Differences in income per capita levels and growth rates across countries are large. Understanding the causes behind these differences is a fundamental question in economics. The main objective of this course is to apply economic theory to understand and interpret empirical observations on economic development and growth. By the end of this course students will have a basic knowledge of the main facts characterizing economic development and growth over time and across countries, as well as the ability of theoretical models to account for these facts. The topics that will be covered in the course include the role of physical and human capital accumulation in growth and income differences, the reallocation of factors across sectors (structural transformation) and aggregate productivity, the importance of the misallocation of resources across heterogeneous firms in aggregate productivity. Key empirical applications include the growth performance of industrialized countries since World War II and the productivity slowdown observed in recent decades, the stagnation of living standards in many developing countries, and the role of automation and artificial intelligence in growth and development.