ECON C175 Chapter Notes - Chapter (Week 3): Thomas Piketty, Capital Intensity, Wealth Concentration

1. What does the term s*Y represent in the capital-accumulation equation of Solow growth model?

a) The labor-income share of GDP.

b) Net investment.

c) Gross investment.

d) The net change in the capital stock from one year to the other.

2. In the Solow growth model, suppose that the savings rate is 25%, the depreciation rate is 10%, the current capital stock is 10 trillion $ and current output of a country is 4 trillion $. What will the capital stock of this country be in the following period?

a) 10 trillion $.

b) 11 trillion $.

c) We cannot tell since we are not given information about technological progress.

d) We cannot tell since population growth is not known.

3. Consider a country which starts with a capital stock below its steady-state level in the Solow model (without technological change). Why is growth slowing down over time for this country?

a) Population growth is becoming stronger over time since the population is growing, which makes it harder to accumulate high levels of capital per capita.

b) A country cannot maintain the same savings rate forever, so investment must decrease at some point.

c) The more capital there is, the more of it depreciates. As the country becomes richer, it becomes ever harder to replace depreciated capital.

d) There are diminishing returns to the factor capital. Thus investment, capital and GDP per capita grow by ever smaller amounts as the country becomes richer.

4. Suppose Pakistan has a higher savings rate than Iran. Both start out with the same capital per worker. All other parameters are the same for both countries (population growth and depreciation rate). The Solow growth model (without technological change) predicts that...

a)

According to estimates presented in the textbook, which of the following factors made the smallest contribution to U.S. growth between 1928 and 1997?

A) Technology.
B) Human capital.
C) Physical capital.
D) Labor.

According to economist Hernando DeSoto, the lack of formal property rights in many poor countries limits economic growth because informal property rights:

A) lead to excessive investment in physical, social, and human capital.
B) limit the amount that businesses and households can borrow.
C) result in excessive government regulation.
D) decrease the labor force participation rate.

The theory of convergence depends on the assumption that:

A) population growth falls to replacement levels in all nations.
B) factors of production are mobile across borders.
C) technological advancement slows.
D) production functions have constant returns to scale.

The surge in foreign direct investment experienced by China and India in the early 2000s can best be explained by:

A) their higher marginal productivity of capital, which leads to lower production costs.
B) their lower marginal productivity of capital, which leads to lower production costs.
C) the limits they impose on factor mobility.
D) technological agglomeration.

The idea behind Say's Law is that people work because:

A) they like to work.
B) they want to buy things.
C) they want to accumulate wealth.
D) work gives them social status.

People's knowledge is a type of capital, called human capital.

A) True
B) False

The law of diminishing marginal productivity applies whenever:

A) output is increased.
B) all inputs are increased.
C) only one input is increased.
D) decreasing returns to scale are present.

13.

The theory of convergence argues that poor nations should, if they pursue the right policies,

A) grow at the same rate as rich nations.
B) grow faster than rich nations.
C) develop the same social-welfare structures as rich nations.
D) stop their exploitation by the rich nations.

14.

If increasing returns to scale exist, then an increase in output of exactly 3 percent is most likely to be produced by:

A) a decrease in all inputs of 3 percent.
B) an increase in all inputs of less than 3 percent.
C) an increase in all inputs of 3 percent.
D) an increase in all inputs of more than 3 percent.

15.

The production function is best represented in the following form:

A) Output = A.
B) Output = f(Labor, Capital, Land).
C) Output = A%u2022f(Labor, Capital, Land).
D) Output = [A%u2022f(Labor, Capital, Land)]^b.

16.

The effect of economic growth generally has been to make:

A) the poor poorer and the rich richer.
B) the poor richer and the rich poorer.
C) all income levels richer.
D) the rich richer but not affect the poor.

Scale economies describe what happens to output when:

A) one input changes.
B) all inputs change by the same percentage.
C) technology changes.
D) institutions change.