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Teaching Portfolio

Tiago Alexandre M. de Abreu Freire∗

January 26, 2012

Contents

1 Teaching Philosophy 2

2 Teaching Responsibilities 3

3 Thesis Supervision 4

4 Teaching Methods Research 4

5 Appendices 6

5.1 Selected Student Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

5.2 Summary of Student’s Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

5.3 Sample of Course Syllabus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

5.4 Sample Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

∗National University of Singapore; Department of Economics; 1 Arts Link; AS2 #04-39l 117570 Singapore; Singapore; [email protected] or (+65) 98-7767-19.

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Tiago Freire

National University of SingaporeDepartment of Economics

Singapore

1 Teaching Philosophy

"There can only be two reasons for not understanding something:

either it wasn’t well explained or you didn’t study enough.

Both problems are solvable."

These words are from my undergraduate Finance Professor. They have

been an inspiration for me first as a learner and now as a teacher. As a

student these words gave me confidence that all material could be mastered.

As an instructor they remind me of the importance of my job as a facilitator

of student development. To achieve this goal I adapt my teaching methods

to the course I am teaching.

For core course, such as Intermediate Macroeconomics (which I taught at

Brown University, Providence, RI) and Intermediate Microeconomics (which

I taught at National University of Singapore, Singapore), the challenge I face

is to simplify the material, including examples everyone can relate to, with-

out compromising contents. The objectives of these modules are to develop

analytical skill and critical thinking through mathematics. My audience in

these courses is quite diverse because they are often from different countries.

Furthermore, these courses are taken not only by economics majors, but also

by international relations majors, and public policy master students among

others. This means that I need to pick examples which everyone can relate

to. Not surprisingly, students have different skills in terms of mathemat-

ics and economics. Therefore, in my mathematical derivations of economic

models, not only do I do it step by step, but I also try to include intuitive

explanations of key equations. As you can see from the select comments

bellow, students have responded positively to my approach.

In more advanced courses, such as Economic Development and Labour

Economics (which I taught at the National University of Singapore, Singa-

pore), I focus on developing students’ analytical skills and critical thinking

through writing. By the end of these courses, I want students to know how

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to identify problems, focus on the critical issues, work through solutions and

to be able to identify the advantages and shortcomings of their solutions, not

only through graphs or mathematics but also through words. The problem

is that these courses have a large enrollment (with an average of 120 stu-

dents) and students were often not interested in their written assignments

(with very few picking up their assignments when graded). For this reason,

I developed new assignments using Wikipedia, blogs and a proposal which

I asked to be submitted to a open, public contest (see teaching methods

research bellow). Students had a positive responses and there was an im-

provement in the quality of the average essay and increased student interest

in feedback.

In my opinion, students respond well to my approach to teaching. Though

there is room for improvement, I believe my method of teaching is effective

in helping students achieve their potential.

2 Teaching Responsibilities

National University of Singapore (Singapore)

• Instructor - EC3371 - Development Economics I - every semester fromFall 2010 to Spring 2012

• Instructor - EC5361 - Labour Economics (Master Level) - Fall 2011

• Instructor - EC3101 - Intermediate Microeconomics II - Fall 2010

Brown University (Providence, RI)

• Graduate Teaching Assistant - EC202 - Applied Economics - Spring2007

• Teaching Fellow (Instructor) - EC121/ECON1210 - Intermediate Macroe-conomics - Fall 2006 and Fall 2007

• Teaching Assistant - EC121 - Intermediate Macroeconomics - Spring2006

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• Graduate Teaching Assistant - EC207 - Macroeconomics I - Fall 2005

The University of Birmingham (England,UK)

• Introduction to Econometrics Fall 2004 and Spring 2003 - Undergrad-uate (computer practicals and recitals)

3 Thesis Supervision

National University of Singapore (Singapore)

Honors Thesis Students: 2011 - Goh Tee Wei; 2012 - Lee Ju Ye, Teo LiSan Melissa, Li Shan

PhD Students: Li Xiaoye

4 Teaching Methods Research

Economical Essays (with Jinping Li)

Abstract: Instructors are increasingly recognizing the importance of writ-ten assignments. In particular, in the US, the Writing Across the CurriculumProgram started in 1980s highlight the critical role of writing in the learningprocess. However, according to Becker and Watts (1996), in the US, only23% of instructors require term papers in upper-level courses, and only 11%of instructors require shorter papers. Hansen (1998) lists three reasons thatcould explain this trend: (i) increasing time demands on faculty time; (ii)low quality of student writing; and (iii) most instructors are not confidentwriters themselves makes them reluctant to set their own weak standardson their own students.

In this paper I look at changes introduced to the traditional essay assign-ment to a third year economics course at the National University of Singa-pore. In particular, we break the traditional essay assignment in this courseinto two. The first part consists of creating new Wikipedia entries or addingto existing ones. The second part of the assignment consists of writing aproposal for either a new Social Enterprise or Non-Governmental Organiza-tion (NGO), which could be submitted to funding organizations. We argue

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that this assignment can do a better job at developing what Hansen (1986)argues are three important skills: accessing existing knowledge; displayingcommand of existing knowledge; interpreting existing knowledge; applyingexisting knowledge; and creating new knowledge. It also addresses the prob-lems mentioned above. We illustrate the effectiveness of our approach usingresponses to a student survey done at the end of the semester.

Presented at: Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, NationalUniversity of Singapore, Singapore, December 2011.

INTED 2011, Barcelona, Spain.

Don’t Write, Blog! (with Jinping Li)

Abstract: Instructors are increasingly recognizing the importance of writ-ten assignments in economics. For instance, Davidson and Gunnior (1993),Grunin and Lindauer (1986), Crowe and Youga (1986), argue that writingreinforces learning of core theories or concepts, while Petr (1990) and Green-law and Deloach (2003) point out the benefits in enhancing critical thinking,and McElroy (1997), Palmini (1996), Hansen (1993) and Cohen and Spencer(1993) show the benefits of using primary data sources and real-world dataanalysis. Finally, Wright (1999) points out the data skills used in entry leveljobs.

However, as pointed out by Bloom (1956), students learn in differentways, which in turn implies that we should design our assignments withsome flexibility in order to appeal to these different students. Therefore aseries of assignments for an advanced economics course which allow studentsto submit their assignments in different formats (videos, audio, pictures,text) within a Blog has been designed. The objective is to allow studentsto develop critical thinking (how to construct an argument) while allowingthem to pick the medium in which they want to express their ideas. Wewant students to focus on ideas and concepts, rather than writing per se, asdifferent students should develop different skills, rather than to subscribe toa one size fits all. Furthermore, students would benefit by owning a largerportion of the assignment.

Presented at: EDULearn 2011, Barcelona, Spain.

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5 Appendices

5.1 Selected Student Comments

Students are more likely to make comments about professor’s/instructor’sperformance than TA’s. For this reason most of the comments are from thecourses where I was an instructor.

EC3371 - Development Economics I - Fall 10, Spring 11, Fall 11 -National University of Singapore, Singapore

”Very knowledgeable with personal experience! cares about students’ un-derstanding very much! Open to questions during lectures, tutorials, emailsand appointments. humorous! Dr. Tiago is awesome!!”

”Patient. Puts in a lot of effort to make dry topics more interesting.”

”He listens to students feedback and implement changes according to re-quests. He is very helpful on clarifying queries and is friendly and approach-able. He’s also flexible and this is great.”

”He tries his best to make the lessons interesting and also tries to improvehis teaching. there was a mid semester survey so that he can evaluate histeaching. (: like the use of videos in his lecture, though it only happenedonce. helped in our understanding. ”

”- Prof Tiago is very very dedicated to his teaching. - The stories he sharesare very motivating - He is also significantly more effective as a teacher insmall class settings.”

”His strengths lie in the fact that he could speak eloquently and confidently.His use of examples were wide. Furthermore, he emphasizes on the quali-tative aspects of development rather than mere quantitative aspects whichis a means not an end. Last but not least, his weekly tutorial readings of 3articles are useful for us to associate the link between theory and applica-tions.”

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”Prof Tiago is an expert in development economics. He has a great knowl-edge on the developing world. Especially his area of expertise is Brazil, heis well equipped with the developing countries in Latin America and alsohe has shared with us his experience in Indonesia. Prof Tiago has manyexamples to share with us to enhance understanding.”

”Prof. Tiago is a very friendly and approachable lecturer. During his lec-turer, he always explain to us patiently and provide us a lot of example. Hewill also interact with us by asking our opinion. Other than that, he willalways have QnA session in case we have any queries about what he saidin lecturer.He will always try to change his teaching style in better way tomake sure it will be more efficient for us. ”

”He is passionate about his teaching and his students. He has good knowl-edge about South American economies, which sometimes he mentions toomuch to make his examples diverse enough. He is ambitious with this mod-ule and wants to give his students as much knowledge as possible, which isgood but maybe it’s too much as students have a certain amount of timespent on each module.”

”Tiago is awesome, i know that many people do not like him, but he isextremely intellectual that it amazes me at times. He is able to link so manyconcepts from money and banking, environmental economics, etc. Overall,he is helpful and always available for consultation for the other students andmy project group. Cheerful and always smiley, I personally appreciate hima lot.”

”Nice, approachable and witty. He is putting in all his effort to make themodule interesting, meaningful and useful for students, as can be seen fromthe essays and blog.”

”Prof is very well read and provides alot of materials for the study of de-velopment economics. Is a very interesting professor who talks extensivelyabout development issues in the world. I enjoyed attending his lectures,even at 8am.”

”The teacher has enhanced my thinking ability.”

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”The professor tries to make his lectures and the way the module is assessedas interesting and different as possible. In class, he can be quite funny attimes, making the class lively.”

”His lectures are very interesting and insightful. I’ve learned a lot fromthem.”

”He gives positive feedback and encourages students to develop criticalthinking.”

”Very cheerful and fun-loving. Enjoys teaching thoroughly. Tries to giveas many real life examples as he can. Knowing that students do not liketo speak in class, he made compulsary presentations which was rather in-teresting. Using wikipedia entries to do our essays were really innovativeas we learn how to use another way to submit our work. The blog postwas another innovative idea rather than the usual boring submit-to-IVLEessay.”

”Creative teaching strategies, i.e. interesting tutorial discussions and tuto-rial articles/materials provided. Creative assessment methods, i.e. doinga project on social/developmental issues and how NGO can resolve thatproblem.”

”Funny. Interesting. Engaging. Genuine. Realistic.”

EC3101 - Intermediate Microeconomics - Fall 10 - National Uni-versity of Singapore, Singapore

”The professor encourages questions during lecture and is willing to go overthings multiple times.”

”The teacher is very patient and ensures that all students are able to un-derstand the concepts before moving on to another area of the course.”

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”Tells jokes and make the lectures fun.”

”Examples taught in lectures are extremely helpful to understand the topicsand tutorials.”

”He is patient in his explanation and can see his effort to engage us to makethe lecture more interesting.”

”He is patient and likes to lighten up the mood with some jokes. His lecturesare very enjoyable classes and time passes very quickly. His style of usingthe visualizer is effective but may be troublesome if a student is really sick orhas tournaments and cannot attend lecture. He uses extremely interestingexamples in his discussions and is hence able to show how what we learnedcan be applied in different areas.”

”Tried to motivate student, fun learning experience.”

”Got a ’never give up’ attitude.”

”Able to capture audience attention well.”

”Prof Tiago is very dedicated to making learning accessible. He certainlygoes beyond the call of duty to help students learn when they approachhim. - He was also very flexible in his teaching method, constantly gatheringfeedback, varying and experimenting with new teaching styles.”

”Friendly disposition. Able to explain concepts clearly and carefully. Con-scientious preparation of lesson material. Conscious of the welfare of stu-dents and their understanding of the subject matter. Patient in entertainingstudents’ questions.”

”Engaging during lectures. Teaching style suitable for module - not rely-ing too much on lecture slides but handwriting the models in steps, whichenables the students to follow and grasp new concepts better.”

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”Reasonably clear; helpful; patient; approachable; can speak comprehensibleEnglish, unlike most of the other lecturers in this department.”

”He is clear in his teaching materials and makes the effort to explain difficultconcept as far as possible without rushing through. There is a conscientiousattempt made to answer all enquires. His consultation is very clear andhe does not give a specific time within which the consultation must becompleted. He is very patient and does his best to clear up any doubts.”

”He really done a good job in lecturing! I found the lectures very helpful,because the lecturer starts with concept first, then examples, which reallyhelp me in doing the tutorials. By this I’m not too lost in the tutorials andcan participate and deepen my understanding towards the subject.”

”Prof Tiago shows effort in clarifying concepts for students and attempted touse various methods to do so. He is also concerned that students comprehendhis material.”

”Able to explain the material in the textbook in a clear and concise mannerto facilitate understanding of the material. He was also very clear on therequirements for the course and for each chapter.”

”He tries to incorporate real-life examples into the syllabus. He also triesto explain concepts in lay-men terms to help students gain a better under-standing of the content.”

”Prof Tiago is very approachable and knowledgeable. He is willing to tryto answer to all our questions and the way he goes through examples dur-ing lectures is very helpful for us in answering questions during exams andtutorials.”

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ECON1210 - Intermediate Macroeconomics - Fall 07 and Fall 06 -Brown University, Providence, R.I.

”I feel he had a genuine desire to teach us... His attitude was excellent andhe was fun.”

”Tiago seemed pretty organized and stuck to the outline set by the textbook.He also asked for input as to how he could improve the course and histeaching style, which is admirable. He was open to questions”

”It’s clear the professor is interested and knowledgeable about the subjectand he’s very receptive to questions.”

”Goes at a good speed, pauses to answer questions and explains everythinguntil everything is clear.”

”Uses slides effectively, truly cares if students understood, willing to repeathimself.”

”He talks about interesting world events that correlate with what we arelearning, and he does a lot of graphs/explaining which helps.”

”Tiago. He’s my boy.”

”The professor is caring and willing to work with students until they under-stand.”

”Very nice and doesn’t mind answering questions.”

”It was precise, everything that was important was covered without toomuch information.”

”Made sure we understood everything.”

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”Tiago is the man.”

EC 207 - Macroeconomics I - Fall 05

”Tiago was by far the best of the four TA’s for the first year. He wasextremely organized, well-prepared and available to help”

”The TA did a really good job. He had an extensive office hours and washelpful”

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5.2 Summary of Student’s Evaluation

Instructors’s evaluations at the Department of Economics of the NationalUniversity of Singapore (Singapore) are the result of a survey were studentsare asked to rank teacher’s ability to: (i) enhance students’ thinking ability;(ii) to provide timely and useful feedback; (iii) approachability for consul-tation; (iv) increase interest in the topic; (v) to apply knowledge learned inthe module and; (vi) encouraging to ask critical questions; on a scale of 1(Low) to 5 (High) (average score on column 5 of table 1) and the instruc-tor’s overall effectiveness. A summary of the evaluation of the courses Itaught are reported in table 1. Note the constant improvement in teachingevalutations for the modules I have taught at NUS.

Teaching Teaching DepartmentEnrollment Effectiveness Quality Average

Int Micro II - Sem I 10/11 273 3.467 3.526 3.615Dev Ec I - Sem I 10/11 120 3.75 3.745 3.615Dev Ec I - Sem II 10/11 126 3.816 3.834 3.774Dev Ec I - Sem I 11/12 121 3.962 3.925 3.725Lab Ec - Sem I 11/12 16 4.3 4.333 4.233

Table 1: Summary evaluations of modules taught at NUS as an instructor.

Teaching Fellow’s (or instructors) evaluations at the Department of Eco-nomics of Brown University (Providence, RI) are the result of a survey werestudents are asked to rank the difficulty of the course and the quality of thecourse on a scale of 1 (Low) to 5 (High) and the instructor’s performance.A summary of the evaluation of the courses I taught are reported in table 2.Unfortunately the Economics Department at Brown University (Providence,R.I.) does not allow access to other course evaluations or averages of courseevaluations, so that it is hard to evaluate my performance, relative to otherinstructors.

Teaching Assistant’s evaluations at the Economics Department of BrownUniversity (Providence, RI) are included in a questionnaire about the qual-ity of the course, on a scale of 1 (Low) to 5 (High), which includes questionsabout the TA’s performance. A summary of the average quality of the courseand my performance is included in table 3. Unfortunately the EconomicsDepartment at Brown University does not allow access to other course eval-uations or averages of course evaluations, so that it is hard to evaluate my

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Difficulty Quality RecommendEnrollment of course of course course

Int. Macro - Sem 1 - 07 93 3.21 3.15 45.8%Int. Macro - Sem 2 - 06 86 3.28 3.44 64.1%

Table 2: Summary evaluations of courses where I was an instructor at BrownUniversity (Providence, RI).

performance, relative to other T.A.s.

Quality TA’s RecommendEnrollment of course Performance TA

Applied Economics 20 3.58 4.09 88.4%Intermediate Macro 120 3.18 3.35 47.7%

Macroeconomics I 19 4.61 4.52 94.0%

Table 3: Summary evaluations of courses where I was a TA at Brown Uni-versity (Providence, RI).

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5.3 Sample of Course Syllabus

ECON 1210 - Intermediate Macroeconomics

Syllabus

Instructor: Tiago Freire TA: Zhichao WeiEmail: Tiago [email protected] Email: Zhichao [email protected]: Robinson Hall (basement) Office: Robinson Hall (basement)Office hours: Office hours:Tues. and Thurs. 2:30pm 3:30pm Thursday 3:30-5:30pm

Class meetings: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00pm – 2:20pm – Smith-Buonanno Hall 106

Section meetings:

C2A Friday 12-12:50 pm List Art Center 110

C2B Friday 3-3:50 pm Wilson Hall 302

Course Description: Two 80-minute lectures and a one hour of discus-sion per week. ECON 1210 is an intermediate macroeconomics course thatstudies the theories of the determination of national income, employment,and price levels, within the short run and the long run of both closed andopen economies. Applications will extend to monetary and fiscal policies.Econ 11 is a prerequisite for this course.

Readings: Main Textbook (required): N. Gregory Mankiw, “Interme-

diate Macroeconomics” (6th Edition), Worth Publishers.

Lectures will draw heavily from contents of this book. Part III willbe complemented with material from Charles I. Jones’, “Introduction toEconomic Growth” (2nd Edition) W. W. Norton & Company and David N.Weil’s, “Economic Growth”, Addison Wesley both of which are on reserveat the Rockefeller Library. Additional material will be assigned during thesemester.

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I also recommend the regular reading of newspapers such as The Economist,The Financial Times or The Wall Street Journal.

Exams: Two mid-terms, both in-class. The first one will be on ThursdaySeptember 27th and the second one on Thursday October 25th. Each countsfor 20% of your overall grade. The final exam is on Tuesday December 11th,and counts for 40% of your overall grade. Solutions for homework, midtermsand exam will be posted on the web page.

Absence from exams will be automatically granted only in the event ofmedical or family emergencies, which must be verified by a letter from theDean. Any other requests for absence from the scheduled exams must bepresented in writing within the first three weeks of the semester and will beevaluated on a case by case basis.

Homework: Problem sets will be assigned weekly and count for 20%of your overall grade; they should be handed in to your TA in the beginningof every section. In case you are not able to attend section, the problem setshould be turned in by 5pm on Friday to the TA’s mailbox in the basementof Robinson Hall. However, you are strongly advised never to skip section, asyou will be responsible for any new material taught by your TA. Solutionswill be posted on the course’s website on Monday; no homework will begraded after the solutions have been posted. Homework will be graded ona scale of check plus (2), check (1), and zero (if you don’t hand in thehomework).

Section meetings: Each week you will receive your graded problemset from the previous week’s assignment in section, or if you fail to attendsection, the graded problem sets will be placed in the ECON 1210 - S02blue-box in the Robinson Hall basement. In addition, any questions fromproblem sets and lectures will be addressed. On occasion, supplementalmaterial such as additional mathematical techniques will be covered.

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Lecture Date(s) Lecture Topics Corresponding

chapter

1 Thursday Part I: Introduction: Chapter 1 &

Sept 6th Macroeconomics as a science. Macroeconomic Data: Chapter 2

GDP, its components and other measures of income,

GDP deflator and the CPI, the unemployment rate.

2 Tuesday Part II: The Long-Run: Classical Theory: Chapter 3 &

Sept 11th production and income, Chapter 16

consumption, saving/investment and prices.

3 Thursday Part II: The Long-Run: Classical Theory: Chapter 3 &

Sept 13th production and income, consumption, Chapter 17

saving/investment and prices.

4 Tuesday Part II: The Long-Run: Money and Inflation: Chapter 4 &

Sept 18th Money and its uses, Money supply, Chapter 18

the Quantity Theory of Money, Demand for Money,

Interest rates, Inflation and Hyperinflation,

Money neutrality and the Classical Dichotomy

5 Thursday Part II: The Long-Run: Chapter

Sept 20th The Open Economy: Net Exports, Capital Flows 6

and the Trade Balance, Saving and Investment

in a small open economy, the effects of policies

on the trade balance, exchange rates and their

determinants, purchasing power parity (PPP)

6 Tuesday Part II: The Long-Run: Chapter

Sept 25th The Open Economy: Net Exports, Capital Flows 5

and the Trade Balance, Saving and Investment

in a small open economy, the effects of policies

on the trade balance, exchange rates and their

determinants, purchasing power parity (PPP)

7 Thursday Midterm I covering chapters 1-5

Sept 27th

8 Tuesday Part II: The Long-Run: Unemployment: Chapter

Oct 2th the Natural Rate, Frictional and Structural 6

Unemployment, patterns and trends.

9 Thursday Part III: The Very Long-Run: Economic Growth: Chapter

Oct 4th the role of Capital Accumulation 7

and Population Growth (basic Solow Model)

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10 Tuesday Part III: The Very Long-Run: Economic Growth: Chapter

Oct 9th the role of Capital Accumulation 7

and Population Growth Theory

11 Thursday Part III: The Very Long-Run: Economic Growth: the Chapter

Oct 11nd role of Technological Progress and growth-promoting policies 8

(extended Solow model), empirics, Endogenous Growth Theory)

12 Tuesday Part III: The Very Long-Run: Economic Growth: Chapter

Oct 16th the role of Technological Progress and growth-promoting policies 8

(extended Solow model), empirics, Endogenous Growth Theory

13 Thursday Extensions of Endogenous Growth Theory. Growth Topics Jones;

Oct 18th Weil

14 Tuesday Extensions of Endogenous Growth Theory. Growth Topics Jones;

Oct 23th Weil

15 Thursday Midterm II covering chapters 6-8

Oct 25th

16 Tuesday Part IV: The Short-Run: Business Cycle Theory: Chapter

Oct 30th Introduction to Economic Fluctuations, Aggregate Demand 9

and Aggregate Supply, Stabilization policies.

17 Thursday Part IV: The Short-Run: Business Cycle Theory: Chapter

Nov 1th Aggregate Demand I: the IS-LM model 10


Nov 6th Aggregate Demand I: the IS-LM model 10


Nov 8th Aggregate Demand in an open economy (Mundell-Fleming Model), 11

Fixed vs. Floating Exchange Rates


Nov 13rd Aggregate Demand in an open economy (Mundell-Fleming Model), 11

Fixed vs. Floating Exchange Rates


Nov 15th Interest rate differentials, Fixed vs. Floating Exchange Rates 12

and changing price level in the Mundell-Fleming Model.


Nov 20th Interest rate differentials, Fixed vs. Floating Exchange Rates 12

and changing price level in the Mundell-Fleming Model.


Nov 22th The Phillips curve and the short-run 13

trade-off between inflation and unemployment.

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Nov 27st The Phillips curve and the short-run trade-off between inflation 13

and unemployment.

25 Thursday Thanksgiving

Nov 29rd

26 Tuesday Part V: Macroeconomic Policy: Chapter

Dec 4th Stabilization policy, active vs. passive, 14

rules vs. discretion.

26 Thursday Part V: Macroeconomic Policy: Chapter

Dec 6th Government Debt: The Traditional View, the Ricardian View 15

and other perspectives

ECON 1310 - Labor Economics

Syllabus

Instructor: Tiago Freire TA: Zhichao WeiEmail: Tiago [email protected] Email: Zhichao [email protected]: Robinson Hall (basement) Office: Robinson Hall (basement)Office hours: Office hours:Tues. and Thurs. 2:30pm 3:30pm Thursday 3:30-5:30pm

Class meetings: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:00pm – 2:20pm – Smith-Buonanno Hall 106

Section meetings:

C2A Friday 12-12:50 pm List Art Center 110

C2B Friday 3-3:50 pm Wilson Hall 302

Course Description: Two 80-minute lectures and a one hour of discus-sion per week. ECON 1310 is a topic microeconomics course that studies thetheories of labor supply and the decision to work, the demand for labor, min-imum wages, human capital, education, and training, the wage structure,discrimination, unions, contracts, and strikes in the labor market, unem-ployment and unemployment insurance. ECON 1110 is a prerequisitefor this course.

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Readings: Main Textbook (required): George J. Borjas, “Labor Eco-

nomics” (erd Edition), McGraw-Hill.

Lectures will draw heavily from contents of this book. Students mayalso find interested to read Ehrenberg, R., and R. Smith. “Modern LaborEconomics: Theory and Public Policy”. 9th Edition, Addison-Wesley. Inlecture we will also discuss some of the following papers:

• Johnson, G. E. ”The Labor Market Effects of Immigration.” Industrialand Labor Relations Review 33 (April 1980)

• Farber, H. ”Is Tomorrow Another Day? The Labor Supply of NewYork City Cab Drivers.” JPE (February 2005).

• Oettinger, Gerald S. ”An Empirical Analysis of the Daily Labor Supplyof Stadium Vendors.” Journal of Political Economy 107, no. 2 (April1999): 360-92

• Imbens, Rubin, and Sacerdote. ”Estimating the Effect of UnearnedIncome on Labor Supply: Evidence from a Survey of Lottery Players.”American Economic Review 91 (2001).

• Card, D., and A. Krueger. ”Minimum Wages and Employment: ACase Study of the Fast Food Industry in New Jersey and Pennsylva-nia.” American Economic Review 84 (September 1994): 772-93

• Ehrenberg, R., ed. ”The New Economics of the Minimum Wage: Re-view Symposium.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review 48 (July1995).

• Angrist, J., and A. Krueger. ”Does Compulsory School AttendanceAffect Schooling and Earnings?” Quarterly Journal of Economics 106(November 1991).

• Angrist, J. ”Lifetime Earnings and the Vietnam-Era Draft Lottery:Evidence From Social Security Administrative Records.” AmericanEconomic Review 80 (June 1990).

• Krueger, A. ”How Computers Have Changed the Wage Structure.”Quarterly Journal of Economics 108 (February 1993).

• DiNardo, J., and J. S. Pischke. ”The Returns to Computer Use Re-visited: Have Pencils Changed the Wage Structure Too?” QuarterlyJournal of Economics 112 (February 1997): 291-303.

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• Autor, D., L. Katz, and M. Kearney. ”Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality:Re-Assessing the Revisionists.” NBER Working Paper 11627, Septem-ber 2005.

• Angrist, J., and D. Acemoglu. ”Consequences of Employment Protec-tion? The Case of the Americans with Disabilities Act.” Journal ofPolitical Economy (October 2001).

• DiNardo and D. S. Lee. ”Economic Impacts of New Unionization onU.S. Private Sector Employers: 1984-2001.” QJE 119 (2004): 1383-1442.

• Woodbury, S., and R. Speigelman. ”Bonuses to Workers and Employ-ers to Reduce Unemployment: Randomized Trials in Illinois.” Ameri-can Economic Review 77 (September 1987): 513-530.

• Meyer, B. ”A Quasi-experimental Approach to Measuring the Effectsof Unemployment Insurance.” NBER Working Paper No 3159, Novem-ber 1989.

I also recommend the regular reading of newspapers such as The Economist,The Financial Times or The Wall Street Journal.

Exams: Two mid-terms, both in-class. The first one will be on ThursdaySeptember 27th and the second one on Thursday October 25th. Each countsfor 20% of your overall grade. The final exam is on Tuesday December 11th,and counts for 40% of your overall grade. Solutions for homework, midtermsand exam will be posted on the web page.

Absence from exams will be automatically granted only in the event ofmedical or family emergencies, which must be verified by a letter from theDean. Any other requests for absence from the scheduled exams must bepresented in writing within the first three weeks of the semester and will beevaluated on a case by case basis.

Homework: Problem sets will be assigned weekly and count for 20%of your overall grade; they should be handed in to your TA in the beginningof every section. In case you are not able to attend section, the problem setshould be turned in by 5pm on Friday to the TA’s mailbox in the basementof Robinson Hall. However, you are strongly advised never to skip section, asyou will be responsible for any new material taught by your TA. Solutions

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will be posted on the course’s website on Monday; no homework will begraded after the solutions have been posted. Homework will be graded ona scale of check plus (2), check (1), and zero (if you don’t hand in thehomework).

Section meetings: Each week you will receive your graded problemset from the previous week’s assignment in section, or if you fail to attendsection, the graded problem sets will be placed in the ECON 1310 - S01blue-box in the Robinson Hall basement. In addition, any questions fromproblem sets and lectures will be addressed. On occasion, supplementalmaterial such as additional mathematical techniques will be covered.

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Tiago Freire


Singapore

5.4 Sample Exams

Final Exam for ECON 1210 - Intermediate Macroeconomics

The exam is made of 10 short answer questions, each worth 10 points. Youhave 80 minutes (1h20m). Points add up to 100. You are given two bluebooks. Please use the first blue book for the first 5 questions (1-5) and thesecond blue book for the the last 5 questions (6-10). Good Luck.

1 [10 Points] Problem:

1. Suppose a government decides to reduce spending and (lump-sum)income taxes by the same amount. Using the long-run model of theeconomy developed in Chapter 3, graphically illustrate the impact ofthe equal reductions in spending and taxes. Be sure to label: (i)the axes; (ii) the curves; (iii) the initial equilibrium values; (iv) thedirection curves shift; and (v) the terminal equilibrium values.

2. State in words what happens to: (i) the real interest rate; (ii) nationalsaving; (iii) investment; (iv) consumption; and (v) output.


The Federal Reserve has three tools to control the money supply: open-market operations, the discount rate, and reserve requirements.

1. How should each instrument be changed if the Fed wishes to decreasethe money supply?

2. Will the change affect the monetary base and/or the money multiplier?


1. In April 1995, Michel Camdessus, managing director of the Interna-tional Monetary Fund (IMF) criticized U.S. economic policy for allow-ing the dollar exchange rate to fall too low. He recommended that theUnited States reduce its budget deficit in order to raise the exchange

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Tiago Freire


Singapore

rate. Use the long-run model of a small open economy to illustrategraphically the impact of reducing the governments budget deficit onthe exchange rate and the trade balance. Be sure to label: (i) the axes;(ii) the curves; (iii) the initial equilibrium values; (iv) the direction thecurves shift; and (v) the new long-run equilibrium values.

2. Based on your graphical analysis, explain whether Mr. Camdessusspolicy recommendation will work. Specifically state what happens tothe exchange rate and the trade balance as a result of the governmentbudget deficit reduction.


Changes in economic policies will frequently have an impact on the un-employment rate. Explain whether each of the policy changes described islikely to: 1) affect frictional or structural unemployment and 2) increase ordecrease the measured unemployment rate.

1. The government reduces the number of weeks of unemployment insur-ance that unemployed workers can receive.

2. The government raises the minimum wage.

3. The government increases spending on job-training programs.


Many policymakers are concerned that Americans do not save enough.Using the Solow growth model, with no technological change and no popu-lation growth, explain why:

1. for a given production function and depreciation rate, the saving ratedetermines the level of output per worker.

2. a higher saving rate will not necessarily generate more consumptionper worker.

3. a higher saving rate will not produce a faster steady state growth rateof output per worker.

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Tiago Freire


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Suppose a government is able to impose controls that limit the numberof children people can have, Use the Solow growth model of Chapter 8 tographically illustrate the impact of the slower rate of population growth onthe steady-state capital labor ratio and the steady state level of output perworker.

Be sure to label the: (i) axes; (ii) curves; (iii) initial steady-state; (iv)terminal steady-state levels; and (v) the direction curves shift.


Two countries, Highland and Lowland, are described by the Solow growthmodel. Both countries are identical, except that the rate of labor-augmentingtechnological progress is higher in Highland than in Lowland.

1. In which country is the steady-state growth rate of output per effectiveworker higher?

2. In which country is the steady-state growth rate of total output higher?

3. Does the Solow growth model predict that the two economies willconverge to the same steady state?


Suppose you are an economist working for the Federal Reserve whendroughts in the Southeast and floods in the Midwest substantially reducefood production in the United States. Use the aggregate demand-aggregatesupply model to illustrate graphically your policy recommendation to ac-commodate this adverse supply shock, assuming that your top priority ismaintaining full employment in the economy. Be sure to label: (i) the axes;(ii) tcurves; (iii) the inital equilibrium values; (iv) the direction the curvesshift; (v) the terminal equilibrium values. State in words what happens toprices and output as a combines result of the supply shock and the recom-mended Fed accommodation.


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1. An economy is initially at the natural level of output. There is anincrease in government spending. Use the IS-LM model to illustrateboth the short-run and long-run impact of this policy change. Be sureto label: (i) the axes; (ii) the curves; (iii) the initial equilibrium; (iv)the short-run equilibrium; and (v) the terminal equilibrium.

2. Explain in words the short-run and long-run impact of the change ingovernment spending on output and interest rates.


Policy makers are contemplating undertaking either an increase in gov-ernment spending or an increase in the money supply. Either policy isforecast to have the same impact on income in the short run. Use the IS-LM model to compare the impact on consumption and investment of thetwo policy alternatives.

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