Guidelines

2. Due date 1

3. Word limit 1

4. General guidelines 2

5. Referencing 3

6. Requestions for extensions 3

1.Assignment Aims:

•     Ensure students have an incentive to carefully review and consolidate material covered during the first few weeks of the course – specifically the theory of demand and supply.

•     Help students gain familiarity with using economic terminology.

•     Ensure students have a solid understanding of some core concepts of health economics at a stage when there is an opportunity to address any problems with understanding.

•     Provide an opportunity to apply economic theory to a practical public health question, to demonstrate the potential clarity that economic tools and approaches bring to the understanding of the topic – and also potential limitations of the economic theory.

2. Due date

•     Due Tuesday 9 April (end of the working day 5.59pm), submitted via Canvas.

•     Marks will be deducted for late submission in line with MSPGH policy.

3. Word limit

•    The total word limit for the assignment is 1000 words (excluding tables, any questions from the assignment you reproduced and references)

•     Marks will be deducted for exceeding the word limit by 10% in line with MSPGH policy.

•    You are encouraged to write concisely, using the economic terminology correctly.

4. General guidelines

•    You may discuss these questions with other HE1 students – in fact discussion and

explaining concepts to others is a great way to learn yourself. However, you must write the final response independently and in your own words.

•    You are not required to introduce empirical evidence to support your answers. If you do so, it must be correctly referenced (see below).

•    Always label diagrams fully and give a brief interpretation of diagrams in the text. You may produce diagrams either electronically or by hand.

•     If you are using acronyms, please show them in full the first time they are used in a question.

•     Please define key terms in your own words.

•    You are expected to know, and comply with, UoM policy on plagiarism. See

https://academicintegrity.unimelb.edu.au/

•     For this assignment you cannot use artificial intelligence software such as ChatGPT or QuillBot to generate material for submission. Submitting material generated in this way as your own work (i.e. ideas, research and/or analysis) is considered academic misconduct.  [This is important so please ask Sabine if you are ever uncertain if you comply.]

•    Always write in your own words and use formal language as appropriate to academic work. The Turnitin score will be considered in the marking of the assignment – you can check this yourself as you submit.

•    You must use the answer template document provided for your submission. You can only submit a word document. Please:

a.   Ensure that the answer to each question (not sub-part) starts on a new page.

b.  Write your name and student ID on the title page.

c.   Write your student ID in the header so that it appears in the right-hand corner of each page.

d.   Report the word count for each question as well as the total for the assignment in the table provided on the title page 1.

e.   Do not copy the question into the template document; this document should only contain your answers.

f.    Use double-spacing and Aptos font, Size 12.

g.   Use Australian English spelling.

h.   Submit via Turnitin with filename: 2024_HE1_Last name_First name

5. Referencing

•     It is not expected that you will need to use many references in this assignment.

•    You do not need to reference core aspects of accepted economic theory – you should not reference lecture slides.

•     If you decide to use references, please use APA 7 referencing style and include doi or

weblink to the reference. Go to the university’s Re:cite website for information about this and other referencing styles (https://library.unimelb.edu.au/recite).

•     References do not count as part of the word limit.

•    Always reference the source of data such that it can be traced – if you cite a website also give the date accessed.

•     Use “ “ when using a direct quote and include a page number in the reference.

•    Try and put things in your own words (with citation) unless the way in which the authors say it is so good it is worthy of a direct quotation.

•     Referencing should be sugiciently clear that the reader to tell when an idea is yours versus when it is being appropriately attributed to someone else.

6. Requestions for extensions

•    The subject coordinator (Sabine) can issue up to 10 working-days extension where the

capacity to complete work has been agected by significant factors beyond the student’s control and that can be verified by supporting evidence.

•     If you need an extension, please email Sabine with information listed below and include supporting documentation:

-     Student name:

-     Student number:

-     Subject Code and Title:

-     Assessment title:

-     Assessment due date:

-     Reason for the extension request, including a statement of the impact of the circumstances on your ability to complete the work:

•    You must apply for an extension at least 24 hours before the deadline, so by 5.59pm on Monday April 9.

•     If you require a longer extension, you can apply for Special Consideration:

https://students.unimelb.edu.au/your-course/manage-your-course/exams-assessments-and-results/special-consideration

•     For more details you can see the MSPGH policies on the Canvas MSPGH Student Community.

•     Once the marks and mark scheme have been released to students it is no longer possible to accept submissions. Where extensions greater than 10 days are requested, this may require a digerent assessment.

MINOR ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS

There are 5 questions each worth 20 marks = Total marks 100

Question 1

Consider a bakery that uses two inputs, capital and labour, to produce bread. The baker needs to decide about the long run about the optimal combination of inputs to minimise the bakery’s costs for a given output, 800 loaves a day.

a)  Demonstrate the optimal combination of inputs the firm would use. Plot capital (K) on the y-axis and labour (L) on the x-axis. [6 marks]

b)  Explain why the optimal combination of inputs is cost-eQicient and why it is technically eQicient. [4 marks]

Now consider that the baker is faced with an increase in wages in the long run.

c)  Use a diagram to show what the new optimal combination of inputs is.

i)   What happens to the cost of production?

ii)  What happens to the amount of labour used?

iii) What happens to the amount of capital used?

iv) Will production become more, or less labour-intensive?

[10 marks – 6 marks for the figure, 4 marks for subparts i) through iv)]

Question 2

The local council decides to charge a higher rent to the food truck selling milkshakes at the local pool.

a)  What happens to the price and quantity of milkshakes at the local pool? Use supply

and demand diagram (fully labelled) to explain the process of change from the old

equilibrium to the new equilibrium. [8 marks]

As a result of an increase in demand, the price of a milkshake increases from $4.50 to

$5. The quantity of milkshakes demanded at the pool per day falls from 104 to 84

following the price increase.

b)  Give a short definition in your own words of price elasticity of demand? [2 marks]