Assignment Topics Final Year Student

Describe structural characteristics of the selected country. How it differ from common characteristics of developing countries. Calculate the value of HDI (separately for EAI, PCI & LEI) of selected country for the year 2010 using the data available on the link given below.

http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/data/

Name of Student - Country

Anuradha Kapoor - Brazil

Ashwathi Muralidharan - South Africa

Avishkar Surana - Bangladesh

Chayanika Pandey - South Korea

Deepa Janakiraman - Iran

Gagan Deep Kohli - Indonesia

Gagan Deep Singh - Singapore

Harpreet Singh Arora - Taiwan

Hemant Kumar - Iraq

Himanshu Kumar - Kenya

Khyati Mehandiratta - Egypt

Krithika Moorthy - Nigeria

Kushal Gupta -Colombia

Meenakshi - Argentina

Navneet Sachdeva - Ukraine

Neeraj Kumar - Namibia

Nikhil Malhotra - Chile

Nikita Sagar - Malaysia

Nishtha Jain - Thailand

Prachi Pandey - Sri Lanka

Pratima Varma - Nepal

Prerna Swaroop - China

Ravinder Nagar - Peru

Rishav Jaiswal - Mexico

Sahil Gupta - Morocco

Shilpa Baweja - Zimbabwe

Shorya Bhutani - Myanmar

Shruti Bindal - Saudi Arabia

Surya Kapoor - Venezuela

Vibhor Sharma - Ecuador

Previous Years Question Paper (ECONOMIC POLICY AND COMPRATIVE DEVELOPMENT)

ECONOMIC POLICY AND COMPRATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Question Paper 2009

1. 1.“Economic growth cannot be treated as an end in itself. Development has to be more concerned with enhancing the quality of life we lead and the freedom we enjoy.”Discuss. 10

2. 2. Discuss the structural characteristics common to developing countries. 10

3 3.(a) ‘Generation of new ideas requires protection of intellectual property rights’. Comment. 5

(b) ‘The neo-classical growth models provide a starting point for the endogenous growth theory.’ Discuss 5

4. 4.Do you think that the path of development via shortages is more competing for investment than the path of development via excess capacity? 10

5. 5.Outline the factors which affect the ability and willingness to save. 10

6. 6.‘Choices of an optimum combination between the markets and the state is most fundamental to the design for development.’ Discuss 10

7. 7.(a) ‘The traditional trade theory overstates the benefits of trade on per capita incomes and economic growth.’ Do you agree? 5

(b) ‘Import substitution Industrialization is an example of Listian Trap.’ Comment. 5

8. 8.Write short notes on any two:

(i) Human Development Index

(ii) Complementarities v/s Externalities

(iii) Costs and benefits of higher education in developing countries

(iv) Role of women’s education in economic development

ECONOMIC POLICY AND COMPRATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Question Paper 2008

1. 1.(a) In the Solow Model sustained growth occurs only in presence of technological progress. Discuss. 5

(b) What happens to the growth rate of output per capital when an increase in investment takes place? 5

2. 2.(a) Positive growth in Total Factor Productivity is a way to quantify technical progress. Explain. 6

(b) Complementarities lead to the existence of multiple equilibrium. Comment. 4

3. 3.(a) Economics of ideas is intimately tied to the presence of increasing return to scale and imperfect competition. Comment. 5

(b) Long run growth in Romer model is determined by parameters of production function for ideas and population growth rate. Discuss. 5

4. 4.(a) How is child labour a case of Bad Equilibrium? 5

(b) The inexorable attraction of ever higher levels of education in developing countries is a costly proposition. Explain. 5

5. 5.Keynesian theory specifies independent savings and investment functions and inflation is the means by which resources are redistributed between consumption and investment. Explain. 10

6. 6.(a) How does trade act as a mechanism of international inequality? 5

(b) Under what conditions of the domestic economy is the stimulating force of the trade likely to be stronger? 5

7. 7.(a) What do you understand by market failure 5

(b) How does infant industry argument lead to Listian Trap? 5

8. 8.Write short notes on any two:

i) Lewis dual sector model of development

ii) Unconditional convergence

iii) Outward oriented trade policies

iv) Balanced growth vs. Unbalanced growth 5*2

ECONOMIC POLICY AND COMPRATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Question Paper 2007

1. 1.What are the implications of introducing Human Capital as another input in the Solow model? 10

OR

Briefly discuss the concept of Unconditional and conditional convergence in the context Solow model.

2. 2.(a) How does the use of child labour lead to a case of Bad equilibrium. 5

(b) How can we remove child labour? 5

3. 3. (a) What conditions prevail in least developed countries with regards to employment and education? 6

(b) What are the consequences of gender bias in education? 4

4. 4.(a) The argument for balanced growth approach depends upon conditions of demand and supply in the economy. Comment. 6

(b) What are the inherent dangers of unbalanced growth model? 4

5. 5.(a) Financial liberalisation does not give desired result s as regards to savings, investment and growth. Evaluate. 6

(b) What conditions are required to undertake successful financial liberalisation? 4

6. 6.(a) Trade acts as mechanism of International inequality. Evaluate. 4

(b) Growth performance under Export Push model has proved to be stable and efficient. Discuss. 6

7. 7.(a) Briefly discuss the concept of market failure and government failure. 5

(b) Structural adjustment facilities do not always leads to desired result. Explain. 5

8. 8. Write short notes on any two:

i) Harrod Domar growth model

ii) Listian Trap

iii) Human Development Index 5*2

Previous Years Question Paper (Industrial Economics)

INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS

Question Paper 2009

Attempt any six questions.

1. a) What is the main difference between Microeconomics and Industrial Economics? How did Chicago School differ from the mainstream Industrial Economics? 4

b) Clearly distinguish between the linear and interactive Structure Conduct Performance (SCP) framework to study Industrial behaviour. 6

2. In contrast to determinate emphasis on equilibrium concentration level, the stochastic approach focuses on the problem of actual concentration change. Explain. 10

3. How do Absolute Cost Advantage and Economies of Scale act as a source of barriers to entry? 10

4. (a) Demsetz argued that an inventor supplying a monopolist will have a greater incentive to invent if he is not constrained to charge the same per unit royalty to both the monopoly and competitive industry. Comment. 5

(b) According to Demsetz, what happens if we compare industries of equal size in case of drastic cost reduction. 5

5. How Coase and later Williamson did developed the market failure consideration for vertical integration. 10

6. Output X is produced by a competitive industry using two inputs A and B. A is supplied by a monopolist while B is supplied competitively. Does the monopolist A has an incentive to take over production of X if inputs are used in variable proportions. 10

7. (a) Briefly discuss various measures of diversification. 4

(b) How does Reduction in financial risks acts as a motive for diversification 6

8. Write short notes on any two:

(i) Research as a special economic process

(ii) Group interdependence and consequence of diversification

(iii) Leibenstein critique of Williamson argument for mergers 5*2=10

INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS

Question Paper 2008

Attempt any five questions.

1. Critically evaluate various concentration indices highlighting the appropriateness of each index in different market situations. Which index satisfies most of the criterions laid down by Hannah and Kay? 12

2. Given the Sylos Postulate, the limit price increases directly with the extent of scale economics. Explain. Discuss the possibility of entry below Minimum Efficient Scale. 12

3. When inventions lead to drastic cost reductions, incentive to invent is stronger for competitive industries. Discuss in the light of arguments given by Arrow and Demsetz? 12

4. If output X is produced by a competitive industry using two inputs A and B, where A is supplied by the monopolist and B is supplied competitively, does the monopolist have as incentive to take over production of X? 12

5. There are various consequences of diversification. Explain these effects clearly highlighting their impact on society. 12

6. Differentiate between the Scale Economies and Stochastic Approach to Concentration in industries. 12

7. Write short notes on any two:

(iv) Product Proliferation as entry barrier

(v) Mansfield theory of diffusion

(vi) Stigler’s Life Cycle Hypothesis 6*2=12

INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS

Question Paper 2007

Attempt any five questions.

1. Define the concepts of basic conditions, market structure and performance with examples. Distinguish between two versions of S-C-P paradigm: with and without feedbacks. 12

2. Critically evaluate the contributions of Stigler, Demsetz and Bain in defining entry barrier. How is entry deterrence different from entry barrier? Can market power exist without government intervention? 12

3. Why do we need to measure concentration in a market? Analyse the merits and demerits of different measures of concentration? 12

4. Define diversification of a firm. Does it relate to market structure? Analyse the impact of diversification of a firm on consumers’. 12

5. Analyse the role of technological dependence and uncertainty in explaining vertical integration. 12

6. What are the characteristics of research activity? What problems do they lead to? 12

7. Explain the contribution of Williamson and Leibenstein to the analysis of horizontal mergers. Use diagrams. 12

8. Write short notes on any two:

(vii) Transaction cost

(viii) Berry’s index of diversification

(ix) Bounded rationality 6*2=12