Development Economics
Faculty of Agriculture
University of Bonn
Sample questions
Note: These sample questions do not comprise a complete list. They are only intended to
give you an idea of the type of questions that will be asked in the written exam.
1. a) Describe the different initial conditions (in terms of GDP and price policies) that the
Former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Africa and East Asia had before economic and
political liberalization took place.
b) How did Agircultural Output evolve after liberalization in each region?
c) Explain vertical coordination and how the private sector took over vertical
coordination of supply chains after liberalization. Did this happen in the same way for
all regions?
2. a) What is the Replacement Fertility Rate?
b) How is natural population growth determined? What drives whether populations
will increase or decrease, and how?
c) Describe dependency ratios and how these may differ between low-income and
high-income countries.
d) What are the economic drivers determining how many children a person decides
to have?
3. a) What is the difference between natural resource dependence and natural resource
abundance?
b) What is the Dutch Disease?
c) Name and explain the two types of myopic behaviour that can result from natural
resource wealth and why they are detrimental to economic development.
4. How can agriculture be a source of development? State and explain three channels
in which this is the case.
5. a) What is ethnic fractionalization?
b) Explain how the African slave trades affected ethnic fractionalization and how this
impact economic development in the long-run.
Faculty of Agriculture
University of Bonn
Sample questions
Note: These sample questions do not comprise a complete list. They are only intended to
give you an idea of the type of questions that will be asked in the written exam.
1. a) Describe the different initial conditions (in terms of GDP and price policies) that the
Former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Africa and East Asia had before economic and
political liberalization took place.
b) How did Agircultural Output evolve after liberalization in each region?
c) Explain vertical coordination and how the private sector took over vertical
coordination of supply chains after liberalization. Did this happen in the same way for
all regions?
2. a) What is the Replacement Fertility Rate?
b) How is natural population growth determined? What drives whether populations
will increase or decrease, and how?
c) Describe dependency ratios and how these may differ between low-income and
high-income countries.
d) What are the economic drivers determining how many children a person decides
to have?
3. a) What is the difference between natural resource dependence and natural resource
abundance?
b) What is the Dutch Disease?
c) Name and explain the two types of myopic behaviour that can result from natural
resource wealth and why they are detrimental to economic development.
4. How can agriculture be a source of development? State and explain three channels
in which this is the case.
5. a) What is ethnic fractionalization?
b) Explain how the African slave trades affected ethnic fractionalization and how this
impact economic development in the long-run.
