Homework answers / question archive /   1) About that Firm (Sportpesa) 2) Effect of tax policy 3) Analysis Oligopoly 4) How to make relevant diagrams illustrate (Supply and Demand) how a current or upcoming domestic and/or international government policy could affect the company (Sportpesa) and its competitiveness

  1) About that Firm (Sportpesa) 2) Effect of tax policy 3) Analysis Oligopoly 4) How to make relevant diagrams illustrate (Supply and Demand) how a current or upcoming domestic and/or international government policy could affect the company (Sportpesa) and its competitiveness

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1) About that Firm (Sportpesa)
2) Effect of tax policy
3) Analysis Oligopoly
4) How to make relevant diagrams illustrate (Supply and Demand) how a current or upcoming domestic and/or international government policy could affect the company (Sportpesa) and its competitiveness. The figure put as the appendix.
5) 1000 words and please recited by references
6) At least five references with Harvard styles

Essay: Markets in Action

 

Task. Choose a real-world market and find a real-world company that operates in that market. Write a 1,000 word essay using the tools of economic analysis to describe and explain, and relevant diagrams to illustrate how a current or upcoming domestic and/or international government policy could affect the company and its competitiveness.

1. Briefly describe the nature and characteristics of the chosen company.
2. Which market structure does the market you chose possess?
3. Describe some plausible cause(s) why the government may want to influence the market (e.g. the market price and/or the market quantity), and explain by which means it could achieve this. How would this impact suppliers and consumers in the market?

4a) Describe one real-life example of government intervention in the market. What do you think the intervention was meant to achieve?

4b) (if applicable) How do the price elasticity of demand and the price elasticity of supply affect the magnitude of the impact from this market intervention?

4c) Overall, who is likely to benefit and who likely to be disadvantaged by the intervention from 4a)? Is the company you chose likely to benefit or likely to be disadvantaged by the intervention from 4 a)?

Clarifications.

• The company and market do not have to be Australian. However, all references have to be in English (e.g., if you list references that support your description of a foreign market, the references still have to be in English and cannot be in a foreign language).
• Current or upcoming policy means any policy that has been introduced in the last 1.5 years, or that is planned for the future. The abolition within the last 1.5 years or planned abolition of a government policy also counts as a current or upcoming policy.
• 4a) and 4c) are the center-piece of your essay. Depending on your specific topic, your answer to 3) can be quite short or relatively long. 4b) is important if it applies (e.g. in the case of per-unit taxes in a perfectly competitive market; for some market structures, you may not be able to say much in answer to 4 b ).
• The market structure describes the conditions of a market, e.g. whether a market is perfectly competitive, a monopoly, monopolistic competition, or an oligopoly.
  • State which model you base your analysis on. E.g., you may claim that the company and market you chose are best described by the model of a monopoly.
  • It is important that you justify your choice of the model of a market structure. That is, answer why say the monopoly model (and not say an oligopoly model) is the appropriate model to base the analysis of your chosen company and market on.
• You can choose a market with any market structure for your essay. However, if you choose a non-collusive oligopoly, please be aware that you may have to read more on your own and do more research on material that we will not cover in class than otherwise.

By the time we will have discussed monopolies (possibly Sep 19), you should have a good foundation to analyze perfect competition and monopoly. Monopolistic competition (which we will cover only later but which is technically very similar to monopoly) and collusive oligopolies (which are in many regards similar to a monopoly) should also be quite accessible by then. But you will have to do substantial reading outside of class if you analyze a non-collusive oligopoly, as different techniques (from game theory) are needed to tackle non-collusive oligopolies. We will get a sense of such techniques in class, but not in depths, and also only quite late in the course (possibly on Oct 10).

(If you are interested in an oligopolistic market, you can for example look at models of “Cournot competition.” It can help if you know calculus for these.)

Formatting and Submission Instructions. Please follow these instructions carefully. Any violation of these instructions (e.g. missing word count) may lead to a penalty of 1 mark.

• Include a word count, your first name, your family name and your student number on your front page. The word count should exclude the references.
• Use 1.5 line spacing or double line spacing. The essay has to be typed, handwritten essays will not be accepted. Fonts have to be easily readable, including those used for figure captions.^[1]
• Instructions for the submission of the essay will be posted on blackboard closer to the submission deadline. The submission will be electronic only (no hardcopies).

Marking.              Your mark will be influenced by

• Content: relevant to the question, sound interpretation and understanding of economic theory.
• Clarity of argument: logical thinking, clarity and coherence.
• Fit of the theoretical model to the real-world market and company chosen. Fit of the theoretical analysis of the government intervention to the real-world example of government intervention.
• Use of relevant diagrams to illustrate your arguments.
• Evidence of reading outside of the textbook.
• Use of references: correct referencing format (any standard referencing format is fine) in your essay and also in the bibliography/references at the end of your essay. You should provide at least 5 references including your textbook.
• Writing style: correct grammar and spelling; no long sentences and pompous words; use of quotations, if necessary, must be prudent.
• Presentation: adherence to the guidelines described in the previous paragraph.

Check-List and Hints. I recommend that you check your essay against the following bullet points.

• The main goal of the essay is not to reproduce a textbook analysis, but rather to apply your knowledge of (theoretical) economic models in one specific, real-world case. Is the analysis of the real-world example the center piece of my essay?
• Do I explicitly name the one policy whose effects I analyze?
• Is my writing focused (free of unnecessary information) and do I explain my claims well? Imagine that you write this essay for your CEO. Say you write about Widget Empire Australia, an Australian subsidiary of Widget Empire Inc., a world-leader in the production of widgets operating in dozens of countries. You are analyzing the effects of an import tariff on widgets passed by the Australian Federal Parliament last year.^[2]

– It is important that you underpin your claims by factual information and logical analysis. For example, your CEO may be frustrated if you just write

“The demand for widgets is relatively inelastic,” because she cannot really evaluate that claim. She would much prefer that you explain and justify your claim. For example,

“The demand for widgets is relatively inelastic in Australia. This is because widgets are an essential tool for anybody living close to a beach (like the majority of the Australian population), and there are no good substitutes for widgets. Walter Widget (2013) estimates the elasticity of the demand for widgets to be 0.13 in absolute terms.”

Later, in your bibliography, you can provide the exact reference:

“Walter Widget (2013), ‘Widgets for Everybody,’ Widget International Press, 2nd edition.”

• It is very important not to claim things that you are not sure are true.
• Your CEO is a very busy person. She wants to understand the consequences of the import tariff on widgets in the shortest amount of time possible. Hence it is important that your essay is as focused as possible. For example, a brief description of the nature and characteristics of Widget Empire Australia is useful background information that helps provide context of your main analysis. E.g. it may be useful for justifying why you based your analysis on the economic model of a monopoly. However, a history of Widget Empire U.S.A., the U.S. subsidiary of Widget Empire, may not be necessary to understand your analysis of the Australian widget market. Your CEO prefers that you skip a description of Widget Empire U.S.A., as she does not need to understand Widget Empire U.S.A. for the issue at hand.

• Does the model/market structure I chose for my analysis fit my real-world example well? Do I justify my modeling choice?
• Is my essay well-structured? A clear structure makes your essay easy to read. While not required, a simple tool that helps with that is to split the essay into different sections, e.g. (a different number of sections might be appropriate for your essay)
  1. Widget Empire Australia: A Brief Overview
  2. Possible Government Interventions in the Market for Widgets
  3. Australian Import Tariff on Widgets and Their Impact on the Price and Quantity of Widgets
  4. Winners and Losers from the Introduction of the Import Tariff
  5. Conclusion

Here, the first section would briefly describe the chosen company. The second section would briefly describe possible government interventions. This section would not be the core of the essay. The next two sections would be the core part, and describe one realworld government intervention and its impact on the market outcome, as well as provide an analysis of who wins and who loses from the intervention. The final section would provide a brief conclusion.

• Have I cited sources for all data that I present? It is not good to just write

“Widget Empire Australia’s sales increased by 50% in 2014 .”

Rather, provide a source for you claim

“Widget Empire Australia’s sales increased by 50% in 2014 (Walter Widget,

2013) .” and later reference Walter Widget (2013) in your bibliography.

• Have I labeled all figures?
• Have I explained all figures in the text? — It is not enough to just add some figure to your essay. You also have to explain to the reader what the figure means, and what conclusions you draw from it.
• Are all my sentences grammatically correct? In general, it is good practice to use plain English rather than complicated expressions and complicated sentence structures.
• Please be very sure to not plagiarize your essay, or even parts of it. Copying from others, from textbooks and internet sources is unacceptable (without proper citation) and can have serious consequences.