ECOS3002代写、代写Java，c++编程

日期：2023-04-13 10:27

ECOS3002 – Development Economics

Sample questions for the upcoming written assignment (based on past mid semester exam)

Section 1. Draw, calculate, interpret

1. (15 points) Inequality analysis. Suppose a large country has a Gini coefficient of 0.5

and the government decides to enact policies to reduce income inequality. Suppose that

25% of the population earns more than 100,000 per year before tax and 25% of the

population earns less than 40,000 per year before tax. Suppose that the income tax rate

is 30% for everyone earning over 40,000 per year and 0% for everyone earning less

than 40,000 per year.

a. (10 points) Illustrate what would happen to the Lorenz curve if the government

increases the income tax rate from 30% to 50% on people earning more than

100,000 per year before tax, and uses it to fund a 5,000 income subsidy to people

earning less than 40,000 per year.

To do so, draw the two Lorenz curves on the same graph: one before the tax and

subsidy change, and one after. Briefly explain and interpret your graph.

b. (5 points) Suppose that the government is especially concerned about the 5/5

Kuznets ratio, but thinks that the overall level of inequality (the Gini coefficient)

is acceptable, and doesn’t want to change it. Is there a scheme that could reduce

the 5/5 Kuznets ratio while keeping the overall Gini coefficient constant? If so,

describe it in less than 5 sentences. If not, explain why not in less than 5

sentences.

Section 2. Short answer

2. (5 points) Migration and remittances. Suppose that a young family from Samoa decides

to migrate to New Zealand to seek new economic opportunities. Give one reason for

why this family might send remittances back to their family in Samoa, and what you

would do to test for whether this is an important motivation for them to send

remittances.

3. (5 points) Evaluate a randomized control trial (RCT). The Australian Aid-funded

program works with the Ministry of Agriculture in Indonesia to promote female

leadership in agriculture, and you are asked to evaluate the program. They tell you that

3 years ago, they partnered to randomly select 100 of the 223 rural districts that produce

at least 5 tonnes of rice each year, to require a female head of the district farmer

association (at the time, only 14% of farmer associations had a female leader). They

want you to evaluate how this initiative impacted agricultural productivity outcomes,

but also female farm labor and food security outcomes.

You realize that you can effectively analyze this as an RCT even though you didn’t

conduct the randomization yourself. However when you check on the randomization

you find that a handful of important baseline variables are imbalanced, including female

employment rates in rice production, the number of rice purchasing centres, and a

measure of food insecurity.

Providing critical feedback on both (1) the internal validity and (2) the external validity

of this RCT design, and explain how you would address any validity concerns you have.

2

Section 3. Interpret a quasi-experiment

4. (10 points) Interpret a differences-in-differences (DiD) quasi-experiment. Suppose that

in 2018 the Ministry of Labour in India announced a program to reduce unemployment

amongst youth from low-income, urban households, involving soft-skills training and

youth employment centres. They have a 5-year strategy to roll out the program across

120 tier 1 and tier 2 cities, selecting the initial 60 cities based on a complex formula

that includes youth unemployment statistics and other job market characteristics.

After some bureaucratic and construction delays, they started rolling out the program

at the beginning of 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused

unemployment to increase overall. Suppose that in 2022 you are asked to use

government data to evaluate the initial impacts of the program on urban youth

unemployment, using a DiD design. You compare the 60 initial treatment cities (T) to

the 60 control cities (C).

a. (5 points) Interpret the results of the DiD from the following figure, including

providing the DiD estimate of the impact of the program.

b. (5 points) Explain one potential threat to the validity of this DiD design, and

what you would do to test for it.

Section 4. Short essay

5. (15 points) Short essay. Suppose you are talking with the Deputy Minister of

Agriculture in East Timor, who is responsible for programs to help smallholder farmers

in coffee, to increase their productivity. Coffee is a critical export crop for the country.

The Ministry is trying to promote having farmers switch from producing Robusta coffee

to Arabica coffee. Robusta tends to be used in lower-value coffee products like instant

coffee, while Arabica tends to be used in higher-value retail coffee products in grocery

stores and specialty coffee shops in countries like Australia. However, most farmers

seem to be unwilling to switch to Arabica, by planting Arabica coffee trees and learning

how to best produce Arabica coffee.

3

Explain why this may not necessarily be inconsistent with rational economic behavior,

giving at least three reasons, making precise use of concepts from ECOS3002 to

illustrate your arguments. Make sure your answer is structured as a short essay, i.e.,

with short introduction (3-4 sentences), outlining each reason in a short paragraph, and

a brief conclusion (2-3 sentences).