The theoretical development of the model in Section I should be familiar based on Romer's Chapter 1.
This paper should be quite easy reading relative to some of the others.
Questions for analysis
On page 410, MRW calibrate the value of alpha (α) to be one-third because that is approximately "capital's share in income." Use Romer's equation (1.7) and the MPK expression following it to show that capital's share (K*MPK/Y = k*MPK/y) is equal to alpha when the production function is Cobb-Douglas.
MRW use three different estimating samples. What are the advantages of disadvantages of each of their samples?
In what ways do the results of Table I support the Solow model? In what ways do they conflict with it? How do the authors enhance the model between Table I and Table II? How do the results reported in Table II support and/or conflict with the Solow model?
How do the tests and results of Section III relate to the Barro and Sala-i-Martin paper you read last week? Based on this paper and on Barro and Sala-i-Martin, how would you assess the "state of the evidence" on convergence and the Solow model?