ECONS101-18B (HAM)

Business Economics and the New Zealand Economy

15 Points

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Waikato Management School
Te Raupapa
School of Accounting, Finance and Economics

Staff

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Convenor(s)

Les Oxley

Les Oxley
4076
MSB.2.18
By appointment
les.oxley@waikato.ac.nz

Michael Cameron

Michael Cameron
5082
MSB.2.23
Thursdays 9-11am or by appointment
michael.cameron@waikato.ac.nz

Lecturer(s)

Administrator(s)

: denise.martin@waikato.ac.nz

Placement Coordinator(s)

Tutor(s)

: dacuellar350@gmail.com
: emerson.deverell@gmail.com
: Hajerbahr@gmail.com
: hazelneome@gmail.com
: k.e.henshilwood@gmail.com
: liambull44@gmail.com
: zaclrisaac@gmail.com

Student Representative(s)

Lab Technician(s)

Librarian(s)

: clive.wilkinson@waikato.ac.nz

You can contact staff by:

  • Calling +64 7 838 4466 select option 1, then enter the extension.
  • Extensions starting with 4, 5 or 9 can also be direct dialled:
    • For extensions starting with 4: dial +64 7 838 extension.
    • For extensions starting with 5: dial +64 7 858 extension.
    • For extensions starting with 9: dial +64 7 837 extension.
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Paper Description

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Business Economics and New Zealand Economy aims to introduce students to the essential aspects of the economic environment within which individuals and businesses operate. It will provide an introduction to the characteristics of economic decision-making by individuals and businesses, the central issues of business strategy from an economic perspective, and the key aspects of how businesses operate within and interact with the macroeconomy.

This paper will help you to understand and cope with the diverse economic problems that you might encounter as a business manager.

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Paper Structure

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The paper is taught through lectures (3 hours per week), and tutorials (1 or 2 hours per week). Lectures are recorded and available via Panopto for you to refer to later. However, attendance at lectures is strongly recommended, and extra credit for the exam is available for attendance at lectures.

The paper is supported online through Moodle, and the class has its own Facebook group, which you are encouraged to join and make use of.

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Learning Outcomes

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Students who successfully complete the course should be able to:

  • Apply constrained optimisation models and the 'economic way of thinking' to explain and solve economic problems;
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  • Use elasticities and game theory to anticipate how buyers, sellers, and competitors will react to changes in prices and other variables;
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  • Use descriptive and graphical models to explain the behaviour and decision-making (including pricing and non-price strategic decisions) of firms that sell a differentiated product and have some market power;
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  • Apply the model of supply and demand to analyse market problems and anticipate profit opportunities in markets with perfect competition;
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  • Use descriptive and graphical models to explain how NZ's GDP, employment and overall price level are determined, and how changes in the macroeconomy may influence the behaviour of buyers and firms;
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  • Apply their knowledge to problems arising within the general business environment.
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Assessment

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Extra credit:

During the semester we will run seven spot quizzes in lectures. These quizzes will provide you feedback on how you are going, and give you the opportunity to practice multiple choice questions from the same test bank that we choose questions from for the tests and the examination. Each quiz will be just five minutes long, and consist of four multiple choice questions which may be on any topic covered up until the time of the quiz. You will receive immediate feedback. Each spot quiz that you complete will be worth extra credit for the examination (1 quiz = 1 extra exam mark). In order to earn the extra credit, you must be in class at the time the quiz is undertaken.

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Assessment Components

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The internal assessment/exam ratio (as stated in the University Calendar) is 50:50. There is no final exam. The final exam makes up 50% of the overall mark.

The internal assessment/exam ratio (as stated in the University Calendar) is 50:50 or 0:0, whichever is more favourable for the student. The final exam makes up either 50% or 0% of the overall mark.

Component DescriptionDue Date TimePercentage of overall markSubmission MethodCompulsory
1. Economic Literacy Pre-Test
11 Jul 2018
11:00 AM
1
  • In Class: In Lecture
2. Test 1
16 Aug 2018
6:00 PM
16.5
  • Other: At test venue
3. Test 2
4 Oct 2018
6:00 PM
16.5
  • Other: At test venue
4. Online Tests, best 10 of 11
12
5. Tutorial Completion
4
  • In Class: In Tutorial
6. Exam
50
✔
Assessment Total:     100    
Failing to complete a compulsory assessment component of a paper will result in an IC grade
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Required and Recommended Readings

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Required Readings

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The CORE team. (n.d.). The Economy.

This book is a free e-book that can be accessed at http://www.core-econ.org/the-economy/index.html and can be downloaded as an app from the Google Play Store (for Android devices) or the Windows Store (for Windows 10 devices) (an iOS version will be released soon). The book was developed by a team of highly-respected professors, and is currently being used at University College London, Sciences Po (Paris), the Toulouse School of Economics, Azim Premji University (Bangalore), Humboldt University (Berlin), the Lahore University of Management Sciences and many other universities throughout the world.

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Recommended Readings

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Brickley, J., Smith, C., and Zimmerman, J. (2016). Managerial Economics and Organizational Architecture (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Mankiw, N.G. (2015). Principles of Macroeconomics (7th ed.). Stamford, Ct.: Cengage.

Gans, J., King, S., Byford, M., and Mankiw, N.G. (2015). Principles of Microeconomics (6th ed.). Melbourne: Cengage.

These books are also available on Course Reserve in the library, and the applicable chapters will be available from the ECONS101 Reading List.

Click here to access the ECONS101 Reading List.

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Other Resources

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In addition to the required textbook (and additional resources that are associated with it online), students are encouraged to read widely including the business section of newspapers, The Economist magazine, and other similar sources.

Many other introductory microeconomics textbooks are available in the library and provide slightly different explanations that may help with learning. Posts on Michael Cameron's Sex, Drugs and Economics blog (tagged ECON100 or ECONS101) may also be helpful and provide additional real-world context to the concepts and theory discussed in class.

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Online Support

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The paper is supported online through Moodle, and the class has its own Facebook group, which you are encouraged to join and make use of.

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Workload

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Students will be expected to spend four to eight hours per week additional to class contact hours as described above. This time should be spent on reading the textbook, reviewing the lecture notes and completing any computer based quiz questions. Students who have not studied Economics prior to this paper may find that they will need to spend a few extra hours on reading the textbook, or using one of the textbook-related computer packages or websites, compared to students who have studied up to NCEA Level 3 Economics or equivalent.
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Linkages to Other Papers

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Note any linkages to other papers where the linkage is of importance.
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Prerequisite(s)

Corequisite(s)

Equivalent(s)

Restriction(s)

Restricted papers: ECON100

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