Betty Blecha

Tax Game part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
The link between a set of taxes and income distribution is an important, but difficult, concept taught in economics principles courses. The Tax Game simulation requires a student to set tax rates for an income tax, a property tax, a wealth tax, a payroll tax, a corporate income tax, a sales tax,and an excise tax. The student can choose any rates he or she wishes, but must achieve a given revenue target.

Budget Explorer part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
Students often come to a principles course in economics with knowledge that is not correct. This example asks students to guess the percent of federal expenditures for different spending categories. They are then ...

EconModel part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
This site contains 21 modular, easy to use economic models, that are appropriate for class assignments or in-class demonstrations. Students can simulate all the standard models taught in most economics courses. ...

Open Outcry Market part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
This example is an in-class market simulation conducted with paper cards assigning each student a buyer or seller role and a reservation price. This example is appropriate for both upper and lower division ...

General Equilibrium Simulation for Microeconomics part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
Teaching general equilibrium analysis to students is challenging. General equilibrium models are typically accessible to only a small handful of mathematically well prepared students. Yet the growing significance ...

Economics and the Tragedy of the Commons part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
In both macroeconomics and microeconomics principles courses, economists teach the virtue of markets as an allocative mechanism. But markets sometimes fail. This example allows students to simulate the market ...

Dynamic Integrated Climate Change Model (DICE) part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
The Dynamic Integrated Climate Change (DICE) model assumes a single world producer must chose levels for three simultaneously determined variables: current consumption, investment, and greenhouse gases reduction. ...

Basic Monte Carlo Simulation for Beginning Econometrics part of Starting Point: Teaching and Learning Economics:Teaching Methods:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
Beginning econometrics students often have an uneven preparation in statistics. The simulation gives students a clearer understanding of the behavior of OLS estimators.

Stata Monte Carlo Simulation for Heteroskedasticity part of Starting Point: Teaching and Learning Economics:Teaching Methods:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
This is a simulation for a beginning econometrics course that shows students how heteroskedasticity biases an estimator and why the power of a statistical text is important.

Specialization and Division of Labor part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
This example engages students in a simple simulation of specialization and division of labor. All that is needed are staplers and some paper.

Fair Model part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
The Fair model web site includes a freely available United States macroeconomic econometric model and a multicounty econometric model. The models run on the Windows OS. Instructors can use the models to teach ...

Sports Franchise Simulation part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
A Sports Franchise Simulation, modeled after the card game War, lets students run their own sports franchise. While the goal of the simulation is to teach students several microeconomics concepts taught in a ...

Ricardian Explorer part of Pedagogy in Action:Library:Teaching with Simulations:Examples
Ricardian Explorer, implemented on the internet, simulates a Ricardian trade model with linear production technology and a CES utility function. The typical simulation has two countries and two goods. While ...