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OCR A2 Development Economics Exam Technique

Final 15 mark question

“Discuss ....”

(For example: “Discuss the implications of increased globalisation for developing economies.”)

Contents 1 General approach 2 Detailed plan 2.1 Opening section 2.2 Middle section 2.2.1 E.g. 3 Final section= 3.1 E.G. 4 Timing and size of essay 5 Comments

General approach

• Before starting, make sure you know how you are going to directly answer the question they have asked – don't fall into any common mistakes when writing an essay, for example:
  • writing everything you know about one of the subjects brought up in the question, but forgetting to actually answer the question itself
  • including macro economic arguments in questions that only ask for micro economics, or vice versa
  • only covering negative or only covering positive implications, when the question asks for “implications”, meaning positive and negative
• As the middle section, argue two points on each side of the argument, getting into level 3 by using relevant diagrams or relevant economic terminology to explain these points, and getting into low level 4 by arguing the strength of each point as you write them up.
• Then reach high level 4 in the final section by 'weighing up' the strengths of the points you made earlier, comparing them with each other to produce a direct answer the original question: a judgement or recommendation (whichever is appropriate) that answers the question.

Detailed plan

Opening section

Immediately start answering the question. You don't need a separate 'introduction'. You may want to (briefly!) define terms and ideas for clarity early on, but this won't get marks on its own. E.g.: “The effects of increased globalisation on developing economies include free trade with more countries, and more multinational corporations (TNCs) entering the economy. The implications of these effects will depend on how the LEDC handles the effects of increased globalisation, and on global economic conditions.”

Middle section

Write a commentary (meaning it's well-written; not just a disjointed list) for both sides of the argument. Ideally write 2 arguments/points for one side and then 2 arguments/points for the other side (if time permits), covering them in detail like so:

For each point:

• refer to economic terms*1 and diagrams wherever possible (to gain Level 3)
• consider what will happen in both the long-run AND the short-run
• look for flipsides to any points you make; the word "however" may come up a lot
• mention alternative options that could be taken where a problem is found with a policy
• having gone into enough detail, give the point a weighting based on its strength as an argument (low Level 4)

While ensuring you constantly refer back to the question*2 to AVOID STRAYING OFF TOPIC!

E.g.

“Increased globalisation involves the proliferation of free trade. As shown by Japan after the end of WWII, and the evolution of the 'Asian Tigers', some LEDCs can achieve economic growth with free trade if they use protectionist policies. *1These policies, such as subsidies and trade tariffs, help infant industries develop by helping them resist foreign competition with its high economies of scale and comparative advantage. *2So, if handled with protectionism, increased globalisation could result in greater trade for LEDCs, and high export earnings, potentially helping to reduce the current account deficit.”

Final section=

Examine each side and decide and justify which side is the strongest. (This might be because of one particularly strong point which you brought up, or because of certain problems or benefits in the long or short run.)

Having decided which is strongest, directly answer the question by coming to a judgement or making a recommendation; whichever is appropriate.

E.G.

The question here is “discuss the implications of increased globalisation for developing economies.” There isn't a clear cut question there, but it needs to be answered by making a general judgement: “the impact of increased globalisation will always hold a potential risk to developing economies in this respect, who will have to campaign to have developing economies reduce their protectionism, but who may ultimately have no control over the implications of increased globalisation.”

Other questions like “Discuss whether a developing country should rely on its own sources of funding or seek foreign direct investment in order to promote development” (Jan 07) require you to make a recommendation rather than a judgement – in this case, whether or not developing countries should use domestic funding or foreign domestic investment to promote development.

Timing and size of essay

The most important thing is to get to the final section for evaluation and high level 4. Loads of points with little or no evaluation isn't as good as fewer points with a strong evaluation. You are marked on depth, not breadth.

• If you have 30 minutes, do 2 points on either side is the ideal amount, and once you go into the final section and evaluate

them, enough to get high marks.

• If you only have 20 minutes, you must make sure you get into some evaluation, so do only one

point on each side and then get on to the final section.

• If you have 40 minutes available, you could consider doing 3 points. However, this would only be as a backup in case some of the other points you made were not sufficient – 2 points on each side is enough for full marks.

Comments

These notes are aimed at people studying for OCR A2 Development Economics, but will also be suitable for other courses and exam boards.

Originally submitted by james173 on TSR Forums.

Sources: my Economics teacher and their documents, thestudentroom.co.uk