Econ

California State University, Fullerton Spring 2015

ECON333: Economic Development Instructor: Jason Gurtovoy

Economic Plan Project

1. With your group select a country that is classified as LIC by the World Bank.

2. Read pages 527-532 from the Todaro textbook. This should help frame what your goals are in

this project.

3. Your group will need to determine which policies will help your developing country have real

economic growth and ultimately prosper. As you know this is no small task and requires in

depth and complex thought! The policies and reasoning should be based on sound economic

thinking, models, and frameworks from class. You should use data and ideas from lecture along

with case studies that give you insights into current issues.

4. Comment on which policies from your country will work and which won’t. You should have a

unified framework to analyze the country that all members from your group can discuss.

Format: Your editorial must incorporate all the points below and be no more than 10

double-spaced pages long (12 point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins) as a

group. The remaining 10 pages should be written individually. Part of the paper should be

written within the group and the remaining parts should be written individually. In your

paper, clearly indicate which part was written by the group and which part was written by you.

No handwritten papers will be accepted. Make sure to use the correct economic terms.

Start Here:

Collect information about the country from the World Bank website. This will give you practice

in finding information relevant to developing countries, and you will learn more about one

country and what some of the most important development indicators are.

How to start: Go to http://data.worldbank.org/country and click on your country. Some of the

indicators will be already shown on the webpage; for others, you need to type the name in the

search box on the upper right. The definitions of the indicators are available by clicking on the

name. Show the most recent year available.

Specific Instructions: On the top of the page, make sure to write the name of the country and

your name. Copy the map from the country’s page on the website and state the income level

(shown upper left). Then give the values and the definitions of the following indicators,

including the year for each:

• GDP (current US$): 1.3 billion (2012)

• GNI : 122.9 (2012)

• Unemployment : 7.6 1991-2012 (AVRAGE)

• Inflation Rates : -2 (2012)

• Gini Coefficient : NA

• Happiness Measure (make your source clear) : Tied for 47th in happiness (very religious)

• Education Levels : 37.8% (2001), 32.5% enrollment (2007)

• Nutrition Levels : 236,00

• Mortality Rates : 79.5/1000 (2010-2015 avg.)

• Population, total: 10.5 million (2013)

• GDP per capita (current US$) : 128.1 (2012)

• Literacy rate, adult : 37.8% (2013)

• Life expectancy at birth, female : 53.65 (2014)

• Life expectancy at birth, male : 49.58

• Fertility rate, total : 6.6% (2010-2015)

• Poverty headcount ratio at $1.25 a day (PPP) (% of population) : NA, 74.5% workers are poor.

• One additional indicator of your choice. Give a brief explanation why you find this indicator

interesting. : Agricultural 71%, Industry 29%

Note: Not all indicators may be available for all countries. If a particular one is not available for

your chosen country, just write not available.

YOU MAY FIND IT NECESSARY TO INCORPORATE MORE INFORMATION THAN

THE INDICATORS LISTED ABOVE.

PAGE COUNT DOES NOT INCLUDE TABLES, CHARTS, GRAPHS

Required components and the grade points associated with each component are as follows:

Research Paper (100pts)

1. (10 points) Introduce your essay with at least four sentences identifying the problems in the

country and summarizing its main points as they relate to development. This will serve as an

introduction to your discussion.

2. (20 points) Describe briefly the determinants of income levels and economic growth according

to the models and frameworks discussed in class.

3. (60 points) Applying your answer to 2. in the context of the models/frameworks-at least three

distinct reasons for why the country is growing at some specific rate-whatever it may be.

4. (10 points) Conclude your essay with a summary highlighting your recommendations.

Presentation Grading Criteria:

1. Presentation should show a complete understanding and mastery of all of the concepts used.

(30pts)

2. All members should contribute to the presentation in a consistent manner. (30pts)

3. Presentation should have good mechanics, i.e. Flow, timing, rhythm, etc. (40pts)

Peer Evaluations:

All members will evaluate everyone in the group. Evaluations are extremely important and vital.

I take them seriously and it can have a negative impact on your project grade and final grade.

(100pts)