Microeconomics 200/500: Essay
This Essay is worth 15% of your overall Mark for this Unit
The setting:
In March 2004, Ireland was the first country in the world to introduce an outright ban on smoking in workplaces.
In the analyses below, when drawing your diagrams assume that workers can choose among only two products to consume at work, namely tobacco and food. Assume each worker has a weekly allowance of $100, which they must spend at work (that is, they can’t spend this allowance outside of work or they cannot save it). The price of a unit of food at work is $1 and remains at $1 in the absence of a policy initiative, the price of a unit of tobacco is $1 in the absence of a policy initiative. Please ignore all externalities when answering this assignment. When drawing diagrams, always include a discussion of what the diagram means, and of crucial elements of the diagram.
Your tasks:
a) Use an indifference curve-budget line analysis to depict the situations, prior to the ban on smoking, of a worker who smoked at work, and of a worker who did not smoke. (2 marks)
b) Use an indifference curve-budget line analysis to depict the situations, after the ban on smoking, of a worker who initially smoked at work, and of a worker who did not smoke. (3 marks)
c) Use consumer theory to assess how much worse off, if at all, each worker is after the ban. (3 marks)
d) Consider at least three (3) alternative policies that workplaces in Ireland could have implemented that might have achieved the same objective (reduce smoking levels). Evaluate and show the impact of these policies using your microeconomic theory. (Think about what may change the shape of the ICs; or what may change the Budget Constraint). (6 marks)
e) Appropriate referencing and citation. You need at least 3 references, which must be cited in the main text. Lecture notes are not a reference. (1 mark)
Additional Information:
1. Deadline: Thursday 9th January, 12noon – Standard Time Zone: UTC/GMT + 8 hours.
2. Upload your assignment through Turnitin. This link will be available under the ‘Assessment’ tab on Blackboard. You can only upload once, so ensure you upload the correct file.
3. Ensure that you put your Name, Worker ID, Tutors Name and Tutorial Time on the cover/front Page of the Assignment/Essay.
4. Do not repeat the question in your submission – this increases the Turnitin ‘Similarity Report’.
5. Submission of a hard copy may be required by your Local Tutor.
6. The Marks for the assignment are allocated for your answers to parts (a) through to part (e), as per the instructions. Therefore, clearly label each part of your answer. A brief (a couple of sentences) introduction and concluding statement, will add to the professionalism of your submission.
7. Where you use diagrams/graphs, ensure that you label them clearly and that they are appropriately explained. Diagrams can be drawn by hand and scanned into the typed written document. But scans must be clear, and all diagrams clearly presented and labelled.
8. 1,500max word count. This does not include diagrams or reference lists. There is no minimum word count.