Macroeconomics research
There is a word limit of 1200 words. Fewer words is OK as long as the concluding section has 300-500 words.
Consider the statement: “not all East Asian economies are tiger economies, but all the tiger economies are in East Asia.”
Collect some data for the four tiger economies and compare to four large countries in Latin America: Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.
1. First make a visual representation of the path of development between 1981 and today by nicely showing the relative gdp per capita for these eight countries then and now.
2. Look at the website for Transparency International and make a graphical illustration of the hypothesis that corruption is less in the tiger economies than in Latin America. For this and all following topics, it is fine to use data for one year only, probably a recent year.
3. Next, do the same for the hypothesis that saving rates are much higher in the tiger economies. OK to compare the eight countries for one year or for one average of a few years only.
4. Then go to the World Bank data or to the Barro-Lee dataset and find some graphical illustration of the possibility that education is much better in the tiger economies. Again, one year’s data is fine.
5. Compare the tigers and the Latin American countries on one more dimension which you think is or could be relevant and explain your choice. Make one more graph or diagram for the variable you have chosen
6. Collect some numbers for Thailand and Malaysia and make one or two graphs to indicate whether Thailand and Malaysia could also be called tiger economies or whether they are not in that league.
I’m expecting a number of nice graphs or diagrams or bar charts or whatever works visually. Make sure you label and explain all axes. Under each graph/diagram explain in one or two paragraphs what the reader is supposed to learn from the graph/diagram. Be precise and give the sources and definitions of all data you use in the diagrams/graphs. If possible, please tackle the issue from the perspective of Solow’s growth model
End with a concluding section of 300-500 words where you argue whether it is possible to explain the large differences in economic development between the tigers and Latin America.
