Marking scheme
Full course 100 %
of which
Project 40 %
Final exam 60 %.
Instructions
• Projects must not exceed a maximum of five typed pages. Line spacing of 1.5 and font size of 11 or 12, Times Roman. Marks will be deducted if the project exceeds the page limit. This five-page limit does not include the data appendix or any supplementary material.
• Presentation is important. A summary table should appear in the main body of the text.
• All data and sources to be clearly explained and presented in an appendix. Any data errors or omissions will result in significant loss of marks.
• Data to be saved to an Excel spreadsheet and submitted on a disk with the final report.
• Students may use any econometric or statistical software package they wish. In estimating the relationship between the various variables, students should experiment with lags in order to obtain the best set of results.
• All students are expected to contribute equally to the project.
• Projects must be submitted in hardcopy and electronically to the MBA office by 4 o'clock Friday 8th December. No extensions allowed. A significant mark will be deducted for late submission.
Click here to download the 2006 Data
Project Titles
Group 1 Okun’s Law
A. Obtain annual real growth rates and unemployment rates for US, Eurozone, UK and Japan over the period 1961 to 2005 (or latest available).
B. For each country, estimate the “Okun's Law” relationship between real economic growth and unemployment (dependent variable) and present the slope coefficient in a summary table.
C. Write a brief summary that compares your findings for each country.
D. Include a brief profile of the economist Arthur Okun.
Bernard Carroll
Darby Mullen
Matthew Spagnolo
Group 2 Interest Sensitive Expenditure
A. Obtain or derive annual data on the real interest rate and “interest sensitive expenditure” (consumer expenditure, investment and net exports) for the US, Eurozone, UK and Japan over the period 1961 to 2005 (or latest available).
B. For each country, estimate the relationship between the real interest rate and “interest sensitive expenditure”.
C. Present the results in a summary table and write a brief summary that compares your findings for each country.
D. Include a brief profile of the economist James Tobin.
Eamon Neary
Brian O’Donoghue
Shaun Elder
Triona Hayes
Group 3 Quantity Theory of Money
A. Obtain annual data for the growth in the money supply, real growth rate and inflation for the United States, Eurozone, UK and Japan over the period 1960 to 2005 (or latest available).
B. Calculate the velocity of circulation of money and comment on its trend over the period.
C. Estimate the statistical relationship between the growth in the money supply, on the one hand, and inflation and the real growth rate on the other. Do your findings support the Quantity Theory?
D. Write a brief profile of the economist Milton Friedman.
Michael Melleney
Thomas Healy
Eamonn Farrell
John Coady
Group 4 Real wages and unemployment
A. Obtain annual data for real wages, inflation and unemployment for the United States, Eurozone, UK and Japan over the period 1960 to 2005 (or latest available).
B. For each country, estimate the relationship between real wages and unemployment and real wages and inflation present the findings in a summary table.
C. Write a brief summary that compares your findings for each country. Do your findings support a “mark-up” of “catch-up” theory of wage determination?
D. Include a brief profile of the economist Robert Lucas.
Michael Lehane
Michael Naughton
Geoffrey Blondelle
Peter Roe
Group 5 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
Countries: US, Eurozone and Japan.
A. Obtain annual data on inflation, the exchange rate and unemployment over the period 1961 to 2005 (or latest available). Use the UK as the benchmark country. Derive the “deviation from relative PPP”: ΔPPP = [(πd + Δe) - πUK]. Make sure the exchange rate is correctly defined.
B. For each country, estimate the relationship between ΔPPP and unemployment and ΔPPP and domestic inflation.
C. Present the empirical results in a summary table and write a brief summary of your findings.
D. Include a brief profile of the economist Rudiger Dornbusch.
James Fulham
Colm Linnane
Elaine Carroll
Caitriona Lucey
Group 6 Phillips Curve
A. Obtain annual data on unemployment and inflation rates for the United States, Eurozone, UK and Japan over the period 1960 to 2005 (or latest available).
B. For each country, test the expectations augmented Phillips Curve and calculate the natural rate of unemployment.
C. Present the results in a summary table and write a brief summary that compares your findings for each country.
D. Write a short profile of the economist Bill Phillips.
Hugh Curley
John Kennedy
Tim O’Connor
Ruairi Deane
Group 7 Uncovered Interest Rate Parity
A. Obtain annual data on exchange rates and interest rates for Ireland, the UK and US over the period 1960 to 2005 (or latest available).
B. For Ireland and the UK and Ireland and the US, test if uncovered interest rate parity holds.
C. Present the results in a summary table and write a brief summary that compares your findings for the two sets of countries.
D. Include a brief profile of the economist Stanley Fischer.
Mark Cahill
John Caldwell
Josephine Page