Assignments

It's a student life. So, most of the time will be blogging about assignments, study etc...

Well, after 2 weeks of discussion, we've finally completed the first part of assignments. In the assignment, there are three questions- perfect competition, monopoly and oligopoly (Bertrand & Cournot). We were discussing on how to calculate the long run equilibrium for perfect competition, revenue and profit maximization condition for monopoly and the reaction functions for duopoly firms under Bertrand and Cournot Model.

Since the equations given to us are general equations, we find it difficult to solve the equations. But after few series of discussion, we managed to simplified the equation especially for monopoly since the demand function is no longer linear.

Oh, ya! I have a new study group now- Priyanka (Pinky) and Srimalie from Central Bank of Sri Lanka. We are in the same program- MInternational Economics & Finance (Adv). And basically we'll be studying together for the next 1 1/2 years, yay!!

Pinky said that she doesn't want to have all economy subjects next semester and she plan to do her monetary economics in the next summer. I did thought about it but I am not sure whether I'll be able to do my monetary in the summer. It will be hard for me but looking at the positive side, I can concentrate on my thesis for the final semester. Since Pinky did her CFA and currently at final level, she should be able to help me on my International Financial Management. Well, I need to think about it.

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Alrighty! Enough about study. Yesterday, when I was cooking, I heard a knock on the door. The sound was very soft, and I basically thought I was dreaming. Anyway, I went to check it out. When I opened the door, there was an old lady (her name is Elaine- just knew it last night) standing at the doorway. She said "Isn't it about time to do your gardening?". I replied politely "I agree with you" and I smiled.

And then she talked about a parcel that has been in the parcel box for quite sometimes and she told me how she moved the parcel back and forth so that she could make way for other parcels. I told her that I'll check the parcel box (though I have no idea where it is!). Before leaving, Elaine said that "Don't forget to do your gardening!".

Yup, jadi akan berkebunlah nanti selepas 21 December, as my final paper is on 21 December 2011. Anyway, I told my housemate about what Elaine said and they told me, last year, Elaine said the same thing too and basically did half of the gardening for them!

Experimental Economics

Hi!

Hari tu aku ada cakap yang kami ada EconLab. Well, it's not exactly EconLab- it's just something yang aku gelarkan EconLab kerana aku tak tahu apa yang akan kami buat pada hari experiment tersebut kerana pensyarah agak berahsia.

Jadi, finally kami tahu apa akan kami buat- well, more or less, we can just take a guess- kami ke lab untuk buat game experiment- oligopoly. Basically, it was a disaster because the the software was not running and they have rescheduled us for another time- maybe this coming Thursday depending whether the software is running smoothly or not for the morning session.

Software yang digunakan adalah Z-Tree. Sangat comel sebab dia ada Z-Leaf from Z-Tree. Can't wait for this Thursday! z-Tree stands for Zurich Toolbox for Readymade Economic Experiments.

By the way, kelas Industrial Economics are basically maths, like 80% maths. Jadi, aku basically duduk di rumah, cuba buat revision dan kadang-kala memang rasa bosan dan akan masak ataupun watch movie kemudian sambung revision- but it doesn't mean aku dapat perfect score. What a life!

My First EconLab Session

Today, I'm having a lab session for International Industry Economics. By lab session means that I'll be in the computer lab doing some stuff. The lecturer didn't tell anything on the lab session- he said if he tell us, the result will be bias. So, he will tell us why we need to go through the lab session during the final lecture.

Since we have done perfect competition, monopoly and oligopoly plus a detailed lecture on game theory on Tuesday, the lab will be on game theory. I'm really excited!

I will update after the lab session. Got to go now, the lab session is starting in 10 minutes time.

Results!!!

My last entry was on exam week. It was long time ago- well, not really but it feels like it..

At midnight, on 30/11/2011, I received my results. I got 2 distinctions and 2 credits. Alhamdulillah. I need to work harder next semester. I've found friends to do study group with and next semester isn't getting easier.

The worrying part about results for this semester was because of my carry marks. It wasn't high enough. So, I need to get at least almost full mark just to get credit. By getting this results, all those nights sleeping only 1 hour or 2 hours are really worth it. But this also implies that I need to start my work early.

Sekarang sedang mengikuti kelas summer- International Industry Economics. My goodness, everywhere is calculation. Jadi dah rasa macam ambil Master in Applied Maths pula... The truth is my maths wasn't great. I need to work really hard masa di sekolah sampailah masa buat degree. I need to work extra hard just to understand concepts sahaja. Rasanya, sekarang juga begitu cuma dah tiada answer guide, so, i really don't know whether my calculations are correct.

Tapi apapun, mula menyukai program ini. Cuma perlu berusaha lebih sedikit.

Maaflah ya, orang lain bila ke luar negara penuh dengan gambar, aku cuma sempat keluar sekali sekala dan selebihnya memang dengan study. Hopefully, once I've completed this summer semester, I'll be hands-on with the economic tools so that I can understand better next semester.

Alhamdulillah, dari aku buat degree dulu sampai aku di sini, housemate aku baik-baik orangnya- bukan kaki party tapi kaki study. Jadi, kehidupan memang tenang sahaja.

Exam Week

Hmm.. sepatutnya orang exam week makin rajin, why aku makin malas? Degrading....... sepatutnya improving, kan?

Aku rindu paper Finance. Completed it last Monday. Tapi memang sangat rindu. Sekarang ni semuanya alien subjects- Stats, Micro n Macro. Semalam rajin sikit, almost complete perfect competition tapi sbb ada lagi 6 muka surat, i was "naaa... later". Dahlah ada 5 bab lagi.

Today was suppose for Stats sebab aku sangat yakin Stats boleh habis satu hari sebab ulangan revision, tapi "Oh, it's too hot!". Dan bukannya aku boleh tidur tengahari pun, it's too hot!! Paling berjaya aku buat adalah kira power of test n printout soalan quizzes from Quiz 3 -6. Dan susun-susun nota Stats kat tepi tilam. N baring2 kat sebelah nota Stats sambil susun-susun lagi.

Macro pula aku cuma habiskan chapter akhir- Debates on Stabilization Policy. Itu sahaja. All calculations pun tak tengok lagi padahal setiap chapter ada calculation except for chapter Debates on Stabilization Policy and satu pun aku tak tengok lagi....

Yes, all subjects tak boleh baca sambil baring2 sebab ada calculation. Macam mana pula nak calculate kalau baring? Alangkah bagusnya kalau aku rajin macam sebelum paper Finance....

What's Going On?

Well... apparently, alot of things but not the huhuhaha kinda thing.

So far, study progress wasn't great. Really struggling. Though may seem simple, it's not that simple. But, the best thing is, I've learned a lot. Really a lot of stuff. Next week exam, ya. 7/11/2011 dengan paper Finance as first paper, 12/11/2011 Statistics, 15/11/2011 Macroeconomics and 17/11/2011 Microeconomics.

Sangat excited nak exam tapi setakat ni, aku cuma baru baca micro and sedikit2 Finance. Macro dah lama tak jengah. Statistics touch n go. Tapi insya-Allah, sempat. Aku yakin. Harapnya semua ok.

Sekarang masih di library. Overnight lagi. Sepanjang semester ni, aku overnight kat library baru 5 hari. Next semester, akan meningkatkan usaha lagi. Malam ni agak sunyi berbanding weekend. Walaupun minggu ni study week, rasanya siang tadi ramai, malam kurang sedikit- alhamdulillah. Sunyi sepi. Ada sorang mamat kat tepi aku dan mungkin dia akan balik masa midnight nanti.

Progress micro semakin baik. Tadi jumpa Ms Alexandra Bratanova (perlu tulis nama penuh sebab aku mungkin akan lupa suatu hari nanti), tutor Micro. Dia explain kat aku tentang game theory dan juga reaction function for Cournot model, yang mana, aku cuba calculate x dapat2 n walaupun secara logiknya aku tahu intercept tanpa mengira, tetapi aku tak dapat tunjuk workings!!! Dan Ms Alex pun kata "Dont worry, it's because we can't use algebra to solve it". Rasa sedikit lega sebab aku dah cuba macam2 figure untuk algebra equation dan dah pelbagai gaya dah aku susun equation tu tanpa solve Q. N tadi dia explain technique untuk dominant strategy dan nash equilibrium, which is sebenarnya simple cuma dia kata memang sedikit confusing. Dia juga explain minimax dan maximin strategy.

I'm happy.

Hari Ahad

Hari ini mama dan ayah akan bertolak ke Madinah, duduk di sana selama 10 hari dan kemudiannya akan ke Mekah untuk menunaikan haji.

Hari ini juga, Mak Tua, nenek hubby, kembali ke rahmatullah...

Al-Fatihah....

Cuti Semester

Hari ini pergi kelas algebra dan esok akan sambung dengan kelas kalkulus. I thot aku jer yang rasa sangat pack dan kenapa aku macam tak tahu banyak lagi tempat di Brisbane? Adakah aku sangat skema, asyik baca buku (walaupun tak bermaksud aku akan senang2 lulus)? Hari ini aku tak rasa keseorangan lagi, ada je rakan sekelas yang memang sibuk dengan assignment dan projects jadi memang tak sempat ke mana-manapun masa cuti pertengahan semester.

Hari ini hari kedua aku buat data analysis- simple regression model. Ada 504 observations dan macam biasa, ingat senanglah. Oh, banyaknya! Ada dua dataset- housing dan gaji. Data housing untuk buat simple regression analysis dan data gaji untuk buat multiple regression analysis. Alhamdulillah, setelah dua hari bertungkus-lumus, aku baru sahaja siapkan simple regression analysis yang merangkumi:

• simple linear regression equation: the prediction line
• Residual analysis untuk meguji linearity, independence, normality dan equal variance. Aku masih tak siapkan ujian normality. Minggu depan akan jumpa tutor untuk bertanya mengenai ujian normality ni.
• t test for the slope
• F test for the slope
• confidence interval estimate of the slope
• t test for correlation coefficient
• estimation of mean values
• prediction of individual values

Walaupun macam sikit jer bila dah diringkaskan, ada 16 muka surat laporan bertulis untuk Dataset Housing. Aku tak mulakan analisis Dataset Gaji. Esok aku akan mulakan. Formatting pun dah siap untuk Dataset Housing. Alhamdulillah... Semalam masa run data, since aku tak berapa pasti sangat, aku run 3 kali- dalam fail yang sama. Hari ini aku run data sekali lagi guna fresh set of data. Result dia berbeza! Graf aku semuanya berbeza! Moral- jangan run data banyak kali datam fail yang sama. Nasib baik aku buat double checking. Kalau aku selamba jer guna without checking, macam mana? Sepatutnya n= 504, kemudian masa aku run semalam n=503. Aku tak perasan. Hari ni aku double check semua figure dalam table dan baru perasan. Kalau tak, pasti result aku semuanya salah.

Ada banyak lagi aku tak buat dan aku perlu siapkan minggu ini:

• multiple regression analysis
• revision statistic chapter 7,8 dan 9 untuk quiz on monday.
• Micro- Monopoly: aku tak buat apa-apa lagi.
• Finance- aku tak tengok pun lecture minggu lepas dan soalan tutorial. Soalan tutorial minggu lepas pun x revise lagi.
• Macro- aku tak baca apapun lagi. Baru jer half way thru money and inflation.
• Macro- assignment budget deficit vs budget surplus policy during recession.

Macam sikit jer tapi aku rasa banyak juga bila go into details. Aku dah start kumpul literature review untuk macro tapi sangat tak berkesan kalau kumpul tapi belum baca. Banyaknya aku kena baca!!!

Lagi 5 minggu aku akan menghadapi final exam semester ini.

Penat.

Kadang-kala aku suka sahaja situasi aku. Kadangkala aku putus asa. Hari tu, masa putus asa, keputusan kuiz 3 statistik keluar dan alhamdulillah. Aku tak sangka tinggi juga markah aku. Aku rasa sebab tak ada soalan MCQ yang selalu buat aku confuse. Rasa bersemangat sikit.

Hopefully masih kekal bersemangat until end of final exam.