Economics Essay

Economics Essays

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Our sample economics essays are an ideal tool for any student struggling to start their own economics essay. It is worth noting that economic management is an essential part of any organisation and there are many components of economic management. By browsing our collection of economics essay topics, you will get ideas for your economics dissertation through the following economics subjects:

Hyperinflation, Macroeconomics, Economic Policy, International Monetary Fund, IMF, Economic Development, Interest Rates, EU, Oil Price, Economic Growth, Unemployment, Microeconomics, Supply, Demand, economics, Regional Development, Employment Economics and Financial Economics.

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Economics Essay

Code
Title / Subject
eca0001
MBA Economic Management: Discuss How Companies Can Make The Most Of Opportunities Offered By Increasing Economic Integration According to Wild J

(2003) regional economic integration is the process whereby countries in a geographic region cooperate with one another to reduce or eliminate barriers to the international flow of products, people, or capital. Similarly, Hill C., (2003) stated that by regional economic integration we mean agreements among countries in a geographic region to reduce, and ultimately remove, tariff and non-tariff barriers to the free flow of goods, services, and factors of production between each other

[3,500 words]
eca0002
Fujifilm - Kodak Duopolistic Competition in Japan and the United States Pioneer in the world of photography, Kodak made the first camera, easy to use and accessible to nearly everyone

For a long time, the company dominated, its home market, of course, but also foreign markets like Japan. But in 1934, the Fuji Photo Company (Fujifilm) was created and a duopolistic competition began between the two companies in Japan and the USA. In 1995, Kodak complained against Japan, alledging that Fujifilm and Japan s Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) conspired to exclude it from Japan s distribution outlets. But, two and a half year later, the WTO ruled in favor of Fujifilm and MITI. The aim of this paper is to explain the competition between Fujifilm and Kodak with the product life cycle, game theory and the exchange of hostage hypothesis of international trade and investment

[3,500 words]
eca0003
Oil Exports From OPEC & The Effect Of Quotas Oil is like any other commodity in the sense that it follows the laws of supply and demand

However, given that oil is such an important input to worldwide economic activity and given is unequal distribution throughout the world, oil supply and demand is unevenly divided between countries, being more demanded by those with big and growing economies and whose reserves are concentrated in the Middle East. To further distort the supply side of the equation, there is OPEC. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries is an association formed by most of the largest oil producing nations, in what to all practical effects amounts to a cartel. One of their strongest measures is to impose a production quota on all members, a mechanism which will be further explained later. The purpose of this paper is to prove whether the price of oil has risen due to the influence of OPEC in the amount of oil produced and the instability in the Middle East, among other factors

[3,000 words]
eca0004
Economic Principles: In Oligopoly Markets Price and Output Decisions are Indeterminate

Explain and Discuss. An oligopoly is a market with only a few sellers, each offering a product similar or identical to the others. If the product is homogenous, there is a pure oligopoly. If the product is differentiated, there is a differentiated oligopoly. Since there are only a few sellers of a product, the actions of each seller affect the others. That is, the firms are usually mutually interdependent. The key point to make regarding markets price and output decisions are that there is no single theory of oligopoly (equivalent to that of perfect competition or monopoly) that exists because the behaviour of oligopolistic firms are determined by the strategic reaction and behaviour of their rivals and these reactions will differ according to the market situation. Therefore the markets price and output decisions are indeterminate

[1,200 words]
eca0005
Advanced Macroeconomics: Economic Growth - The Solow Model and Its Critics

When we want to study the behaviour of the economy in the long-run term, we can no longer focus on the fluctuations but on growth instead. After studying the evolution of the output per capita of some rich countries, economists have come out with three main unexplained facts: (1) Growth has been very strong during the last 50 years, (2) Growth has slowed down since the mid-1970’s and (3) Output per capita among those countries has converged over time. Although we cannot take the study of a few rich countries as significant, we can use it to find out the main focus of attention of the growth models that will derive: (1) A theory that explains growth must also be able to explain the lack of growth (either in other periods of time or in other countries), (2) Convergence among countries and (3) It is not so much the lower growth that needs to be explained but the periods of fast growth experienced by some countries

[2,500 words]
eca0006
Analysis into Oil Pricing

The volatility of the oil price has led to changes in the structure of the oil sector, encompassing both the oil companies and their various contractors. In particular there has been consolidation both horizontally and vertically in the traditional contracting supply chain. In recent years the continued pressures on costs has encouraged sharing of responsibilities between the oil companies and their various contractors in particular there has been consolidation both horizontal and vertically in traditional contracting supply chain. Crude oil behaves much as any other commodity with wide price swings in times of shortage or oversupply. The crude oil price cycle may extend over several years responding to changes in demand as well as OPEC and non-OPEC supply

[3,000 words]
eca0007
Illustrate What Is Meant By General Equilibrium In The IS-LM Model

Show How The Model Can Be Amended To Reflect The Current Conduct Of Monetary Policy In Setting The Short-Term Interest Rate. This assignment will explain how fiscal and monetary policy interact to influence interest rate and aggregate demand. Also I am going to look at the IS-LM model which determines real GDP and the real interest rate. Currently it is the interest rate that is the instrument of monetary control chosen to achieve a 2% CPI inflation target two years ahead. We can modify the IS-LM model in a somewhat inadequate way to show how setting interest rates will work by effectively determining real GDP, and through the short-run Phillips curve.

[1,500 words]
eca0008
Analysis Into The Italian Economy

The Italian economy has changed dramatically since the end of World War II. From an agriculturally based economy, it has developed into an industrial state ranked as the world’s sixth largest market economy. The formation of the European Union has focussed considerable attention on this region of the world economy. Experts and practitioners alike have been interested in examining whether the EU has really benefited the states within it and if so to what extent. This short term paper examines the relative economic performance of a major economy within the EU, Italy, in order to understand how it performed within the last 5 years.

[2,000 words]
eca0009
MSc: Explain How To Calculate The Degree Of Misalignment Of The Real Exchange Rate And To Assess The Implications Of Such Misalignment For Economic Performance In Developing Countries The integration of the world economy in the past decade or so has generated important changes in the way economic policy is conducted in both industrial and developing countries

In implementing macroeconomic policy countries can no longer ignore the external sector. There is, in fact, a growing recognition that the real exchange rate is one of the most important macroeconomic variables. Its evolution greatly affects both the payments position and the international competitiveness of a country. Moreover, when the real exchange rate deviates from its long-run, sustainable equilibrium level-that is, where there is a real exchange rate misalignment-severe macroeconomic disequilibriums usually result

[2,500 words]
eca0010
Fixed Exchange Rate Regimes and Monetary Independence: A Single Country Approach This MSc Economics paper follows the theoretical approach of Shambaugh (2004) and attempts to investigate the theory of the impossible trinity

According to Mundell and Krugman a country can choose between two of three monetary policy options: a fixed exchange rate, capital mobility and monetary independence. Unlike the majority of studies in the literature a single country approach is employed to test this hypothesis. In particular, the paper focuses on the small open economy of Barbados. The country has maintained a fixed exchange rate regime since 1975 and is therefore perfect for testing the hypothesis under the assumption of a credibly pegged exchange rate regime

[5,000 words]
eca0011
Theory of Absolute Cost Advantage Mercantilism stretched over nearly three centuries, ending in the last quarter of the eighteenth century

It was the period when the nation-states were consolidating in Europe. For the purpose of consolidation, they required gold that could best be accumulated through trade surplus. In order to achieved trade surplus, their governments monopolized trade activities, provided subsidies and other incentives for export, and restricted imports. Since most European countries were colonial powers, they imported low cost raw material from their colonies and exported high cost manufactured goods to the colonies. They also prevented colonies from producing manufacturing. All this was done in order to generate export augmentation and import restriction lay at the root of the mercantilist theory of international trade.

[4,500 words]
eca0012
The Theoretical Case for and Against its Use in Cost Benefit Analysis This paper examines the validity of the use of existence value in cost-benefit analysis, blending together tools of economic theory and meta-ethical value analysis

The technical issues of definition and the theoretical justification for using the contingent valuation method are discussed. This is followed by a consideration of what existence value is trying to categorize, and whether the ‘welfarist’ approach embedded in neoclassical welfare analysis is an appropriate framework for understanding such values. Finally, arguments for and against the use of existence value in cont-benefit analysis are assessed, concluding in a ‘third way’ that accepts it as a valid category of values to be considered in the project evaluation process, but asserts that the total valuation framework is not an appropriate method for assessing existence value for both economic and meta-ethical reasons

[8,500 words]
eca0013
The Economic Concept of Elasticity of Demand This essay seeks to demonstrate the understanding of the economic concept of elasticity of demand

I intend to examine two fundamental concepts, supply and demand and in doing so this essay will look at defining and discussing income and cross price elasticity, consider the significant changes of elasticity overtime by using numerical examples and graphs, and finally apply this theory to the construction industry. First and foremost, the theory of supply and demand is one of the essential theories of economics. Supply is the amount of product that a producer is willing and able to pay at a particular price, whereas demand is the amount of product that a buyer is willing and able to buy at a specific price. The model for supply and demand shows the relationship between a product’s accessibility and the interest shown in it.

[2,000 words]
eca0014
Business Economics: Factors Influencing Prices in the Global Oil Market This assignment is all about the factors that can influence prices in the global oil market

Especially, how other factors can cause increase or decrease in the oil price. I will begin with the crisis in 1970s and if we ever see again something like that in the future. Secondly, I will write about the world oil producers and how all the oil mechanism works and finally I will finish with the factors influencing the prices giving examples from the past. The 1973 oil crisis began on October 17, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC, consisting of the Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) announced, as a result of the ongoing Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship oil to nations that had supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt (the United States, its allies in Western Europe, and Japan)

[2,000 words]
eca0015
The Pros and Cons of Economic Expansion in Mainland China In recent years, the economic expansion has increased a lot in Mainland China

It’s no doubt that the economic expansion brought many advantages to Mainland China, however, there also some disadvantages. This essay shows both of the pros and cons of economic expansion in Mainland China, for example, the increase of GDP and the environment problems. There will also talk about the effect of economic expansion on industries and give a specific industry as an example. First of all, I will give some background about this topic. The economic expansion is a kind of economic activity, it describe the level of economic activity of the goods and services available in the market place. Economic growth is a measurement of national income and national income can be measured by income, output and expenditure of an economy. If there is a high rate of economic growth, it means that the income, output and expenditure are increasing.

[1,000 words]
eca0016
Macroeconomic Environment: Is the World heading into a World recession? The main objective of this essay is to discuss a question: “Is the world heading into a world recession?” In order to do so we will look at economic trends in the largest world economies and also in the emerging markets

We will look in more detail at the subprime mortgage crisis in the USA, credit crunch (financial sector), interest rates movements, unemployment, and growth rates. Furthermore we will discuss decoupling argument. In order to answer and analyse our main question we will refer to the economic theory. I think firstly we need to object that all talks about world recession started after multiple debates about USA recession. What really our main question sound is: If USA will go to recession, what impact it will have on the world economy?

[1,500 words]
eca0017
Business Operations in Emerging Economies The past 50 years has witnessed the development of China’s investment and cooperation with Africa

When China established diplomatic relations with Egypt in 1956, the trade between China and the entire Africa continent was merely 12 million US dollars. Until 1980, although following the Opening- up policy, the volume of trade was still no more than 1.13 billion US dollars. However as the China’s economy fast developed in the recent 10 years and the economic and trade conditions improved in African countries, the relations and cooperation between the two have surged to a new peak. Since 2001, the value of the bilateral trade has increased at the annual rate of 40%. And in 2005, the figure reached 39.74 billion US dollars, with China’ export of 18.68 billion and import of 21.06 billion respectively, twice as much as that in 2003. And in 2006, it soared to 55.5 billion, in which export form China was 26.7 billion and import was 28.8 billion. China has established investment projects in 49 African countries and has overtaken UK and emerged the third largest trade partner with Africa after the US and France.

[3,000 words]
eca0018
To What Extent Has Britain Suffered From An Overvalued Exchange Rate Over The Last Two Decades? During the course of my investigation I will be doing a research on whether Britain has suffered from an overvalued exchange rate of pound sterling over the last twenty years

Firstly, I will be looking at the determinants of exchange rate in order to find out the factors affecting the exchange rate of a currency such as pound sterling against another. In this way, I will be able to figure out if UK’s currency, pound sterling, is overvalued or not. Secondly, the history of both British exchange rate and economy will be analysed and looked at to see whether Britain has actually suffered from the overvalued exchange rate for the last two decades. I am planning to begin this coursework by defining exchange rate and explaining its effect on the economy. This includes the impact of the exchange rate on balance of payment, interest rate and economic growth, as well as other economic variables and vice versa. Moreover, the reasons for the fluctuations on the pound exchange rate against other currency will be verified and discussed as an example to see the connection between economic variables and exchange rate. In addition, it will be vital to clarify on the basis of what we consider a currency to be overvalued. For example, a tourist might think British pound is overvalued whereas people from Britain might think foreign currencies are undervalued, therefore it is important to understand how we define overvalued exchange rate.

[4,500 words]
eca0019
An Evaluation into Various Methods a Firm Can Use To Estimate Its Cost of Equity: Whenever a firm makes a profit, it can take two possible actions

On the one hand it could pay out the cash as a dividend. On the other hand the firm can invest the extra cash in a project. The project could be building a new factory for example. The aim of this project would be to provide future cash flows that would increase shareholder wealth. The project should only be undertaken if its expected return is greater than that of a financial asset of comparable risk. In this study I will be looking at the different ways of measuring the cost of equity and why it is important to measure it accurately. From the firm’s perspective, the expected return is the cost of equity capital. The capital asset pricing model (CAPM) is one method for calculating this. However, before we look at the model, we must understand how the concept was derived. Stanford professor William Sharpe and the late finance specialists John Lintner and Fischer Black focused on calculating what part of a security’s risk can be eliminated by diversification and what part cannot. The result was the capital asset pricing model. The basic concept behind the model is that there is no premium for bearing risks that can be diversified away (unsystematic/specific risk)

[3,000 words]
eca0020
What are the main institutions and assets of futures markets? Discuss the relationship between spot and forward prices

A financial derivative is an instrument based on or ‘derived’ from underlying assets such as shares, bonds, commodities or currencies. In general, it is an obligation to buy or sell the underlying asset at an agreed price and time in the future. Since it takes only a small down payment (margin) to purchase such an obligation, any movement in the value of the underlying asset above or below the agreed price can produce immense profits or losses relative to the original down payment. The number of instruments invented in the past few years which fit this definition is vast, and their use has become so pervasive that some professionals no longer regard the simplest derivatives, such as futures and options. It was Aristotle who first recorded a suspicion that all might not be well where derivatives were concerned. Around 330 BC, in the first book of his Politics, he wrote down the first detailed description ever recorded of an options contract in a story about the philosopher Thales of Miletus. Aristotle claims that Thales invented options.

[4,300 words]
eca0021
An analysis on how capital markets influence the decisions of managers – Can its influence be socially harmful? This essay deals with the effect of the capital market on the principal agent problem

It will be assumed that managerial incentives cannot perfectly motivate management to act in the best interests of shareholders and the public and the essay will analyse the different methods through which the capital markets influences managers to be more efficient. The essay will analyse the role of takeovers, competition and the threat of bankruptcy and closure, labour markets and the role of creditors. Each of these methods will be considered in turn and analysed in terms of how they induce efficiency in management, faults in the previously considered theory and lastly any socially harmful effects that arise out of each method. For instance the threat of takeovers will be considered to induce efficiency in management as they fear being replaced, however this threat might not be credible due to the possibility of share holder free riding and lastly takeovers have costly social effects such as reducing the incentive to invest human capital in careers and reducing the development of trust.

[2,400 words]
eca0022
Economists tend to have reservations about the desirability of horizontal mergers but are less concerned about vertical mergers and agreements - Horizontal mergers are generally seen as leading to an increase in concentration within markets, hence causing a fall in consumer welfare

For this reason, economists are traditionally worried about potential horizontal mergers, but not vertical mergers, which are generally seen as a means of increasing overall welfare. This black and white analysis of horizontal and vertical mergers is not true in all cases. There are instances where horizontal mergers actually lead to an increase in welfare, just as there are cases in which vertical mergers lead to a loss in welfare through vertical constraints. I will start by distinguishing the difference between a vertical and a horizontal merger, examining cases in both, where welfare can either be gained or lost, thus showing that in order for policy makers to ensure and maintain competitive markets, which is desirable, it is necessary to examine each case of a potential merger individually, assessing the potential for both welfare, and shareholder value creation or destruction.

[2,600 words]
eca0023
The Elimination of competitors is the main motivation for mergers - There are many motives behind mergers, including but not exclusively the elimination of competition

There are others such as Reduction of Costs i.e. Economies of Scale using complementary resources, Improved Management of target Company, Financing of Target Company, Tax Benefits i.e. increase tax shield, Diversification into other markets gaining market share/strengthening market share contribute as motives also. However, this essay will focus on the contribution of Economies of Scale as a motive, the theory behind the motive supported by the case study of Upjohn and Pharmacia and empirical evidence to counterbalance the theory. Secondly Market Share Theory, its contribution, which as Griffiths’ proposed may help the company withstand economic environment. Finally Value Discrepancy Hypothesis, the theory behind it illustrated by the AOL and the Warner Merger.

[1,600 words]
eca0024
Explain the idea of strategic entry deterrence

How does multi-market contact affect firms’ abilities to collude? Strategic moves can be defined as any move that is designed to influence the behaviour of other firms. Strategic entry deterrence therefore involves any action taken by an incumbent firm that seeks to discourage potential entrants from entering into and competing in the market, even if it is not profit maximising to do so in the short-run. This distinction allows us to compare two types of barriers to entry, innocent barriers and strategic barriers, the latter of which will be the focus of this section of my essay. How can a firm strategically discourage entry into its market? If the incumbent firm is producing the monopoly level of output, and thereby making supernormal profits, there is an incentive for new firms to enter the market and attempt to capture some of these profits. One way the incumbent can deter entry, therefore, is to produce a higher quantity at a lower price than the monopoly level, a strategy known as limit pricing.

[2,000 words]
eca0025
Assess the efficiency of market undervalued or overvalued shares and determine if it is possible to develop trading rules which will beat the market: When investors put money into the stock market, they aim to make a profitable return on the capital they have invested

Many try to not only profit from their investments, but to beat the market. This essay will discuss the theory that the market is so efficient that it cannot be beaten and any abnormal profits made by investors is purely by chance. If the market is as efficient as Fama, the founder of the Efficient Market Hypothesis suggests then fundamental and technical analysis is of no use. So how can investors such as Warren Buffet make millions investing in stocks if performance is random? Mclaney, 2000, described an efficient capital market as, “When security prices at all times rationally reflect all available, relevant information, the market in which they are traded is said to be efficient.” If this statement is true, any new information about a firm will be noticeable in the market price of security very quickly. It will also be incorporated into the price of stocks rationally both in terms of size and direction of security price movement.

[4,500 words]
eca0026
What are the implications for demand in the short and long run of undercharging for road transport? The demand for road transport is a derived demand, derived from the demand to transfer both the population and goods between different locations and is heavily influenced by both time and space, subjected to regular fluctuation creating the characteristic peak and off peak situation upon urban roads

This results from the immediate consumption of a road, if it is to be considered as a good, preventing the possibility of storing the good for periods of greater demand. The demand placed upon road transport is therefore affected by three main factors; the price of road transport, the price of alternative transport services, and individual income. However the true cost of road transportation is hard to quantify as there are many external costs not considered by an individual when calculating the marginal cost and benefit ratio before undertaking a journey. These externalities include the cost of congestion, especially during peak periods adding to the cost of fuel and time to the journey, air pollution and its resulting effects upon human health and the environment, noise pollution effecting property value in areas surrounding busy roads, and the costs of traffic law enforcement.

[1,700 words]
eca0027
Industrial Economics - “Firms are usually proposing too few products

Discuss in the light of Harold Hotelling’s Linear City Model and Richard Schmalensee’s 1978 Paper on breakfast cereals: Many firms in industries face a downward sloping residual demand curve. They engage in monopolistic competition, they have market power and yet they make no economic profit. One of the most important reasons why this is the case is product differentiation. Consumers view the products in an industry as different, as imperfect substitutes. These goods are said to be differentiated or heterogeneous. I f customers view the products in an industry as different then it is possible for a firm to raise it’s price above that of its competitors without losing all its customers. These industries are characterised by monopolistic as opposed to oligopolistic competition and therefore there is free entry and exit.

[2,400 words]
eca0028
How are budget airlines such as Easyjet able to offer such cheap prices? Use economic analysis to explain your answer: Before 1987, European air travel was strictly controlled

Everything from flying schedules to the amount of passengers each national airline could carry was negotiated between governments. This has now changed, and today any airline holding a valid Air Operators Certificate in the EU cannot be prevented from operating on any route within the EU. This development of ‘open skies’ in Europe led to the development of budget airlines. Before this liberalization of civil aviation, it was extremely difficult to travel from London to Nice for less than £200, whereas now you can get to Nice for no more than £20 with Easy jet, one of the leading budget airlines that are around. Easy jet is named the ‘webs favourite airline’ and Ryanair, another leading budget airline, is the only European carrier to make profits in each of the last 13 years. So, how do they keep their fares so low and still do better than the traditional charter airlines like British Airways? They all follow the Southwest philosophy.

[1,500 words]
eca0029
What role do efficiencies play in the analysis of mergers? How does this study further an understanding of competition analysis in the political economy? At the close of the twentieth century, the global economy was beset by a spate of mergers, predominantly taking place in industrialized countries

In 2010, it was reported that corporations in the United States [US] accounted for over 56% of worldwide merger activity that year, securing $4.84 trillion of the aggregate $7.48 trillion. This merger ‘wave’ was induced by the undercurrents of antitrust law, which in turn was responding to the political and social milieu. Mergers between large corporate entities are not simply determined by economic reasoning – they have a significant impact on society and as such political involvement is inevitable. To gain a comprehensive understanding of mergers, and the reasons why certain eras are marked with merger waves, it is essential to recognize the political forces surrounding them. This approach provides an insight into the global political economy, making our discussion of mergers meaningful.

[3,600 words]
eca0030
Explain the transaction cost theory of vertical integration

How does this help explain why some firms moved more rapidly into e-commerce than did others?. In this paper I attempt to explain how successful Transaction Cost theory of vertical integration is in explaining why some businesses have moved into e-commerce faster than others. Please note that by ‘faster’ I do not specifically mean the speed at which the adoption has taken place. More emphasis is put on the extent of adoption and the extent of products or services offered online. While there is countless literature on the impact of the Internet on transaction costs, very little is available explaining why vertically integrated firms may be at an advantage adopting an e-commerce strategy. In fact it seems the only empirical study in the field has been carried out by Gartner & Stillman1, who analysed the apparel industry in particular to identify several factors that contribute to this tendency. However it is limited in the sense that it considers B2C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce only, while B2B (business-to-business) is equally important, if not more. B2B will account for 87% of online sales in 2010 (IDC). C2C and C2B e-commerce lines are not very important at this stage due to their size.

[2,800 words]