IAS-MAINS

ECONOMICS(Optional)

Previous years Question Paper (Topic wise)

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

1. What are shadow prices? Why are these preferred over market prices in project
evaluation? (2018)

2. In Harrod’s model of growth, if the expected growth rate exceeds the warranted
growth rate, what will be the relation between the actual growth rate and the
expected growth rate? (2018)

3. Development of human capital may lead to constant returns and propel an

economy to self-sustaining economic growth. Explain. (2018)

4. Kuznets hypothesis predicts decline in income inequalities in the long-run. In

recent decades do trends in income inequalities in development and developing
economies support this hypothesis? Give reasons for your answer. (2018)

5. Examine Arthur Lewis model of economic development with unlimited supplies

of labour. What is A.K. Sen’s critique of that approach? (2018)

6. Explain why the market and the State have complementary roles in economic
development. (2018)

7. How does rural economic activity create environment degradation in developing

economies? (2018)

8. What policies would you suggest to combat negative environmental

externalities? (2018)

9. What is ‘solow –residual’? What are its implications? (2017)

10. Show that Cobb-Douglas Production Function exhibits both Hicks and Harrod
neutral technical progress. (2017)

11. “In view of economic uncertainties, Hirschman approach to economic

development makes more sense.” Discuss. (2017)

12. The trade-off between environment and development remains unresolved.”

Comment in view of the United State exiting from Paris Climate Agreement.
(2017)

13. Discuss the problem of intergenerational inequity arising out of internal public
debt. (2017)

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14. Explain Dunning’s eclectic theory of FDI. (2016)

15. Explain Kuznel’s inverted ‘U’ hypothesis. Is growth good for the poor? Explain.

(2016)

16. Under what conditions economic growth reduces employment growth? Discuss.

(2016)

17. Describe the growth path, which once the economy attains it, will give a higher
level of per capita consumption than any other growth path for all time. (2016)

18. “Technical progress in capital-intensive sector almost invariably reduces the

real wage rate and increases the real return to capital. Technical progress in
labour intensive sector will lead to increase in real wage rate and decrease in
the real return to capital.” Explain. (2016)

19. “Pollution-income progression of agrarian commu8nities (clean) to industrial

economies (pollution intensive to service economics (cleaner) would appear to be
false if pollution increases again at the end due to higher levels of income and
consumption of the people at large.” Discuss. (2016)

20. Indicate the Ricardo legacy which is inherent in the Lewis model of economic
development. (2016)

21. To counteract under-development stagnation, discuss Leibenstein’s critical

minimum effort theory. (2016)

22. How does carbon trading help in reducing environmental degradation? (2015)

23. “Balanced and unbalanced growth strategies are not substitutes but
complementary to each other.” Explain this statement. (2015)

24. “As long as the substitution possibilities between foreign and domestic
resources are limited. The dual-gap analysis is relevant.” Critically examine this
statement. (2015)

25. In an economy having two sectors, namely, goods-producing sector and

Research and Development (R & D) sector, prove with the help of new growth
theory that (i) both capital and aggregate output must grow at the same rate
and (ii) per capital output must grow at the rate of growth of technology. (2015)

26. What is indicative planning? In this context, explain how State and markets can
play a synergetic role in economic development. (2015)

27. What is indicative planning? In this context, explain how State and markets can
play a synergetic role in economic development. (2015)

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28. Discuss the role of renewable energy resources in order to maintain
environmental sustainability with special references to India. (2015)

29. “Global warming will certainly increase the cry of the earth and the cry of the
poor.” In this context, examine the international efforts to reduce global
warming. (2015)

30. Can Kuznets’ hypothesis of inverted-U curve be extended to environmental

degradation? Explain. (2014)

31. Point out the critical elements in typical Public-Private-Partnership (PPP)

agreements in the infrastructure projects to safeguard he interests of the
public. (2014)

32. “Balanced growth strategy of development in terms of pattern of investment has

to be in conformity not only with derived demands but final demands as well.”
Argue whether this statement is about avoiding bottlenecks for certain sectors
and excess capacities in others or promoting import substitution. (2014)

33. Our development strategy has been proposed in terms of ‘faster’, ‘more
inclusive’ and ‘sustainable’ growth. Do the three components sit together well?
Argue for your answer. (2014)

34. Describe the different indicators that are used by UNDP to construct the
Human Development Index (HDI). Why is a logarithmic transformation applied
only to per capita income in the calculation of HDI? (2014)

35. “Apart from bringing capital into a country, multinational corporations provide
many other advantages that cannot be obtained by borrowing from
international capital market.” Discuss. (2014)

36. State five reasons that support government intervention in agricultural

markets. (2013)

37. Fxpand on the following three explanations for the Kuznets hypothesis about
Inequality and development – (i) the cohort size hypothesis, (ii) the effect of
openness on inequality, and (iii) the strong versus the weak version of the
hypothesis. (2013)

38. Explain the Le4wis model of structural change from an agricultural economy to
a modern industrial economy. State three major criticisms of the Lewis model.

(2013)

49. It is said that a characteristic of the Harrod-Domar model is that even for the
long run the economy is at best balanced on a knife-edge of equilibrium growth.
Explain the Harrod-Domar model and the reason for this characteristic. (2013)

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40. “The assumption of fixed coefficient production function is at the root of
Harrod’s instability. Discuss and explain whether giving up the assumption
really helps. (2012)

41. Discuss the impact of FDI on level of output and employment of the host
country. Why do we need some precaution in allowing FDI in retail sector in
India? (2012)

42. Distinguish between backwash and spread effects of Myrdal. How do they
operate in backward economies? (2012)

43. “The solution of long term development needs of India lies in promoting public-
=private partnership.” Discuss. (2012)

44. “Industrial development and environmental degradation are highly correlated.”

If it is true what should be in your opinion, the policy options for
industrialization process vis-a-vis pollution control? (2012)

45. Discuss the role of multinationals in employment creation, income generation

and transfer of technology. (2012)

46. For optimal allocation of resources, which of the options-market forces,

planning exercise or a combination of both-should be suitable for the third
world countries? Defend your stand. (2012)

47. “Agriculture is not just a sector contributing a small proportion of GDP, it is a

way of life for the Indians.” Discuss. (2012)

48. What is the difference between private and social cost-benefit? Which one of the
two is more relevant to government investment decision and why? (2012)

49. What do the following terms signify in structural transformation and growth?

(i) Kuznets’ U-shaped curve

(ii) Enviornmental Kuznets curve

(iii) N-shaped Kuznets curve in the long-run (2011)

50. How can the structural independence between A-sector and K-sector in the
dualistic economy foster growth in the absence of external stimuli? (2011)

51. Compare Human Development Index (HDI) with Human Poverty Index (HPI) as a
measure of development. How is the Human Poverty Index different from the
Happy Planet Index? (2011)

52. Why do energy elasticities tend to unity in industrially advanced countries?

(2011)
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53. What are the negative externalities of high energy coefficients? (2011)

54. How is warranted growth different from natural rate of growth? Explain why
Harrod’s growth model is called ‘knife-edge’. (2011)

55. How does Solow incorporate investment in education in the growth model to
achieve long-run growth? (2011)

56. What are the objectives of National Environment Policy, 2006? (2011)

57. “There is one saving rate that is best in the sense of maximizing per capita
consumption in steady state.” Explain this statement and illustrate the idea
graphically. (2010)

58. Develop the idea that endogenous technological progress, driven by investment
in human capital formation and R & D, offsets diminishing returns to physical
capital. (2010)

59. Critically evaluate Kuznets inverted U-shaped curve hypothesis of income

distribution. Does it hold good for less developed countries as well? (2009)

60. “Expansion of high productivity sector absorbs more and more labour from
subsistence sector indicating that dualism is a power full tool of development
planning.”

Critically evaluate Lewis model of development in the light of the above

statement and examine relevance of the model for contemporary India. (2009)

61. What is Human Development Index (HDI)? Give its limitations as a measure of
economic development and suggest improvement(s). (2009)

62. Give an account of the ‘knife-edge problem’ in Harrod’s model of economic

development.’ Can this problem be solved? (2008)

63. Do you subscribe to the view that “the controversy regarding economic planning
versus market mechanism is both unnecessary and futile”. Elaborate your
answer. (2008)

64. “At the purely economic level, the balanced and unbalanced growth doctrines
can be complementary rather than competitive strategies.”

Discuss the validity of the above statement. Which of these strategies would you
advocate for a country like India and for what reasons? (2008)

65. Critically examine Myrdal’s thesis on economic development and structural

change in the context of the process of economic development of less developed
countries. Do you think that the structural changes in these countries are in
the right direction? Elaborate your answer. (2008)

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 Discuss Lewis model of economic growth. Do you think the model is applicable
to the Indian development process? (2007)

Explain sustainable development. (2007)

66. What are the human development indices used for international comparison of
status of development? Elaborate the methodology used for developing Human
Development Index. (2007)

67. “With the change in economic policies, relative role of market and state also
changes.” Do you agree with the statement?

Illustrate your answer with the help of suitable examples (2007)

68. Outline the global efforts for checking the environmental degradation. Do you
think that the advanced countries are cooperating in the effort? (2006)

69. Distinguish between economic growth and economic development. What

desirable changes are necessary for achieving the objective of economic
development? (2006)

70. Outline the main dimensions of human capital formation highlighting their
relative significance in economic development. (2006)

71. Explain how Neo-Classical growth theory removes the rigidity in Harrod-Domar
growth model in explaining the growth process. (2005)

72. Examine the efficacy of HDI as indicator of human welfare. (2005)

73. Do you agree with the ‘Limits to Growth’ thesis? Is it relevant in the context of
developing economies? In this context discuss the concept of sustainable
development (2005)

74. What is Kuznets’ hypothesis? What are its implications for a developing
economy? (2004)

75. Major theories of growth namely, Classical, Marxian, Keynesian and

Schumpeterian, all predict crisis in the later stages of capitalist development.
Comment and give reasons for your answer. (2004)

76. What are the main features of Neoclassical growth theory? Explain them with
the help of Solow’s growth model. (2004)

70. ‘In the emerging economic scenario in the developing countries, role of the
government in economic development needs to be redefined’. Do you agree with
the view? Elaborate your answer with the help of suitable examples. (2003)

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71. What is Human Development Index? Explain the method of its enumeration.

(2003)

72. What are basic dimensions of sustainable development? What steps have been
taken so far to achieve the objective of sustainable development on global level?

(2003)

73. Explain briefly the problem of ‘knife-edge equilibrium’ that arises in Harod-
Domar model and show how Solow tries to eliminate it. (2002)

74. ‘Inequality perpetuates poverty, hence mere creation of employment will not end
poverty or poverty line concept.’ Comment and suggest measures to reduce
inequalities. (2002)

75. ‘Agriculture plays a viral role in the process of economic development through
its product, factor and market contributions.’ Discuss. (2002)

76. Explain the concept of ‘Sustainable Development’. Why has it gained

importance in recent years? (2001)

77. ‘Low level of productivity is the main obstacle to growth in a developing

country.’ Comment. (2001)

78. Discuss the possibilities of capital formation through the use of surplus
manpower in developing economies, and mention the problem involved in it.

(2001)

79. Explain the main characteristics of the Lewis model of economic development
with unlimited labour supplies. Does the model have empirical validity? (2000)

80. Agriculture has an important role to play in the economic development of a

developing agrarian economy. Do you agree? Explain fully. (2000)

81. Carefully analyze the behavioural assumptions behind the Harrod proposition
that the warranted rate of growthis unstable. (2000)

82. Examine critically the Harrod-Domar model of economic growth. What are its
shortcomings? (1999)

83. Discuss the role of foreign capital and technology in developing countries.
Examine the significance of multi-nationals in this respect. (1999)

84. Point out the limitations of per capita income as an indicator of economic
development. (1999)

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85. Explain the main features of economic growth. Do they appear simultaneously
in an economy or is there an order for their appearance? (1998)

86. If the per capita national income is continuously rising and the prices are also
rising, can it be inferred that the people of the country are economically
becoming better of? Can it be attributed to the changing roles of market and
plans in economic growth? (1998)

87. Multinationals bring with them the latest technology which a developing
country may take years to develop. Why then is there an opposition to the entry
of multinationals in a developing country? (1998)

88. Define human capital. Examine its importance in the process of economic
development. (1997)

89. Explain briefly the Harrod-Domar growth model and examine whether the
Mahalanobis two sector model is an improvement over it. (1996)

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