ECON8012 Applied Microeconomics Topics
Final Report and Video Presentation
Instructions
The final report and video presentation will be based on an (applied microeconomics) academic paper
that you will select in consultation with the lecturer.
The final report is worth 30% and the video presentation is worth 10% of your final mark in this unit.
The video presentation must be uploaded to iLearn by 3pm Tuesday 26th May. Video presentations
should not exceed 10 minutes. You will therefore only have time to cover the main points of the paper
(including empirical strategy and main results). As a guide, six to eight slides should be about the right
number. Please do not try to fit too much information on each slide. Brief dot points are preferable.
Videos must be created and submitted using ECHO Universal Capture
(https:
students.mq.edu.au/support/study/tools-and-resources/ilearn/ilearn-quick-guides-for-
students/lecture-recordings). Presentation slides (in pdf format) must also be uploaded to iLearn by
the due date as part of the requirements of this assessment.
The final report is due 3pm Tuesday 9th June. The report should be no more than 2,000 words (not
including references). Referencing should be done in a conventional style (e.g. Harvard or APA). There
will be a submission link on iLearn available for the final report under ‘Assessment’ one week prior to
the submission deadline. Please note Macquarie University uses ‘Turnitin’ plagiarism detection
software for all electronic submissions.
A detailed marking ru
ic for both the final report and presentation is provided below in Appendix A.
Please identify two (2) papers that you would potentially like to use and send them to the lecturer
( XXXXXXXXXX) by the end of week 7 (5pm Friday 24th April). You should also rank them
according to your preference. (The reason for having two papers is if one is not suitable and/or if
another student has identified the same paper).
The selected papers should have an applied microeconomics focus and have been published in the
last five years. They should also come from high-quality peer-reviewed economics journals of the level
that we have been studying in class. You may wish to consult the Australia Business Deans Council
(ABDC) journal ranking list for a guide (https:
abdc.edu.au
esearch/abdc-journal-list/).
The selected paper should have an A* or A ranking. There is also a list of suggested journals in
Appendix B of this document. Please note that there will be an allowance for the difficulty of your
paper. Generally, more technical and/or challenging papers will be rewarded with higher marks.
https:
students.mq.edu.au/support/study/tools-and-resources/ilearn/ilearn-quick-guides-for-students/lecture-recordings
https:
students.mq.edu.au/support/study/tools-and-resources/ilearn/ilearn-quick-guides-for-students/lecture-recordings
mailto: XXXXXXXXXX
https:
abdc.edu.au
esearch/abdc-journal-list
Appendix A
Report and presentation marking ru
ic
Criteria Fail (F): 0-49%
Pass (P):
50-64%
Credit (CR):
65-74%
Distinction (D):
75-84%
High Distinction (HD):
85-100%
Summarise main economic concepts
and/or theories. Appreciation of
how paper fits into wider literature
Inaccurate summary of economic
concepts and/or theories. Does
not demonstrate appreciation of
how paper fits into wider
literature
Some inaccuracies in summary of the
economic concepts and/or theories.
Demonstrates moderate appreciation
of how paper fits into wider literature
Mostly accurate summary of the
economic concepts and/or theories.
Demonstrates reasonable
appreciation of how paper fits into
wider literature
Accurate summary of the economic
concepts and/or theories.
Demonstrates good appreciation of
how paper fits into wider literature
Accurate and insightful summary of
the economic concepts and/or
theories. Demonstrates strong
appreciation of how paper fits into
wider literature
Describe main features of data and
methodology.
Inaccurate description of main
features of data and
methodology.
Some inaccuracies in description of
main features of data and
methodology.
Mostly accurate description of main
features of data and methodology.
Accurate description of main
features of data and methodology.
Accurate and insightful description of
main features of data and
methodology.
Demonstrates appreciation of
identification strategy and/or how
causal relationship has been
established
Does not demonstrate
appreciation of identification
strategy and/or how causal
elationship has been established
Demonstrates moderate appreciation
of identification strategy and/or how
causal relationship has been
established
Demonstrates reasonable
appreciation of identification strategy
and/or how causal relationship has
een established
Demonstrates good appreciation of
identification strategy and/or how
causal relationship has been
established
Demonstrates strong appreciation of
identification strategy and/or how
causal relationship has been
established
Critical analysis of paper. Identifies
shortcomings and provides
suggestions for improvement
Critical analysis of paper is non-
existent. Unable to identify
shortcomings and provides no (or
very limited) suggestions for
improvement
Critical analysis of paper is limited.
Able to identify superficial
shortcomings and provides limited
suggestions for improvement
Critical analysis of paper is
easonable. Able to identify genuine
shortcomings and provides some
suggestions for improvement
Critical analysis of paper is good.
Able to identify insightful
shortcomings and provides good
suggestions for improvement
Critical analysis of paper is strong.
Able to identify insightful and subtle
shortcomings and provides excellent
suggestions for improvement
Communication. Overall quality of
eport/presentation
Very poor communication with
frequent use of contradictions.
Absence of academic tone due to
consistent use of informal
language
Poor communication with recu
ent
use of contradictions. Inappropriate
academic tone due to frequent use of
informal language
Satisfactory communication with
some use of contradictions. Some
inconsistent academic tone due to
use of informal language
Excellent communication with
miniscule use of contradictions.
Appropriate academic tone
Outstanding communication with no
use of contradictions. Appropriate
and confident academic tone
*Note that all criteria are weighted equally.
Appendix B
Example A* and A rank journals in economics (ABDC journal list)
Rank Title
A* AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL: APPLIED ECONOMICS
A* AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL: ECONOMIC POLICY
A* AMERICAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
A* ENERGY ECONOMICS
A* EUROPEAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
A* JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS
A* JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR AND ORGANIZATION
A* JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT
A* JOURNAL OF HEALTH ECONOMICS
A* JOURNAL OF HUMAN RESOURCES: EDUCATION, MANPOWER AND WELFARE ECONOMICS
A* JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
A* JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
A* JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
A* JOURNAL OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION
A* JOURNAL OF URBAN ECONOMICS
A* THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW
A* THE ECONOMIC JOURNAL
A* THE JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
A* THE JOURNAL OF LAW AND ECONOMICS
A* THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
A* THE REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES
A* THE REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
A AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
A APPLIED ECONOMICS
A CAMBRIDGE JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
A CANADIAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS
A ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRIAL DEMOCRACY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
A ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND CULTURAL CHANGE
A ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
A ECONOMIC INQUIRY
A ECONOMIC MODELLING
A ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION REVIEW
A EMPIRICAL ECONOMICS
A ENERGY JOURNAL
A ENVIRONMENTAL AND RESOURCE ECONOMICS
A INFORMATION ECONOMICS AND POLICY
A INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION
A IZA JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
A JOURNAL OF CULTURAL ECONOMICS
A JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
A JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
A JOURNAL OF HOUSING ECONOMICS
A JOURNAL OF HUMAN CAPITAL
A JOURNAL OF LAW, ECONOMICS AND ORGANIZATION
A JOURNAL OF POLICY MODELING
A JOURNAL OF REGULATORY ECONOMICS
A LABOUR ECONOMICS
A LAND ECONOMICS: A QUARTERLY JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE STUDY OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
INSTITUTIONS
A PUBLIC CHOICE
A REAL ESTATE ECONOMICS
A RESOURCE AND ENERGY ECONOMICS
A REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AND POLICY
A REVIEW OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION
A REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY
A SCOTTISH JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
A SOUTHERN ECONOMIC JOURNAL
A THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND RESOURCE ECONOMICS
A THE ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW: A JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY
A THE ECONOMIC RECORD
A THE JOURNAL OF INDUSTRIAL ECONOMICS
A THE WORLD ECONOMY
A THE†AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HEALTH ECONOMICSâ€
A WORLD DEVELOPMENT
Appendix A
Appendix B
Applied Microeconomics 1
XXXXXXXXXXApplied Microeconomics Final Report
Summary of the pape
The article being reviewed in this paper inquiries into the hu
icane-affected people and their role in immigration. The migrants are likely to displace from one location to another because of higher returns; however, the higher fixed costs prevent the people from migrating to attractive destinations. These fixed costs are lower if the migrants’ network is large and migrating people can be accommodated by the community members of the migrant. Large numbers of people migrate internationally and almost 34 to 41 million people have migrated from XXXXXXXXXXand XXXXXXXXXXrepresenting 0.6% of the population. The migration is attractive because it leads to large income gains because the employment opportunities in migration destinations are lucrative which results in a benefit to migrants and their families, but the origin countries as well. The remittances sent by the migrants to origin country are consumed by the families of these people, and they act as an exogenous output which is used for buying various products or services which becomes the income of another people, and thus, more income is injected into the system (Mahajan & Yang, XXXXXXXXXXThis has a multiplier effect on the overall population of the host country which is the reason that migration is heavily supported by the developing countries to allow the people to move to the developed countries. The article reviewed focuses on the hu
icane-affected people who migrate to the US and other countries.
However, some of the amounts of remittances is saved by the people which are the reason that the multiplier effect is not perpetual and the income is saved on every level it is passed to other people, and the process of multiplying eventually stops. These incomes, therefore, generate benefits for the household countries. The individuals can choose the low-wage jobs in their origin countries or incur fixed costs and migrate to higher-wage countries. Based on this, it can be said that if the return on income is increased, it leads to higher migration provided that the fixed cost of migration is lower (Mahajan & Yang,