Textbooks Currently Used in Classes
This page provides a reference of the textbooks commonly used in classes at the CDE.
The CDE provides hard-copy textbooks for students while on campus.
Textbooks can be expensive. We've included a link to Amazon for most of these textbooks for reference, but please be aware that Amazon may not be the cheapest place to buy books. Before you purchase online, try reaching out to other alumni or someone currently working at the CDE via facebook or email to see if they have any suggestions for access.
ECON 501: Growth and Development
The primary textbook for the CDE's core course "Economic Growth and Development," Economic Growth by David Weil includes chapters on physical capital, population and growth, population trends, human capital, productivity, the role of technology in growth, innovation, efficiency, growth in open economies, governance, income inequality, culture, geography and natural resources, and resources and environment at the global level.
Econometrics
One of the primary textbooks used in our core econometrics courses, Real Econometrics focuses on building econometric intuition and on the process behind using econometrics, rather than getting lost in proofs and formulas.
Econometrics
The other of the primary textbooks used in our core econometric courses, Introduction to Econometrics by Stock and Watson is a standard choice in many American universities.
The textbook provides a thorough treatment of all introductory concepts in econometrics, and includes extensive appendices for the rigorous student.
ECON 504: Public Economics in Developing Countries
Required reading for our core course "Public Economics in Developing Countries," Public Finance and Public Policy by Jonathan Gruber of MIT covers the fundamentals of public economics, from externalities such as education and pollution; to public goods; to unemployment, health, disability and other social insurances; redistribution; and taxation, among other topics.
The textbook takes many examples from the United States, but the theory (adjusted for local context) often holds for developing countries.
ECON 505: Developing Country Macroeconomics
Written by professor Peter Montiel, Macroeconomics in Emerging Markets provides an in-depth treatment of the material covered in the course "Developing Country Macroeconomics."
The book introduces a benchmark macroeconomic model and then adds complexity. Topics discussed include public finance and macroeconomic performance; monetary institutions and policy; exchange rate management; the financial sector; and emerging-market crises.
ECON 506: Fundamentals of Developing Country Macroeconomics
Macroeconomics, written by our professor Ken Kuttner, develops more in-depth mathematical models for developing-country situations than many other intermediate macro textbooks, which typically take the case of the United States as their default.
The textbook is still in the final stages of construction (word on the street is that you'll get an A if you come up with a stellar name for the book). The most recent version can be found on Prof. Kuttner's website.
ECON 506: Fundamentals of Developing Country Macroeconomics
A supplementary textbook for our core macroeconomics course "Fundamentals of Developing Country Macroeconomics," Macroeconomics by Gregory Mankiw of Harvard provides an intermediate treatment of the fundamental concepts of macroeconomics, including consumption and saving, investment, trade and capital flows, exchange rates, the labor market, monetary policy, and taxes and expenditure.
ECON 504: Public Economics in Developing Countries
Excerpts from Microeconomics by Gregory Mankiw of Harvard are used as required readings for the CDE's core course, "Public Economics in Developing Countries." The textbook provides a basic introduction to thinking like an economist, devoting chapters to making the general arguments upon which most economists agree, and then detailing where smart people might disagree regarding the gains from trade, markets and competition, elasticities, price controls, efficiency and equity, externalities, taxes, and public goods and common resources, among other topics.
Econometrics
Introductory Econometrics: A Modern Approach by Jeffrey Woolridge of Michigan State is often recommended as a supplementary textbook for econometrics courses taught at the CDE.
It is a useful resource for students who prefer more intuitive and less technical explanations of econometric concepts.
Other Supplementary Reading Materials from Past Williams Courses
- Getting Energy Prices Right: From Principle to Practice
- Corruption and the Costs of Redistribution: Micro Evidence from Indonesia
- The Miracle of Microfinance? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation
- Social Welfare, the Tradeoff between Equity and Efficiency, and the Marginal Efficiency Cost of Funds
- Sustainable Development Goal Report: 2018
- Scaling Up What Works: Experimental Evidence on External Validity in Kenyan Education
- School Governance, Teacher Incentives and Pupil-Teacher Ratios: Experimental Evidence from Kenyan Primary Schools
- The Effects of "Girl-Friendly" Schools: Evidence from the BRIGHT School Construction Program in Burkina Faso
- Dams
- Does a Ban on Informal Health Providers Save Lives? Evidence from Malawi
- The New Transparency in Development Economics: Lessons from the Millennium Villages Controversy
- When Does Rigorous Impact Evaluation Make a Difference? The Case of the Millennium Villages
- The Effect of an Integrated Multisector Model for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals and Improving Child Survival in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa: A Non-Randomized Controlled Assessment
- Methods of Household Consumption Measurement through Surveys: Experimental Results from Tanzania
- Three New Papers on Measuring Stuff that is Difficult to Measure
- The Analysis of Household Surveys: A Microeconometric Approach to Development Policy
- Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia: Evidence from an Unusual Policy Experiment
- Supercrunchers
- Principles of Microeconomics
- The Elusive Quest for Growth: An Economist's Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics
- Behavioral Design: A New Approach to Development Policy
- Rethinking the Growth Diagnostics Approach: Questions from the Practitioners
- Impact Evaluation in Practice