tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15624830154289193792024-03-27T05:10:14.440-07:00DEAR JUNIOR, With LoveDear Junior, this is information you won't find elsewhere - university websites/teachers/peers. This is wealth of information that can only travel down from a senior to a junior. We have formed a seniors network and share our experiences about preparing for life beyond graduation - preparation for entrances, foreign universities, jobs, etc. Hope this blog will equip you with a better decision making ability with more perfect information. To know more about us: www.eurekawow.comAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-54831759131037143982018-07-23T22:56:00.003-07:002018-07-23T22:56:48.103-07:00Applying for PhD in Economics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Writer: Kalyani</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; text-align: left;">Kalyani completed her Master's from CESP, JNU and worked as a Research Associate at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. She got fully funded PhD offers from the University of Pittsburgh, Purdue University, University of Arizona and University of California, Davis. She will be joining UC Davis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Recently,
I applied extensively to economics PhD programs in the US and some in Europe. A
lot of people asked me about my experience and I found a common thread in most
of the conversations – how do I shortlist universities? Is my GRE score good
enough? Should I apply to economics or public policy programs? This and many
more common queries led me to write this blog post, where I try to present a guide
for preparing your PhD applications, a process that normally can be quite
panic-ridden and stressful. Some of these tips are generic and applicable to all<i>
</i>PhD programs (regardless of the subject), but mostly I write from the
perspective of an Indian student applying to economics PhD programs in the US. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">1.</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> <b>Proper research experience</b>:
Once you have decided to apply for an economics PhD, you need to figure out
your research interests within economics. A good way to start is to ask the
broad questions – Micro or Macro? Theory or Empirics? Mainstream or Heterodox?
Of course, you can work in intersections of two or more areas, but you need to
have a fair idea before applying. The reason I stress on this is that this
would be your main criteria for shortlisting universities, for writing your
Statement of Purpose (SOP), and ultimately for universities to decide whether
you are a good fit for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
way to really know your interests is to try your hand at research. You may
already have a fair idea through your master’s courses, your favorite
professors, and the kind of papers you have already read. Some universities
also make their students write term papers or short projects as part of the
master’s coursework (this is the norm in JNU, where I did my MA, and it really
helped me narrow down my interest areas and professors that I went to for
guidance). I also know of some students who work with professors on research
projects, either as research assistants or co-authors, <i>during </i>their
master’s (summer intern or year-around). Landing such a research gig and
managing it with your coursework can be difficult, but not impossible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Alternatively,
you can consider working as a full-time Research Assistant (RA) with an
organization or a professor after completing your MA. I worked with two
professors at the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad for two years,
and honestly it opened my eyes about the world of academia. It taught me a lot
of skills that are important in research like networking, getting data sources,
peer feedback, and working with statistical software, that I had limited or no
exposure to during my master’s. Working as a full-time researcher also allowed
me to attend conferences, do fieldwork, take up courses, and basically gave me
a lot of substance for SOP. Whether full-time or part time, good quality
research experience is crucial for applying to PhDs – not just as a bullet on
your CV, but also for you to be confident about whether a PhD is ideal for you,
the kind of research you want to do, and where you want to apply.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">2.
Mentor and peer network</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
Just like writing a research paper, applying to PhDs is not a solo process. My
professors at ISB and JNU really helped me understand the applications ballgame
– helping me shortlist universities, reaching out to their network of professors
in the universities I applied to, and allowing me some time off during the
application months. Of course, in most cases these professors will also write
you a letter of recommendation (LOR), which is a crucial part of your admissions.
So, keep in touch with your professors, tell them about your interests, and
remind them about upcoming deadlines for submitting the LORs. Even though most
universities need only three letter-writers, arrange for four because there can
be constraints and someone may refuse at the last moment (e.g. some professors
don’t write more than six letters for one student, some don’t write letters for
two people applying to the same department).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Another
important benefit of being in a research network is that you can co-author
papers together, either with your professors or your peers (more on writing
samples later). I benefitted a lot from my fellow RAs at ISB who were applying in
the same cycle. We would bounce ideas off each other, keep ourselves motivated,
proof-read drafts, remind about application deadlines, and drown in our misery
together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">3.
University and program search</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
I cannot stress enough about starting early on the university search. Ideally,
the guiding factor for shortlisting a university should be your research fit. I
followed the thumb rule that there should be at least 3 professors in that
department working in my interest areas, went through their papers and tried to
figure out if I would be happy working with them. Other factors that you can
consider are rankings, location, job market candidates’ work, and placement
records. Depending on your interests, you can also consider applying to
econ-allied programs like agriculture and resource economics, public policy, behavioural
economics, economics track within the business school etc. However, these
programs are fewer in number and generally have a lower intake than econ
programs, so think about the tradeoff and choose wisely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
university search can be time-consuming so start as early as possible – at
least 3-4 months before the application season opens in September, which is the
norm for most US universities. Whenever you shortlist a university, remember to
note down the deadline and the application requirements (they can vary a lot
across universities)! If possible, discuss this list with your professors,
maintain a feedback process, and feel free to modify the list as you go along.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">4.
Writing sample & SOP</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
I have put these items under one head because these are the two main writing
tasks in your application, and ideally your writing sample should feed into
your SOP. A writing sample is nothing but a piece of original academic writing
that may be an individual piece of work eor co-authored. It does not have to be
published, but it should be at a reasonably advanced stage of work, e.g. it
should at least have preliminary results (in case of an empirical paper). You
can even use your master’s dissertation (if you had one) if you think it fits
the bill.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Now
a writing sample is actually <i>not mandatory </i>for applying; in fact many
universities do not even allow space to attach a sample, and some clearly
mention that they will not look at samples even if you send one. But the reason
I stress on a writing sample is because it gives your letter writers something
concrete to write about in your LOR, and also gives you good material for your
SOP. The SOP is a mandatory requirement for all US universities and I strongly
suggest that you highlight the takeaways/results from your writing sample as evidence
of your research skills and interest areas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">5.
Math/ Econ coursework</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">:
Your academic profile is an important part of your application. Particularly
for econ PhDs, I have heard from professors in top ranked universities that
strong math coursework is a necessary condition for admission. Basically, your
chances are much better if you have some or all of the following courses on
your transcript – real analysis, linear algebra, calculus, probability, and
statistics. Even if you could not take them at your undergrad/MA institution,
you can take certified courses on Coursera or MIT open courseware to fulfill
that requirement. If you are working as RA at a university, you can look up the
graduate coursework and audit the math courses there, if your institute
permits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">If
you are from a science or engineering background and already have math courses,
then you can invest in econ coursework – microeconomics, macroeconomics, and econometrics
at the graduate level. Whether or not you add new courses to your profile, make
sure to mention your math coursework (if you have an econ background) and econ
coursework (if you have a non-econ background) in your SOP. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">6.
GRE and TOEFL</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: GRE
is a standard requirement in all master’s/ PhD applications so some people even
take it a year or two before they actually intend to apply. It is a well-known
fact that Econ departments focus on the quantitative portion of the GRE more
than any other section, so try to maximize your quant score. In any case, you<i>
</i>need<i> </i>to score above the 90<sup>th</sup> percentile in quant to be
able to make the cut for any Econ program, and the top programs often need a
perfect quant score. If your first attempt was unsuccessful, by all means take
the exam again (I did too), but allow enough time for that. For tips on cracking
the GRE, you can refer to </span><a href="http://eureka-wow.blogspot.com/2013/07/cracking-gre.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">this</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> (an earlier EurekaWow post!) The
TOEFL is relatively easier than the GRE and some universities even waive it if
your education so far has been in English, so check the TOEFL requirement for
each university before sending your report.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">7.
Resume:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> This is
probably the most straightforward requirement of all. Just remember to make an <i>academic
</i>CV (they are a bit different from corporate CVs), highlighting your
academic and research experience more than your industry experience (if
applicable). The CV on any graduate student/ job market candidate/ professor’s
webpage will give you a fair idea of the format. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Finally,
some logistical tips that will help keep your application process stress-free:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">1.
Transcripts</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
(including hard copies!): arrange transcripts (marksheet plus degree) from all
your institutions before applying. Occasionally, some universities will also
ask for hard copies of the transcripts to be sent to them <i>before </i>admission
so be prepared with multiple copies for postage!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">2.
Funds</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For US universities, each application cost
varies from $50 to $100. Add to that the cost of sending your GRE ($27) and
TOEFL ($19) score reports. Arrange for funds in advance to avoid burning a hole
in your pocket! Also make sure international payments are enabled on your
credit/debit card.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">3.
Deadlines</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">: Despite
all your planning, you may find yourself struggling to meet a deadline. Since
these are international applications, note the <i>time zone</i> for the
deadline as well. The closer you get to the deadline, though, the more risk
there is of website traffic and technical glitches!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">4.
Graduate admissions offices</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
are closed during Christmas break (December 24 to January 4-5), even though
deadlines may fall within that period. So make sure to email your queries to
them before the break. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Good
luck to all the budding PhD aspirants out there! Let me know if there is any
specific portion of this post that you want me to elaborate on. Here are some more
resources that you might find useful: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Chris
Blattman on whether you should do a PhD, and more-<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">https://chrisblattman.com/about/contact/gradschool/</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Rachael
Meager’s guide for applying to top 10 departments- </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://economics.com.au/2012/03/27/for-the-ambitious-prospective-phd-student-a-guide/">https://economics.com.au/2012/03/27/for-the-ambitious-prospective-phd-student-a-guide/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Jesse
Shapiro’s notes on applying for an economics PhD-https://www.brown.edu/academics/economics/sites/brown.edu.academics.economics/files/uploads/NotesonApplyingforaPhDinEconomics%20(1).pdf<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-55168739895537143832015-03-28T11:57:00.000-07:002015-03-28T11:57:21.140-07:00General Equilibrium - Illustration (Lexicographic Preferences)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>By Aleesha Mary Joseph</b></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Consider a 2*2 pure exchange economy (ie 2 goods & 2 consumers).</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">The endowments are – Individual 1 (8,8)</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"> Individual 2 (2,2).</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Utility functions are as follows:</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">(1)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Individual 1 has lexicographic preferences with respect to X. That is</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The bundle (x1 , y1) will be preferred to (x2 , y2) when x1>x2.</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"> But if x1=x2, then the bundle (x1 , y1) will be preferred to (x2 , y2) if and only if y1>y2.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">(2)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Individual 2’s utility function is given by U(x,y) = x^2 + y^2</span><br />
<span style="color: blue;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: blue;">Now our task is to find the contract curve and the competitive equilibrium.</span><br />
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<b>SOLUTION</b><br />
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<b>(I)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>CONTRACT CURVE</b><br />
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First convince yourself that we cannot construct indifference curve (IC) for individual 1’s preferences. Because there are no 2 distinct bundles between which individual 1 will be indifferent.<br />
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Now let’s figure out how 2nd individual’s IC looks like.<br />
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For example let’s plot IC that represents 4 utils. Ie x^2 + y^2 = 4. Note that this is actually the equation of a circle centered at (0,0), with radius 2. Also since we are bothered about only positive values of x & y, IC representing 4 utils will be represented as follows:<br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Now let us put
everything in our edgeworth box as in the following figure(please google or
refer any standard microeconomic textbook if you don’t know what an edgeworth
box is). The dark point represents the endowment.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6-4wmn61MMqy7scV59NlexwybYXNAZUduVz5c0BLXmHNPPvZngWp4oFVSG3m8xfw7sJKaXIBWjqc2koiGE3Yk403jcvOplRO1Zl4Okoe_b_wactFr3zaeQjOb7a_sC7Y33h7Ve5FH6M/s1600/1.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB6-4wmn61MMqy7scV59NlexwybYXNAZUduVz5c0BLXmHNPPvZngWp4oFVSG3m8xfw7sJKaXIBWjqc2koiGE3Yk403jcvOplRO1Zl4Okoe_b_wactFr3zaeQjOb7a_sC7Y33h7Ve5FH6M/s1600/1.2.jpg" height="290" width="320" /></a></div>
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Now let us find the pareto efficient points. Pick any IC of individual 2 (say the red one). Now consider the point A. If we move along the IC in the direction given by the arrows, then individual 1 is getting better off and individual 2 is not getting worse. Hence the point A is not pareto efficient. Using the same logic we can argue out that there is only 1 pareto efficient point along the red IC and that is B. Now convince yourself using the same argument that all the points along O1B and BO2 are pareto efficient. Hence the contract curve is O1B and BO2.</div>
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<b>(II)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>COMPETITIVE EQUILIBRIUM</b></div>
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Notations : X11 – quantity of good 1 demanded by individual 1</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> X12 – quantity of good 2 demanded by individual 1</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> X21 – quantity of good 1 demanded by individual 2</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> X22 – quantity of good 2 demanded by individual 2</div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> Mi - Income of individual i.</div>
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First of all let us write down the demand function for individual 1</div>
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(X11, X12) = (M1/P1 , 0) { Because for individual 1 only consumption of good 1 matters. }</div>
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The demand function for individual 2 is derived using the same logic as mentioned in the previous file (similar to the max function in the file).</div>
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(X21, X22) = (M2/P1 , 0) when P1 / P2 < 1</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span> (M2/P1 , 0) or (0, M2/P2) when P1 / P2 = 1</div>
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<br /></div>
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(0, M2/P2) when P1 / P2 > 1</div>
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Normalize P2 = 1.</div>
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Now,</div>
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Since individual 1’s endowment is (8,8), income of individual 1 M1 = 8P1 + 8.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Since individual 2’s endowment is (2,2), income of individual 1 is M2 = 2P1 + 2.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Note that since individual 1 consumes only good 1, all of good 2 has to be consumed by individual 2.</div>
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Hence from individual 2’s demand given above, it is clear that P1 / P2 has to be greater than or equal to 1. Since P2 is normalized, P1 ≥ 1.</div>
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Note that the budget line should pass through the endowment. </div>
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CASE I</div>
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Suppose the budget line is the green line given below.</div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYbcdOpA229dN6Hm4BjAlroSzQQdy5G0gCiZFhnqr6rliZNgKwvHk-87KfmaazQU3nMKupiNDmLtG0-uWjpKKJUHs99BJWoVyQfneF9FfOkgxiuRw5UVMHxUtz4kUNO_X421Afw3RcWc/s1600/1.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkYbcdOpA229dN6Hm4BjAlroSzQQdy5G0gCiZFhnqr6rliZNgKwvHk-87KfmaazQU3nMKupiNDmLtG0-uWjpKKJUHs99BJWoVyQfneF9FfOkgxiuRw5UVMHxUtz4kUNO_X421Afw3RcWc/s1600/1.3.jpg" height="294" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">On extending the green line we get the
following figure:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Yd3a85kPVVdnOLhVOQmNmRAWi7jUbVljx8JorAIbfOz_-g46-iac_jlX9fIREpqob8AbXg_dNbFFmqkBOR0f68IGKa_6t3ScTExgHEDDYlJ6K6xr15w256HLk6ejCzzm-j_HvTiS_V4/s1600/1.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-Yd3a85kPVVdnOLhVOQmNmRAWi7jUbVljx8JorAIbfOz_-g46-iac_jlX9fIREpqob8AbXg_dNbFFmqkBOR0f68IGKa_6t3ScTExgHEDDYlJ6K6xr15w256HLk6ejCzzm-j_HvTiS_V4/s1600/1.4.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<br />
Convince yourself that:<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The extended green line is the budget line faced by individual 1.<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Given this budget line, individual 1 will consume the bundle P.<br />
•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This implies that in the economy there will be excess demand for good 1 as individual 1’s consumption is outside the edgeworth box.<br />
<br />
CASE II<br />
<span lang="EN-US"></span><br />
Suppose the budget line is the RED line given below.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZ9TSFrw-hGwZOgbhI8yge27HqAnQzIByYCxoa2V4FZOmAPrLe3MrL_BvRAPbcbSkULMTg3DoX52nAJSjxvQ1UWk3ztPoNiS_3EWqQFyGGkvSJREt4U-0RTCX3H_Q8xNnRBK4Y85pJh8/s1600/1.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZ9TSFrw-hGwZOgbhI8yge27HqAnQzIByYCxoa2V4FZOmAPrLe3MrL_BvRAPbcbSkULMTg3DoX52nAJSjxvQ1UWk3ztPoNiS_3EWqQFyGGkvSJREt4U-0RTCX3H_Q8xNnRBK4Y85pJh8/s1600/1.5.jpg" height="286" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">On extending the red line we get the
following figure:</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GHIP4_rkH6t3ZEyl3KCvVBb3P7zncq9L6K7H1495J76VTUb86X0esXzjWDmE6soWWyxiBDL7T-dKwOK806esmUWvHpo6d0vPKNA-rLiEv5ZUECFSwULMNxoUQlGuYaBSGEwehYUJuKE/s1600/1.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8GHIP4_rkH6t3ZEyl3KCvVBb3P7zncq9L6K7H1495J76VTUb86X0esXzjWDmE6soWWyxiBDL7T-dKwOK806esmUWvHpo6d0vPKNA-rLiEv5ZUECFSwULMNxoUQlGuYaBSGEwehYUJuKE/s1600/1.6.jpg" height="320" width="220" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Convince yourself that:</div>
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•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>The extended RED line is the budget line faced by individual 2.</div>
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•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Given this budget line, individual 2 will consume the bundle Q.</div>
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•<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>This implies that in the economy there will be excess demand for good 2 as individual 2’s consumption is outside the edgeworth box.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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CASE III</div>
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Suppose the budget line is the BLUE line given below.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnism-1yaGYSweA7_HosjJOBeg64sI9L3fq_jcSYhYxULDZFGpFf5x24oTg7IKHYfNM7WFNS-EdJ8jE2Xx6MeKZ6_dL7S_SIb9Ric1EOYTsruTjyllXhVRuXf4kS3CiDFv1RvO_-9LCw/s1600/1.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRnism-1yaGYSweA7_HosjJOBeg64sI9L3fq_jcSYhYxULDZFGpFf5x24oTg7IKHYfNM7WFNS-EdJ8jE2Xx6MeKZ6_dL7S_SIb9Ric1EOYTsruTjyllXhVRuXf4kS3CiDFv1RvO_-9LCw/s1600/1.7.jpg" height="297" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Convince yourself that when the budget line
is the blue line, it is optimal for both individuals 1 and 2 to consume the
bundle B. Hence the price ratio associated
with the blue line will be the competitive equilibrium price ratio.
Since (8,8) is the coordinate of the black dot and (10,0) is the coordinate of
B, the euilibrium price ratio P<sub>1</sub>/P<sub>2</sub> = 4.</span></div>
<div class="MsoSubtitle">
<span lang="EN-US"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoSubtitle">
<span lang="EN-US"><b><i>From the above three cases note that
competitive equilibrium can occur only in the third case and in the other 2
cases markets do not clear.</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoSubtitle">
On summarising, competitive equilibrium
allocation is (10,0) for individual 1 and (0,10) for individual 2 with
competitive equilibrium price ratio being <b>
4.</b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(Aleesha Mary Joseph graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2013. She is currently pursuing MA in Economics at Delhi School of Economics)</b></span></div>
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</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-70543617636368785692015-03-28T11:56:00.001-07:002015-03-28T11:58:17.152-07:00General Equilibrium - Illustration (Max and Min Functions)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">By Aleesha Mary Joseph</b><br />
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></b>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><b>FINDING OPTIMAL DEMAND FOR GOOD X AND GOOD Y WHEN THE UTILITY FUNCTION OF THE CONSUMER IS</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><b> </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><b> U = min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } </b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Subject to the budget constraint Px X + Py Y = M </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">where Px is the price of good X and Py the price of good Y.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><u><b>Step 1</b></u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Let us first figure out the indifference curve(IC) pertaining to this particular utility function. We know that IC is the combination of all those bundles (x,y) which gives same utility to the consumer. So let us keep utility constant at say 10. Then now our task is to plot min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = 10 on the X-Y space. If min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = 10, then either (i) X+2Y = 10 OR (ii) 2X+Y = 10. Let us plot (i) & (ii) on the same graph:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwP7D5-qOeziGxJiK1_SY26JLpG6nwoW6OZ4tLmsL7nPbMWW3cvp9Cma890Tgg0uWt-3zVvyNNZM9EyqzccRteBG1GutZLiIavh7WzWO6XNDpDj0IRJxamw-CosjtqFi4d5c8hz_flhM/s1600/2.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqwP7D5-qOeziGxJiK1_SY26JLpG6nwoW6OZ4tLmsL7nPbMWW3cvp9Cma890Tgg0uWt-3zVvyNNZM9EyqzccRteBG1GutZLiIavh7WzWO6XNDpDj0IRJxamw-CosjtqFi4d5c8hz_flhM/s1600/2.1.jpg" height="248" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Note that (i) & (ii) intersects when X=Y. And slope of (i) is ½ and slope of (ii) is 2.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxOcqpUIVeZvW_Q_Iw5w9pWF6srg-xQSv06La1EerWwQUjRARxOBD9djk5qiuAm1epRbFnQk6-a9v1HXl-WfdvswjgFUrTW94WfRDuNCTl1QqrwDo6eXEO23jhdfgwGb9ty0hSpjhpyI/s1600/2.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxOcqpUIVeZvW_Q_Iw5w9pWF6srg-xQSv06La1EerWwQUjRARxOBD9djk5qiuAm1epRbFnQk6-a9v1HXl-WfdvswjgFUrTW94WfRDuNCTl1QqrwDo6eXEO23jhdfgwGb9ty0hSpjhpyI/s1600/2.2.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> Now note that the yellow region corresponds to X + 2Y < 10. Also at any point on the red line 2X + Y =10. These statements imply that at any point on the red line min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = min{ <10 , 10 }. ie min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } < 10. This implies that the red line is not part of the IC representing 10 utils. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHmMEl9DTp2BT-7PBCZ-LK4noXtTYTkjRHEVFdoAzlzxM0TExjSXOLEHj0Q0TKB15fWwD3TMRFZ8xogezBfcYfN2bIjV5xV7njmXiQmcjp8tNhYLFvN-ShFTUDs7aOJVBgmSrSvNAz5s/s1600/2.3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHmMEl9DTp2BT-7PBCZ-LK4noXtTYTkjRHEVFdoAzlzxM0TExjSXOLEHj0Q0TKB15fWwD3TMRFZ8xogezBfcYfN2bIjV5xV7njmXiQmcjp8tNhYLFvN-ShFTUDs7aOJVBgmSrSvNAz5s/s1600/2.3.jpg" height="261" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> Similarly the orange region corresponds to 2X + Y < 10. Also at any point on the blue line X + 2Y =10. These statements imply that at any point on the red line min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = min{ 10 , <10 }. ie min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } < 10. This implies that the blue line is not part of the IC representing 10 utils. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjzpa5IEsc4HBQ_xP9VN-MHStfh5B39IOcuD0JIsywin4CjrZbCAYiXTpGAnEF7Sm-UfcA8BJlfdQWyy99xbCad183uu2XqDBxPE4UfZlpzhabVqrLJMrEg031lMihdrOYxj9272hPH0/s1600/2.4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCjzpa5IEsc4HBQ_xP9VN-MHStfh5B39IOcuD0JIsywin4CjrZbCAYiXTpGAnEF7Sm-UfcA8BJlfdQWyy99xbCad183uu2XqDBxPE4UfZlpzhabVqrLJMrEg031lMihdrOYxj9272hPH0/s1600/2.4.jpg" height="248" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Note that the grey region corresponds to X + 2Y > 10. Also at any point on the purple line 2X + Y =10. These statements imply that at any point on the purple line min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = min{ >10 , 10 }. ie min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = 10. This implies that the purple line is part of the IC representing 10 utils. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Xe42_e9SKriak_o_hsK8Yvxf_JyuYfrHRNYf_Z911gRYOq7gz34ozV8-YcvGcn_qkS1ee-yHNrrGeTb0bWfR8JW0jywa2I3migYvry5XzgmswAwic_xPZFrrqakEgxWy9_w2cXGWfEw/s1600/2.5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Xe42_e9SKriak_o_hsK8Yvxf_JyuYfrHRNYf_Z911gRYOq7gz34ozV8-YcvGcn_qkS1ee-yHNrrGeTb0bWfR8JW0jywa2I3migYvry5XzgmswAwic_xPZFrrqakEgxWy9_w2cXGWfEw/s1600/2.5.jpg" height="236" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Similarly, the blue region corresponds to 2X + 2Y > 10. Also at any point on the orange line X + 2Y =10. These statements imply that at any point on the orange line min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = min{ 10 , >10 }. ie min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = 10. This implies that the orange line is part of the IC representing 10 utils</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Thus from the above arguments it is clear that the points on the red and blue lines are not part of the IC that gives 10 utils. That is those points do not solve min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = 10. Therefore let us erase the red and blue line segments from our figure. While the points on the purple and orange lines solve min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = 10.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrr43Jveazo7KxK5A7BMX8UagKx7OArC_ae1z6fGER2tHq9Jek2NdlFlZ9ynbIZA1ul4Bv1qyFZAXaqZ-mgkqxr2PRe8nFJk0Kv-5J6QD-m1eZ4HUK7eeLiplhyphenhyphen5q8ou7HSMCXsixjx_8/s1600/2.6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrr43Jveazo7KxK5A7BMX8UagKx7OArC_ae1z6fGER2tHq9Jek2NdlFlZ9ynbIZA1ul4Bv1qyFZAXaqZ-mgkqxr2PRe8nFJk0Kv-5J6QD-m1eZ4HUK7eeLiplhyphenhyphen5q8ou7HSMCXsixjx_8/s1600/2.6.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> The figure ABC represents all those bundles (x,y) which satisfy min{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } = 10. Hence ABC is the IC which represents 10 utils. Note that slope of BC is ½ and slope of AB is 2.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">The Indifference map is as follows:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhEY9MIiBBxg-l1XmBx-JHxtYpFDOHKQxLDwMsWL-LUJMFK7IAMldS9wZHJojtTrAEAwqo6d6-qoQXFCUzGcDclgJMrt1BQ963VzgjOyXMF4vf28e7P-r0dnQRDu9M_Wbij4aHb4RS24/s1600/2.7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhEY9MIiBBxg-l1XmBx-JHxtYpFDOHKQxLDwMsWL-LUJMFK7IAMldS9wZHJojtTrAEAwqo6d6-qoQXFCUzGcDclgJMrt1BQ963VzgjOyXMF4vf28e7P-r0dnQRDu9M_Wbij4aHb4RS24/s1600/2.7.jpg" height="259" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Now let us consider various price ratios and figure out where the consumer will consume.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><b><u>Step 2</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(1)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If Px/Py < ½ then budget line would look like the red line in the following figure:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIl2UVnJhsI_9g5nxiqxX9eyVMNunaK57dS_p_jxrR-hBCSYPMMDg1r33JApC11nhjDAt4KUCgU5InnYWI_B0f23Y9G7vVc0_A8vYLDCxUfi6eRcgM4jMjS0h_rLX5guE7_v5ta9O2xA8/s1600/2.8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIl2UVnJhsI_9g5nxiqxX9eyVMNunaK57dS_p_jxrR-hBCSYPMMDg1r33JApC11nhjDAt4KUCgU5InnYWI_B0f23Y9G7vVc0_A8vYLDCxUfi6eRcgM4jMjS0h_rLX5guE7_v5ta9O2xA8/s1600/2.8.jpg" height="289" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">The highest IC that touches the budget line is the blue colored one and hence the optimal consumption will be at E. At E consumer spends his entire income on good X and consumes zero of the other good.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(2)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If Px/Py >2 then budget line would look like the red line in the following figure. The highest IC that touches the budget line is the blue colored one and hence the optimal consumption will be at F. At F consumer spends his entire income on good Y and consumes zero of good X</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxBEdgWu_trraFbRkik8nwbjdNvslSbWP8RZ988-3sIatLI6DKYZ8pFmbBHOgrFQProrN2U4rA1w9sTsI1cQ2eZdTJGdELsC8hDaYM7WsIutSM6NSVsoa1HjTfCPt1l7Kqu7sfDVEu-g/s1600/2.9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxBEdgWu_trraFbRkik8nwbjdNvslSbWP8RZ988-3sIatLI6DKYZ8pFmbBHOgrFQProrN2U4rA1w9sTsI1cQ2eZdTJGdELsC8hDaYM7WsIutSM6NSVsoa1HjTfCPt1l7Kqu7sfDVEu-g/s1600/2.9.jpg" height="271" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(3)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If ½<Px/Py <2 then budget line would look like the red line in the Figure 10 The highest IC that touches the budget line is the blue colored one and hence the optimal consumption will be at G. We know that at the kink G X=Y. Substitute this in the budget constraint. Then we will get the optimal consumption as X = Y = M/(Px + Py).</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNUs5wEOmiyqTix8vKl4UzIYEoVpCrSZrztLltEC-mrgGm_vzG9KA4QN_uvaraQYAGDXdgQrNlNu0Hq1vtvsxvcYKNIQvZcrN6FXxqtZ1h9vCN7zVChfN7rlTd9Dpe1RGFUlV8aiYK74/s1600/2.10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqNUs5wEOmiyqTix8vKl4UzIYEoVpCrSZrztLltEC-mrgGm_vzG9KA4QN_uvaraQYAGDXdgQrNlNu0Hq1vtvsxvcYKNIQvZcrN6FXxqtZ1h9vCN7zVChfN7rlTd9Dpe1RGFUlV8aiYK74/s1600/2.10.jpg" height="262" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(4)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>If Px/Py = ½, then any point on BC is optimal. And any point on BC will satisfy X + 2Y = 10 & the inequality X≥Y.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVm0jhsTaJP9vSqSYGodOAn4RjywMrwGCWaRlI_1wxn9oOB23JCNZW8er1dEON5dTizAbCSPaatPQw7gkrECwFU1vQkimLoIOb9z2k_ewa9bT_88CknV0rj-E8bTmGu51_j77Hd7cOmdM/s1600/newest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVm0jhsTaJP9vSqSYGodOAn4RjywMrwGCWaRlI_1wxn9oOB23JCNZW8er1dEON5dTizAbCSPaatPQw7gkrECwFU1vQkimLoIOb9z2k_ewa9bT_88CknV0rj-E8bTmGu51_j77Hd7cOmdM/s1600/newest.jpg" height="251" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(5)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Similarly when Px/Py = 2 any point on AB is optimal. And any point on AB will satisfy 2X +Y = 10 & the inequality Y≥X.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">To summarize we can write demand for x & y as follows:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(x,y) = (M/Px, 0) when Px/Py < ½</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> All (x,y) such that X + 2Y = 10 & X≥Y when Px/Py =½</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> (M/(Px+Py), M/(Px+Py)) when ½<Px/Py<2</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> All (x,y) such that 2X + Y = 10 & Y≥X when Px/Py =2</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> (0 , M/Py) when Px/Py >2</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><b>FINDING OPTIMAL DEMAND FOR GOOD X AND GOOD Y WHEN THE UTILITY FUNCTION OF THE CONSUMER IS</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><b> U = max{ X+2Y , 2X +Y } </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Using the same technique of analysis as in the previous question, the IC map of the max function would be as follows:</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zXiv5qfMODvlSOKuICcXDBqgZqXezVDteoz6rGs3I9XlOXtmRGvWdIBhjdJD6vZ7L9GLPCkcZ-M9HQc0BCA5lb7djhiE1YUGUyUNF8G9h9YNKBHmscZ-0jIUmMc1oq-i8IXp-FBnpqE/s1600/2.12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8zXiv5qfMODvlSOKuICcXDBqgZqXezVDteoz6rGs3I9XlOXtmRGvWdIBhjdJD6vZ7L9GLPCkcZ-M9HQc0BCA5lb7djhiE1YUGUyUNF8G9h9YNKBHmscZ-0jIUmMc1oq-i8IXp-FBnpqE/s1600/2.12.jpg" height="255" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgyNyMRedl4wZV87WRNApE4inNQw6RckUgJMtApkNJ2az-2PPEUB00rCusQAsdgxrl1HC5sCXLwb8J5k0wZEVT8N-q7DkquUgcGv97wgajmabA4NA3F7hNaf9SZ1Pzb0aacXSop2uZBY/s1600/2.13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizgyNyMRedl4wZV87WRNApE4inNQw6RckUgJMtApkNJ2az-2PPEUB00rCusQAsdgxrl1HC5sCXLwb8J5k0wZEVT8N-q7DkquUgcGv97wgajmabA4NA3F7hNaf9SZ1Pzb0aacXSop2uZBY/s1600/2.13.jpg" height="229" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><b>Exercise:</b> Consider ABC is the IC representing 10 utils. Then Find the coordinates of the points A & C. Now verify that the slope of AC is 1. Convince yourself that for any given IC the slope of the line segment joining the end points of the IC (like A & C) is 1.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">1)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When Px/Py<1ie slope of the budget line (red line) is less than 1.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">Clearly consumer will optimally choose the bundle C.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">2)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When Px/Py>1ie slope of the budget line (red line) is greater than 1.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpPlpr44EMdXFEpRzVTQjIwpRvlULSiQOrfYN3WT5Q3Zmv9vPn4zGFh0s5jqzSJz1FdvI7_65MfM5I1Pc_bbPuE_K9aUx2ptVfYDCtP55wdBiRwLUCcb3e97Ymxvg5Qrid4J5GJoq4Dg/s1600/new1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjpPlpr44EMdXFEpRzVTQjIwpRvlULSiQOrfYN3WT5Q3Zmv9vPn4zGFh0s5jqzSJz1FdvI7_65MfM5I1Pc_bbPuE_K9aUx2ptVfYDCtP55wdBiRwLUCcb3e97Ymxvg5Qrid4J5GJoq4Dg/s1600/new1.jpg" height="254" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In this case optimal consumption </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">will be at A.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">3)<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>When Px/Py=1ie slope of the budget line (red line) is equal to 1.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>In this case optimal consumption </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">will be at A & C.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">To summarize we can write demand for x & y as follows:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(x,y) = (M/Px, 0) when Px/Py < 1</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> (M/Px, 0) or (0, M/ Py ) when Px/Py =1</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"> (0, M/ Py ) when Px/Py >1</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;"></span></span><br />
<br />
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13.1999998092651px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(Aleesha Mary Joseph graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2013. She is currently pursuing MA in Economics at Delhi School of Economics)</b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-9061973513344536372015-01-22T10:39:00.000-08:002015-03-25T12:17:59.234-07:00General Equilibrium - Illustration (Cobb-Douglas)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>By Aleesha Mary Joseph</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Let's begin with an easy one to understand the concept of General Equilibrium.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Suppose, U<sub>1</sub>(X<sub>11 </sub>, X<sub>12</sub> ) = X<sub>11
</sub>X<sub>12 </sub>and U<sub>2</sub>(X<sub>21 </sub>, X<sub>22</sub> ) = X<sub>21
</sub>X<sub>22 </sub>.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let (e<sub>11 </sub>, e<sub>12</sub> ) = (10,0) & (e<sub>21
</sub>, e<sub>22</sub> ) = (0,10).</div>
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<br /></div>
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Normalize P<sub>2</sub> to be equal to 1.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Then note that individual 1’s income M<sub>1 </sub>= 10*P<sub>1
</sub>+ 0*1 = 10P<sub>1</sub>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Similarly individual 2’s income M<sub>2 </sub>= 0*P<sub>1 </sub>+1
0*1 = 10.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Since the utility functions are cobb douglas, demand
functions can be derived by equating MRS with P<sub>1</sub>/P<sub>2 </sub>and
substituting the relevant expression in the budget constraint.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The demand functions so derived will be as follows:</div>
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X<sub>11</sub> = M<sub>1</sub> /2P<sub>1</sub> = 10P<sub>1</sub>/2P<sub>1
</sub>= 5</div>
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<br /></div>
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X<sub>12</sub> = M<sub>1</sub> /2P<sub>2</sub> = 10P<sub>1</sub>/2P<sub>2
</sub>= 5P<sub>1 </sub>(Because P<sub>2</sub> is normalized to 1)</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
X<sub>21</sub> = M<sub>2</sub> /2P<sub>1</sub> = 10/2P<sub>1
</sub>= 5/P<sub>1<o:p></o:p></sub></div>
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<br /></div>
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X<sub>22</sub> = M<sub>2</sub> /2P<sub>2</sub> = 10/2P<sub>2
</sub>= 5 (Because P<sub>2</sub> is normalized to 1)</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Market clearing condition says</div>
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<br /></div>
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X<sub>11 </sub>+ X<sub>21</sub> = e<sub>11</sub> + e<sub>21<o:p></o:p></sub></div>
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<br /></div>
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5 + 5/P<sub>1 </sub>= 10. </div>
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<br /></div>
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On solving this we get P<sub>1</sub>
= 1. Hence the competitive equilibrium price ratio P<sub>1</sub>/P<sub>2 </sub>=
1</div>
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<br /></div>
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Convince yourself that the same price ratio will clear the
market clearing equation for good 2 as well ie X<sub>12</sub>+ X<sub>22</sub> =
e<sub>12</sub> + e<sub>22 </sub>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Substituting P<sub>1 </sub>=1 in the demand functions, we
get the competitive equilibrium allocation</div>
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As (X<sub>11 </sub>, X<sub>12</sub> ) = (5,5)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(X<sub>21 </sub>,
X<sub>22</sub> ) = (5,5)</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
With competitive equilibrium price P<sub>1</sub>/P<sub>2 </sub>as
1.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The articles to follow will cover min/max utility functions and lexicographic preferences. Stay tuned.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Trebuchet, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18.4799995422363px;">(Aleesha Mary Joseph graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2013. She is currently pursuing MA in Economics at Delhi School of Economics)</b></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-11404477090886735172015-01-18T03:15:00.000-08:002015-01-18T03:15:36.497-08:00General Equilibrium<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>By Aleesha Mary Joseph</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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Hi friends,</div>
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<br /></div>
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This blog is already rich with advice for cracking DSE entrance. I would just like to emphasize on one thing i.e, doubt clearance. Because it is disheartening to see a question in the examination which you had marked as doubt in your preparatory material. It can even cost you a place in DSE.</div>
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<br /></div>
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No doubt is silly. If you find it hard to ask your teacher, then </div>
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<br /></div>
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1) Ask your friends or classmates. </div>
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<br /></div>
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2) Mail it to anyone who you think would know the answer. Doesn't matter even if the person is someone whom you have never met {may be you can message current DSE students (list available on DSE’s website) via Facebook}. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3) Post your questions on groups meant for economics entrance preparations. Even if you think your questions are very trivial, just post it, because there will definitely be many other students with the same doubt but are just shying away from posting the same. One such group can be found at <a href="http://economicsentrance.in/" target="_blank">http://economicsentrance.in/ </a>(Group by Amit Goyal)</div>
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<br /></div>
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Whatever the way is just make it a point to clear all your doubts before the D-day!!</div>
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<br /></div>
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For many students the general equilibrium(GE) section is scary and that is mostly because of their lack of knowledge on how to approach the GE problems. Trust me once you look at the technique GE becomes your cup of tea! </div>
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<br /></div>
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I believe the following material on GE problems may be of some help to students who don’t attend coaching classes. I have skipped many steps. But feel free to ask for any further explanations. The material was made assuming that you already have some basic knowledge about GE set up. Please refer Nicholson & Snyder for conceptual clarity. The best way to master GE problems is by making your own problems with all sorts of utility functions and trying out in square and rectangular edgeworth box. If you go through the past year question papers you will get an idea of the various kinds of utility functions that the DSE faculty like. Most questions can be answered once you find the contract curve and competitive equilibrium allocation. So try to find the same for all sorts of weird looking combinations of utility functions and endowments: P Enjoy practicing and GE problems will be a cakewalk for you in the exam. Few questions can be found at <a href="http://econdse.org/pghosh-001/">http://econdse.org/pghosh-001/</a> :) </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
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<b>General Set Up</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
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Suppose individual 1’s utility function is represented by U1 (X11 , X12 ) and for individual 2 it is U2 (X21 , X22 ). </div>
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<br /></div>
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Let the endowment for individual 1 be (e11 , e12) and for individual 2 it is (e21 , e22).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To find the competitive equilibrium allocation following steps are recommended:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1) Find individual demands for good 1 and 2. ie X11 , X12 , X21 and X22 . These quantities will be a functions of P1 / P2 . (or will be functions of P1 alone if we normalize P2 to be 1)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2) Then equate X11 + X21 = e11 + e21 for this is the market clearing condition for good 1. i.e the total quantity of good 1 being demanded by individuals 1 & 2 should be equal to the total supply of good 1 available in the economy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3) On solving the above equation we will get the competitive equilibrium price ratio P1 / P2 .</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4) By Walras’s law the equilibrium price ratio obtained above will clear the market for good 2 as well.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
General Equilibrium problems with step by step solutions will be covered in the articles to follow. Stay tuned.</div>
<div>
<b><br /></b></div>
<div>
<b>(Aleesha Mary Joseph graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2013. She is currently pursuing MA in Economics at Delhi School of Economics)</b></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-7539810880209125482015-01-05T04:02:00.000-08:002015-01-05T04:02:10.610-08:00Let's bell the CAT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>By Suhani Popli</b></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">It was nearly a
year and a half ago, when I was one of those many final year kids, juggling
with the different ‘options’ that would help them build a future – that I decided
to pursue the MBA degree. A dilemma that exists in most of our minds is that
between a management degree from abroad versus that from within India. There is
no end to this debate, but since I belong to the latter group, I would describe
the process of getting through that in this piece of writing.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">There are
different exams held for the admission to a management institute in India, the
popular ones being the CAT, the XAT, the NMAT, IIFT, exams specific to
colleges, and so on. A gateway to the premier Business Schools of the country, the
CAT, as an exam, does not really need an introduction, so I’ll skip that part.
I’d rather use this space telling you what the different phases in the process
of doing this exam are.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"> 1.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span lang="EN-US">The Initial Phase</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">As one would
expect, there are different ways to go about this. People can choose to do
absolutely nothing, or study on their own selves, or join a coaching institute.
If in the second category, I would suggest an aspirant to pick up study
material from online/reliable offline sources. Trust me there is no dearth of
either. However (and this opinion is strictly personal), I have always felt
that the CAT requires not only a basic and complete knowledge of the relevant
material for quantitative, logical and verbal ability, but also a grasp on the
tips & tricks that could help accelerate one’s speed to solve.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">My guides, both
in terms of the preparation material and the teachers, came from the coaching
institute I was enrolled in. And I genuinely believe that someone teaching me a
particular concept would make it clearer to me, as compared to my reading it
from a book. However, one is his/her own judge of what works best for the
purpose of learning. Hence, the most important part in this phase is for an
aspirant to pick the category that suits best.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Incase one does
plan to join a coaching institute – honestly, there isn’t much of a difference
between the names that exist in the market today. All of them have material and
test series which are comprehensive. Thus, I would suggest to the aspirants to take
advice from their seniors who must have attended such classes. Based on what
they say (take views of students from at least two different places), make the
final decision.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"> 2.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span lang="EN-US">The Preparation Phase</span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US">Personally, my
preparation was at the coaching institute I joined. However, for almost
everyone I know, it is actually during the summer vacations when people put in
their best effort to study. Personally, if I look back, I see that those two
months were quite intense, and it was my coaching faculty who guided me through
most of what I did. What is important in this phase is to identify the areas
where one needs work and hence polish those well. There is no key to this, but
to practise – regularly and efficiently.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">As the end
approaches, it becomes extremely significant to practise as many mock tests as
possible. Also, practicing the CAT papers of the past five to ten years can be
extremely useful. This serves a dual purpose – one of making the aspirants
familiar to the exam pattern and the other of helping them learn how to manage
time. Taking a step forward, it is more important for one to analyze mistakes
post a mock test. Though this part is more time consuming than taking the exam
itself, it ensures the avoidance of the same mistakes in future.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"> 3.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span lang="EN-US">The D-Day<o:p></o:p></span></u><br />
<u><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">First, different
myths float when one tries to choose a date – of the exam being easier on
weekdays than on weekends, of taking the exam on a particular day, etc. – all
of this, yes, ALL of it is absolute crap. Nothing such is true. The exam is
such that there is a large common pool of questions designed each year, and
questions are pulled out from this pool everyday in random combinations to form
a question paper. Hence, one can never predict the difficulty level of any
particular day or time slot.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Second, aspirants
should make sure they look at all the 30 questions in each section. At various
instances, the questions in the beginning tend to be difficult compared to the
ones later in sequence. Thus getting stuck at initial questions can lead to
very negative outcomes. </span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Third, keep calm
and get done with the exam.</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US"> 4.<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><u><span lang="EN-US">After the declaration of the
results<o:p></o:p></span></u><br />
<u><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Once the results
are declared, successful aspirants get calls from the different business
schools. The last step in the process entails preparation for the GD/WAT processes
and the PI – i.e. the Group Discussion, the Written Ability Test and the
Personal Interview rounds. The key to succeeding here would be to know two
things well – one’s own resume and the current affairs. Infact, reading the
newspaper is a habit that one should try and pick up early – since it also is
helpful in the preparation of the verbal section of the CAT.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Like
conventional CAT preparation pieces, I don’t want to end this article by
stating a list of which business schools are the best in the country. One can
easily Google and find that out. Rather, I would like to put forth the idea
that it is important to think through the direction in which life is taking
one. And whether it is a job, a master’s degree or an MBA – make an informed
choice, one that you really want to do! All the best :)</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Suhani Popli graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2013. She scored 98.2 percentile in CAT 2012 and is currently a student at IIM Kozhikode.</b></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-6245034584910063712014-12-19T03:12:00.002-08:002015-01-04T09:47:28.184-08:00Masters In Economics - Where to go?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">The Inside Story</span></b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>By Anshuman Kamila</b><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Without much ado about nothing, I’ll get to my primary task. I am supposed to draw points of comparison between the several institutions of prominence for study of Masters in Economics in India. So I’ll try and cover as many perceptions and as much information I could manage to gather regarding these. Since much of the historical foundations of these institutes are accessible easily, I’ll take the liberty of skipping these and focus on contemporary perceptions and matters of fact.</div>
<br />
<b><u>South Asian University (SAU): “The new core for core economists!”</u></b><br />
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<i>OPINION</i>: Based on interaction with senior faculty of the University and friends of faculty, one can advise to keep it as an option right below or above JNU. The syllabus is in line with the one covered at Delhi School of Economics (DSE), albeit at a level a tad lower than at DSE. In the last semester, a student is supposed to submit a dissertation towards the fulfillment of the requirements of the course. This, paraphrasing a senior functionary at SAU, “is the forte of the course where a student is urged to have an independent thinking and research into a subject of choice and serves as a timely initiation into a career in research.” Certain key members of faculty are well net-worked, and a rapport with them may guarantee an enviable internship.<br />
<br /></div>
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<i>ENTRANCE PREPARATION:</i> The entrance to this fledgling University happens earliest of all. The syllabus is roughly the same as a standard entrance examination syllabus, going by hearsay conjecture and personal gut feeling. It’s relatively easy to get through, if one were to go by the level of questions asked in the past years. The trick is to have some native intelligence and be on terms with last two years of undergraduate syllabus of Economics (H) at DU, through means of a cursory read. </div>
<br />
<b><u>Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU): “The melting pot of thesis and antithesis”</u></b><br />
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<i>OPINION:</i> A temple of learning, rather than mere ‘training’, JNU emphasizes critical thinking and encourages developing an opinion of one’s own. The course coverage is, unlike DSE or ISI, focused on analyzing contemporary world economy against the back drop of conventional theories and schools of economic thought. Also the teaching accommodates heterodox economic thoughts, so not only a particular string of economic thesis – but its anti-thesis and subsequent synthesis are all discussed. If developing a scientific temper and the power of informed criticism is one’s objective, JNU is the place to be. The syllabus for the entrance is hugely diversified. It is difficult to pinpoint certain sections which will ‘surely’ be asked. The entire system, beset with opaque reservation systems and grace markings, is very unpredictable and remains a gamble. It is not advisable to write this exam ONLY, for there is no guarantee of making it despite a sound base in economics and a rigorous practice of the past year papers.</div>
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<br />
Placement record is not so good, although it has improved in recent times. A concerted effort in putting together the semblance of a ‘placement cell’ has been started last year and results are showing – students are getting well paid internships. But placements so far have been confined to academic sphere alone – research associate-ships and small time analysts, et al.</div>
<br />
<u><b>Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR): “The exotic hub of economics”</b></u><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>OPINION:</i> This elite research institute sits atop a picturesque hill and infrastructure is a primary attraction (as one of my professors pointed out, ‘they have a great swimming pool’ and my batch-mate there tells me a wildlife hotspot and the film city are nearby!). A small batch size and a student faculty ratio, which almost equals 1:1, are important points of consideration. Teaching level is at par with DSE, from what one infers on basis of assignments and questions asked in tests. Some of the subject’s leading stars serve on the panel of faculty, thus one can be assured of rigorous teaching and cutting edge research experience. A unique distinguishing feature of the institute is assignment of a ‘mentor’, the pool of which is drawn from the panel of faculty and research scholars. Every mentor is mandated to advise and motivate a scholar and remains easily approachable through the three years of college life. All members of faculty reside on campus, creating a sense of bonhomie and occasional parties at their homes add to the academic ambience.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><br /></i>
<i>ENTRANCE PREPARATION:</i> The entrance test is a salad bowl of economics (no calculations here, so stress is on robust understanding of fundamentals and uncanny ability to ‘reason out assertions’), arithmetic and verbal and non-verbal reasoning. Maintaining cool throughout the duration of the test is the only sensible advice one can give. Interviews are usually grueling and grilling, and intrinsically unpredictable. So a lot of scope of surprises here, although confidence in answering and being thorough in subjects of preference should put one in good stead. </div>
<br />
<b><u>Delhi School of Economics (DSE): “The corporate hotspot!”</u></b><br />
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Of course, the most sought after destination for study of Economics at Master’s level in India. Boasts of an expansive galaxy of distinguished alumnus and remains a favourite catchment area for all big corporate recruiters. The pronounced use and application of mathematics in all sub-branches of economics remains a central theme of ‘training’ at DSE. Faculty members are almost household names (of course, households that are comprised of economics scholars!) The level of instruction right from Day 1 is at an elevated level, even for someone who’s had a relatively grand run at Undergraduate level. The first two semesters are usually times when the newly inducted scholar is acquainted with the rigour and tenor of academics at DSE, so they tend to be tougher and seem drab. However, after one has successfully steered cleared of the wee semesters, one can hope for some stimulating economics.</div>
<br />
<b><u>Indian Statistical Institute (ISI): “A researcher’s paradise!”</u></b><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Perhaps the only institute that is in direct ‘confrontation’ with DSE to lure away the brightest undergraduates in Economics. Apart from boasting of a dazzling array of academicians on its faculty panel, the allied Rs 5000/- monthly stipend and a top-up of stationery grant is a pecuniary attraction. With a batch size of one-tenth of that at DSE and being fully residential (co-ed, by the way!), it makes for an ideal destination for much-involved academic study. The infrastructure is geared towards fostering a healthy and conducive environment for serious scholarly work. The computer lab is open 24 hours and fully air conditioned, providing a much needed cooling-off spot for scholars in summers. Certain members of faculty are extremely solicitous of scholars’ well being and offer to help – in numerous ways, like writing influential recommendations, providing relevant and pertinent guidance for further study, etc – of their own accord. You often tend to share meals and badminton and tennis courts with professors; that just deepen and strengthen the academic bonds you forge with them.</div>
<br />
<i>Why DSE over ISI?</i> Well, this question has been put to me umpteen number of times. So a well considered reply is in order. Here it is:<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
From my interaction with people at DSE and ISI, the gut-feeling one develops is that ISI is best suited for someone who plans to cruise the research highway (or i-way, if you like!) while DSE is a haven for anyone who’s as yet undecided about putting in hard labor in economics. That is not to say that ISI doesn’t offer tantalizing corporate packages (truth to tell, the onus and hence the choice lies with the student body at ISI to invite which companies they wish to apply to; with such a small pool of highly skilled applicants, companies are more than willing to hire and almost everyone gets their preferred pick.) or DSE doesn’t send scholars to Ivy League varsities for higher studies (as one esteemed researcher-professor at DSE apprised us, DSE sends students to Ivy League varsities ranked higher than those attended by scholars from ISI). </div>
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<br />
That said, I felt, and had my belief corroborated by a senior academician in the economics circuit, that DSE offered more diversity in subjects and specializations. Even in interests of research and conversation, DSE campus offers greater variety than that available at ISI – simply because 200+ students will offer more diversity than less than 30 students! Also, that DSE houses the Departments of Commerce, Geography and Sociology, offers scope for a multi-disciplinary approach to any given theme of conversation and interaction.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I’ve dined at ISI, with members of faculty. The nature of dining-table conversations is usually a proximate way of gauging the perspectives of individuals and the institution they constitute. Their way of looking at any issue – be it the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines, or the (f)utility of new universities that sprung up recently – is one of extending an established economic theory to analyzing the issue at hand. This may seem very appealing to some, and precisely for them, ISI will be a preferred paradise. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
In summary, I chose DSE over ISI for the sheer diversity of interests of my prospective classmates (which turned out to be true), for the fact that DSE sits in the midst of the vibrant college life of Delhi University and that DSE is a prudent linear combination of academics and amiable social life, and I have convex preferences in this regard! </div>
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<b>Anshuman Kamila graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2014. He was the topper of the batch and got admission in DSE (By merit and entrance), JNU, ISI, IGIDR and SAU. He is currently pursuing MA in Economics at Delhi School of Economics.</b></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com54tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-46985697955088746632014-12-08T11:16:00.000-08:002014-12-08T11:16:35.959-08:00Getting Started (DSE Entrance)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>By Akshita Goyal</b><br />
<br />
Hello everyone!<br />
<br />
Considering that you all are just a semester away from your DSE entrance exam, I write this to give you few tips to crack the examination.<br />
DSE entrance is one of those where each question is a dreamerger of economics and maths. So the best way to get a feel of the exam is through the past year papers. They are the best indicators of how tough or easy any question can get.<br />
<br />
Frankly, I started with the past years and ended with them. Instead of going over all chapters you did in the past three years, I suggest the following steps:<br />
1.Try out some past years and you may realise that you don't actually remember many concepts and formulae!<br />
2.Go back to specific chapters concerning the questions you couldn't attempt and spend quality time on them. A productive way to test your mettle after revision would be to redo the questions.<br />
3.You can now tally your answers with the correct options given. I would personally suggest that you do not look at solution booklets and instead wrack your mind(even if it takes a day or two).<br />
4.I gained a lot by discussing questions with my friends. We would argue over our own answers and in the process cover our weak areas.<br />
<br />
It is just a game of regular and persistent practice and little bit everyday is an ideal way to go about it! Now, some important (necessary but not sufficient) chapters that DSE paper setters just completely adore:<br />
<br />
1.Maths<br />
•Set theory<br />
•Probability<br />
•The mean value theorem and others.<br />
<br />
2.Microeconomics<br />
•General equilibrium(This year we had lot of questions based on this, maybe because it covers both consumer and producer theory)<br />
•Game theory (the 2013 paper has quite a few on these)<br />
<br />
3.Macroeconomics<br />
•AD-AS Framework and IS-LM Model(so, here they give you a set of 6-7 questions that are linked)<br />
•Solow model<br />
•Theory of money( this includes formulae like money multiplier etc.)<br />
<br />
4.Statistics and Econometrics<br />
I club these two subjects together because they are interdependent. Everything here is important for questions on these test almost every topic in it.<br />
<br />
Lot of advice it seems! For those who wish to do masters, it is definitely a long wait but let it not affect you too much. I remember that my friends and I would sit for hours in the mess joking about the difference in the kind of papers each institute sets. Some of us remembered the correct options by heart! ;)<br />
In the end, if you enjoy your preparation, you will definitely be able to pass it off well. Because if you cherish the journey, the destination won't seem very far. Garner your preparation with confidence and a calm mind! Now, you are ready to attack the entrance!<br />
In case of any queries, you can comment on this post, I shall try my best to help you out.<br />
<br />
Bonne chance! :)<br />
<br />
<b>(Akshita Goyal graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2014. She got Rank 3 in DSE Entrance and was awarded Prof. Manmohan Singh Scholarship. She is currently pursuing MA in Economics at Delhi School of Economics)</b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-12798954770844725302014-08-25T00:30:00.005-07:002014-08-25T00:57:35.204-07:00Coaching – to join or not to join?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
A big question that irritates final year students preparing for econ entrances is whether to go for coaching or not.<br />
<br />
In our opinion, there are three kinds of students:<br />
<br />
Type 1: Those who have gone for coaching since ages, and think that coaching is the raison d’etre of cracking any entrance. Afterall, how on earth could you even think of getting through ISI, D-school without coaching!<br />
<br />
Type 2: Well, they will avoid coaching but will definitely go for test series preparation because they think they will not have enough practice till the D-day without that.<br />
<br />
Type 3: These are mavericks – have always been conscientious learners and have studied every single topic in their normal undergrad coursework with a religious sincerity. Joining coaching? ‘Nah, that’s a mad rat-race merely’, they would say.<br />
<br />
At Eurekawow, we have talked to people and explored how beneficial coaching really is. We understand that taking a stand and NOT going for coaching when all your peers are going for it, can be a stressful decision. It may harm one’s self esteem, destroy confidence and even ruin one’s final exam day. We also acknowledge that not everybody may be financially strong enough to afford the best coaching centres in the city.<br />
<br />
The good news is this: well,<b> the best of best coaches say that there is no substitute to practice</b>. If you are sincere enough and practice enough, there is no dearth of practice materials online now that can become a roadblock in your way. You will find the answer keys to all past year DSE and ISI question papers on Mr. Amit Goyal’s pubic website here: <a href="http://economicsentrance.weebly.com/lessons.html">http://economicsentrance.weebly.com/lessons.html</a><br />
<br />
That is quite generous of him, in fact you should take time to explore the entire website and follow the guidance.<br />
<br />
You can in fact, start trying your hand at some of the DSE first sem problem sets available here: <a href="http://econdse.org/pghosh-001/">http://econdse.org/pghosh-001/</a><br />
<br />
They are quite do-able with your third year brains.<br />
<br />
Aleesha Mary Joseph (first year student at DSE now) who attended Amit Goyal’s coaching centre tells us that he is an amazing teacher who has great conceptual clarity and communicates it across students excellently. Although his fee might look disheartening at first, but the value of his teaching far exceeds the cost. So, it’s a fair deal essentially. <br />
<br />
Apart from that, AG’s entrance classes are known to have positive externality on learning at the masters level. His preparation material is of the masters level, so you end up feeling more comfortable with the onslaught of advanced material, once you enter D-school or ISI after having been coached by him.<br />
<br />
But that said, <b>this does not in any way prove that coaching is a necessary condition for clearing the entrance</b>. Since a lot of learning material is publicly available on his website and links to texts are also available, world is not that dismal a place really.<br />
<br />
If you are smart enough to use the internet to your advantage, you can get your hands on oceans of material to help clarify your concepts and make yourself ready for the exam. You can check previous posts on this blog by people who cracked the entrance without any coaching.<br />
<br />
Although, <b>there might be topics where you feel significant gaps exist and not enough material can be dug from google or youtube – well, that is where the opportunity lies</b>. Start early, read every single book on that topic, ask all your teachers about it, post it as a query on AG’s website, write him an email, post on Eurekawow facebook forums about it --- until, until you land on it finally. Its certainly a long route, but if you really want to specialise in the field in the future, there are no short cuts and you will receive your payoffs soon.<br />
<br />
We can vouch for it, the sense of discovery will be priceless after all that toil and you will never forget the concept or the answer to that tough question in your entire lifetime (Alzheimer’s patients may be an exception though).<br />
<br />
To sum up:<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: red;">Take a call based on your financial and cerebral constraints.<br /><br />Don’t just follow the herd.<br /><br />Follow your heart.</span></b><br />
<br />
Hope this helps!<br />
<br />
Much love,<br />
Team Eurekawow<br />
<br />
(Posted by J Kaur)</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-29160901431489200732014-05-25T09:35:00.002-07:002014-05-25T09:35:37.735-07:00DSE - Few days before entrance exam - Tips!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">By - Sneha</span><br />
<b style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Sneha graduated from SRCC - Batch of 2013. She got Rank - 1 in DSE entrance last year.</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Dear friends,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I would like to share my experience of The Delhi School of Economics entrance exam preparation with you all. Hope this will help you to prepare more strategically for the exam given the fact that not much time is left now..</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The first thing that I did once my college exams got over was to start with the DSE past year papers and I did almost all the MCQ questions of the past years irrespective of how old they were and whatever pattern the old papers had. The key to learning at this point was to do the papers in a time frame of 3 hours, verify the answers and discuss the doubts with friends. A lot of you might find it exhaustive to do all the papers in a go, as even I did. But then some of my friend would call me with a doubt say in ques 6,10,23 of some past year paper and I'll think.. Why not do the entire paper and discuss my doubts with her.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This way I ended up doing almost all the papers by the exam day. This is also where a common concern of most students 'what is the syllabus?' gets answered. You also know by the end of it that what are the topics you are weak at and need to revise, or what are the important topics to redo from your undergraduate syllabus.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">For those super fast students who have already done the past years (and I was surely not one of them) very good! .Now help your friends do theirs by solving their doubts. This will help you revise as practicing questions till the final day is very very important to keep you fast and accurate.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">While doing this practice and more importantly when giving the final exam, one thing that happens with EVERYONE is that you get stuck on a series of questions. That is you are either not sure with the answers or just not able to do a lot of questions one after the other. This is where lies the real test that you don't panic and move on calmly. Even I got stuck on some questions in the exam. My strategy was to open some other page and do a fresh set of questions. Gradually I gained momentum and confidence, and lo! even the questions I was stuck on seemed easy now. So it's a test of how you stay calm when the clock is ticking and making you nervous. I always tried to tell myself that this is another practice test that I have to do well.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Another important tip is to keep marking the answers on the OMR sheet either after each question or after a set of 5-10 questions. This is one mistake I observed that many people did and lost marks later. They left the final marking for the end and then never got the time to mark all the answers even though they had attempted a lot of questions correctly.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Please be confident in whatever you mark and by the time you sit for the exam, you'll have a fair idea of your own accuracy level. So attempt accordingly. Try multiple ways to answer the same question if possible, this will ensure that the answers are correct. What matters in the end is the number of CORRECTLY answered questions, not the number of attempted questions.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">One last thing that I am sure a lot of people want to know.. That what is the cutoff! To all those, even though it's natural to have such questions but to be honest this question has no answer.. Your aim should be to give your best irrespective of what the cutoff is. The entire procedure is relative and selective studying is not what I would suggest. For those who have dearth of time,focus on your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses to the most. You never know how well your peers performs.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hope I have answered most of your questions!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">All the very best. Do well and do sleep well on the night just before the exam. Your presence of mind and mental peace is very important in those three hours. Be very confident and tell yourself that I know it all ! I will do it best.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">With best wishes,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Sneha.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-81963693255377285582013-09-05T16:52:00.000-07:002013-09-06T03:41:19.197-07:00Cracking GMAT - Things to keep in mind<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">By <b>Harshit Maloo</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>(Harshit is currently in the final year at St. Stephen's College. He secured 780/800 in GMAT)</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For
those of you who don’t know, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) is
an exam, the scores of which are accepted by most of the internationally
acclaimed Business Schools including Harvard Business School, Yale School of
Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business and so on. Most of us in our
pre-final or final year of college attempt this examination for the ISB-YLP
program, as did I. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The very
first thing to keep in mind is when you would want to give the exam. If you are
constrained by deadlines for applications, then as the case may be. Otherwise,
I’d recommend giving the exam at a point when you know you can devote at least
a month beforehand for preparation. It isn’t usually a good idea to keep it
near your college examinations or other entrances (GRE or CAT). However, with
adequate preparation, it is possible to do well in all scenarios.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Choice
of Examination Centre is something that is overhyped. I have seen a lot of
debate over which centre is better for the examination. Personally, the date
and time should take precedence over the location. The centre at Pitampura,
where I gave my examination is nice and quiet. It seats a maximum of 3
examinees at a time, which ensures peace and keeps away chaotic situations. It
is a good idea to visit the test centre once before your GMAT date to not waste
time in navigation on the day of the exam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Preparation
time is relative from person to person, their background, and their level of
comfort with Mathematics (Class X level) and English. As soon as you begin
thinking about giving the GMAT, it is essential to give a diagnostic or an
online mock test to evaluate where you stand. This can be done as early as 3
months prior to the examination. Preparation can then start accordingly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There is
a misconception that GMAT cannot be taken without tuitions, and that
preparation time for it needs to span months. You can prepare for GMAT in the
last 3 weeks also, but you have to make up for it by burning the midnight oil
and doing nothing else for those 20-something days. A comfortable preparation
time would be about 6 weeks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The very
first reference book you need to follow is the GMAC Official Guide. This book
contains the basic preparation material; it will set the flow in motion. It is
just the first step, as it does not contain 800-level questions in abundance. I
would suggest keeping track of your performance during the first two weeks and
then delving into higher-level books according to your areas of difficulty. The
Manhattan guides for individual sections are extremely helpful in this regard.
As you read the material, you’ll realize that even the higher-level books contain
basic material, and acing the GMAT is all about practice and time management.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’ll go
into further detail, section wise:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><u>Analytical
Writing Assessment (AWA)</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">AWA is
the first section, for 30 minutes. You are given a 4-5 line argument that you
need to comment upon. You should aim to write about 4-5 paragraphs of 3
sentences each. It is not a lengthy task. The introduction and conclusion are
standard, but in the body each paragraph must pick a separate point about:<br />
(a) How the argument is invalid if certain assumptions are disregarded?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">(b) What
could be added to the argument to complete it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">(c) Any
additional comment on the argument or its fallacies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Be sure
to not diverge far from the topic at hand. Since the essay is checked by
software also, it is essential to have the keywords and basic vocabulary – with
NO spelling mistakes. If you try and differ too much from the normal phrases
and try to draw analogies, it might backfire. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><u>Integrated
Reasoning</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Integrated
Reasoning is the next half an hour section that contains 12 questions. Each
question has 2 or 3 subparts to it. IR is relatively easy, and it tests you on
basic logic rather than on math. This is the only section where use of online
calculators is allowed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br />
The problem with IR is that there are limited resources to study it, so you
have to make the most of what is available through the GMAC Software and
certain other mock tests. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><u>Quant</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There is
an optional break before beginning your Quant section for 8 minutes. You can
use this opportunity to relax, stretch a bit, have a quick bite to eat (a
chocolate does good for you </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">) and some like to gulp down an
energy drink! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Quant section tests speed and accuracy more than anything else. The concepts,
formulae and so on can be brushed up using the reference material. But what it
doesn’t prepare you for is the nerves, and the widely observed phenomenon that
you automatically tend to double check your answers and thus lose on time as
compared to when you were sitting at home and giving your mocks. When it comes
down to crunch time, and you see that you do not have too much time remaining,
do not linger on a question. It is not a taboo to make an intelligent guess (I
made one in my Quant Section!). Your main aim should be to attempt ALL
questions as you are heavily penalized for not completing the exam. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><u>Verbal</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Verbal section starts after another optional break. This section tests your use
of the written English language. Remember, what ‘sounds’ right may not always
be right, because in our day to day usage of the language, we tend to misuse
grammar and phrases. The Manhattan Sentence Correction guide and the Kaplan
800-Level Verbal Guide are of immense help in this regard. It is a recommended
to attack these rules and idioms a few at a time as the list will seem
overwhelmingly long towards the end. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">With
respect to Verbal again, only practice can serve your purpose. All the
strategies and rules that you’ll read about will be of no use unless you can
implement them. This should reflect in you mock test performance as you keep
giving them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><u>Mock
Tests</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There
are a horde of mock tests available online, some free and some for which you
need to shell out a few dollars. I highly recommend giving as many mocks as
humanly possible before the exam. Since all your other practice material will
be divided into sections, and the questions will be also divided accordingly,
it will not give you a fair idea of whether or not you are able to use all the
principles you have learnt in a test like environment, where the type of questions
and their difficulty vary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While
giving mocks, keep in mind that your score and percentile do not matter much.
Each company’s mocks have different scoring algorithms and a different database
of students against whom your percentile is scored. What you should review is
the questions you were unable to solve, or solved incorrectly. Keep tab of
which type of question persists in troubling you, and then go back and work on
that area using the additional reference material.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">You
should save your GMAC mocks till the last week as they provide the most
accurate image of your position. They have two mocks and they can be reset to
take advantage of the vast question base. When you give the tests after
resetting the score, some questions might be repeated, so do not get too happy
if the scores are high! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">You
should be relaxed the day before your GMAT – if you do all that’s advised
above, you will definitely be. It is an easy examination; all you have to do is
put in some effort. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-65269907738914212532013-09-03T18:46:00.004-07:002013-09-03T18:46:52.535-07:00Preparing for the ISB-YLP programme<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-IN"><b>By Satyaki Dhar</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN">The YLP Programme is offered by the Indian
School of Business, Hyderabad to provide guaranteed admission to its one year
MBA Programme contingent on the applicants securing 21 months of work
experience post earning their under-graduate degree. In case you aren’t aware
of the programme, you can always find information about it at – <a href="http://www.isb.edu/young-leaders-programme">http://www.isb.edu/young-leaders-programme</a>
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN">The application process for the ISB YLP Programme
consists of three stages. The first stage begins towards the end of the
pre-final year of your undergraduate degree. The deadline ISB sets for this
stage is around the first week of March. The second stage will require you to
take the GMAT, obtain two recommendations and write a few essays. This stage
usually has a deadline of around the first week of August. The third stage is
the interview and this is held face-to-face at the ISB Campus at Hyderabad.
Interview slots range from mid-August to mid-September. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">The application itself, considered as a
whole consists of the following parts – </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Essays </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Curriculum Vitae (CV)</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">3)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Video</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">4)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Recommendations</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">5)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">GMAT score</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">6)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Written case-study</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">7)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Interview </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span lang="EN-IN">Essays</span></u><span lang="EN-IN">:</span></b><span lang="EN-IN"> Essays seek to find out your
perspective on how your life has been. In my application year, the essay topics
were “Describe your two most significant achievements”, “What is your career
aspiration immediately after graduating from the ISB?”, “Describe a past
experience that has shaped who you are today”
and “Please provide additional information that will significantly
affect the consideration of your application to the ISB”.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">The last one is pretty standard. You need
to look through your application and see if there is any other important point
that you’ve missed out on due to the constrictions of the online application. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN">The achievements essay appeared again in
the following year I believe. If it does appear again, my opinion is that in
addition to telling them what the achievement was and how you went about doing
things, you should also touch on why you chose this over your other
achievements. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN">Other topics have kept changing.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span lang="EN-IN">CV:</span></u></b><span lang="EN-IN"> ISB traditionally asks for the one page CV. The difficulty in this
isn’t how to compress everything into a page, but I feel its picking the right
points to put on that page. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">The best advice that I ever got in this
area, and I’ll pass it onto you – make a complete list of all the achievements
that you feel are worth mentioning. More
recent achievements are to be given greater weightage and as the time elapsed
since the achievement increases, the impact of the achievement needs to be that
much greater in order for it to feature on your list. Then prune that list
according to the scale of the effort and impact of the achievement. Try to
strike a balance in order to show consistency and diversity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Speaking about diversity - I’ve heard is
greatly valued for the ISB process. How much diversity should you represent on
the CV? That’s a difficult question, but even if you’ve done a lot of things
you’ll be able to represent only 2-3 adequately well on a one page CV. So you would
end up talking about only your most important ones while the rest would have to
be accommodated through other parts of your application. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">So once you’re done selecting the
achievements you want to put on your CV, get down to making it. There’s only
that much structuring you can do for a one page CV, but the standard sections
that most of us who applied kept it to were – Academic Qualifications
(Including academic awards, scholarships), Internships/Projects/Research,
Extra-curricular achievements, Awards (Other ECA awards) and a Miscellaneous
section if required. Some of us created special sections in order to highlight
certain special skills acquired (Such as Writing or Web-design) and that works
as well. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span lang="EN-IN">Video:</span></u></b><span lang="EN-IN"> Now this the fun part of the YLP Application. Atleast I had fun
shooting my video. You’ll need to don your formals (Well, I did) and speak
about the topic that they’ve provided for 90 seconds. In my application year
ISB wanted to know if they were to admit one more student to the YLP Batch, why
should it be me. Take some time and plan out the answer. I personally took
around a week and wrote down the whole answer and thought I’d memorize it, but
that didn’t work too well. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">My tip, if you aren’t an exceptionally good
speaker, make the extra effort to write down the whole thing. Since its only 90
seconds you’ll need to optimize on every word if you want to pack in the
maximum number of points. Even if you are a good speaker, write it down once
and say it to yourself to see how much time it takes. Editing can also become a
lot easier if you write it down.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
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<b><u><span lang="EN-IN">Recommendations:</span></u></b><span lang="EN-IN"> Recommendations provide the only third-person perspective to your
application and hence the process of choosing your recommenders must be
carefully thought through. Recommendations can be both professional
(Internships, work-experience), academic ( Teachers, academic
instructors/counsellors) or extra-curricular (Related to any sport, society
activity that you participate in. The single most important point that you
should consider before approaching a recommender is that person’s position (NOT
post) to comment on your life. Choose people that you think know you well and
would be in the best position to comment on your life. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Once you make a list based on that
criterion, you could start boiling it down using the kind of information that
you might want to represent to the school. For example, it can be expected that
an ECA Staff-Advisor will primarily talk about your enthusiasm and work in a
certain activity or a teacher will talk mostly about your performance in
class. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Another factor you should consider is the
credibility of the person providing the recommendation. If the Principal of
your college would roughly write the same things on your recommendations as a
Professor would, the person in the higher post (Professor) would be the better
choice. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Talking about expectations, my conjecture
is that since you’re applying straight out of your undergraduate degree and
aren’t expected to have much prior work experience one recommendation should be
from an academic viewpoint. Since you’re still a student and your profession is
studying , someone should be willing to talk about how you perform there. Most
of the people who were accepted that I know of had submitted two academic recommendations.
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span lang="EN-IN">GMAT
score:</span></u></b><span lang="EN-IN"> I believe this plays quite an important
role in your application. Getting a 700 in GMAT isn’t really rocket science.
From what I have noticed, your GMAT score is usually a function of how many
questions you’ve practiced. There are exceptions ofcourse. The concepts are
fairly simple and easy to grasp but practice does make a difference. It helps
improve your speed and accuracy, both of which are well-tested during the exam.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">It takes a bare minimum of 6 weeks to
prepare for the GMAT. Around 2-3 hours of practice every day during that period
should be enough for a 700. Do plan your study period and continuously assess
your progress. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">There is enough material and advice on the
GMAT available on online forums. Lastly, in my opinion, coaching for the GMAT
is really not required. Self-study as long as you’re willing to stick to a
schedule should be fine. I know people who ended up getting as much as 780 with
self-study, so it’s possible. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span lang="EN-IN">Written
case-study:</span></u></b><span lang="EN-IN"> Don’t be scared if you haven’t solved a case
before. The cases are very basic and require nothing than a little common
sense. Knowledge of class 11-12 Economics might be considered an advantage, but
is not a necessity. If you’re planning to study though, you might want to pick
up any Beginners Economics textbook (<a href="" name="_GoBack"></a>G.Mankiw, may be)
and learn about demand-supply, revenue-cost etc. The first 2-3 chapters should
suffice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Lastly, the case-study is a an hour long <u>written
one</u> so while on one hand it gives you more time to think, ISB naturally
also expects you to be more precise in your answers. Examples of cases: I don’t
remember the prompts I heard word to word, but they were something to this
effect – </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Discuss the viability of a
radio cab service in a metro. How would you go about pricing such a service?</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">European mobile phone company
wants to enter the US mobile phone market. What factors would you consider?</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">3)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Credit Card company is facing
intense competition in the industry. What would you recommend for it to
survive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><u><span lang="EN-IN">Interview:</span></u></b><span lang="EN-IN"> The average duration of an interview is between 10-15 minutes. The
Written-Case Study and the Interview process are held on the same day. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">The interview began with the generic
question “Tell me a little bit about yourself…”. This is a standard question
for most interviews (I realised that only later) and you can go ahead and
prepare an answer for this. Be ready to talk for a good 2-3 minutes. You could
give a short summary of your CV or alternately talk about things you can’t
mention on your CV (For example: Personality traits). You could talk about how
your life has progressed and how you have become the person you are today. Personally
I mentioned a combination of all of these and how it has led me to apply for a deferred
MBA program. You need to justify why you want to pursue an MBA, and why you
want to take the YLP route.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Post that they tend to quiz you on the
material you’ve already submitted (CV, essays, recommendations) and try to iron
out the inconsistencies. Remember, they’ve got enough experience and have given
enough time to your application before shortlisting you so lying would be a
humungous risk. Be prepared to talk in detail about any activity, any point
you’ve mentioned in other parts of your application. For this you might need
some time for contemplation. Be clear on what your goals are, how you’ve gone
about trying to achieve them and how the MBA & YLP fits into the picture.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">All-in-all I felt that the interview
process was meant to be a cross-check. I felt that they were trying to evaluate
if I was capable of being the person that I had represented myself as on paper.
There might be a few subject related questions</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Lastly, again looking at the whole
application - in my opinion, try to avoid over-laps. Don’t go to recommenders
who will talk about something you’ve already written about in an essay. Don’t
write about the same activity in more than one essay. Try to represent as much
information as possible through the options available. It gives them a better
all-round picture and helps them understand if you’re the kind of person they’d
like in their class. Best of luck!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><b>Satyaki Dhar graduated from St. Stephen's College (Mathematics Honors, Batch of 2013). He was the President of Finance and Investment Cell and perhaps one of the most active members of college. He got admission to ISB - YLP programme. Currently, he is pursuing Finance at London School of Economics.</b></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-4701057506133524702013-08-03T03:56:00.001-07:002013-08-03T04:04:58.397-07:00Job Interviews (Case Studies)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">An option that many
people do consider after their under-graduation is to work. Many do so if they
have already got an offer from ISB (which requires you to work for 2 years) or
otherwise. The companies that usually visit campuses are consulting firms,
investment banks, etc.</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Almost all consulting
firms will test on case studies – though the focus might be different. Some may
focus on guesstimates (Ex: BCC), some focus on quantitative skills (Ex: Monitor),
and some focus only on Business Case Studies (Ex: McKinsey). Investment banks
will require you to have a very good knowledge about finance and good with
numbers (Ex: Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, CitiBank)</span></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: #222222;"><u>Business Studies </u></span></b><span style="color: #222222;"><u>and</u><b><u> Guesstimates</u><br /><o:p></o:p></b></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;"> </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #222222;">Study Material</span><span style="color: #222222;">:<span style="font-weight: normal;"> You can find various Case Books here.</span><br /><o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://cpc.ststephens.edu/prep.html" target="_blank">Click here for Case Books</a></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
There are usually three types of business case studies: (1) A company wants to increase it's profitability. How should it go about it? (2) How to increase the market share? (3) How to enter a market? And guesstimates can be anything.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">Few case studies I was asked in some of my interviews or my friends were asked at <u>McKinsey interview</u>:</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">#1. U.S. Apparel Company want to enter into China. How should it go about it? </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">#2. U.S. entertainment channel wants to enter into India. What should it do? </span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">#3. You take a flight from X to Y and then from Y to Z. You take airline A for your journey from X to Y and an airline B for your journey from Y to Z. You pay total of Rs. M for the entire journey. How much of this Rs. M will go to each airline?</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">#4. Give two ways in which Reliance can increase its market share.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">#5. If it is 2007, and you want to open a mall in South Delhi, how much investment would be required and when will you break-even (asked at <u>BCC - Final Round</u>)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">Few guesstimates </span><span style="color: #222222;">I was asked in some of my interviews or my friends were asked:</span></span><span style="font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">#6. How much money you need in your pocket now, if you want to open a coffee shop in this area? (<u>A.T. Kearney</u>)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">#7. How many footballs can be put in this room (1) when room is empty (2) the room is as it is now (tables, chairs, etc there) (asked at BCC)</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit;">#8. Estimate the amount of toll collected in a day in Delhi-Gurgaon highway. (asked at BCC)</span></div>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">If you need help with any of the above cases or otherwise you can write to us.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #222222;">Some general things to keep in mind while approaching case studies and guesstimates.</span></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">1. Clarify the question (know what is asked properly before answering)</span></span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222;">You need to clarify with the interviewer what he expects you to do/ how he wants you to approach. For example in the case #1. mentioned above, you need some more information, so yes, ask questions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 47.25pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;">· </span><!--[endif]--><span style="color: #222222;"><u>Ask questions about the background</u>. For
example, what kind of apparel company is it, where all is it operating at the moment, what is the purpose of entering the China market (is it just to expand or they want to use cheap labour cost, etc.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 47.25pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">· <u>Paraphrasing</u> the question always helps (though not necessary) It makes sure you have got the question right.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 47.25pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2. General guidelines to approach</span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222;">In the various workshops I attended, all of them emphasized on MECE - </span><u><span style="color: #222222;">mutually
exclusive</span><span style="color: #222222;"> and</span><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><span style="color: #222222;">collectively exhaustive</span></u><span style="color: #222222;"><u> sets</u>. So, a way to approach a problem should be to divide it according to this MECE rule.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222;">I would suggest - Never mention </span><span style="color: #222222;">Porter's 5-forces model, 4Cs, 6Ps, etc that many case books talk about. I never used them. Yes, read them once. These help you to think about a problem in MECE way. <b><u>Note: Even if you apply these in any case, don't directly mention during the interview that you are applying it.</u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u>Drawing a flowchart</u></b>: This is highly recommended. It tells the interviewer that you are approaching the problem in an organized manner. And most importantly, flowchart also ensures you took MECE into consideration and focussed more on whatever was required.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's always better, that once you have clarified the question, ask the interviewer for 2-3 minutes and use this time to draw the flowchart.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One thing that I was always told and I experienced is that the <span style="background-color: transparent; text-indent: -24px;"><span style="color: #222222;">case study is solved by both - the interviewer and the interviewee. So, it's better to make the interview interactive by involving the interviewer while you are solving by asking questions. (This doesn't mean that you ask unnecessary questions) </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><b><u><span style="font-family: inherit;">Guesstimates</span></u></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For guesstimates, it's better that you have some idea of population, demographics, etc of India, U.S., etc. It always helps (though if you don't know, there's no harm in asking the interviewer about it) In guesstimates, don't randomly throw numbers. Everything should be backed by some logic. 80-20 rule etc comes handy. It's better you practice quite a few guesstimates as they aren't easy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I'll write about my interview with an investment bank in m</span>uch detail in a later post. For any questions, post below as comment. If you need any help with job interviews/CVs etc, you can mail it to us at eureka123.ssc@gmail.com </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>This article is written by Gaurav Poddar. He received job offers from BCC and Deutsche Bank after graduating from St. Stephen's College.</b></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-55887379237704905812013-07-31T20:24:00.001-07:002013-08-03T02:53:01.588-07:00Preparing to study at LSE (London School of Economics)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">By <b><i>Pankhuri Tandon</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
Securing an admission at the London School
of Economics and Political Science is a matter of both good performance and
good timing. The application for MSc. Economics requires the following:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-IN">GRE</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-IN">2 <u>academic</u>
recommendations</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-IN">Marks</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-IN">Statement of Purpose</span></li>
<li><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-IN">Resume’</span></li>
</ol>
</div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">1.
<b><u>GRE</u></b>: The Msc. Economics programme of LSE requires its applicants to
submit a GRE score. This GRE score should not be more than 5 years old. The
MSc. Economics program at LSE gives more importance to your score in the
Quantitative section of GRE than your score in its Verbal Section and
Analytical Writing Section. LSE has explicitly mentioned that for securing
admission into the one-year Msc. Economics program, the applicant should score
above 160(out of 170) in the quantitative section. For the two-year MSc.
Economics program, they require a score above 163 in the quantitative section. So
make sure you manage to cross this ‘cut-off’ in the quant section of GRE. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"> You
should aim to give GRE before October. This is for 2 reasons:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">a)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">The quicker you give GRE, the
faster you complete your LSE application. You should aim to finish your LSE
application before the first week of January (I shall explain reasons for this
later in this article). Note that you receive your official GRE score 15-30
days after the date you have given your exam.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-IN">b)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">If you are not satisfied with
your GRE score, you can give the exam again, but only 21 days after your
current exam date. So make sure you keep that margin.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Also, it is important that you have your
<b>passport</b> made before you give GRE, as the exam centre <u>only</u> accepts the
passport as a valid ID proof.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">2. <b><u>Recommendations</u></b>: You need to have two
recommendations from the teachers who have taught you in college. You do not
need to send the recommendation letters in your application; you just need to
provide <u>the name</u> <u>and email addresses</u> of the teachers who will
write recommendations for you, and LSE will contact them itself. Still, you
need to ask the teachers for a reference as soon as you start with your LSE
application, because they take time in writing them. Teachers have a lot of
preoccupations already, and as the month of December begins, more and more
students start with their application and come to ask them for recommendations.
The only thing that delayed my application till mid-January was a
recommendation that was not sent by my referee. Make sure you keep reminding
them to write for you!</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">3. <b><u>Marks</u></b>: Marks in your undergraduate
course is the most important criteria for selection at LSE. For MSc. Economics,
LSE requires you to score at least 70% (aggregate till the final year) in your
undergraduate course. Moreover, LSE gives a lot of importance to your score in
maths, statistics and econometrics at your undergraduate level. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">4.<b><u> Statement of purpose (SoP)</u></b>: Although
your marks and references are given the highest importance in you LSE
application, statement of purpose is an essay (1000-1500 words long) through
which the admissions committee analyse your thinking, and your suitability for
pursuing the course. A SoP should clearly articulate why you want to pursue the
course <i>in that institute(</i>why
particularly in that institute?)<i> </i>,
and why you have the right aptitude for the course. For this, not only do you
need to describe the abilities you have that will help you in the course, but
also show that your thoughts and views are consistent with what you are going
to study in the course.<u> Make sure your SoP doesn’t look like your CV in prose</u>.
It should explain how the things you did till now were with a purpose of
helping you in what you are going to do now (the postgraduate course), and how
the course you are going to do now will help you in your ultimate goal of the
future.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Deadlines
to be followed<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Although there is no deadline for applying
to MSc. Economics at LSE, the seats get filled quickly. Also, most scholarships
require you to have an admission offer before you can apply to them. Typically,
the deadline for the scholarships is in the period of February-April. So try to
obtain the admission offer by January-February. Moreover, LSE usually takes 8
weeks to process your application, so it is best to send your complete
application (including recommendations) by December. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Scholarships<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">The most well-known scholarships are <u>Inlaks
Scholarship</u> and <u>Commonwealth Scholarship</u>. LSE also provides scholarships, under
its Graduate Support Scheme. Moreover, this year LSE has announced 50 new
scholarships for Indian students! :D There
are also organisations like J.N. Tata Endowment and Narotam Sekhsaria
Foundation that offer loans at nil or low rates of interest. I advise that you
should try to obtain funds from as many sources as possible rather than
concentrating your energy on just one fully-funded-scholarship. There are many
small scholarships that just escape our attention. Make sure you keep checking
regularly in newspapers and online about any new scholarships.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN">Each scholarship application requires as
much effort as one application for admission into a university. Most
scholarship applications need a statement of purpose and recommendations (2-3).
Note that you can get a recommendation from a teacher only a limited number of
times (usually 4), so make sure you manage your ‘profile of recommendations’
from different teachers well. Many scholarships ask you to describe how you
will arrange your funds for pursuing the course abroad. My sincere advice is:
please describe it as honestly as possible. Trust me, being honest will
increase your chances of getting that scholarship.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-IN"><b>(Pankhuri Tandon graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2013 and is currently pursuing Economics at London School of Economics. If you have any queries regarding LSE applications, you can leave a comment below)</b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-58789677516585574412013-07-28T03:11:00.001-07:002013-08-03T02:52:09.755-07:00IGIDR (Test and Interview) <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
By <b><i>Sakshi Gupta</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
IGIDR entrance has two stages, a
computer <a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1562483015428919379" name="_GoBack"></a>based entrance examination and then an interview
for the shortlisted candidates. The level of the examination is in colloquial
terms, “manageable”. There are four sections in the paper-</div>
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1. Comprehension, Reasoning and
Analytical ability </div>
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2. Basic Mathematics</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
3. Economics </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
OR</div>
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4. Advanced Mathematics</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
(To pass the exam one has to pass all individual sections.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b>Section 1</b> includes reading comprehensions, vocabulary, rearranging jumbled
words, analytical reasoning etc. preparation for which can be done from any
book containing these sections that one can get their hands on. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b>Section 2</b> has the 10<sup>th</sup>-12<sup>th</sup> level mathematics’
questions. Revising these concepts is essential because the questions are facile
but at the same time convoluted if one doesn’t recall the concepts (LCM/HCF,
integration, limits, polynomials, relative speed etc.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b>Section 3</b> is a better option for economics’ students as the questions
can easily be done if one is comfortable with the undergrad syllabus. There is
nothing really to worry about the economics section, it has (mostly) direct
questions from the syllabus. Those preparing for other examinations DSE, ISI,
JNU etc. shouldn’t essentially need separate preparation for the IGIDR
economics section. The same practice material should suffice. The sample
questions can be obtained from <u>http://www.igidr.ac.in/newspdf/msc-infhandout.pdf</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
However, it should be made sure that one is comfortable with the
online pattern of the exam for which the sample is available on <a href="http://www.igidr.ac.in/">www.igidr.ac.in</a> . It is important to go
through it once before the exam so that one can concentrate on solving the
questions rather than struggling with the computer during the examination. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Note: The pattern of the paper given above is for 2013 and is liable
to change, so be sure to check the website for the pattern of the examination. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The second stage is the <b><u>interview</u></b>. Here again what one needs to be
sure of is her/his basics of economics. A typical interview would last for
15-20 minutes. The first question asked in the interview is generally ones
favorite subject in economics, and that then becomes the basis of the interview
(so be very sure of what you want to say). However it is not essential that
they stick to your chosen subject throughout but most of their questions come
from there. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<u>Some of the questions that were asked in the IGIDR interview were: </u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
What is consistency? What is heteroscedasticity, how do you detect
(tests), its consequences and correction methods? (Econometrics) </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
Explain the income and substitution effects (through a diagram on the
board) when the price of one good out of the two given goods increases.
(Microeconomics)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
What do you understand by PPP (purchasing power parity), UIP
(uncovered interest parity) and CIP (covered interest parity)?
(Macroeconomics/International Economics)</div>
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Draw the graph of xǀxǀ (Mathematics) etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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The
interview is not going to be very tough so be calm and confident, even if one
doesn’t know the answer to a question don’t panic because there are more
questions to come. While answering, try to be precise and clear e.g. the answer
to what is heteroscadasticity could be the problem of unequal error variances
i.e V(u) is not a constant. Similarly for consequences, mention lost efficiency
first (unbiased, linear are common consequences for all and thus they wait to
hear lost efficiency). <o:p></o:p></div>
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This
is not at all the hard and fast rule, everybody has their own way of dealing
with interviews and it is fine as long as you are confident about it. Just
remember to brush up your basics before you go for the interview and rest
should be fine! :)<br />
<b><br /></b>
<span style="text-align: justify;"><b>(Sakshi Gupta scored 85.2% in B.A. Economics (H), Batch of 2013, from St. Stephen's College. She is currently at DSE. She cleared DSE, ISI, JNU and IGIDR entrances. Post your queries as comments below.)</b></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-80857176267503331042013-07-23T10:10:00.001-07:002013-08-03T02:51:36.780-07:00Tips for preparing for DSE entrance <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">By <b><i>Orville Dustin Mondal </i>(Rank 7 in DSE entrance)</b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The most important thing about preparing for the DSE entrance test is continuity. You need to be completely comfortable with the recommended course material (which, for DU students is basically second year stuff, under the older course)-emphasis on 'COMPLETE'. Because only when you're comfortable with it can you go on to the practicing bit of preparing. Trust me it's extremely annoying (not to mention disconcerting) when you're doing a question and you start thinking,"do I know what they're talking about here?". Once you're through going through the course content, which really doesn't take too long, you need to start questions (yeah, I know that's obvious) and this is where continuity comes in. You need to get your hands on as much practice material as you possibly can. This is especially important for those of us who have a burning, unquenchable desire to <i>keep on at it</i> with economics but just don't seem to have that natural knack for solving essentially simple but convoluted questions. And truthfully, DSE mainly throws out things that we <i>do</i> know how to do. Sure there's the odd instance where they decide to dig through a masters textbook on stats and fling us something we more or less have no chance of figuring out-but that is <i>extremely rare, </i>not to mention ultimately inconsequential (one question should not stand between you and the cut-off). </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Where does one get material from? Well the past papers are a great way to start. Trust me there'll be more than a few head scratchers. The papers get you into a certain way of thinking about the questions. Our university exams are pretty straightforward (not just DU, by the way) and DSE most definitely (usually) is not. You need to have a tiny idea of what to expect-the papers are an excellent primer. But beyond that, your options are limited unless you enroll in one of the (way too) many coaching classes spread around the city (or, alternatively, you could have an inside source that gets you the material). Classes aren't always helpful. Seriously, they aren't for everybody. Nor are they necessary for everybody. Blisspoint or Ecopoint (they're these two places that offer classes, in case you didn't know), all you need is material. You need questions. Get them. Get a lot. How you get it is of course more problematic. Just don't go around dropping small fortunes hoping for the ideal stash of exam info (case in point, Mr. A. G., while no doubt an extremely helpful and, perhaps, likable person, cannot guarantee success. Self help is very very important). Don't strategise and leave out this or that subject. The course DSE recommends for preps isn't magnificently vast and you can easily practice for all of it. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, you need a solid p2p network. Peer support is unbelievably helpful (believe me). I only had it for the last 9 days of prep and it was frustratingly fantastic to see how others could solve stuff I had been stuck on for weeks. The entrance is, to put it mildly, <i>manageable. </i>It doesn't take an insurmountable mountain of work to be confident enough to take it and do good in it (okay, maybe I'm being a little pretentious here). </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, in the end, all you need is to know the core subject content, have lots of material to keep you busy for about 3 months of more or less sincere work, and a strong peer support network. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Orville graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2013. He got Rank 7 in DSE entrance and is currently pursuing M.A. Economics at Delhi School of Economics.</b></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-23605345843849029662013-07-22T19:58:00.000-07:002013-08-03T02:49:56.588-07:00Cracking GRE <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
By <b><i>Shruti Lakhtakia</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Graduate Record Examination is required by most universities in the UK and the US as a part of the application material. A note for those who are pursuing finance based courses - the GMAT is sometimes allowed in place of the GRE, make sure you check the requirements of the particular course and university you are applying to.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ideally, you should plan to study for an optimum six-eight weeks before taking your GRE. The test itself consists of three sections - Analytical Writing, Verbal and Quantitative. It is a good idea to begin by taking a diagnostic test (available in most books) that will give you an idea of where you stand. My recommendation would be to begin with a general book (Princeton Review, The GRE Official Guide by ETS, or Barrons), which clearly lay out the entire test - its structure, the kind of questions, and basic concepts used in each section. After doing one or more of these books, you could begin to go through questions in the Princeton Review book of 1000 Questions, which has several drills arranged topic-wise. Simultaneously, you should begin to work on specific sections that you are having difficulty with. Some people find the Verbal section difficult to deal with, others the Quantitative section. Depending on what your relative strength and weakness is, look for a book that is specifically directed at your problem area (published by Kaplan, or Barrons). </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The more practice tests you do, the better it is. I believe that the GRE is more a test of how you manage your time and how well you work under pressure, than anything else. Start practice tests (I recommend online tests, but begin with the basics - use the tests given in the books first) when you have about three weeks to go for the exam. But then again, time it well so that you have sufficient time to practice - so if you have an important event or test in college, plan accordingly. Another important tip would be to remain consistent with all your sections, primarily Verbal and Quant. Even if you are super confident about being able to tackle one section, do not neglect it completely. Being in practice close to the exam is important. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Improving your vocabulary is an important part of the GRE process, so start early. The more you read, the better your vocab will get. If you don't have sufficient time, then look for an appropriate word list on the internet (I used the Barrons word list), and work through it systematically. Be sure you know the words that turn up frequently on the GRE - these are the words you see all the time on practice questions: you know you've seen them before, but can't remember what they mean. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lastly, as I said before, time management is the key. Start early. Plan for the test keeping in mind all other engagements and activities that you will be undertaking simultaneously. The GRE is not tough. It is tricky in that you must be crystal clear with concepts, and you must manage your time wisely - both before, and during the test. Good luck!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></span>
<b>Shruti Lakhtakia graduated from St. Stephen's College in 2013. She scored 334/340 in her GRE exam. She is currently pursuing Masters in Development Economics from Oxford. </b></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-72768581398261847542013-07-19T20:30:00.000-07:002013-07-20T01:50:22.988-07:00How to prepare for DSE entrance (Delhi School of Economics)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Dear all</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Delhi School of Economics entrance will
basically test your knowledge of Microeconomics, </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Macroeconomics, Statistics,
Econometrics and Mathematics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At the time of applying, you need to select
between Option A and Option B. You make a choice based on your major during the
under-graduation. Students of Economics Honours opt for A, whereas those of
Mathematics Honours opt for B. (I do not know of students from other streams
applying to DSE for a Masters in Economics, so if you’re that exception, and
are reading this blog, please look at the past year papers and see which
subject you’re more comfortable with- Economics or Mathematics, and make a
choice accordingly).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">For lack of much knowledge about Option B
of the entrance examination, I’m going to stick to elaborating on Option A
(Which is the one that I appeared for).</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Past year Papers</div>
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<a href="http://econdse.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2009-Option-A.pdf" target="_blank">Option A Paper 2009</a></div>
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<a href="http://econdse.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2010-Option-A.pdf" target="_blank">Option A paper 2010</a></div>
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<a href="http://econdse.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2011-Option-A.pdf" target="_blank">Option A Paper 2011</a></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"></span></div>
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<a href="http://econdse.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/2012-Option-A.pdf" target="_blank">Option A Paper 2012</a></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">1.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> <b> </b></span></span><span lang="EN-IN"><b>PATTERN OF THE PAPER</b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The paper consists of 2
sections.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Section 1: 20 multiple
choice questions</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marking scheme: +1 for the
correct answer, -1/3 for a wrong answer, 0 for unattempted question</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Section 2: 40 multiple
choice questions</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Marking scheme: +2 for the
correct answer, -2/3 for a wrong answer, 0 for unattempted question</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">2.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN"><b>ADDITIONAL RESOURCES</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I have heard of the
following two coaching institutes/tutors:</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">i)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Amit Kumar Goyal</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">ii)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Eco Point </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ps. I attended
Amit Goyal classes. He charges Rs. 50,000 for around 25 classes. He covers
microeconomics, mathematics and econometrics/statistics very well. However, he
takes only one class for macroeconomics, which means you will have to prepare
that subject pretty much on your own. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Why I chose his
classes?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">i)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">He’s organised. Every class is
of 7 hours which are divided as follows: 10am-1pm he teaches, 1pm-2pm is lunch
break, 2pm-5pm he gives us a test to solve (which is more like an assignment,
ie. you’re allowed to form your own little group and think about the problems),
discusses the test and also takes any doubts that you might have</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">ii)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">It’s conveniently located.
Until last year, he used to take classes at YWCA (10 mins walk from Patel Chowk
Metro Station)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">3.<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> <b>
</b></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN"><b>BOOKS YOU MAY USE</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Microeconomics</u>: Hal Varian
(Intermediate Microeconomics), Hal Varian Workbook, Osborne (for game theory),
Nicholson and Snyder (for production theory), Gregory Mankiw’s Principle of
Economics (for microeconomics if you need to strengthen your basic concepts),
Bernheim Whinston (reference text for comprehensive explanations of topics if
needed)</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Macroeconomics</u>: Dornbusch
and Fischer, O. Blanchard, Development Economics by Debraj Ray (for Solow
and Harrod Domar growth models)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Or you can just pick up
the reading prescribed by Delhi University for the 2<sup>nd</sup> year students
of the annual examination mode- this would be the best rather than trying to
read from 3 different books.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Econometrics and
Statistics</u>: Gujarati’s Introductory Econometrics, Degroot and Schervish</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><u>Mathematics</u>: Sydsaeter and
Hammond</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Photocopies of the
required portions of the above mentioned readings used to be available at the
DSE photocopy shop until the previous academic year. With the new piracy raid,
I’m not sure if they will be available any longer. Contact your seniors for
their readings, if you fail to get them at DSE, I suppose. Those going for jobs
or MBA’s should surely be willing to part with theirs.</span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">4.<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN"><b>TIPS FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">i)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Solve as many past year papers
as possible (starting from the year 2004). In this year’s DSE entrance
examination, atleast 10 questions were lifted straight off from the past year
papers, word to word, figure to figure. I answered all of those within a
minute, and save a whole lot of time for the harder questions. Additionally,
past year papers are diagnostic tests of sorts. Based on the questions you’re
unable to answer, you will get the exact idea about which areas you need to
practice most. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">ii)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">‘General Equilibrium’ is given
a lot of weightage in the examination. There are certainly going to be atleast
3 questions in section B from that topic, so make sure you practice it well
(numerical as well as theory)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">iii)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Do not forget to take a pen,
pencil, eraser, and CALCULATOR on the day of the examination. Take some energy
drink (anything with glucose) for refreshment.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">iv)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Do not try to judge yourself
before the examination. Remember, you’re as good as anyone else. Be confident,
and make sure you go inside the examination hall motivated to think and apply
your brain. You may have never solved the probability question that you see in
the paper (although I can assure you that you would’ve seen a variant of it in
the past years :P), but that should not
mean that you will not be able to crack it if you spend 2-3 minutes to think
about it. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.5in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN">v)<span style="font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-IN">Do not make uncalculated
guesses. Remember, you’re negatively marked for each wrong answer.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></span></div>
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If you have any queries, post below as a comment. You can also mail it to Vaishali Garga at vaishaligarga@gmail.com.<br />
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<span style="text-indent: -0.5in;">Regards,</span><br />
<span style="text-indent: -0.5in;">Vaishali Garga</span><br />
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<span style="text-indent: -0.5in;"><b> Vaishali Garga is an economics graduate from St. Stephen's College (Batch of 2013). She got Rank 19 in DSE entrance this year. She also got admission offers from London School of Economics, Oxford and Brown Universisty. </b></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com129tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-40376364501942500112013-07-18T16:15:00.000-07:002013-07-18T16:15:42.189-07:00Preparing for ISI entrance (Indian Statistical Institute)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i><b>Dear friends</b></i><br />
<i><b>Getting an admission offer from Indian Statistical Institute for MSc in Quantitative Economics (MSQE) is not tough if you are consistent and work for it in a proper way. In this article I have tried to explain the pattern of the exam, books to be used for preparation and some general points to be kept in mind.<br /><br />There is no need for taking coaching especially for ISI entrance. If you are taking coaching for DSE entrance, it'd help in the ISI exam too. The entrance test for ISI does not have complicated, twisted questions. It's simple and straightforward if you have covered the syllabus well. I hope this article helps.</b></i><br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
<i><b>If you have any queries, or anything to share about MSQE entrance exam, feel free to post it below as comments. I'd be happy to address them. For more information about ISI, visit the website <a href="http://www.isid.ac.in/" target="_blank">here</a>. Good wishes.</b></i><br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
<i><b>Warm Regards,</b></i><br />
<i><b>Gaurav Poddar</b></i><br />
<br />
There are two stages for MSQE entrance (MSc Quantitative Economics) at ISI:<br />
<u>Stage 1</u>: Written test<br />
<u>Stage 2</u>: Interview<br />
<br />
<u>Stage 1</u>: <b>Written test</b><br />
There are two papers in the written exam. Paper 1 covers Mathematics and is objective MCQ type questions. Paper 2 covers Microeconomics and Macroeconomics and is subjective.<br />
<br />
<u>Paper 1: Mathematics and Elementary Statistics</u><br />
This section tests Class 11th and 12th level Maths focusing mainly on Algebra and Calculus. The best way to prepare for it is to pick up RD Sharma or RS Aggarwal and revise the concepts and all the formulae. Once done, practice questions from past year Sample Papers (Links given below). Another very useful source for practicing is a book "Test of Mathematics at the 10+2 Level: Indian Statistical Institute" For elementary Statistics, if you are a DU Economics graduate student, you need not prepare. Just brush up the concepts from any book like SC Gupta.<br />
<br />
As I had done Science at 10+2 level and had also prepared for engineering entrances, I didn't find this section tough. But remember, this is the most important paper as, if you are unable to clear the cutoff in this Paper, your Paper 2 which is subjective won't be even marked. For those who are weak at Maths, you must put in a lot of effort.<br />
<br />
<i>Two points</i> that I'd like to mention from my personal experience:<br />
<br />
1. Whenever you are practicing any question, first solve it in the way you know, which may be using a long method. Then, before moving on to the next question, stop and think if there is a shorter way to solve it. Sometimes, in the exam when you are running short of time, using short methods is always handy and saves time for tougher questions.<br />
<br />
2. <u style="font-weight: bold;">Read the instructions carefully.</u> Sometimes, there is negative marking and sometimes there is not. In our year, nothing was mentioned. People started asking the invigilators if there is negative marking. Different invigilators told different things. In this situation, I tried to solve 80% of the questions and for 2-3 questions which I wasn't very sure of but had some idea, I took a guess and the rest I left unanswered. Under such a circumstance, I feel one shouldn't mark choices randomly on the assumption that there is no negative marking when it is not clear.<br />
<br />
<u>Paper 2: Microeconomics and Macroeconomics</u><br />
This section tests the knowledge of Micro and Macroeconomics. To put it clearly, you need to be thorough with Micro and Macro that is taught at the undergrad level in DU to B.A. Economics (H) students. And hence, the name of the books to be used will be familiar.<br />
<br />
<i>For Micro</i> - (1) Hal. Varian (2) Rubenfield and Pindyck (3) Nicholson and Snyder<br />
<i>For Macro</i> - (1) Dornbusch and Fischer (2) O. Blanchard (3) Development Economics by Debraj Ray (for Solow and Harrod Domar growth models) (4) Osborne (I'd recommend this for Cournot and Bertrand problems)<br />
<br />
Practice questions from sample papers given below. That should be enough. If you are also practicing DSE past year papers, that would be great.<br />
<br />
<i>Two points</i> that I'd like to mention again from my personal experience:<br />
1. <u style="font-weight: bold;">Read the instructions carefully.</u> Usually there are 10 questions and you have to attempt as many as you can in the given very limited time. However, in our year, the instructions said clearly "Attempt any six questions" This makes life easier as you just need to pick 6 questions you know and attempt them nicely. There were students who did not read the instructions and tried attempting all the questions and couldn't give their best in the first six answers which would have been evaluated.<br />
<br />
2. <u style="font-weight: bold;">Manage your time well.</u> This is the problem I faced. I was actually not aware of how much to write for each answer, how much should I explain. So, I spent a lot of time in the first 2-3 questions, writing the answers in the DU exam-way and had to hurry towards the end. So, manage your time. And it's NOT important to fill pages. The answer can be half a page and be correct if it makes sense.<br />
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<u>Stage 2</u>: <b>Interview</b><br />
Once you clear the written test, you will be called for an interview. It's a very simple process. I was given two questions, one of Maths and one of Economics and in 15 minutes I had to solve any one of them. After 15 minutes, I had to go in front of the interview panel and solve that sum on the board. That's it! If you are able to solve, you are selected. If you are unable to solve, you might not get selected. It's a do-or-a-die thing. There were absolutely no other questions. No questions on current affairs, no questions on why I want to do Masters, why ISI, etc. (I'll talk more about Interview experiences in another post)<br />
<br />
Click on the links below to view the past year sample papers and syllabus.<br />
<a href="http://www.isical.ac.in/~deanweb/msqesq2012.pdf" target="_blank">Syllabus and Sample Paper 2012</a><br />
<a href="http://www.isical.ac.in/~deanweb/MSQEsample2011.pdf" target="_blank">Syllabus and Sample Paper 2011</a><br />
<a href="http://www.isical.ac.in/~deanweb/msqe2010.pdf" target="_blank">Syllabus and Sample Paper 2010</a><br />
<a href="http://www.isical.ac.in/~deanweb/sample2009.pdf" target="_blank">Syllabus and Sample Paper 2009</a><br />
<a href="http://www.isical.ac.in/~deanweb/ME%20I%20&MEII%20Sample%202008.pdf" target="_blank">Syllabus and Sample Paper 2008</a><br />
<a href="http://www.isical.ac.in/~deanweb/MEI&MEIIsyllabus-smp06-final.pdf" target="_blank">Syllabus and Sample Paper 2006</a><br />
<a href="http://www.isical.ac.in/~deanweb/msqesmp05.pdf" target="_blank">Syllabus and Sample Paper 2005</a><br />
<a href="http://www.isical.ac.in/~deanweb/syllsqmsqe2k4%28mod%29.pdf" target="_blank">Syllabus and Sample Paper 2004</a><br />
<br />
<b>Gaurav Poddar is an economics graduate from St. Stephen's College (Batch of 2013). He secured 85.2%. He also got placed at 'Bain and Company' and 'Deutsche Bank'. Currently, he is pursuing MSQE at the Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.</b><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11320087043595674580noreply@blogger.com139tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1562483015428919379.post-27810924362982334372013-07-17T02:08:00.002-07:002013-07-18T15:44:55.639-07:00My Essay for Rhodes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;">©</span> Jalnidh Kaur<br />
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<b>Dear applicant for the Rhodes Scholarship</b><br />
<b>Everybody is unique. You would know by now that a Rhodes essay is a highly personal one, and so essays are widely different across different individuals. The essay is nothing superficial, but a true reflection of one's real self - your dreams, aspirations and plans for the future. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>I have been receiving loads of requests to share my essay, I have already shared it with a few aspirants of the current year. Deep inside, I have been introspecting whether I have been promoting cronyism by this kind of selective sharing with people who are requesting me for the same. In the interest of equal opportunity and as a hardcore proponent of knowledge sharing, I am sharing it publicly. Please find the essay below. </b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Writing the essay last year was a truly wondrous experience. I thought it involved long travails into my self and I became much clearer and maturer after having written it. Often the only person people don't know much about, is their own selves. And the essay asks you do just that hard chore - knowing yourself and expressing yourself. I hope you too will succeed in the task and will enjoy the journey.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Good wishes with your application.</b><br />
<b>Regards</b><br />
<b>Jalnidh Kaur</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">It has been a strange summer. While the temperat<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1562483015428919379" name="_GoBack"></a>ure shot up like never before, I was juggling between two
diametrically opposite worlds. One, a luxuriously conditioned and hi tech
workspace where things moved fast and the surroundings were spic and span, the
other was a mess - dust, heat, garbage and stink; streams of sweat would rush
down my spine while the sun would scorch my face. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The first was that of a regional stock exchange where the AC
chilled me to the bone while the second was the very visible underbelly of my
city. The first was more an act of courtesy to a boss; the second was an act of
personal choice. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Paradoxes abound in our little world. As an undergrad
student, I have always been awed at the contradiction between a conditioned and
an unconditioned weather, between the classy basketball court at my school and
the rickety one at a government school, between public sector and private
sector, between affluence and penury, between North Delhi and South Delhi. Of course perfect equality and justice are
just ideal goals and chimeras, even Rawls would acknowledge the impracticality
of the same. What philosophers, economists and policy makers strive to achieve
is a less unjust society, all policies are attempts to remove clear injustices
to an extent possible. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Fascinated by one of the attempts to eliminate injustices in
the domain of health, I chose to independently study the <i>RasthriyaSwasthyaBimaYojana – </i>RSBY (National Health Insurance
Scheme) in my summer this year. The scheme provides a handsome health insurance
cover to the population below poverty line to deliver social security. I
interviewed these beneficiaries to study how their lives changed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">While, philosophical parleys with peers at college always
tend to bend to one side, either extreme libertarian or extreme socialist; I
have learnt through this study how private sector, government and the poor can
all come together in a symbiotic manner and create mutual benefits. Research has been a delightful discovery and
the search for truth has instilled a new knowledge hunger in me – to find out
bits of truth from the ground and supplement the mathematical rigor of
economics with empirical evidence. Most importantly, I have learnt how
technology and efficient delivery can create a workable incentive matrix and
create social change.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Five years ago, I chose to opt for economics out of sheer
enthusiasm of exploring it. I wanted to study a discipline which could
understand the social complex of interrelationships objectively and evaluate it
quantitatively. Over time, I have discovered the depths of the discipline and the
implements it equips its follower with. Economics principles are like a
toolchest. Through analytical frameworks and models, I feel equipped with more
gear at the end of every lecture. The freedom it bestows on its student is just
so enthralling – one could study anything from markets in education to health
to nuclear physics. This limitless horizon has allowed me to explore my minor
fields in depth along with my major. My philosophical inclinations along with a
brush with Boulding’s views on going beyond the rudimentary and strait-jacket
assumptions of the discipline have motivated me to integrate my everyday
ruminations with the principles of economics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Another
interest which has over time closely integrated with my discipline is
‘education’. New constructions are in full swing in my locality. In the
vacations following my board exams I started teaching kids of the construction
workers who would romp aimlessly in streets every day. The bench under a shady
tree in the park became our classroom. They loved shouting the English alphabet aloud
as if trumpeting their first baby step towards literacy in the neighborhood. I
told them what an 'echo' is – when you shout aloud, your voice hits the houses
nearby and it returns. They shouted louder to hear their voices echoed by the
newly built posh houses around, content to discover the power of their own
vocal cords.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Over time
this little initiative which we christened as ‘Éclair’ (Enlightenment), has
blossomed into a country wide street school chain functioning in three states
including Delhi. My school and college batch mates pitched in this voluntary
initiative as guest faculty. Till date, we<span style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> have been able to get ten kids 'enrolled' in
regular schools– it is an achievement that rejoices me much more than any of my
personal educational accomplishments. I have discovered my pedagogic
inclinations through this initiative.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As I look ahead
at the expanding horizon that economics has thrown open for me, I see myself
doing an M. Phil in Economics from Oxford. This would equip me with more tools
in my toolbox and allow me to understand the world of inequalities and
injustices better. I have had a vibrant exposure to financial markets and live
trading in a stock exchange during my internship and I have seen the world of
poignant injustices. Capital markets offer huge dividends and bonuses, of a
scale and size that people down the poverty lane, below the poverty line cannot
even dream of. I aim to use my learning from the study of social sector schemes
in developing countries and that about capital markets to arrive at logical
solutions. An M.Phil in Economics will provide me an academic base and better foundational
framework within which these inequalities could be examined. I shall be in a
better position to assess various developmental strategies and propose better
solutions, most importantly. A dedicated focus on academic research at Oxford
will help me explore the world further and allow me to go beyond limited
model-specific assumptions of the discipline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Five years ago
my essay on International Peace won me laurels at the University of Hawai’i and
East West Center, USA. The essay ended with a note of conviction – Make history
by design and not by accident. Today as I mull over these lines, I am of a firm
conviction that disparities in our world could be bridged with value-based
interventions and firm foundations in social science research.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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