea for poverty-alleviation, but rather offers a powerful set of tools that work in some situations. As such, we will discuss when market-based approaches, such as microfinance, value-chain development, entrepreneurial training, and last-mile provisions, are appropriate and effective. Moreover, we will help students understand how to effectively structure interventions by focusing on three key pillars:

  • Context: interventions must be appropriately tailored to the specific political, institutional, scarcity, and historical contexts.
  • Partnerships: given the complexity of market-based development, partnerships involving different NGOs, businesses, and government entities are critical.
  • Ethics: it is imperative to understand the fundamental power imbalances at play, as well as the importance of not presupposing that outsiders (especially Europeans versed in a different institutional context) know what is best for local communities.

  To help us understand the complexities and nuances of all of these topics, the course will have a number of guest speakers who represent a cross-section of the actors involved in market-based development. Moreover, students will have the opportunity to integrate this learning by undertaking a final group-based project focused on providing solutions to the challenges encountered in real-world market-based development interventions.

• applies in this implementation

  See full syllabus: Detailed syllabus
  

Assessment Methods and Criteria

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Individual and group work

  Exam
  

• applies in this implementation

  Component	Percent of Final Grade	Due Date
  Individual Work	65%
  Pre-session assignments	20% (10x2%)	Due before start of sessions at 09:30
  Exam	45%	October 19, 13:00-16:00 Exam retake on December 12
  Group work	35%
  Create Group		Thursday, September 14th
  Group contract		Tuesday, September 19th
  Context Report	20%	Friday, September 29th
  Presentation	15%	In class, sessions 8-11
  Peer evaluation		Saturday, October 21st

  
  

Workload

• applies in this implementation

  Note: as a 6ECTS course, this course technically has 162 hours of time allotted to it (1ECTS=27 hours of work)
  

  Estimate of overall working time, giving generous buffers: 110 hours, or roughly 15.5 hours of work per week for this 7 week course. See below for calculations.
  

  The difference between the ECTS time (162 hours) and my estimate (110 hours) leaves ample room for people to explore the topic further, or in case they find that the course takes more time than average.
  

  
  

  Individual work

  12 sessions, approximately 2 hours of class time each = 24 hours

  10 sessions with pre-session readings/assignment, average of 2.5 hours each = 25 hours  

  (note: the pre-session times range from 1.5-3 hours, with sessions 1-5 being the longest.  I front loaded the session workload to give more time for assignments and exam prep at the end of the period)
  

  Exam preparation = 20 hours (maximum)
  

  Exam = 3 hours

  Total: 72 hours
  

  
  

  Group work
  

  Group report: 20 hours

  Group presentation: 15 hours
  

  Miscellaneous (finding a group, coordination, group contract, etc.) = 3 hours

  
  

  Total: 37 hours
  

  
  

  Total:
  

DETAILS

Study Material

• applies in this implementation

  See full syllabus: Detailed syllabus
  

Substitutes for Courses

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Substitutes for Courses

Prerequisites

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Prerequisites

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Teaching Language : English

  Teaching Period : 2022-2023 Autumn I
  2023-2024 Autumn I

  Enrollment :

  Students are admitted to the course in the following priority order: 1) Management and International Business / Creative Sustainability students, 2) Exchange / CEMS students, 3) Other students.

• applies in this implementation

  See full syllabus: Detailed syllabus
  

Details on the schedule

• applies in this implementation

  Session #	Date	Day of week	Room	Topic
  1	5-Sep	Tuesday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	Using markets to address community needs
  2	8-Sep	Friday	T004 (ground floor Biz)	NGOs and market-based development
  3	12-Sep	Tuesday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	What is development? And what is the Global South?
  4	14-Sep	Thursday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	Traditional (non-market) approaches to development
  5	19-Sep	Tuesday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	What is market-based development?
  6	21-Sep	Thursday	M202 (2nd floor Väre)	Overview of the main approaches to market-based development
  7	26-Sep	Tuesday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	Entrepreneurship as a means of development
  8	28-Sep	Thursday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	Supporting market-based activity through developing financial infrastructure
  9	3-Oct	Tuesday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	Presentations
  10	5-Oct	Thursday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	Presentations
  11	10-Oct	Tuesday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	Market-based development in rural settings
  12	12-Oct	Thursday	U006 (ground floor Biz)	Monitoring and Evaluation
  Exam	19-Oct	Thursday	U157 U2 (Otakaari 1)	Exam: 13:00-16:00

  
  

Description