Category: Economics

Week Four: Discussion
Ends May 3
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The topics for week 4 follow the format “Topic #.” There are 3 topics.
Participation Rules
Students must post a minimum of 3 entries per week in at least 2 separate days. Notice, that it is not 3 entries per topic, it is 3 entries in total. Do not wait until the last minute to respond to the threaded discussion. Doing it will certainly not benefit the group learning experience.
Content Rules
All entries need to meet the criteria of being content driven, complete, considerate, and 1 idea/1 paragraph: Content Driven – this requirement means that the student actively thinks about the question or position stated and adds value to the discussion. Comments such as “I agree” or “That’s right” are not content driven and will not count as valid entries.
Short but Complete – Limit your posts to 1-2 paragraphs. However, thoughts need to be fully developed to ensure that when other students and the instructor read the comments they are cogent and coherent. This also means that the entries need to be written in proper business communications format. Considerate – The comments are academic discussions not personal attacks. While you are certainly encouraged to express positions that disagree with other’s thinking, your thoughts must be presented as academic alternative positions with justification and examples to support your alternative position. I will indicate to the entire class what comments are personal attacks and these comments will not count as valid entries.
1 idea/1 paragraph – The entire paragraph should present ONE single idea. If you have other idea, that should go in a separate paragraph. Within a paragraph, the 1st sentence reflects the most important message. Following sentences support the idea mentioned in the 1st sentence. The last sentence concludes the idea.
Clearly label the topic (Topic One, Topic Two or Topic Three) you are discussing.
Grading Rules
Threaded discussions start on Monday and end on Friday midnight of each week, and grading will be done on Monday of the next week. However, I will moderate the discussions on Wednesdays and Fridays of each week and give some feedback. In terms of grading, if you post 3 or more entries that meet the previous criteria (Content Driven, Complete and Considerate) you will get 100 points. If you post 2 valid entries, you will get 70 points, and if you post only 1 valid entry, you will get 40 points.
Topic One: Rent Control and Price Ceiling
Go to our Library, Streaming Video Catalog (http://nu.libguides.com/streaming), Films on Demand section and search for Teaching Tools for Microeconomics by John Stossel (the screen you will see is below).
Watch Segment 6. Price Controls: Unintended Consequences (5 minutes) and answer: Would you support rent control in your city? Why?
Topic Two: Black Markets
Tickets to athletic events, concerts and other venues are often resold at higher than original prices. In some states, scalping is outright illegal, while in other states, scalping is legal under certain circumstances.
You may have your own opinion about scalping, and it may be related to moral issues. I would like you to use some of the concepts you have learned in this course to analyze the issue and answer the following questions:
1. Is the original ticket price necessarily an accurate measure of the equilibrium price?
2. Who are the winners and losers in scalping?
Topic Three: News and microeconomics
This week we focused on price controls and the market for labor.
To start this discussion, any student can post a link for a news about a current issue that relates to price controls or labor market. Add a comment to entice others to read your article and participate in the discussion.

The Economics of Global Trading Blocs and How Globalization is Affected. 
Topic –  Choose an economic-related topic that interests you most; do not move forward until you receive instructor approval for your topic. Examine your topic from any perspective or lens that interests you: historical, scientific, technological, engineering, or mathematical.
Sources – Support your research topic and the perspective or lens (historical, scientific, technological, engineering, or mathematical) through credible sources on your reference page. You must include at least two primary and two secondary sources. Try to find sources that truly interest you. Sources must contain credible information, data, facts, etc., on your subject. You may use encyclopedias to aid in the discovery of your topic; however, encyclopedias will not be considered an approved source of information in the development of your paper. When conducting research, keep in mind that primary sources are first-person accounts, and secondary sources are written by people who did not witness/participate in the event.
Research Question, Thesis Statement, and Paper – You will develop a six- to eight-page (current APA Style) research paper. Develop your topic into one clear, concise research question and create a thesis statement. Compile your (one) question, thesis statement, and research into a written four- to six-page written paper. You must also include a title page and reference page in your research paper’s six- to eight-page pages. You can write from any perspective or lens that interests you: historical, scientific, technological, engineering, or mathematical. This research paper must include the following elements:
Title-page
Body (four- to six- pages)
Introduction – Tell the reader what you are going to write about and include your thesis statement. Be sure to make it interesting so the reader will want to continue and read the rest of your work.
Body of the Paper – Goes through each point you want to illustrate by providing your ideas and your research about the topic. Be sure you write an opening sentence for each paragraph that will draw your reader into your idea or point.
Conclusion/Summary – Remind the reader what you wrote about in your work. It is similar to the introduction but with a concluding statement.
Reference page

The goal of the final (individual) project is to apply the econometric tools discussed in class to an economic or business problem chosen by the student. The topic of the project could be inspired by an issue discussed in a course or based on real events. After having identified a topic of interest, the second step is to gather data that can be used in the empirical investigation. The deliverable for the project is a report that should be max 10 pages long (font 12, spacing 1.5) with the following structure:
Introduction: explanation of the topic of your project, its relevance, the main findings in the literature, and a brief discussion of your results.
Survey of the literature: here you discuss a few articles/papers that have investigated the topic. It is probably a good idea to start with the earlier papers and explain in reasonable detail the technique, data, and results. The discussion of latest papers on the topic should be related to the earlier ones: what are the latest papers adding or doing different compared to the earliest ones? different data and/or econometric technique? are their results different?
Model: provide an explanation of the empirical model that is used in the project. It can be a model suggested by economic theory or an empirical model inspired by the problem at hand.
Data: report the data source, the variables included in the dataset, and the sample size
Empirical Application: in this section you discuss the results of the model estimation and the econometric issues that you addressed in arriving to the final specification. In the final specification you might have dropped some irrelevant variables, played with the functional form, allowed for heteroskedasticity, serial correlation, stochastic trends, endogeneity, etc.
Conclusion: summarize the results of your project and whether they confirm or refute earlier results. The tools learned in class are: linear regression, with one and multiple regressors, hypothesis testing, panel data, nonlinear regression models, binary dependant variables, time series, instrumental variable regression, you have to Use pyhton for the regression, please make sure no plagiarizing at all and don′t make this too advanced.
for python, the tutor must be familiar with matplotlib, ggplot, pandas, statsmodel, numpy. The tools learned in class are linear regression with one or multiple variables, Nonlinear regression, panel data, binary dependent variables, instrumental variable regressions

Chapter 5
Define Price Ceiling and Price Floor with at least one example of each. You may receive 2 bonus points for each graphical explanation.
“Both price ceilings and price floors cause inefficiency in the market”. Explain with examples.
Chapter 19
What are the three main causes of shift of factor demand curve? Explain with examples.
Define Labor Unions and Monopsony. How do these factor markets for labor exert market power in different ways? Explain with examples.
Due on May 4, 2024 11:59 PM
Attachments
Week Four Homework.docx (13.63 KB)
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Chapters 5 and 19 will be covered in Week Four. The reason for covering fewer chapters is to allow you time to complete your Course Paper. Reviewing these questions and correct answers will help you submit Homework for Week Four.
Answers to Chapter Nineteen Questions (Optional)
Chapter 19 – Problem 2 (a, b)
Chapter 19 – Problem 4
Chapter 19 – Problem 5
Chapter 19 – Problem 8 (a, b, c, d)
Chapter 19 – Problem 9
Solutions for all problems in chapter nineteen: Chapter Nineteen Solutions

Chapter Five Review
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Instructions
Chapters 5 and 19 will be covered in Week Four. The reason for covering fewer chapters is to allow you time to complete your Course Paper. Reviewing these questions and correct answers will help you submit Homework for Week Four.
Answers to Chapter Five Questions (Optional)
Chapter 5 – Problem 1 (a, b, c)
Chapter 5 – Problem 2 (a, b, c, d)
Chapter 5 – Problem 3 (a, b, c, d,e)
Solutions for all problems in chapter five: Chapter Five Solutions

Follow the rubric of the paper attached. First page should be abstract and topic (I need help finding international Econ topic to write about). 

The overall aim of this case study is to analyze the international business strategy of a
company of your choice (preferably from your country or from a country that you know
well). and we want to make the case study about Qatar 

Introduction
This group project is designed to provide you with hands-on strategic analysis experience. If the CEO of your company assigned you a project to analyze a strategic situation, what would you deliver? You have learned a number of forecasting techniques throughout this course. Review Table 10.2: A Guide to Selecting an Appropriate Forecasting Method in your textbook, which contains guidelines for model selection. It might be useful to consider the nine steps in forecast implementation as well as the forecasting techniques for your group project. Refer to this video to understand the requirements and my expectations for your group project:
Video: A Guide to Your Final Project
Select Play to learn more. You can also refer to the given video transcript Download video transcript.
SAMPLE PROJECTS
When using one of the exponential methods, you will need to choose smoothing parameters such as alpha, beta, and gamma. Start by assigning a random number to each parameter between 0 and 1, then forecast your sales and calculate your RMSE or any other measure you choose to evaluate the performance. Next, use Excel Solver to find the optimal alpha, beta, and gamma values that minimize RMSE.
To learn how to do this, please watch the following videos on Netflix’s Holt’s Method or Amazon’s Winter’s Method below.
Netflix Revenue Holts MethodLinks to an external site.
Amazon Revenue Winter’s MethodLinks to an external site.
Netflix sales provide a great example of a dataset with a trend but no seasonal variations. I used Holt’s Exponential Smoothing and Quadratic Trend model to forecast the sales. Amazon sales both trend and vary seasonally. I used Winter’s Exponential Smoothing and Multiple Regression with dummies to forecast the sales. Netflix Revenue Quadratic Trend ModelLinks to an external site.
Amazon Revenue Multiple Linear Regression with DummiesLinks to an external site.
You can find the Excel files below:
Netflix RevenueDownload Netflix Revenue
Amazon RevenueDownload Amazon Revenue
Instructions
In Week 2, your instructor divided the class into pairs. By the end of Week 3, your group selected the company to investigate. By the end of Week 4, the company selection was finalized. In Weeks 5 and 6, you should have analyzed the data and performed the required forecasts.
This week, your group will forecast monthly or quarterly sales (in units or dollars) for your chosen company. As a group, you will write a paper about your findings.
Paper Requirements
Prepare a two-year (8 quarter or 24 month) forecast of the series. As a group, you must use two separate methods. One student will use an appropriate extrapolation method, which is usually an exponential smoothing method. The other student will use a causal regression model. You will present your results in a paper that should be analytically accurate and should clearly communicate your process to your manager.
The paper should be 8–10 pages in length, including tables and figures, and must include only these sections:
Title Page: Include company name, your name, and an appropriate “Table of Contents” (listing page numbers for the following sections).
Section 1 – Introduction: Why did you select this topic? How would this forecast be useful? To whom would it be useful? (1 page)
Section 2 – Literature Review: Present information about the company and industry. This section is not about forecasting methods (1 or 2 pages).
Section 3 – Managerial Overview of Methods Used: Why did you select these forecasting methods? Explain why you believe the technique you have chosen is appropriate to forecast your data (1 or 2 pages).
Section 4 – Application of Forecasting Methods and Results: What are the forecast results of these methods? Which method performs better? How did you evaluate the forecasting methods? Present your forecast results and explain the methods you used to evaluate your forecast results (2 to 4 pages).
Section 5 – Conclusions and Limitations: (1 page)
Section 6 – References: Cite 6 to 8 references related to the company selected (1 page).
Appendix: Include one or more appendices containing appropriate graphics and a complete professional listing of data with appropriate citations. All graphs in the appendix must be referenced in the body of your paper along with the page on which each graph can be found.
The paper should be typed, single-spaced, and presented in 12-point Times New Roman font.
Excel File Requirements
When you submit your paper, you must also submit an Excel file including your data and analysis.
Tab 1 – Basic Data: Show the dates in column A and the sales data in column B.
Tab 2 – Extrapolation Model: Show the data you used for your extrapolation method with the dates in column A, the sales data in column B, and the predicted values for that method in column C.
Tab 3 – Regression Model: Show all the data used in the regression model with dates in column A and the sales data in column B. The next columns in Tab 3 should include all the independent variables used in your regression model. Following these columns, you should add a column containing the values predicted by the regression analysis.
Tab 4 – Final Forecasts: The fourth and final tab should have the dates in column A, the original sales data in column B, the predicted values from your extrapolation forecast in column C, and the predicted values from your regression model in column D. The predicted values will extend 8 quarters (or 24 months) beyond the actual historic values.
Discussion
You are required to read, reflect on, and respond to at least one project paper. You will post your contribution to the topic “Projects” on the Discussion Board. Your contribution to the discussion about papers should be clear, complete, and accurate. In your reflection on the paper, you should cover at least two of the following:
Offer an additional method or variable(s) to include in a forecasting technique to predict sales. Please explain your reasons for the new method or variable you propose.
Suggest ways in which a forecasting technique could be more clearly expressed.
Identify passages where you think the writer misinterpreted, or incorrectly applied, a concept.
Offer your assessment of the forecast results, and explain why you agree or disagree with the prediction.
Recommended Information Sources
Research Insight (RI): This database from Standard & Poor’s offers up to 20 years and up to 48 quarters of historical financial information on public U.S. and Canadian companies.
SEC’s EDGAR Database: The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) maintains a database of SEC filings by public companies. The 10-K reports contain much of the same information found in annual reports and will be the most useful for this assignment.

Written Paper: 5-6 pages.  Cite your sources.
This will be graded and worth 15% of the total course grade.
E-mail your paper to me. (No printed copies, email only). MS Word or pdf files only. 
On May 6: Be prepared to give a summary to the class on yourtopic, your data, and conclusion.