1. Say that in 1964 a country had a labor force participation rate of 60% and by 2014 it fell to 50%. Also, assume that over this time labor productivity grew by 2% a year. How much did income per person change?
2. In the Gapminder World tool, please start with the standard variables on the horizontal and vertical axes and do not choose any countries. We will be analyzing all countries and by default, all countries are automatically selected when the tool starts. Change the vertical axis to "Health > Nutrition > Food Supplies (kilocalories / person & day)." First, please describe what you see for the latest year. Second, of the variables on the axes, can one say which causes which?
3. Reset the Gapminder World tool. Do not select any countries. We will be analyzing all countries and by default, all countries are automatically selected after the tool is reset. Change the vertical axis to "Health > Risk Factors > Body Mass Index (BMI), men, kg/m2 ." Note that the BMI of a 6 foot tall person weighing 150 pounds is about 20 and it is about 27 for someone of the same height who weighs 200 pounds (BMI calculators are on-line if you wish to explore this further). A BMI of less than 18.5 is considered underweight, more than 25 is overweight, and more than 30 is obese. First, please describe what you see for the latest year. Second, of the variables on the axes, can one say which causes which?
4. In the article "Nutrition: Food for Thought," why did school standards improve in spite of many more poor children coming to the Msekeni primary school?
5. In this same article, why were some children home rather than in school?
6. According to this article, is malnutrition across the globe rising or falling?
7. According to the article "Poverty and Food: The Nutrition Puzzle," how has interest in nutrition by government and donors changed?
8. By drawing the appropriate graph, show how a family might decide to increase schooling as their income rises.
9. Assume the returns to education that we used in the mini-lecture (which are based on research conducted around the world). For a person with 6 years of schooling, what fraction of their income would be due to their schooling?
10. Consider a country whose workers have with two levels of schooling: 6 years (33% of workers) and 7 years (67% of the workers). How much does schooling contribute to labor income in this country?
11. According to the article "The Learning Deficit" how does human capital (as measured by learning achievement on various international tests) in developing countries compare to developed countries?
12. For the sake of this question, say that country A has a saving rate of 40% and country B has one of 10%. Also, country A's workers have 7 years of schooling and B's has 6 years. How do these two country's per capita income compare?