The essay should be submitted via Blackboard

On Friday 6th of December 2024 before 2 pm (UK time)

Assignment

Critically evaluate whether a country of your choice suffers/suffered from the ‘resource curse’.

 Choose a country case study: This should be a country that has been classified as commodity- dependent at some point over the last two decades (UNCTAD classification).

 Chose an analytical angle: Clearly state which analytical angle you take, e.g. (i) internal balance

(employment and inflation); (ii) external balance (terms of trade, trade balances, and debt), (iii)

exchange rates and structural transformation, (iv) political settlement and political economy, (v)

dependency theory and structuralism (or any other angle of your choice, but your analysis has to

be rooted in theory).

 Choose a period and/or sector: Your analysis should be targeted at events within or over the last

two decades. You can also choose a sector case study within your economy.

You can use quantitative methods (e.g., statistics and regression analysis) or qualitative methods

(e.g., document analysis) or mixed methods in your analysis.

Structure

Assignments should be word-processed with 12pt font size and with 1.5 line spacing.

The essay should have the following structure (you can deviate from this structure if sensible):

1. Introduction

State your research question and topic, its relevance, and summarises your main argument and

findings. The final paragraph should provide a summary of the structure of the subsequent sections.

2. A Main body (broken into sub-sections)

a. Case study

b. Analytical angle

c. Analysis

The order can change depending on the flow of the argument. Make sure you describe your

theoretical/analytical angle in-depth. The analysis should then support your main argument and

should relate to your analytical angle.

3. Conclusion

Summarise everything that has been said so far, reiterate your argument, and conclude with a policy

outlook and/or an outlook for future research.

4. References

2/2

Wordcount

The word count for the assignment is 1200 words excluding references, tables, and figures.

Footnotes and headers are included.

Essays that exceed the world limit will be penalised. You can only go 10% below or 10% above the

prescribed word limit.

 If you exceed the word count by between 10-50%, your final assignment mark will be capped at

50% (PGT).

 Work exceeding the word count by more than 50% will be viewed as not having met the

requirements of the assessment. The work will not be marked and a mark of zero will be

recorded.

Plagiarism

The University has a strict policy on plagiarism. Unacknowledged copying of another person’s work

will result in the automatic failure of the assignment and may lead to disciplinary action being taken

against the study fellow. Your answer must be fully referenced where appropriate. For guidance on

how to make sure you avoid plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice, please consult

your programme handbook.

Late Submission

Late submission, even by only a second, will result in penalties being applied. Please make sure you

leave enough time for your submission, and you have a stable internet connection. Please consult

your programme handbook for information on late submission deductions.