Course teached as: B028712 - ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT OF COMPLEX HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCIES 3-years First Cycle Degree (DM 270/04) in ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL AND HEALTH COOPERATION AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Teaching Language
English
Course Content
Economics and Management of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (CHE)
• General understanding of Economics and Management of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies;
• General understanding of the connections among on economic theories and CHE, humanitarian cooperation strategies and programs;
• Links between economics, inequality, conflicts and other issues;
• Introduction to management of emergencies.
There is no textbook for the course and references to books will be minimized.
Instead, the course will heavily draw on recent state-of-the-art published articles. Lecture notes and specific documents provided during the course constitute the relevant documents and readings for preparing the final assessment.
Further deepening of specific topics can be found in the list of articles reported below for each of the topics. The third part of the course is reading intensive. Students are expected to read about 50-60 pages (2-3 articles) each week as basic material. Supplemental recommended material may also add up 20-30 pages worth of reading.
Learning Objectives
This course objective is to introduce emergencies crises by disentangling the different causes, elements, results and management. The course objectives are three:
The first is to introduce the student to the main Definitions of CHE and by linking them with international cooperation.
The second is to provide a series of examples related to the Management of CHE.
The third is to focus of different issues like on violent conflict and their determinants.
Prerequisites
The course will take an economic approach but it is not an economics course, so non-economist as well as economist theories, arguments and empirical evidence will be presented in the lectures. Theories will be presented in a simple and intuitive way and only occasionally the discussion may focus on their arithmetic.
Economics (at least 1 course), Political Science (at least 1 course), Development Economics (important)
Teaching Methods
Classes are 24 of 2 hours each
Frontal classes 30
seminars 8
practices 12
Further information
Attendance is expected and required. At least 70% of classes attendance is requested in order to do the exam.
Participation to class discussion will be part of the assessment. If a student misses a class it will be his/her responsibility to catch up with what he missed (notes, readings, assignments, etc.)
• General understanding of Economics and Management of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies;
• General understanding of the connections among on economic theories and CHE, humanitarian cooperation strategies and programs;
• Links between economics, inequality, conflicts and other issues;
• Introduction to management of emergencies.
General Description
This course introduces emergencies crises by disentangling the different causes, elements, results and management. The course is structured in three parts.
The first part of the course is an introduction of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies and humanitarian cooperation strategies presenting different type of crises. The aim is to have an understanding of the connections among on economic theories and Emergencies. This part of the course then analyses relevant issues related to emergency crises through seminars and case studies.
The second part of the course is an introduction to management of complex emergencies in terms of principles, organization and coordination.
The third part of the course is based on the analysis of the links between economics, inequality, conflicts and other issues.
In its multiple forms, conflict is one of the main global obstacles for development in the world today. This course explores the economic and social underpinnings explaining the occurrence and duration of conflicts. It will focus on civil conflict, terrorism and specific forms of violence (sport-related violence and food riots). The course will review economic theories of conflict, systematizing their implications in the socioeconomic (growth, poverty, social capital, and national culture) and political (democracy) spheres. The course will examine both theoretical and empirical advances and will draw from recent works in the field. Also, sessions will assess the merits of available conflict datasets for future empirical work.
Type of Assessment
The exam is composed by three parts with the following scores weight: 1) 25% + 2) 25% + 3) 50%
1) 25% class attendance and presentation
Assignment #0 Students’ group presentation (Prof. Mario Biggeri) 15% (Group composed by 3 to 4 students analyses one case study and present it in class with a power point presentation supported by a report*.
Active participation to practice classes
Participation to frontal classes
Participation to seminars
Division in groups and choice of the argument (in the class of 4th week)
2) 25% written reports
*Report on students’ group presentation (Prof. Mario Biggeri) 5% (The report support the group presentation)
Research Proposal Assignment #1 and #2 (Prof. Jose Cuesta) 20%
The proposals (Assignment #1 and #2 ) will briefly present a research question(s); literature’s main tenets on the issue; a description of the data source(s) to be used in the analysis; a short description of the analytical/empirical approach/strategy; and how expected outcomes address the research question(s). Students are not asked to carry out the research but rather to think through a potential research project and carefully check on empirical sources.
3) 50% written exam
or overall exam on the topics of the course
Questions to answer in a written form
Course program
Economics and Management of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies (CHE)
• General understanding of Economics and Management of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies;
• General understanding of the connections among on economic theories and CHE, humanitarian cooperation strategies and programs;
• Links between economics, inequality, conflicts and other issues;
• Introduction to management of emergencies.
General Description
This course introduces emergencies crises by disentangling the different causes, elements, results and management. The course is structured in three parts.
The first part of the course is an introduction of Complex Humanitarian Emergencies and humanitarian cooperation strategies presenting different type of crises. The aim is to have an understanding of the connections among on economic theories and Emergencies. This part of the course then analyses relevant issues related to emergency crises through seminars and case studies.
The second part of the course is an introduction to management of complex emergencies in terms of principles, organization and coordination.
The third part of the course is based on the analysis of the links between economics, inequality, conflicts and other issues.
In its multiple forms, conflict is one of the main global obstacles for development in the world today. This course explores the economic and social underpinnings explaining the occurrence and duration of conflicts. It will focus on civil conflict, terrorism and specific forms of violence (sport-related violence and food riots). The course will review economic theories of conflict, systematizing their implications in the socioeconomic (growth, poverty, social capital, and national culture) and political (democracy) spheres. The course will examine both theoretical and empirical advances and will draw from recent works in the field. Also, sessions will assess the merits of available conflict datasets for future empirical work.
Introduction to the course EMCHE definitions, characteristics and International Humanitarian aid
Human Security and Human Development
Econ. Policy Disasters: trasformazioni sistemiche
Econ. Policy Disasters and Natural disasters
Food-Crisis
Famine Example
Resilience
Palestine case study and other examples
Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Management
Complex Humanitarian Emergencies Management
Health emergencies
Crises and Migration/refugees
Refugees camps in Syria - Management
Introduction and Natural Resource Curse and Conflict
Economics of Civil Conflict + Submission of Assignment #1
Terrorism
Democratization and Violence
Submission of Assignment #2
National Cultures of Violence
Food Riots
Research Proposals
Students group presentations