ECON3000 Microeconomic Theory

Question:

Topic:

Your own investigation should be on ONE of the following three issues:

Option (a).

A Cartel: Find a real world example of legal actions being taken against a cartel, anywhere in the world. The discussion is expected to include (but is not limited to) the main issue, regulatory framework, its economic rationale, its effectiveness, the incentive structure associated with the detection methods, and compare it with policies used in other parts of the world.

Option (b).

A Patent: Analyse a specific patent of your choice, anywhere in the world. The discussion is expected to include (but is not limited to) the regulatory framework, its economic rationale and adequacy, the incentives for R&D, the intertemporal aspect of profit-making, and related policy issues.

Option (c).

A Natural Monopoly: Analyse a regulated natural monopoly of your choice anywhere in the world. The discussion is expected to include (but is not limited to) the regulatory framework, its economic rationale, pricing, profits and incentives, efficiency and welfare, policy alternatives and related policy issues.

What is being assessed?

The essay assignment will assess your ability to analyse a real world problem based on microeconomic theory in an original way. You should not use equations, but diagrams may be useful in some cases. The marking criteria will be as follows:

• Title: The title should describe the topic and discussion in your essay assignment in a meaningful way that matches the contents.
  
  
• Abstract: The abstract is a 100-word summary of your essay assignment. It should present the issue and the discussion in a very succinctly way. Writing a good abstract takes time.
  
  
• Identification of an issue: You will have to identify an economic phenomenon documented in some reliable source (examples: a report or website information from an international organisation, government agency or industry organisation, academic journal articles, etc.). Searching and identifying good sources of information is a critical step in your essay assignment.
  
  
• Relevant information: You will have to provide relevant data or evidence supporting the main discussion in your essay. Data or evidence may appear in the form of a graph, table or simply described within the text. Make appropriate decisions on how to present and use the information: explaining too many graphs or tables can take a lot of space. In some cases, it may be better to explain in plain words the key information that you find in graphs and tables in your literature. Include only the graphs and tables that you consider crucial.
  
  
• Application of discipline knowledge and critical thinking: You will have to demonstrate ability to apply microeconomic concepts to the analysis of real world situations. The microeconomic concepts provide the base for your analysis, and you are expected to build on them using your own ideas. Originality and own critical thinking will be highly rewarded.
  
  
• Conclusions and/or recommendations: Your analysis has to lead a concrete conclusion that may be associated with a policy recommendation or interesting open questions.
  
  
• Professional writing skills and discipline conventions: This criterion assesses your ability to convey information succinctly and express ideas in a clear, concise way. The writing should be well-planned and organised in sections in a way that fits the purpose of your discussion. The discussion should follow a common thread, use logical argumentation, and be informative, deep and engaging. References should be provided in Chicago author-date style. Grammar errors and misspellings will not affect your mark, but the general presentation of your ideas will. Generally speaking, the quality of your transcript will be proportional to the amount of time you spend polishing it.