A Guide to Business Ethics
Business 38114-01/ Economics 223 & 323
Winter 2005
Final Exam Study Guide
This handout is NOT necessarily a list of all the material that you need to know for the final exam. It is only a partial list intended to help you prepare for the exam. You should also consider the midterm study guide. • General information 1) The final exam is comprehensive. You are responsible for all course material including that covered on the midterm (Hint: also use the review sheet for the Midterm). 2) The exam will take place on Tuesday, March 15, from 6:30 to 9:30 PM. There will also be an Early Final on Wednesday, March 9, from 1 to 4 PM. (Note: anyone can choose to take the early final but once you enter the exam room you cannot change your mind). 3) The exam will be closed book, closed notes. No calculators will be allowed. 4) The format is like the midterm only longer. You will have three hours to complete the exam. Before starting to write, read all the essay questions and carefully note all the components you are asked to address. 5) Support your answers with the readings and your lecture notes. Use specific examples, not vague generalities. 6) If you have any questions, please contact us by email at: r-henderson@uchicago.edu, shengguo@uchicago.edu. • Sample Questions (Note: The readings appearing between brackets in each question or essay are just a reference, you should answer the questions using overall knowledge of the readings and class notes) 1) Some short questions to consider: 1) In the United States, what evidence about 80% of those at the bottom 10% of the income distribution shows that they are not usually at the bottom? 2) Is there an intergenerational transfer in health care?
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3) What are some of the problems with paying reparations to the descendants of American slaves? 4) How do you explain the high percentage of slaves present in the United States in 1850 compared to the low percentage of slave trade towards the US before? 5) According to Simon Szreter, what is the relationship between economic growth and population health? Why? 6) What kid of impact do most economist believe that the minimum wage will have on the lowest paid workers? 7) By how much have work hours per year declined over the last century? Over the same time, by how much has per capita income been multiplied? 8) According to Vinzant, what is the difference between the post World War 2 generation (“baby boomers”) and post-1960 generation (“Gen X”) regarding the role of loans in their lives? (Vinzant, “Borne to Retire”) 9) What did the US Supreme Court find to be the legal basis for compulsory immunization? (Anderson and Arnstein, “Communicable Disease Control”). 10) According to Fielding, what is the strongest evidence for the adverse effects of involuntary smoking? What other factors should employers consider when it comes to regulating smoking in the work place? (Fielding, "Smoking Control at the Workplace”) 11) How does the abolition of slavery illustrate well the general topic of the course, i.e. the interaction between ethics and economics? 12) According to Sam Peltzman, when does regulation occur and when does it end? (The Economic Theory of Regulation…). 13) When did marriage bars arise in the US? When did they disappear and why? In which occupations did those bars affect women the most? (Goldin, "Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women”) 14) Has the income distribution become more unequal over the last 30 years? (Fogel, “The 4th Great Awakening”) 15) What are seven of the fifteen vital spiritual resources? (Fogel, “The 4th Great Awakening”) 16) What are the strategies for the redistribution of the vital spiritual resources? Explain why. (Fogel, “The 4th Great Awakening”) 2) Some longer question topics to consider: I. Health Care Inequality (Fogel and Lee; Cutler; Friedman) a) According to Fogel and Lee, how should resources be allocated in order to improve the health of the poor? b) Why is it so difficult to define “essential health care in the United States and other developed countries? Is it easier to define it in the poorest countries of the world? c) How does Friedman suggest that Health Care should be “cured”? d) Why was the financial risk of being sick so low before World War II? Why did it rise during the Post-War era?
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II. Comparable Worth (Goldin) a) b) c) d) What kind of labor markets existed in the US in the 19th century? What determined the division of labor in the 19th century economy? Why were so few married women in the labor force around 1850? Was the vital revolution necessary for married women to eventually enter the labor force?
III. Bribery (Noonan) a) b) c) d) What is bribery and what is a legitimate inducement? What are “agency” problems? Who are the stakeholders in a corporation? Compare the life of bribery as a moral concept with that of two other moral concepts.
IV. Social Security and retirement (Vinzant, Fogel: “The 4th Great Awakening”) a) Describe the history of social security and retirement b) What effect did the changing from a piece rate of compensation to an hourly rate have on employment of the elderly? c) What changes in life and life-style have made the current social security system inefficient? d) What should be done to make social security more efficient?
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