References to non-syllabus papers?

[Bicycle Repair Man]

I'm taking Exam 5 this spring, my first attempt at an upper-level exam. Many of the papers reference other papers on the syllabus, but there are many references to other papers not on the syllabus. How much concern should I have with the latter case?

To give a specific example, the last few pages of the Lange paper on ILFs deal with Risk and give a formula derived from a paper not on the syllabus. Do I need to know this formula and could there be a problem on the exam based on it?

[J.T.]

I'm taking Exam 5 this spring, my first attempt at an upper-level exam. Many of the papers reference other papers on the syllabus, but there are many references to other papers not on the syllabus. How much concern should I have with the latter case?

To give a specific example, the last few pages of the Lange paper on ILFs deal with Risk and give a formula derived from a paper not on the syllabus. Do I need to know this formula and could there be a problem on the exam based on it?Not on syllabus = do not worry about it.

There's too much on the syllabus to worry about, much less extra info. If the formula is in a syllabus writing, you will need to know it.

I haven't gotten to Lange again this year, so I'm not sure of the formula, but I'll try to find some time today to look at this specifically.

[BigLarry]

That page is on the syllabus and, thus, so is the formula. The fact that it has a footnote is immaterial. The risk formula is clearly on the syllabus. The Borch paper from whence this formula came is not on the syllabus and any additional information contained therein (derivation, explanation, etc.) is not on the syllabus.

Now it does get dicier when the only place a formula appears is in a footnote, which also happens. While footnotes are technically part of the article, and therefore fair game for the exam, I don't bother memorizing stuff there unless it seems like the footnoted stuff is really material and should have just been in the text of the article. Most of the time I skim the footnote on the first pass through. Feldblum is famous for long-winded footnotes, sometimes wrapping onto the following page (which should be a criminal offense)... OTOH, Feldblum's footnotes provide background that can help you understand the context, so I read his footnotes...

Good Luck...

BigLarry