Objectives

This assessment item relates to course learning outcomes 1 and 2 as listed in the Unit Profile.

This research assignment has two questions.

Q1.......................................................................................................... (Total 16 marks)

Select one real life example from your home country for any two of the four market structures:

i)  perfectly competitive market, ii) monopolistically competitive market, iii) oligopoly, and iv) monopoly. Describe your two examples in sufficient details (with references). Use economic theory to contrast the selected two market structures with relation to allocation of resources for each of your examples.

In answering this question, as a minimum, you need to:

•        Describe your examples in sufficient details, provide relevant information, use tables and diagrams where appropriate.

•        Use features of market structures such as number of sellers, type of product, entry conditions, profits and losses in the short and long run, advertising, research and development , efficiency, resource allocation and appropriate diagrams to answer this question.

•        While your textbook is your first point of reference for the theory, you should consult other references in order to receive full marks.

•         Real life examples must be supported by real data and references.

Q2…................................................................................................... (Total 15 Marks)

Define market failure and explain the situation where market mechanism operates inefficiently. Choose one real life example of market failure (negative externality) as your case study. Identify the type of market failure in relation to your case study. Examine your examples on the presence of market failure which involves market outcomes that are socially unacceptable. Discuss how market failures in your example can be corrected. Using an economic theory develop a policy that will mitigate or correct this market failure. Use diagrams to illustrate your proposed policy.

In answering this question, as a minimum, you need to:

·         Provide a brief description of your case study in sufficient details.

·         This is the analysis of your case study where you need to analyse the effect of government intervention using the theory and real data from your case study.

·         Explain different types of market failures, then identify a market failure in your case study. Describe your suggestions in detail based on the economic theory and different ways to mitigate market failure using real data from your case study.

·         Provide relevant information, use tables, diagrams where appropriate.

·         Use real life examples (with references) to support your discussion.

Assessment Criteria

·         You must refer to the textbook in the first instance. Besides the textbook, you should also refer to a few other academic books, journal articles and relevant websites in answering these questions.

·         Use real life examples (with references) to support your discussion.

·         Answers must be complete, addressing the specific tasks nominated in the questions.

·         Use in-text referencing and provide a list of references.

·         All submissions for this course must use the American Psychological Association (APA) referencing style (details can be obtained at https://www.cqu.edu.au/student-life/services- and-facilities/referencing/cquniversity-referencing-guides).

·         Concepts must be defined accurately and completely.

·         The assumptions upon which the analysis is based must be stated at the onset.

·         Diagrams must be drawn properly, correctly labelled and the relations they depict explained.

·         Photocopied and scanned graphs from books, articles or websites are not acceptable. It is preferable to hand-draw a graph then scan it to insert in your file.

·         Remember an extension is not a gift, it is a burden.

Note: no submissions including automatically submitted by Moodle will be reverted to the draft after the due date.

·         In Moodle there is now a default setting, which will automatically submit your assignment for marking, if you have forgotten to click the Submit for marking button.

·         After an assignment's due date and time has passed, any assignments that are still in draft mode (i.e. you have not yet submitted the assignment for marking) will be auto-submitted on your behalf.

·         This action will occur only once for an assignment at the due date/time. If you are submitting an assignment after the due date/time has passed, then you will still need to click the Submit for marking button as normal.

Plagiarism: the presentation of work, ideas or data of others as one’s own, without appropriate acknowledgment and referencing. Plagiarism also includes self-plagiarism. Plagiarism is a real