NABARD Assistant Manager Grade A (RDBS) · India · National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersWhat development means, how it is measured, the classic growth models, and the roles of state, market, civil society and international institutions.
In the exams: agricultural economics PhD entrance and fellowship examinations, development (heavy); central bank officer recruitment economic and social issues papers (reported)
How our questions for NABARD Assistant Manager Grade A spread across the units of Development Economics. Difficulty: 26 easy, 22 medium, 2 hard.
| Indicators of development | 11 | |
| International development institutions | 9 | |
| Growth and development distinguished | 6 | |
| Comparative development | 6 | |
| Role of the state and markets | 5 | |
| Conceptions of development | 4 | |
| Harrod-Domar growth model | 4 | |
| Role of civil society and institutions | 3 | |
| Classical theories of development | 2 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
The World Development Report 2008, 'Agriculture for Development', concluded that GDP growth originating in agriculture is
C. at least twice as effective in reducing poverty as growth originating in other sectors
WDR 2008 found agricultural growth at least twice as poverty-reducing as non-agricultural growth, because the poor are concentrated in farming and rural labour markets. The effect is strongest in agriculture-based low-income economies, not high-income ones.
Further reading: World Bank, World Development Report 2008
The Human Development Index was first published by UNDP in
A. 1990
The first Human Development Report (1990), led by Mahbub ul Haq, introduced the HDI. In 2010 the method changed to a geometric mean and new education indicators, which students sometimes mistake for the start date.
Further reading: UNDP Human Development Report 1990
The global Multidimensional Poverty Index published by UNDP and OPHI covers which three dimensions?
D. Health, education and living standards
The global MPI uses ten indicators under health (nutrition, child mortality), education (years of schooling, attendance) and living standards (cooking fuel, sanitation, water, electricity, housing, assets). It deliberately does not use income.
Further reading: OPHI and UNDP, Global MPI
In a region, 30 per cent of people are multidimensionally poor and the poor are, on average, deprived in 45 per cent of the weighted indicators. The MPI is
A. 0.135
MPI = H x A = 0.30 x 0.45 = 0.135. Adding gives 0.75, averaging gives 0.375, and 0.15 is the gap between the two numbers. The MPI is the product of incidence and intensity, the Alkire-Foster adjusted headcount ratio.
Further reading: Alkire and Foster (2011); OPHI Global MPI
In the Harrod-Domar model, the saving rate is 24 per cent and the capital-output ratio is 4. The growth rate of output is
B. 6 per cent
g = s/v = 0.24/4 = 0.06, or 6 per cent. Multiplying (0.24 x 4 = 0.96, or 96 per cent) and subtracting (20) are the typical slips; 16.7 per cent is v/s.
Further reading: Harrod (1939); Domar (1946)
Theodore Schultz's 1961 presidential address to the American Economic Association is best known for
A. treating education and health as investment in human capital
'Investment in Human Capital' (1961) argued that spending on education, health and training is investment that raises productivity; Becker (1964) developed the theory. The other options belong to Rosenstein-Rodan, Chenery-Strout and Rostow.
Further reading: Schultz, T.W. Investment in Human Capital, AER 1961
A coordination failure, as in modern versions of the big push (Murphy, Shleifer and Vishny, 1989), occurs when
A. an investment is profitable only if many others invest at once, and no one moves first
Coordination failures give multiple equilibria: a low-investment equilibrium persists although a high-investment one would be better for all. This justifies coordinated public action; the other options are price control, monopoly and asymmetric information.
Further reading: Todaro and Smith, Economic Development; Ray, Development Economics
The United Nations target for official development assistance from donor countries, set in 1970, is
A. 0.7 per cent of GNI
The UN General Assembly adopted 0.7 per cent of GNP (now GNI) in 1970, following the Pearson Commission's recommendation; few donors meet it. 0.15-0.20 per cent is a separate sub-target for least developed countries.
Further reading: Todaro and Smith, Economic Development; Ray, Development Economics
Under the Maputo Declaration associated with Africa's Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), governments committed to
C. allocate at least 10 per cent of public expenditure to agriculture
The 2003 Maputo commitment set at least 10 per cent of national public spending for agriculture, with CAADP targeting 6 per cent agricultural growth. 0.7 per cent of GNI is the donor ODA target.
Further reading: Todaro and Smith, Economic Development; Ray, Development Economics
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