ECON0028: The Economics of Growth
Group Project – 30% of the mark
University College London
Due December 16, 6pm
This is a group project. Within group collaboration and discussion form an integral part of it.
You are asked to form groups of between 5-6 people within your tutorial classes and work on
the project together with other students in your group. We will ask you to form the groups by
the end of the first tutorial, and will allocate a few minutes towards the end of class to do this.
Since this is a group project, you will share your grade with all your group members. Each
member of every group is required to contribute equally to the group’s work. Freeriding is not
allowed and can be reported directly to the tutors and Dr Rachel. Any such reports will be
treated in confidence and will be investigated.
Each group must pick and work on one of the two topics listed below. You are expected to hand in
your group’s output in electronic form (e.g. .doc or .pdf file). The maximum word limit is 1500
words, excluding tables, figures and references. Please state the number of words at the top of your
document – we might randomly check your word count and we will penalize significant breaches.
You may include up to a maximum of 5 figures and/or tables combined (e.g. 4 figures and 1 table is
OK; a single figure may contain multiple panels though). The word limit is tight, which is deliberate.
Concise and clear writing will be highly rewarded. Beyond these guidelines, you are free to choose
the exact form your project output will take (e.g. you can prepare a standard report, a poster1, etc.).
Whatever topic you choose you are highly encouraged to read and cite external materials: books,
academic papers, high quality popular writings2, etc. It is fine to express your own opinions (as long
as they are supported by evidence and analysis!), but you are also expected to read widely and
identify the key sources and experts who are thought leaders on this issue. Make sure to cite all the
work appropriately. For example, this is how you would cite Solow (1956).3
You are highly encouraged to use technical tools: models, data analysis, math, equations etc. – that
help you convey main messages. I.e. you can assume that target audience are economists, not the
general public. At the same time, these technical elements must make the exposition clearer (rather
than clouding the main conclusions).
Here are the two topics to choose from:
1
See https://www.aaea.org/meetings/2020-aaea-annual-meeting/presenters--partcipants/selected-posters for
examples of some nice academic posters.
2
For example, The Economist or the Financial Times are good and reliable sources. There is a lot of good blogs
as well, but you should verify that a blog’s author is a respected and reasonable person. A generally sufficient
(although certainly not necessary) condition is that the blogger is affiliated with an economics department in one
of the world’s leading universities.
3
The following entry would show up at the end of your document: Robert M. Solow, A Contribution to the
Theory of Economic Growth, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 70, Issue 1, February 1956, Pages
65–94. You are welcome to use a slightly different bibliography style, of course. But in any case, make sure to
include the bibliography (in alphabetical order) at the end of your document (can be a separate page if you go
for a poster). If in doubt, look at the references in any of the academic papers assigned as reading to the course.
Group Project – 30% of the mark
University College London
Due December 16, 6pm
This is a group project. Within group collaboration and discussion form an integral part of it.
You are asked to form groups of between 5-6 people within your tutorial classes and work on
the project together with other students in your group. We will ask you to form the groups by
the end of the first tutorial, and will allocate a few minutes towards the end of class to do this.
Since this is a group project, you will share your grade with all your group members. Each
member of every group is required to contribute equally to the group’s work. Freeriding is not
allowed and can be reported directly to the tutors and Dr Rachel. Any such reports will be
treated in confidence and will be investigated.
Each group must pick and work on one of the two topics listed below. You are expected to hand in
your group’s output in electronic form (e.g. .doc or .pdf file). The maximum word limit is 1500
words, excluding tables, figures and references. Please state the number of words at the top of your
document – we might randomly check your word count and we will penalize significant breaches.
You may include up to a maximum of 5 figures and/or tables combined (e.g. 4 figures and 1 table is
OK; a single figure may contain multiple panels though). The word limit is tight, which is deliberate.
Concise and clear writing will be highly rewarded. Beyond these guidelines, you are free to choose
the exact form your project output will take (e.g. you can prepare a standard report, a poster1, etc.).
Whatever topic you choose you are highly encouraged to read and cite external materials: books,
academic papers, high quality popular writings2, etc. It is fine to express your own opinions (as long
as they are supported by evidence and analysis!), but you are also expected to read widely and
identify the key sources and experts who are thought leaders on this issue. Make sure to cite all the
work appropriately. For example, this is how you would cite Solow (1956).3
You are highly encouraged to use technical tools: models, data analysis, math, equations etc. – that
help you convey main messages. I.e. you can assume that target audience are economists, not the
general public. At the same time, these technical elements must make the exposition clearer (rather
than clouding the main conclusions).
Here are the two topics to choose from:
1
See https://www.aaea.org/meetings/2020-aaea-annual-meeting/presenters--partcipants/selected-posters for
examples of some nice academic posters.
2
For example, The Economist or the Financial Times are good and reliable sources. There is a lot of good blogs
as well, but you should verify that a blog’s author is a respected and reasonable person. A generally sufficient
(although certainly not necessary) condition is that the blogger is affiliated with an economics department in one
of the world’s leading universities.
3
The following entry would show up at the end of your document: Robert M. Solow, A Contribution to the
Theory of Economic Growth, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Volume 70, Issue 1, February 1956, Pages
65–94. You are welcome to use a slightly different bibliography style, of course. But in any case, make sure to
include the bibliography (in alphabetical order) at the end of your document (can be a separate page if you go
for a poster). If in doubt, look at the references in any of the academic papers assigned as reading to the course.
