EC413

EC 413 – Economics of Asia

Mid-term Exam – Take Home

Due: Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at 11:59pm – via D2L

Professor: Dr. Leonidas Murembya

Instructions:

Please write your answers in an MS Word document and submit it in the appropriate assignment

submission folder in D2L by the due date and time. Use at least 1.5 spacing and an acceptable font

(Calibri, Arial, etc.).

A student’s responses will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Reference to the provided resource in support of the argument.

2. Reference to the class content in support of the argument.

3. Reference to at least one other peer-reviewed article outside the textbook or the provided resource,

where indicated (please remember to cite the sources and show the full references at the end of the

report).

4. Student’s own critical thoughts about the question.

5. Student answered all questions satisfactorily.

Question 1 (10 points)

Download UNDP Human Development Data for Bangladesh, China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore.

Replicate the calculation of these countries’ HDIs for the most recent year (2018).

Provide a one-paragraph interpretations of the calculated HDI and its components, in context of each

country (minimal research required).

Here are the steps to follow:

Go to: http://hdr.undp.org/en/data#.

1) Select each of the three dimensions of HDI: Health, Education, and Income.

2) Select the appropriate indicator (e.g. life expectancy).

3) Download data and open in Excel.

4) Calculate the appropriate indexes.

5) Put them together to calculate the HDI.

Question 2 (25 points)

Afghanistan and Pakistan share a long border and history.

1) Download World Bank data (https://data.worldbank.org) on the population by age and sex for the

two countries and build the two countries’ population pyramids for the most recent year (2019).

What are the similarities and differences in age distribution between the two countries? Do some

research to provide an explanation.

2) Download the annual estimates of the population totals from 1960 to present. Use a graph to

compare the trends for the two countries. Can you use data on the population components (births,

deaths, and migration) to explain these trends? (Hint: migration variables include international

migrant stock and totals, as well as net migration).

Question 3 (25 points)

Based on chapter 2 of the Malixi textbook, describe the economic development patterns of Japan since

the 1950s. Provide some explanations of these patterns. Please remember to relate these explanation to

the models of economic development we reviewed in class (Arthur Lewis, Harrod-Domar, Solow, and

others). Length: not more than 2 pages.