Preparation for Exam 1: ECO361N: Spring 02 Day

1. The test is Thursday, 28 Feb in class.
2. Standing orders during exam;

• Order.............Consequences for failure
• Write in ink.....Lose 2 points

If you wish to succeed in life, learn to follow a few simple instructions.

3. Material covered on the exam. Internet Notes Through Automation-Information

4. General information: The exam will be four pages long. Each page will be worth 25 points. Your grader will grade pages 1,2, and 3 and I will grade page 4. If you say more than is necessary on pages 1, 2 and 3, you will not receive any extra points. On the last page the standard is more quality stuff is better than less quality stuff.

a. The 1st page:

10-15 short definition and concept questions.

b. Next 2 pages will have 8 short essays 7 of which will come from the following list: (One might be new)

• Discovery, Invention, and Innovation
  • Definitions , interactions and incentives: discovery, invention and innovation
  • Evolution of institutional arrangements( research universities, etc) to promote discovery, invention and innovation from 1790 to today
  • How does bounded rational innovation differ from rational innovation?
  • Why are good strategies for innovation generally more difficult to implement than strategies for invention?
• Binary numbers
  • Standards: Why the are necessary, why participants fights, and how are they set?
  • Why do we use the binary number system and what are its economic implications.
• Microelectronics
  • Economics behind logic circuits
  • Economics behind Moore's law
  • International competition and specialization.
• Hardware and Software:
  • Man is a visual animal: How has the evolution of hardware and software reflected this fact and how is this evolution related to Moore's law. Let us have some economics.
  • What is the economics of backwards compatible.
  • Discuss at least two ways in which competition has driven the evolution of software.
• Communications
  • Why did economic considerations give communications incentives to harness higher and higher frequenceis in the evolution of the telephone system.
  • What are the economics of the shift from analog to digital communications.
  • What are the economics of teleconferencing and telecommuting
  • What is the current state of competition on communication
• Manufacturing Automation
  • Why is profitable automation much more than simply replacing humans with machines?
  • Why are economic forces shifting manufacturing from production for inventory to production for final demand? How do technological advances make this possible?
• Information Automation
  • Why are we now beginning to see a drop in paperwork and how is that affecting productivity
  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of shopping on the net versus a mall
  • What are the economics of information services
  • Go to CommerceNet and be able to write a paragraph
  • Go to Enron and understand how their markets work where suppliers and demands bid at a particular site provided by Enron.

The research question on page 4: For this question your group must collect at least three articles and two surfings which you are to bring to the exam in an envelop. Topic: You will get either A , B, or C with no choice

1. How did the internet contribute to the productivity growth in the late 90s
2. How soon will superconductivity make the big time in electric power transmission.
3. Use the internet to shop for an auto or other product for which the internet provides a great deal of information. Use a couple of search routines to narrow a large number of alternatives to a small number and set up a side by side table of attributes. How does such a search approach improve the efficiency of consumers.

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Previous Exams from Spring 01 

Exam 1a

Exam 1b

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