Taught in Spanish at the Pontificia Universidad Católica and may not be offered every semester. This course will help you develop knowledge of public and private policies to improve the living conditions of families in rural areas. Using Chile as a specific case, you will learn the distinctive characteristics of the rural world that justify specific development policies and come to understand in what predictable ways economic development transforms society and rural economies.
You will be able to demonstrate your comprehension of the following topics:
- Definitions of the terms used in the general economic development literature and the literature specifically oriented to rural development.
- Trends in rural areas and in the agricultural sector in terms of population statistics, poverty levels (schooling and other socioeconomic characteristics), agricultural production (and international trade, etc.), levels of migration, and other statistics.
- The role of agriculture and other sources of income for rural households individually and for rural economies more generally.
- The consequences of the basic models of rural development, territorial development and migration.
- The specific problems of disadvantaged communities and lagging areas.
- How to use decision-making models at the household level to predict the consequences of policies.
- The role of research and development of new species and technologies in the promotion of rural development.
- Rural development problems and indicators, and the relationship between tools (policies) and indicators. If we are going to appropriate the resources of the taxpayers to implement a specific policy, how do we measure whether the implementation of the policy is achieving the intended objectives?
For matriculated SU students, this course may apply to the Policy Studies Major for Topical Specializations of Business & Government and Health & Human Services.