MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit I Journal
There is growing concern about poverty and income inequality. These two concepts, however, are not the same. Income inequality deals with the percentage of income earned by the different income groups, while poverty is concerned with how difficult it is for the poor to meet basic needs. In Section 1.4, you read about deontological and consequential approaches to ethics. Using those approaches, evaluate how well free market systems versus government intervention in markets address poverty and income inequality. Include in your discussion an explanation of how people in a free market economy, acting in their own self-interest, can better those around them. Bring examples from your own experiences where your actions, though entirely self-motivated, resulted in a benefit to somebody else.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No references or citations are necessary.
MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit II Journal
This unit’s readings included information on pricing. You are introduced to the shutdown price, using elasticity to determine the effects of price changes, and cost-based pricing. Discuss the importance of considering elasticity in pricing decisions and the danger of relying solely on costs.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No references or citations are necessary
MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit III Journal
Identify a good you commonly use or would like to use. Explain at least three factors that would result in a shift in the demand curve for that good and three factors that would result in a shift in the supply curve for that good. Describe theeffect on equilibrium price and quantity of each factor and how those changes would affect your life. Finally, explain how the shifts in demand and supply are different from movements along the demand curve or movements along the supply curve and why the distinction is important.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No references or citations are necessary.
MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit IV Journal
Incorporate the concepts of game theory to international trade and tariffs. Set up two payoff matrices. Set up the first payoff matrix such that the outcome will be harmful to both countries. Set up the second payoff matrix such that the outcome will be beneficial to the United States. From your perspective as a consumer, evaluate the two matrices using current actions by each country to see which most likely benefits domestic consumers.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No references or citations are necessary.
MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit V Journal
Explain a time you encountered non-uniform pricing, or price discrimination. Identify the type of price discrimination it was.Using the criteria necessary for price discrimination, evaluate how well that good fit price discrimination. Finally, evaluate theeffect such price discrimination has on you and society.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No references or citations are necessary.
MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit VI Journal
Identify a situation from your own experience that involves making decisions using expected value, and detail the different options, expectations, and payouts. Discuss the risks involved with those expectations and, if applicable, the payouts. Include in your discussion an explanation of how to determine how much information to gather to minimize uncertainty. Finally, explain which decision should be made.
Your journal entry must be at least 200 words in length. No references or citations are necessary.
MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit II Essay – Elasticity
Unit I introduced the benefits of markets to improving outcomes for producers and consumers. Unit II examined the role of costs and prices in decision-making. For this assignment, you will answer a series of questions in the form of an essay. Support your answers with research from at least three peer-reviewed journal articles using the CSU Online Library (or other sources).
1. Research elasticity information for two particular goods: one with an elastic demand and one with an inelastic demand. Using elasticity information you gather, predict changes in demand. The United States Department of Agriculture website has a good resource to help with this.
2. Describe how marginal analysis, by avoiding sunk costs, leads to better pricing decisions.
3. Explain the importance of opportunity costs to decision-making and how opportunity costs lead to trade.
4. Evaluate how better business decisions can benefit not just the producer but the consumer and society as a whole. In your evaluation, contrast the deontology and consequentialism approaches to ethics.
Your essay must be at least three pages in length (not counting the title and references pages) and include at least three peer-reviewed resources. Adhere to APA Style when writing your essay, including citations and references for sources used. Be sure to include an introduction. Please note that no abstract is needed.
MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit IV Essay
International trade can have big effects on domestic markets. For both an import good and an export good (in other words, address each bulleted item below twice—once for import and once for export), describe how opening up to international trade affects the following:
· supply or demand for the particular good,
· the competitiveness of that good’s market, and
· how the change in competitiveness affects equilibrium price and quantity.
Stepping away from the import/export examples, describe how opening up to trade specifically affects a domestic monopoly. Include an explanation, using game theory, of how even a single additional competitor can lead to a market outcome similar to perfect competition. Your essay must be at least three pages in length (not counting the title and references pages) and include at least three peer-reviewed resources. Adhere to APA Style when writing your essay, including citations and references for sources used. Be sure to include an introduction. Please note that no abstract is needed.
MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit VI Essay
Auctions can be an important tool for selling goods and gathering information. Auctions are used in multiple venues including agriculture, eBay, and distressed asset sales. The seller does not have to worry about estimating demand and setting a price because the demanders will do that through the auction process.
Write an essay examining the value of auctions in the economy by addressing the following items.
· Explain the difference between oral auctions and second-price auctions, including how they work and their results.
· Use the expected value information to illustrate how having more bidders in an oral auction will likely result in a higher winning bid.
· Explain how the number of bidders in a common value auction affects the outcome of the auction. Relate this to the effect on price in different market structures based on the number of producers.
· Auctions lead to outcomes where buyers reveal their value for the products being auctioned. To successfully price discriminate, firms often rely on buyers revealing their value for products. Explain the conditions necessary for firms to be able to price discriminate.
Your essay must be at least three pages in length (not counting the title and references pages) and include at least three peer-reviewed resources. Adhere to APA Style when writing your essay, including citations and references for sources used. Be sure to include an introduction. Please note that no abstract is needed.
MBA6053 Economics for Managers
Unit VIII Final Project
Uber is a ride-sharing service started in 2009. If you are not familiar with Uber, you can learn more about the services it provides at Uber.com.
Construct an eight-page analysis of Uber using the following criteria.
· Analyze the market before Uber’s entry. Describe the inefficiency Uber exploited.
· Explain Uber’s surge pricing in the context of shifts in supply and demand.
· Evaluate Uber’s surge pricing in the context of price discrimination.
· Apply the concepts of economies of scale and economies of scope to Uber’s business model. Apply the concepts of game theory to Uber’s market.
· Assess Uber’s potential for international expansion and potential trade policy issues. Explain the incentive pay model Uber uses and how it affects the principal-agent problem.
· Discuss any asymmetric information issues with Uber’s business model.
Your essay must be at least eight pages in length (not counting the title and references pages) and include at least five peer reviewed resources. Adhere to APA Style when writing your analysis, including citations and references for sources used. Be sure to include an introduction. Please note that no abstract is needed.
