Department of Economics
University of California, Berkeley
June 8, 2007
Field Exam for Economic Demography
Please answer all parts of all questions. The four numbered questions count equally in the
grade. Cite the literature where appropriate. You have three hours. The points allocated to
each question are indicated in parentheses, summing to 100. You should allocate your
time accordingly. You may use a calculator.
1) (25) Some analysts and policy makers are concerned about the effects on the national
economy of incremental births, both in industrial nations and in Third World
countries. Others are concerned about the economic effects of immigrants on a
receiving country. Discuss ways in which you would expect these effects to be
similar, and ways in which you would expect them to be different. Your answer might
include discussion of fiscal impacts, labor market impacts, long run growth, and
effects on the utility of the native population. Your answer should be a creative and
coherent synthetic essay rather than a laundry list of all possible effects.
2) (15) Discuss the effect of secularly rising income on fertility and marriage according
to relevant economic theories.
a. According to Becker, why should rising income lead to reduced fertility, other
things equal (including women’s wages)?
b. Explain how marriage might be motivated by considerations of efficiency in
production and consumption.
c. Supposing such efficiency were the only reason for marriage, might income
gains lead to a decline in marriage?
d. Would you expect the decline in fertility induced by income growth to affect
marriage probabilities?
3) (10) Consider two children, otherwise similar, one enjoying a more prosperous
childhood, while the other receives a larger bequest later in life. Discuss the
implications for their health over the life cycle, drawing on relevant literature.
4) (25) Analysts have become increasingly sensitive to the problems of identifying
causal relationships using the kinds of data typically available to social scientists. For
each of these topics -- health, fertility, and population-economic development –
briefly describe one study that uses a quasi experimental research design to draw
causal conclusions. For each study state whether you find it convincing and discuss
the reasons why or why not.
5) (25) In a study of bequest wealth, several Berkeley demographers have attempted to
simulate a stable population based on the life table for the U.S. cohort of women born
in 1900 and a rate of growth chosen on theoretical grounds. Table A shows the
