Poverty and poor living standards in the developing world are frequently traced back to alleged pathologies in countries’ institutions, structural conditions, or levels of social capital. Some kinds of organizations help reduce or overcome these pathologies and allow their countries or regions to grow economically and raise economic well-being. For example, an effective planning agency in Korea promoted rapid (if unequal) technological and economic growth in South Korean businesses. But other forms of organizations, such as large business conglomerates in Latin America, may behave in ways that perpetuate those problems and prolong slow growth.

This course explores this relationship between developmental outcomes and organizations in the developing world. It draws out lessons from both public sector organizations (bureaucracies) and business organizations, as well as from the manners in which they interact with one another.