FINANCING DEVELOPMENT

Taught by Professor Kevin E. Davis

Mondays and Thursdays, 2:00 - 3:50 in VH 218

© Kevin Davis/IILJ, a Creative Commons license for use is granted as detailed here.

 

It is widely believed that, in the context of the developing world, access to capital is one of the crucial determinants of prosperity. Through close study of specific transactions this course will explore legal and economic aspects of some of the channels through which capital tends to flow to the inhabitants of developing countries. The types of transactions examined will include sovereign lending, foreign aid, project financing, development banking, and micro-lending. In addition to canvassing the relevant academic literature, for each type of transaction we will review examples of actual transactions. The main purpose of this exercise is to explore the relationship between the terms upon which capital is provided and the resulting benefits to both the immediate parties to the transaction and other members of society in developing countries. We will also be interested in how legal norms of various sorts as well as the decisions of individual lawyers influence the terms of these transactions. 

These course materials are made available to anyone wishing to teach or study the topic of financing development.

 

Contents of the Course

The readings in the introductory section set out the intellectual underpinnings of the course.  The remainder of the course consists of five largely independent units.  Each unit contains three sections.  The first is a broad overview of the topic.  The second is a selection of readings which provide a more in-depth examination of each topic.  Finally, the third section is a case study of an actual transaction.

 

Financing Development: Key Concepts

Unit 1: Legal Background

Unit 2: Sovereign Debt

Unit 3: Aid and Debt Relief

Unit 4: Project Finance

Unit 5: Development Banking

Unit 6: Microfinance

Links

Acknowledgements