Pubic Policy Debate

Students can send an email request (with the topic and stance) to participate in one of the three public debates. Otherwise, the instructor will assign students to a debate team. In preparing for the debate, students need to read carefully the debate instructions and follow the guidelines. It is necessary to prepare presentation slides to organize the statements/arguments/theoretical foundation/empirical support and submit them at least three days before the debate in order to receive feedback.

Team members need to know the debate structure, divide their work, and prepare slides to organize debate arguments. Please read general debate guideline and instructions carefully before your preparation. In preparing the slides, refer to the most relevant theory, evidence, and policy outcomes. Evaluation is based on the preparation of slides and performance/response during the debate.

Debate I (October 11 R): Is minimum wage necessary for the economy?

Debate II (November 13 T): Is Trump administration immigration policy effective?

Debate III (December 6 R): Is labor union beneficial for the economy?

Note: Debate team members will be notified via email about a month before debate. The first draft of debate slides should be sent to the instructor at least one week before the debate for feedback and comments. The final version of the slides shall be submitted within 3 days after the debate for evaluation purposes. When submitting your first draft and final draft of the presentation slides, please reply to the notification email (Subject: BC3019 Debate Date) and attach the file. Double-check the slides and send a single file (pdf is preferred). Avoid late submission and resubmission.

Evaluation Criteria:

1) Appearance of team/seriousness of team

2) Delivery: addressed remarks to the audience in clear, loud voices

3) Opening statements were well organized, complete and included three arguments

4) Team members participated equally throughout the debate

5) Arguments were related to ethical perspectives and principles

6) Rebuttal was specific to arguments made in the opposing team’s opening statement

7) Summary provided and opponents’ counterpoints addressed

8) Answers to audience questions were well thought out

9) Respect shown throughout the debate for the opposing team (no name calling, interruptions, etc.)

Group Term Paper

The group paper shall extend the policy debate research or address labor market issues that are new, interesting and with policy implications. Students within a group will divide their work into different sections of the paper, including literature review, data and methodology, theory and model, estimation and findings, conclusion and references. The joint paper is expected to meet academic publication standards.

Along the lines of the public debates, students shall organize the research findings and ideas into an academic paper. The key difference is to change the debate mode to neutrality. In the process of learning by doing, students are expected to work together as well as complete their own writings. Final evaluation weights the overall quality of the paper and each section equally. The length of the paper is recommended to be around 10 pages.

Before writing the paper, students shall fully understand the testable implications from the theory/model and examine the validity of major empirical findings from the existing literature. To contribute to the research topic, a successful paper must either offer new findings, new implications, or new insights/theory (or any combination of three). In general, a research paper in Economics consists of four major components or sections. For each student, please focus on one section of your strength, fill in each other’s blank, and then leverage your skills to write up the group paper. First draft: Nov 30. Second draft: Dec 23.

When submitting your first draft and final draft of the group paper, please add the email Subject: "BC3019 Paper - Topic" and attach the file. Indicate your group members and division of work in the paper. Provide an appendix explaining your role and contribution in the research and paper.

Double-check the paper and send a single file (pdf is preferred). Avoid any late submission and resubmission.