UBEA2043 Economic Development (May 2008 semester)
Tutorial Questions for Discussion
Tutorial 2: Introduction of Development Economics
1. Explain the different between economic growth and economic development.
2. What is the negative effect if economic success is measured by economic growth and
focus on continuously enriching capital stocks only?
3. Compare various international organizations (like UNDP, World Bank, etc) method to
categorize countries in this world.
4. Discuss major development issues in contemporary globalization era; (a) Western
hegemony in economic globalization, (b) Poverty and inequality eradication as important
development issue, (c) Clash of civilization as threat to development.
Tutorial 3: Comparative Economic Development
1. List the important variables that economists have identified that contributed to the rapid
growth of the Asian economies in the decades of the 1960s to the mid-1990s. Discuss with
facts, and relate it to the models that you’ve learned.
2. How Latin American’s development paths were different to East Asian and Malaysia in
general for the past decades?
3. Issue 1: Much higher dead casualties of natural disasters usually recorded in less
developed countries as compared to developed countries. Examples are tsunami in
Indonesia, the recent cyclone in Myanmar and earthquake in Wen Chuan, China. Discuss
whether different level of development could make a different result.
Tutorial 4: Growth Theories
1. Developing countries grow faster than developed countries. Explain this scenario by using
Harrod-Domar model?
2. Given the saving rate of 0.25 and capital-output ratio of 4, calculate the growth rate based
on Harrod-Domar model.
3. Based on Harrod-Domar model, how to increase output growth?
4. Elaborate five criticisms on Harrod-Domar model.
5. Explain Solow growth model with graphic illustration. Based on the model, how can an
economy achieve higher output and continuous economics growth?
Tutorial 5: Rosenstein-Rodan Big Push Model
1. Given the production function of Y  K 0.6 L0.4 , if the saving rate equals 0.4, depreciation
rate equals 0.3, population growth rate equals 0.1 and ignoring the labour’s productivity,
calculate the steady-state level of capital per labour and output per labour based on Solow
growth model.
2. By using an appropriate diagram, illustrate and elaborate the importance of simultaneous
industrialization.
3. Besides coordination for simultaneous industrialization, explain with example how the
government can help to increase the possibility of industrialization success?
4. “Government intervention for coordination purposes is like two faces of a coin – essential
to solve a coordination problem but may create its own problem.” Elaborate further on this
statement.
Tutorial 6: Labour Surplus Concept
1. Explain Lewis’s concept of “labour surplus”.
2. Elaborate Lewis’s surplus-labour hypothesis and graphically illustrates how the surplus
labour can be utilized for industrialization.
3. Elaborate the criticisms on Lewis’s surplus-labour hypothesis.
4. Issue 2: Singapore Prime Minister once claims that Singapore economic success is due to
its lack of natural resources endowment. Debate his claim with reference to countries like
Malaysia, Latin America, Middle East (Saudi Arabia versus United Arab Emirate) and
Japan.
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UBEA2043 Economic Development (May 2008 semester)
Tutorial 7: Rural-urban Migration
1. Explain Lewis’s model on migration.
2. Explain Harris-Todaro (HT) migration model.
3. Elaborate the different implications between Lewis and Harris-Todaro migration models.
4. Which models, Lewis or Harris-Todaro more reflect the reality of rural-urban migration?
Tutorial 8: Agricultural Modernization
1. Theme 1: Case study on Asian countries.
2. Theme 2: Case study on European countries or the United States.
3. Issue 3: Discuss whether the current food crisis is resulted from excessive industrialization.
Tutorial 9: Poverty, Inequality, and Development
1. Theme 3: Urban poverty and inequality.
2. Theme 4: Women or children poverty and inequality.
3. Issue 4: One of the Millennium Development Goals is to “eradicate extreme poverty and
hunger”. Given the unexpected food crisis in late April 2008 and the continuous raise in
oil price, do you think this goal can be achieved?
4. Issue 5: Discuss about Weber’s spirit of capitalism and thus, the role of religion in
development.
Tutorial 10: Finance and Fiscal policy for Development
1. Theme 5: Micro-finance and economic development.
2. Theme 6: Stock market and economic development.
3. Issue 6: Is international trade just a game that we play by its rule if it can benefit us and
quit the game if otherwise?
Tutorial 11: International Trade
1. Explain the absolute advantage.
2. Explain the comparative advantage.
3. What are the major arguments for implementing tariff?
4. What are the major arguments against implementing tariff?
Tutorial 12: International Trade
1. How changes in preference could influence international trade?
2. Explain the H-O endowment theory.
3. Explain why tariff is more prefer than quota if protectionist policies are unavoidable.
4. List major weaknesses in World Trade Organization (WTO) that make its developing
country members in a very weak position.
Tutorial 13: Crisis: Debt, balance of payment and speculation issues
1. Study and comment on the macroeconomics fundamentals of Asian countries prior to the
Asian financial/economics crisis.
2. Explain the concept of “impossible trinity”.
3. Evaluate Malaysian government’s strategy in pegging the Ringgit Malaysia during Asian
Crisis by using the concept of “impossible trinity”.
4. What can we learn from previous crisis?
Tutorial 14: Current development issues & Revision
1. Social aspects of economics development: Sports, tourism and cultural industry.
2. The depletion of natural resources.
3. Internet and information technology influence in economic development.
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