SUMMATIVE ASSIGNMENT
Choose ONE of the following essays.
1. “It would be surprising – perhaps even a miracle – if a social phenomenon as
complex as religion had unambiguous effects on economic growth and
welfare, rather than relating to it through numerous channels and generating
trade-offs” R. Benabou, D. Ticchi and A. Vindigni, (2015) ‘Moral Values and
Economic Behaviour’, American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings,
Vol. 105, No.5, pp. 346
Critically examine the role of religion as a significant determinant of the
economic development of nations, making reference to its dual role as both a
formal and informal institution.
2. Critically discuss the extent to which continued growth and economic
development in Less Economically Developed Countries (LEDCs) is possible
in light of the possible direct and indirect consequences of Climate Change.
3. “…aid has a positive impact on growth in developing countries with good
fiscal, monetary, and trade policies but has little effect in the presence of
poor policies” C. Burnside and D. Dollar (2000), ‘Aid, Policies and Growth’,
American Economic Review, Vol. 90, No. 4, pp. 847
Critically assess the circumstances under which in-flows of foreign aid have a
positive rather than negative impact on the economic development of nations.
Overall word limit: 2500 words
ECON3171
Development Economics
Undergraduate Programmes
2021/22
2
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Your completed assignment must be uploaded to Ultra
no later than 12:00 midday on 25th April 2022.
A penalty will be applied for work uploaded after 12:00 midday as detailed in
the Business School Students SharePoint Site. You must leave sufficient time
to fully complete the upload process before the deadline and check that you
have received a receipt. At peak periods, it can take up to 30 minutes for a
receipt to be generated.
Assignments should be typed, using 1.5 spacing and an easy-to-read 12-point font.
Assignments and dissertations/business projects must not exceed the word count
indicated in the module handbook/assessment brief.
The word count should:
Include all the text, including title, preface, introduction, in-text citations,
quotations, footnotes and any other items not specifically excluded below.
Exclude diagrams, tables (including tables/lists of contents and figures),
equations, executive summary/abstract, acknowledgements, declaration,
bibliography/list of references and appendices. However, it is not appropriate to
use diagrams or tables merely as a way of circumventing the word limit. If a
student uses a table or figure as a means of presenting his/her own words, then
this is included in the word count.
Examiners will stop reading once the word limit has been reached, and work beyond
this point will not be assessed. Checks of word counts will be carried out on
submitted work, including any assignments or dissertations/business projects that
appear to be clearly over-length. Checks may take place manually and/or with the
aid of the word count provided via an electronic submission. Where a student has
intentionally misrepresented their word count, the School may treat this as an
offence under Section IV of the General Regulations of the University. Extreme
cases may be viewed as dishonest practice under Section IV, 5 (a) (x) of the General
Regulations.
Very occasionally it may be appropriate to present, in an appendix, material which
does not properly belong in the main body of the assessment but which some
students wish to provide for the sake of completeness. Any appendices will not have
a role in the assessment – examiners are under no obligation to read appendices and
ECON3171
Development Economics
Undergraduate Programmes
2021/22
3
they do not form part of the word count. Material that students wish to be assessed
should always be included in the main body of the text.
Guidance on referencing can be found on Durham University website and in the
Business School Students SharePoint Site.
MARKING GUIDELINES
Performance in the summative assessment for this module is judged against the
following criteria:
Relevance to question(s)
Organisation, structure and presentation
Depth of understanding
Analysis and discussion
Use of sources and referencing
Overall conclusions
PLAGIARISM AND COLLUSION
Students suspected of plagiarism, either of published work or the work of other
students, or of collusion will be dealt with according to School and University
guidelines.
END OF ASSESSMENT