ESSAYS IN APPLIED MICROECONOMICS by

Three Essays in Applied Microeconomics

Essays in Empirical Microeconomics on Economic Development

Title of dissertation: ESSAYS IN EMPIRICAL MICROECONOMICS ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Quynh T. Nguyen, Doctor of Philosophy, 2010 Dissertation directed by: Professor Mark Duggan Assistant Professor Jeanne Lafortune Department of Economics My dissertation consists of two independent empirical microeconomics studies in development economics. Though studying di¤erent interventions, they share the same...

Construction of Evaluative Meanings by Kurdish-Speaking Learners of English: A Comparison of High- and Low-Graded Argumentative Essays

Academic writing ability is an important goal that learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) try to attain. While ESL students’ academic writings have been widely explored, owing to few studies investigating appraisal resources in EFL students’ argumentative writing, the gap still exists about EFL students’ academic writing. This study aimed to see ho...

Three Essays in Empirical Microeconomics Dissertation Abstract

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that allow individuals to use marijuana for medical purposes. In this paper, I use marijuana possession arrests to estimate the impact of medical marijuana laws on marijuana usage among non-patients over the period 1988–2008. I find that these laws increase marijuana arrests among adult males by about 20 percent. The effect is stron...

Using Writing Checklist in Composing Descriptive Essays Among EFL Learners at the Intermediate Level

This study investigated the impact of writing checklist on composing descriptive essays among EFL learners at the intermediate level. Sixty participants were assigned to experimental and control groups. Both groups were given a pre-test of writing a descriptive essay including 150 words. The experimental group used checklist for learning while the control used teacher correcting technique in ea...