ES30026 Advanced Macroeconomics AY 22/23
Hello, dear friend, you can consult us at any time if you have any questions, add WeChat: daixieit
Coursework
Advanced Macroeconomics (ES30026)
AY 22/23
Instructions:
1. Answer all questions .
2. Please observe the word limits, i .e . max . 1500 words for question 1) and max .
700 words for question 2) . Equations and graphs do not count for the word limit, i .e . just the written text .
Note: these are upper limits such that you do not have to exploit your budget completely, but you should not use more than indicated by these limits . Useless and meaningless information will rather adversely a↵ect your mark, but stringency and precision improve it .
3. Submission:
a) Online only! Use the submission point on the unit’s Moodle page .
b) You don’t have to type-write mathematical parts or generate figures with the computer . Explanations have to be type-written. This means that you won’t improve your mark if you decide to type-write mathematical solutions . Notwithstanding, the quality of the presentation in terms of readability and the general quality of your presentation of your results (use a ruler and di↵er- ent colours where appropriate, i .e . common sense rules apply) will a↵ect the mark . Moreover, the stringency, consistency and eloquence of your reasoning is a↵ecting your mark . Answer the questions as asked, not more and not less . We assess your ability to di↵erentiate between important and less important aspects . Avoid meaningless information .
c) It would be advisable to scan handwritten solutions . For scans of handwritten answers, we recommend the use of the Adobe Scan app which is available to download free of charge . You can photograph from within the app each handwritten / typewritten / mixed page and the app generates a single PDF- file containing all your pages . You can then email a link to yourself, download the PDF-file to local storage, and from there it can be uploaded onto Moodle via the coursework submission point .
4. IMPORTANT: In case of technical problems during the submission contact me, or UG-office, immediately. Please do not change (open or save) your file after the submission window has closed because valuable information might get lost which we need to confirm that you were NOT working on your file after the submission window has closed .
5. If you do not manage to solve parts of the formal questions, try to explain the reasoning of your solution strategy. It is important that you demonstrate to us that you tried something . You will get marks for the attempt!
1) In period t, a parental household equipped with human capital ht earns a labour income of wht, where w > 0 represents the constant wage rate . This household derives utility out of own consumption (ct), the number of children nt and their level of human capital ht+1 . Education is provided by teachers who are equipped with the economy’s average level of human capital t . Human capital per child evolves from one period to another according to
ht+1 = (et + )⌘t , 0 < ⌘ < 1 (1)
where > 0 is a constant parameter and et represents the level of education per child .
The households’ utility function is specified as
Ut = lnct+ γ ln(ntht+1) (2)
with γ > 0.
Raising one child to adulthood requires a share of 0 < z < 1 units of time . Moreover,
amount to w t et (1 − se ) .
a . Solve the household’s optimisation problem with respect to ct,nt,et and explain the economic rationale of your results .
[40 marks]
b . Let’s define a variable xt capturing the households’ relative human capital en- dowment with respect to the economy’s average, such that
xt =
Show that relative human capital evolves according to
(3)
(4)
[20 marks]
c . Suppose there exists a critical crit , such that for ≥ crit the xt+1-locus (4) intercepts at x* = 1 with the 45-degree line from below and for < crit from above . What does this information imply for the evolution of inequality? Explain briefly the role of the education subsidy in this context .
Remark: No derivations are required here . Just provide a decent rationale and do as asked!
[15 marks]
Word limit: 1500
2) Consider a two-period OLG model with logarithmic preferences, i .e . the dynamics of the capital intensity is governed by
kt+1 = (1 + β)(1 + n)wt
(5)
where wt represents the wage rate, 0 < β < 1 the discount factor of second period utility, and n > 0 the population’s growth rate . Furthermore the production function is specified as
Yt = A h↵K p +(1 − ↵)Lpt(−) i− .
(6)
Assume that ↵ = 0 .5 , p = 1,A = 25,n = 1 .097, and β = 0 .3.
i . Given (5), derive the kt+1-equation and determine the steady state solution(s) for the capital intensity.
[15 marks]
ii . Given that the slope of the kt+1-locus is smaller than one at kt = 0, show the stability properties of the solution(s) you obtained in i . qualitatively in an ap- propriate diagram . What are the consequences of higher population growth? Remark: No calculations or proofs! Show everything qualitatively in a dia- gram and provide a brief reasoning .
[10 marks]
Word limit: 700
2022-11-16