ECO223 Coursework
Coursework has a 15% weighting on the final mark of this module.
Due: no later than 11:59pm Saturday 30 November 2024, to be submitted to an online folder (Learning Mall Core) by the group leader.
This is a group coursework. Each group consists of 5-6 members. You can form. your group at your will. I’ll randomly assign you additional students if you don’t have enough members.
This coursework consists of a short 700-1,000-word essay (excluding the reference when counting words), structured around answering the questions presented later. The purpose of this coursework is to:
● Learn something new, largely through your own research, and discussion with your group members.
● Improve your economic literacy.
Strictly speaking, this coursework essay can be written without (m)any references. However, if you do mention any specific numbers/figures, or what other people think or have said, forecasts of other people, etc. then Ido expect full and proper academic referencing according to the APA 7th style.
Type it out and submit along with the signed Coursework Submission Cover Sheet. The name and student number of each group membershall be clearly written in your work. Submission will be done online: the nominated group leader will submit it to the learning mall before the deadline.
Late submissions will incur penalties according to the XJTLU Code of Practice on Assessment. There is a 5 percentage-point mark deduction for any lateness at all (even 1 min); an additional 5 percentage point deduction for each day of late submission. The maximum penalty is 25 percentage points. If your group submits after 11:59pm Friday 6 December 2024, you will get a mark of zero.
By signing the Coursework Submission Cover Sheet, you acknowledge that there has been no copying from external sources or collaboration with others outside of the group. Turnitin will be used to check for plagiarism. Any suspected cases of plagiarism will be formally dealt with according to the XJTLU Academic Integrity Policy.
Background and Your Task
The following content is taken from a CNN news report titled “ For decades, Chinese workers have retired relatively early. That’s about to change” on September 13, 2024.
For decades, Chinese workers have wrapped up their working lives at relatively young ages: 60 for men and as early as 50 for women.
But all that is about to change as the Chinese government passed new legislation on Friday laying out a plan to delay the retirement age over the course of 15 years, starting January 1, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Existing rules stated that men in urban areas could retire at 60 and receive their pensions, and women at 50 or 55, depending on their occupation. The new rules gradually push back the age to 63 for men, and to 55 and 58, respectively, for women.
The measures, … also layout plans to extend the minimum working period for employees to receive a monthly pension from 15 to 20 years, with changes starting from 2030.
They also include some flexibility in retirement age, especially for those who have already completed the minimum working period.
Based on the materials above, you will need to write a 700-1,000-word essay that answers the following questions:
1. What is the past and new policies on retirement age and pension at the national level? Are there any differences across provinces? [20 marks]
2. Why the government launched the policy reformat this stage? [20 marks]
3. How will the change in policy on retirement age and pension affect individual labour force participation and well-being? [20 marks]
4. How will the change in policy on retirement age and pension affect central and local governments? [20 marks]
5. Are there other countries which also had implemented similar policies? Find one example and compare it with the case of China. [20 marks]
Tips
● You are encouraging to apply economic theories you have learned or are learning, but you shall avoid forcing economic concepts to the issue at hand if they do not apply. I am really looking for your reasoning and logic more than anything.
● Make sure that you answer all questions fully. Answer the questions in the form. of a coherent essay, which covers all questions.
● I am not necessarily seeking your opinion about right/wrong, good/evil, winners/losers, strong/weak, justice, fairness – or your thoughts about the robot apocalypse. Keep things as objective and as analytical as possible. Explain and justify what you say.
● You will need to cite your sources if you use any. Try to draw from reliable sources where possible. You do not need to reference what is deemed common knowledge. Exercise your own judgement.
● The best essays will answer the questions in-depth by trying to answer the 'why' or 'how' which underpins each question. Make sure your answer is logical and clear.
● The essay will be assessed based on quality, not on quantity. Please do not write more than 1,000 words (excluding reference), and avoid writing for the sake of filling space. Good writing is clear (it makes sense), concise (gets to the point without too much excessive writing), and precise (makes the point free of any ambiguity). You can write a shorter essay if you run out of things to talk about. A good essay can be written within the word limit.
● Use of simpler language is preferred to unnecessarily complex language. Use economic terminology where it is appropriate: but don’t force it in for the sake of it.
● Since essay is short, you are not expected to write an introduction and conclusion (most are meaningless anyway). Every sentence should be making a point, every word should serve a purpose. There is a constraint on length: so there is a tradeoff so that when you write a particular word/sentence you cannot write some other word/sentence.
Submission and Marks
The nominated group leader will submit the file to Learning Mallon behalf of the group. Please only submit one copy per group. Please include the group ID, names and student numbers of all group members, and the total number of words of the main text inside the submission.
Your file will be subject to a Turnitin check. There are no explicit Turnitin thresholds. The marker will consider potential plagiarism on a case-by-case basis.
All members of the same group will receive the same mark for their coursework.
Despite this, all members of the group will need to report their percentage contribution on the Coursework Submission Cover Sheet.
Disputes Resolution
Groups will need to decide amongst themselves how tasks are allocated, and who does what. Iam not here to solve disputes you have within your group.
In exceptional circumstances where a single member of the group is unresponsive or does not participate, if:
1. a supermajority of 4 out of 6 members (or 3 out of 5 members if total number is 5) voices a concern about the one member, and
2. there is irrefutable evidence that that member is not communicating or cooperating with the rest of the group,
then it is at my discretion to deduct at most 70% of the group’s coursework mark away from this uncooperative member. I have the final say over whether this is applied or not.