Národohospodářská fakulta Vysoké školy ekonomické v Praze, nám. Winstona Churchilla 4, 130 67 Praha 3 tel.: +420 224 095 521, fax: +420 224 221 718, URL: http://nf.vse.cz
REVIEW OF THE BACHELOR THESIS SUPERVISOR
Student’s name and surname: Cristian Besarab ...
Thesis title: Evaluating the income inequality in the United States throughout the Reaganomics period: A socio-economic empirical analysis of the 1970s-1990s period
Thesis supervisor: Ing. Zdenka Johnson, Ph.D. ...
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Assessment of the main aspects of the thesis:
1 Structure of the thesis (logical and systematic construction) ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐ 2 Goal of the thesis (unambiguity of formulation, adequacy) ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐
3 Quality of the theoretical part ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐
4 Quality of the application/analytical/empirical part ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐ 5 Adequacy of the methods to the goal of the thesis ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐
6 Sources (topicality, relevance, frequency) ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐
7 Quality of conclusions, fulfillment of the goal of the thesis ☒ ☐ ☐ ☐ 8 Formal aspects (formatting, stylistics, references) ☐ ☒ ☐ ☐ Verbal assessment (describe the strongest and weakest aspects of the thesis; especially in case of a low assessment 3-4, concrete reproaches need to be expressed):
The structure of the thesis is logical and systematic and corresponds with the topic and concept of the bachelor thesis. The thesis goals are clearly defined in the introduction as a testable scientific hypothesis and related research questions. The presented and chosen research methods and solution procedure are adequate to the topic and the goals.
The theoretical part has been written profoundly. The author briefly defined economic and income inequality and continued with major measurement tools together with causes and determinants of income inequality. In the following chapters he described neoliberalism as a theoretical concept as well as a component of the ideological background for practical economic policy of Ronald Reagan. Of course, the author could not capture all the possible aspects of all these chapters, but I believe he grasped the most significant ones. Although the theoretical part is longer than usual, it is an invaluable part of the text.
The analytical part of the thesis is excellent bearing in mind the fact that it is a bachelor thesis.
In order to test the hypothesis, the author suitably built his own Markov-switching autoregressive model, comparing the 1980s results to those in the 1970s and 1990s. The
analysis is focused on impacts of changes in tax policy following the neoliberal concepts (supply side economics, Laffer Curve) on the income distribution (four income share quintiles).
On the critical note, in some parts of the text, the author should have worked more thoroughly with references to the chosen sources. Unfortunately, there are some problematic items in the bibliography because the author did not cite them in the correct bibliographic form, as well as sporadic minor formatting issues.
When evaluating the submitted bachelor thesis, it is necessary to appreciate the choice of topic.
The topic of income inequality is very current and relevant for much of today’s economic research. I really appreciate the multidisciplinary approach presented in the text. Moreover, in Czech scientific literature the topic has not been explored sufficiently. The author has studied and incorporated a vast amount of current and relevant scientific literature, including appropriate original statistical sources. The author convincingly verified the validity of the hypothesis and found answers to research questions. Taking all this into account, the conclusions of the thesis are of outstanding quality and value.
Complex assessment (it is necessary to state whether the thesis complies with the Methodological guidelines of the Faculty of Economics, University of Economics, Prague as concerns the quality of the content, the extent, and formal requirements and whether the thesis is being recommended to the defense or not; the thesis can also be nominated to a special award, etc.):
The bachelor thesis meets the content, extent, and formal requirements defined by the Methodical guidelines for writing bachelor and master theses at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Economics in Prague.
I gladly recommend this excellent bachelor thesis to defense before the examination committee.
Questions to the defense:
1. Would you define President Donald Trump as neoliberally oriented decision-maker? What would be the major arguments for and against?
2. What recommendations would you provide the United States Government in order to diminish the level of income inequality in their country? Especially now during the COVID- 19 times.
Suggested grade: Excellent
Date: January 29, 2021
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Thesis supervisor’s signature
Instructions to the reviewer: The reviewer needs to fill in the verbal assessment which is adequately informative with respect to the purpose of the defense.
Assessment scale: 1 = excellent, 2 = very good, 3 = good, 4 = failed.
