MSc in Development Economics
Course Overview
The MSc in Development Economics at LSLPE is a UK Level 7 postgraduate degree running one year full-time or two years part-time across on-campus, online and distance-learning routes. The programme is aligned with Royal Economic Society standards on applied econometrics, Overseas Development Institute and Institute of Development Studies research practice, and Institute for Fiscal Studies methodology on public finance modelling for developing economies.
By graduation you will have designed a household-level survey instrument, estimated an impact evaluation using difference-in-differences or regression discontinuity, produced a country-level growth diagnostic and completed a substantial dissertation, capstone or sponsor project supervised by practising development economists working with multilateral institutions and UK development think tanks.
Key Features
- Curriculum aligned with Royal Economic Society applied training standards and ODI and IDS research practice.
- Case-room seminars using materials from World Bank country reports, IFS distributional analyses and DfID legacy programme evaluations.
- Applied econometrics workstations using Stata and R with panel and household-survey datasets.
- Choice of dissertation, capstone consulting project or sponsor-supervised impact evaluation with a development partner.
- Guest sessions with ODI Research Fellows and City firm emerging-markets economists.
- Named programme-tutor support across all three study modes.
What You Will Learn
- Growth theory, structural transformation and cross-country empirical strategies.
- Randomised controlled trials, quasi-experimental methods and observational impact evaluation.
- Poverty and inequality measurement, distributional national accounts and Gini decomposition.
- Public finance for developing economies, aid effectiveness and fiscal space analysis.
- Political economy of development including institutions, corruption and state capacity.
- Trade, industrial policy and global value chain participation for LMICs.
- Environmental and climate economics for adaptation and just transition programmes.
- Research methodology for a Master's dissertation in development economics.
Who This Course Is For
- Analysts and programme officers at multilateral banks, UN agencies and bilateral donors.
- NGO monitoring, evaluation and learning leads seeking a credentialed econometrics upgrade.
- Civil servants in finance and planning ministries in low and middle income countries.
- Recent economics graduates targeting a development, impact evaluation or emerging-markets role.
- Working practitioners moving from generalist policy roles into applied development economics.
Career Pathways
- Development Economist
- Economic Policy Analyst
- Trade Economist
- Research Economist
- Regulatory Economist for emerging market regulators
- Economic Consultant on aid programmes
- Public Finance Analyst
- Investment Analyst on frontier markets
The LSLPE careers service holds at least one careers day each academic year connecting MSc in Development Economics students with employers across multilateral institutions, ODI-adjacent think tanks, City emerging-markets teams and international NGOs.
Entry Requirements
- A UK Bachelor's degree (2:2 or above) or equivalent international qualification in economics, mathematics, statistics or a related discipline.
- IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
- Applicants without a Bachelor's degree but with five or more years of senior development, evaluation or public finance experience are considered on portfolio.
- One academic and one professional reference.
- A 500-word research proposal or professional practice statement identifying a proposed dissertation topic in development economics.
Why Study at LSLPE
LSLPE is the specialist law, politics and economics division of Harold International College of London, teaching in small tutor-visible cohorts within a short tube ride of the ODI, Chatham House, HM Treasury and the City firms that finance emerging-market debt. The MSc in Development Economics reads its subject through the working papers, evaluation reports and country diagnostics that shape UK and multilateral development finance.
Three parallel study modes let progressors, working practitioners and portfolio-route applicants complete the MSc without leaving field posts or headquarters teams, and the LSLPE careers service refreshes curriculum annually against Royal Economic Society and IFS guidance.
Apply for MSc in Development Economics
Applications for the MSc in Development Economics open with rolling intakes and admissions responds within one working day. Enrol on an LSLPE Master's programme with a dissertation, capstone or sponsor project supervised by practising development economists, and take a credentialed UK step into development finance and policy. Enrol Now
