Description
You will have the opportunity to select a company of your choice (e.g. Microsoft, Walgreens, Nordstrom, Netflix, Costco, Tesla) and apply the microeconomic concepts learned this quarter by researching your company, citing your sources and answering microeconomic questions. This written essay (5-7 pages in length) will be comprised of your own economic analysis.
The paper guidelines and microeconomic questions to consider are listed summarized below. Be sure to use the heading listed below throughout your paper.
Paper Content & Setup (Use Headings)
Part 1 - Introduction (2-3 overview company sentences & a thesis statement be sure to BOLD your thesis statement)
Part 2 - Market Structure - Describe what market structure your company falls into and justify why (pure competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly) (Chapter 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
Number of sellers in the industry and who are they?
Control over Price - do they have any and explain?
Product type - is their product differentiated or standardized?
Entry and Exit of new firms into the industry how easy to enter and exit what are the barriers to entry?
Non-Price competition (Advertising, Public Relations) - do they do any?
Part 3 - Government Influence - Describe lobby groups that have lobbied on behalf of the company or government regulations and explain how these lobby efforts have affected consumer demand (Chapter 5)
Part 4 - Supply & Demand
Describe items that have shifted consumer demand for the product (Chapter 3). Go back and look at the shifters of demand and apply them to your product.
Describe items that have shifted the amount the producer can supply (Chapter 3) Go back and look at the shifters of supply and apply them to your product.
What is the price elasticity of demand for the product (elastic, inelastic) (Chapter 6)
Is the product a complimentary good or does it have any close substitutes, how have the prices for these goods affected the demand for the product. (Chapter 3)
Part 5 - Profit & Costs
What is the profit and costs associated with this firm, (Chapter 9)
Is it experiencing economies of scale and if so why?
Have variable or fixed costs been rising?
Have marginal costs been changing?
Is it operating in a constant costs, increasing costs or decreasing cost industry and how did you know this?
Have any of their products experienced creative destruction, why?
Part 6 - Resource Demand
What is the resource demand for producing the product? (Chapter 16 & 17)
Part 7 - Conclusion
Paper Requirements
Cover page (Company Name & Course) - cover page will not count as one of your 5-6 pages.
Start your first paragraph – on next page after the cover page (do not put your name or other information on this page just starting writing your paper). Your 1st paragraph should be concise and include your thesis statement which must be bolded. Then you can continue your analysis and answering the questions about your company in the next paragraph.
5-7 pages in length (Excluding the cover page) upload a .pdf or .doc file to Canvas as 1 document
Double-spaced
Times New Roman 12 point font size
1 inch top, bottom, right, left margins in document
Breath of application (Including the different concepts you learned this quarter)
In each succeeding paragraph, analyze several different economic using cause and effect analysis principles / theories from the course which apply to research
Grammar – is your paper free of grammar errors (Punctuation, sentence structure, noun and verb tense) (Go to the writing lab on campus to have someone prof-read your paper)
Conclusion - Close your analysis with your own conclusion.
Citation of sources - using MLA
The best papers will include:
Your own interpretation/analysis while using the research you completed and citing your sources
Should include outside sources beyond the textbook
Limit the amount of narrative description - please do NOT restate what the article already states
Large breadth of concepts/theories applied
Cause and effect analysis - limit stating the facts describe how items are shifting to affect economic outcomes.