MAE101 – Economic Principles
Individual Written Assignment
DUE DATE AND TIME: (Week 9) Friday 22 December 2023, 11:59pm Melbourne time
PERCENTAGE OF FINAL GRADE: 25%
WORD LIMIT: 1000–1200 words (excluding graphs, tables, footnotes and reference list) Students to provide the word count on the front page of their assignment submission.
Submission Instructions
An electronic copy of your assignment is to be submitted into Turnitin on Moodle on or before the due date and time. Late submissions will attract a deduction of 5% (1.25 marks) for each day they are late. Assignments submitted m ore than 5 days after the submission date will not be m arked and will receive a “0” score.
N.B. Extensions can only be granted by the Unit Coordinator and are only considered if accompanied by supporting documentary evidence. E.g. A medical certificate. Even so, not all applications for an extension are granted.
Assignment writing guide:
You do not need to include an Assignment Cover Sheet as part of your submission.
Please do not re-write the question in full, just write the question numbers and parts e.g. Q1. (i). and then type your response/answer.
Do not copy directly from any other student’s work and do not copy directly from online sources or textbook sources even if you cite their work. You must write your assignment in your own words. You can however refer to another author’s work as a guide or for ideas, and paraphrase in your own words, but you must correctly cite their work. You are required to use the APA7 style of referencing and ensure that all ideas, quotes and paraphrases of another author’s work have been referenced correctly, both in-text and alphabetically by author’s surname in a reference list at the end of your assignment. A Guide to Referencing is available on the Deakin University website: Deaki n-g ui de -to –
A PA 7. pdf and further assistance is available through student learning advisors or library staff.
N.B. Students found to have a high level of similarity to another student’s work and/or another author’s work and/or have insufficient referencing will be called in for an academic misconduct interview where penalties may apply.
Plea se rea d th e fo llo win g statement b efo re co mmen cin g yo u r a ssig n ment a n d b efo re su b mittin g
yo u r a ssig n ment.
All work submitted by an individual student must be their own. If a student uses artificial intelligence software such as ChatGPT or QuillBot to generate material for assessment that they represent as
their own ideas, research and/or analysis, they are NOT submitting their own work. Knowingly having a third party, including artificial intelligence technologies, write or produce any work (paid or unpaid) that a student submits as their own work for assessment is deliberate cheating and is academic misconduct. This can and has resulted in students having to appear for an academic misconduct interview and receiving zero marks for their assessment. If a student uses AI generated material in
the preparation of their assessment submission, this must be appropriately acknowledged and cited.
I f thi s can not be done, then y ou m ust not use that m ateri al i n your assi g nm ent and write it yourself.
Please submit your assignment as a PDF as it will ensure your diagrams, tables etc. are more secure and won’t move around as they can in MSWord and other formats. Ensure that you DO NOT save your assignment in Pages or Numbers format.
Note: Some questions will require you to draw diagrams. These can be constructed using the Insert→ Shapes → Line feature in MSWord. Hand-drawn diagrams (including inserted images of such) and diagrams copied in from online sources (even if cited) will not be awarded any marks.
Your assignment should include footer identification (name and student ID) on the bottom left-hand side, and page numbers, on the bottom right hand side of the page.
Use size 12 font for your assignment and use bold font for the question numbers/parts.
Include at least four (4) authored and scholarly/reliable references for your assignment (these may including some of the references listed at the end of this document).
Up to three (3) marks will be deducted for insufficient referencing, incorrect in-text citation and for not following the assignment instructions.
| Turnitin Submission Checklist | |
| Have you adhered to the specified word-limit (1000-1200 words)? | |
| Your name and ID are in a footer on the bottom LHS of each page, with page numbers on the RHS | |
| Your font size is 12 point | |
| All graphs are drawn neatly and are your own work | |
| Have you referenced at least 4 authored, reliable sources in your assignment and made sure that all ideas, quotes and paraphrases of other authors work has been referenced correctly, both in-text and in a reference list? | |
| Your file is saved as a PDF document with your student ID and unit code as the file name (e.g. SMITH1902 MAE101 Assignment) | |
The assignment will draw on your understanding of some of the key concepts and models we have studied in chapters 4, 5, 6, 14 & 15 of Gans et al., Principles of Microeconomics, (2021). Ensure your responses to the assignment questions use the economic terminology and analysis we have developed in the course.
Question 1:
In February 2023, the Pharmaceutical Industry in the Czech Republic called on the Czech Government to remove the price ceiling on a number of medicines. The industry argued that the current price controls are leading to shortages of several important medicines for high blood pressure, pain, high cholesterol and antibiotics and are harming consumers.
Source: Plevák, Ondřej (2023) – see link: htt ps ://w w w. euractiv.com/section/health consumers /news /price -cei li ng s -ondr ug s -w it h-no- altern ati ves -must-be -raised-czec h -in dust r y-
s ays /.
What effect is the price control likely to have on the market for medicines in the Czech Republic? What will happen to the quantity of medicines demanded? What will happen to the quantity supplied? Who gains? Who loses? Draw a diagram to support your answer. (5 marks)
Question 2:
In the November 2019 the price of pork in China increased by more than 100% as a result of the African swine fever crisis which has destroyed half of the pigs in the country. Source: Zou Sissy, (2019). See link: htt ps ://w w w. s cmp. com/economy /ch ina -economy /arti cle /30 370 20/chi na cons umer-pr ices -j ump-oc tober-cos t-p ork-s oars -more -10 0
Using supply and demand analysis graph and explain what the effect the price increase will have on the market for pork in China and on the market for beef in China. (5 marks)
Question 3:
In 2022 demand for housing increased substantially across the US as more Americans working from home moved to the suburbs to find freestanding homes instead of apartments. At the same time the supply of housing has decreased because of supply chain shortages which made it harder for construction companies to build houses and also because of strict council regulations which specify how land can be used. Source: Kenan Institute (2023), See link:
htt ps ://w raltechw ire. com/20 23/ 01/ 27/afforda ble – hous ing -c ris es -is -getti ng -wors e -how-can-wefig ht- it /
What are the effects on the equilibrium price and quantity of housing as a result of the situations described above? Draw a diagram to support your answer. (5 marks)
Question 4:
In the first months of 2023 bird flu in the United States has dramatically decreased the supply of eggs in the country. The laying hen population is down 5.8% compared to 2021 and egg production is down 6.6% during the period. At the same time, the demand for eggs is considered to be inelastic. Source: Hicks, Isabel (2023). See link:
htt ps ://bil li ng s gazette. com/bus ines s /bedev iled -eg gs -bird-flu inflation -bum p-eg g -pr ices – st rain-s upp ly /arti c le_ 66 b91 638 -7e7d -54 90- 9cf9 -2 a6d48d f53 b8. ht ml
If the demand for eggs is price-inelastic, a reduction in egg production will increase farmers’ revenue. Explain why this is so. Use a diagram to support your answer. (5 marks)
Question 5:
In January 2023, the US Senate asked the Department of Justice to investigate possible monopoly power exercised by Ticketmaster – one of the largest sellers of tickets to concerts, sporting events and other entertainment services in the world. The US Senators have claimed that Ticketmaster is harming both consumers and artists as a result of its practices. Source: TJRadio, See link:
htt ps ://w w w. ks 95. com/s enators –call-up on–de part ment–of–justi ce –to–i nvesti gate –
ti cket master–for–it s alleged–mo nop oly–po wer/
If event tickets were being provided by a perfectly competitive industry would the price and the quantity of tickets in the market be higher or lower compared to monopoly? Provide a detailed answer. Use a diagram to support your answer. (5 marks)
