ECON 200: Microeconomics Required Assessment

Introduction
to Assignment

Africa, by almost any measure, is
the wealthiest continent in terms of natural resources yet, a large percentage
of the continent’s population lives in poverty and continually struggles with
civil strife. The material you covered in this course can help us to explain
why economic development in many African Countries is still lagging behind
other nations of the world.

In this assignment, you are
required to write a research paper on the general topic of natural resource
extraction and utilization in two countries
of your choice from Sub-Saharan Africa. You can select any two countries from
the list of Sub-Saharan Countries available at.loc.gov/rr/amed/guide/afr-countrylist.html”>http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/guide/afr-countrylist.html.

Preparation

To prepare for your research, you
are to review material from the following 3 chapters of the class text.

·
Externalities (Chapter 10)

·
Public Goods and Common Resources (Chapter 11)

·
Income Distribution and Poverty (Chapter 20)

In addition, scan the background papers listed below and read
at least one of the background papers or books in detail. Feel free to also
seek out additional information.

Development of Thesis

Listed below are possible research questions that could help
formulate the topic for your paper. In every case, be sure to support your
thesis with concrete examples from your research of African Countries and with
economic theory. Factual information about countries must be supported with
valid sources and economic theory should be cited (either from your text or
from academic publications). In
addition, you must include your own analysis, in your own words, based on your
sources and references. Be sure to tie together the information you present so
that the main theme is clear to the reader; do not assume that the reader can
guess why you are including the information.

Select two African countries based on your review of
background papers and any additional information you have discovered in your
background preparation. You will use these two countries in addressing your
research question.

Possible Research
Questions

1. Compare/contrast the
control of natural resources/minerals in many African countries with the United
States. Specifically focus on the role of property rights and the control of
these rights. Give examples and support your claim with evidence and economic theory.

2. Given the current
situation in many African countries, do we see the Tragedy of the Commons
occurring? Consider not only how the “tragedy” is impacting the current
population but also how hit may be devastating to coming generations. Give
examples and support your claim with evidence and economic theory.

3. Should political leaders
have the ability to control natural resources? What advantages and
disadvantages might there be to such control in theory? What has been the
actual experience? What evidence is there of the theoretical advantages and
disadvantages in practice? Who has benefited from resource allocation
decisions?

4. What externalities result from the situation where political leaders
control the resources and subsequently appropriate the income and wealth from
these resources? Do political leaders have the same goals as citizens of a
country in directing resources? You might consider actual and possible uses of
resources including military, personal gain of leaders, infrastructure, public
health, education, and any others you can think of. Where are resources currently directed? What
are the opportunity costs of using resources in this way? Is the current
allocation of resources efficient? Could
resources be better allocated? Support your claims with evidence and economic
theory.

5. What responsibility do
developed countries have in alleviating the strife caused by the appropriation
of resources by political leaders in African countries? Is there any validity
to the claim that citizens of poorer countries are exploited by individuals in
developed countries who make deals with political leaders for the nation’s
resources? Is there action that can be taken by developed countries to help
alleviate the problem? Has such action ever been taken? Be sure to support your
claims with evidence from valid sources.

6. What market imperfections
exist in the allocation of resources in African countries? What steps could be
taken to either remove or ease the imperfections to allow the market mechanisms
to function efficiently?

Minimum Requirements

The paper will be 6-8 pages in length not counting the cover
page or reference page.

APA format must be used. The paper will include a cover page,
abstract, introduction, body, conclusion, and reference page.

The introduction must clearly identify your research question
and the countries you are using to support your thesis.

While the paper will be written in narrative reporting form,
it will address a set of issues related to an overall research question. Do not
enumerate or bullet the questions or issues in list form. Include the
information that addresses the questions and issues in the body of the paper.

Information should be summarized and paraphrased as much as
possible. Direct quotes should be limited to ideas that cannot be expressed in
words other than those used by the source. A good guideline is to have direct
quotes represent no more than 5% of the paper, not including statistics and the
reference page. Substantial points will be deducted if more than 8% of the paper
is directly quoted, and the paper will not be accepted if more than 30% is
directly quoted.

Scholarly sources and/or reputable news sources must be used to
validate factual information and to support critical analysis. There must be at
least three such scholarly sources and/or reputable news sources cited in
addition to information that may be taken from the assigned readings and course
text. Editorials, opinion pages, commentaries, and blogs that are posted at
news media web pages are not to be used for this purpose (that is, to validate
factual information and to support critical analysis). Sources must be recent
(within the last 5 years).

Opinion pages such as those mentioned above and
user-contributed websites may be used in
addition to scholarly and reputable sources to demonstrate the viewpoint(s)
of those potentially affected by policy, but may not be used to validate
factual information.

Students are not limited to suggested resources; other
reputable websites are also permitted. In evaluating a website, consider the
credentials of the author of the article being cited. If there is any doubt the
credibility of the source, check with your instructor.

Suggested Resources

List of Sub-Saharan Countries

.loc.gov/rr/amed/guide/afr-countrylist.html”>http://www.loc.gov/rr/amed/guide/afr-countrylist.html

Background Articles

·
Delivering on the promise Leveraging natural resources to
accelerate human development in Africa. (Gates Foundation and African
Development Bank, 6/2015)

Overview:.gatesfoundation.org/what-we-do/global-policy/natural-resources/”>http://www.gatesfoundation.org/what-we-do/global-policy/natural-resources/

Report Summary:.gatesfoundation.org/~/media/GFO/What-We-Do/Global_Policy_DPAF/Extractives-Report/Gates-AfDB-Natural-Resources-Summary-ENG081815.pdf”>http://www.gatesfoundation.org/~/media/GFO/What-We-Do/Global_Policy_DPAF/Extractives-Report/Gates-AfDB-Natural-Resources-Summary-ENG081815.pdf

Full
Report:.gatesfoundation.org/~/media/GFO/What-We-Do/Global_Policy_DPAF/Extractives-Report/Gates-AfDB-Natural-Resources-Report-Print-ENG081815.pdf”>http://www.gatesfoundation.org/~/media/GFO/What-We-Do/Global_Policy_DPAF/Extractives-Report/Gates-AfDB-Natural-Resources-Report-Print-ENG081815.pdf

·
Securing Africa’s Natural Resource to Avoid
Conflict (Institute for Security Studies, 6/2013)

.issafrica.org/iss-today/securing-africas-natural-resources-to-avoid-conflict”>https://www.issafrica.org/iss-today/securing-africas-natural-resources-to-avoid-conflict

·
Africa’s Natural Resources: The Paradox of Plenty (African
Bank, 2007)

.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/(E)%20AfricanBank%202007%20Ch4.pdf”>http://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/(E)%20AfricanBank%202007%20Ch4.pdf

·
Analysis of issues shaping Africa’s economic future (World
Bank, 4/2013)

.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Africa/Report/Africas-Pulse-brochure_Vol7.pdf”>http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Africa/Report/Africas-Pulse-brochure_Vol7.pdf

·
Analysis of issues shaping Africa’s economic future (World
Bank, 10/2013)

.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Africa/Report/Africas-Pulse-brochure_Vol8.pdf”>http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Africa/Report/Africas-Pulse-brochure_Vol8.pdf

·
The Economy of Conflict in the Oil Rich Niger Delta Region of
Nigeria (Nordic Journal of

African Studies, 2005).org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ikelegbe_the_economy-of-Conflict.pdf”>http://integritynigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/ikelegbe_the_economy-of-Conflict.pdf

Books

·
Burgis,
Tom. The Looting Machine: Warlords,
Oligarchs, Corporations, Smugglers and the Theft of Africa Wealth. 2015.
ISBN: 978-1610394390.

·
Chayes,
Sarah. Thieves of State: Why Corruption
Threatens Global Security. Especially Chapters 10 and 14. 2015. ISBN:978-0393239461.

·
Bond, Patrick. Looting
Africa: The Economics of Exploitation. 2006. ISBN:978-1842778111.

Official Statistics and
Country Profiles

·
World Bank’s World Development Indicators

.worldbank.org/indicator”>http://data.worldbank.org/indicator

·
International Monetary Fund profiles of countries (this
link is to Angola, but once there you can select any country).imf.org/external/country/ago/”>http://www.imf.org/external/country/ago/

·
Poverty and Equity (Sub-Saharan Africa)

.worldbank.org/poverty/region/SSA”>http://povertydata.worldbank.org/poverty/region/SSA

·
United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database

.un.org/db/”>http://comtrade.un.org/db/

·
U.S. Department of State homepage (Country profiles the
bottom right of the home page)

.state.gov/”>http://www.state.gov/

·
CIA’s world fact book with country profiles

.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/”>https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

Natural Resources Information

·
World Resources Institute (WRI) on Natural Resource Rights

.wri.org/blog/2014/01/new-map-documents-natural-resource-rights-sub-saharan-africa”>http://www.wri.org/blog/2014/01/new-map-documents-natural-resource-rights-sub-saharan-africa

·
Interactive map for Natural Resources Rights for Sub-Saharan
African Countries

.wri.org/applications/maps/rights-to-resources/”>http://www.wri.org/applications/maps/rights-to-resources/

·
National Geographic report on Africa’s resources

http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/africa-resources/

Rubric – 150 Points

ScholarMatic: Explanation & Answer

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