ECONOMICS REFLECTIVE ESSAY
• Instructions: Must complete a 1,500-word solo-authored reflective essay.
• Section A of your essay must be a concise summary of the economics you are choosing to reflect on. (any economic theory you choose to use)
• Section B must then reflect on how this economics was used to solve a particular exercise, case or project, and in so doing discuss its efficacy. Does the theory help explain the evidence? Why? Why not?
• Don’t simply reflect the book & make sure it’s an economic argument. i.e., it involves economic models applied to a topic not just a SWOT or PESTEL list. It’s the connection between the theory and application that matters. Eg., how incentives shape behaviour in your organisation. Also, reflection should be about how economics make you a better manager and if you think it can’t you have some explaining to do.
• Pick an economic model and pick an insight. Like economies of scale, reacting to inflation(macroeconomics) and use particular piece of economics.
• If it is no deal Brexit – discuss the model of economic trade or if it is COVID19 – discuss more about the labour market. This is an example.
• Essays must be concise. They must be professionally word-processed and fully referenced throughout. It is acceptable to be 10% below or above the word limit, and this limit excludes the bibliography. This leniency aside, this word limit is intentionally set to be low. Its purpose is to write precise pieces of communication, without waffle or verbiage.
Reflective Essay:
The reflective essay is an opportunity for you to reflect on the economic theories taught in this module. The purpose of this exercise is to engage your reader with more than just a re-telling of a particular theory; you must instead reflect on your experiences of using the economics from this module and outline how your management practice has been affected by solving the case studies or group projects. In particular, you must reflect on how identifying, describing and analysing real-world problems from this module has affected your understanding of the theory and practice of one or more aspects of the economics topics from the syllabus.
This essay is designed to assess your ability to intelligently discuss the economics as a problem-solving toolkit, including its assumptions and limitations. This essay is not a place to simply repeat material from your group projects, or, indeed, discuss the process of working in a group; it is intended to be a means of getting you to analyse your economic insights more deeply, and to judge the overall efficacy of your application of economics to the real world.
Core book taught followed to teach this module(Syllabus):
The core textbook used for teaching is produced by the CORE Econ project and is available as a free online resource. Register for access.
The Core Team (2017), The Economy: Economics for a Changing World, Oxford University Press, Oxford Available at: https://www.core-econ.org/the-economy/?lang=en
Try to apply more concepts from this theory:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44321282?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
Additional Readings:
Blanchard, O., Dell’Ariccia, G. and Mauro, P. (2010), ‘Rethinking macroeconomic policy’, IMF Staff Position Note, SPN/10/03, International Monetary Fund. Available at: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/spn/2010/spn1003.pdf
Baxter, M., and Landry, A. (2017), ‘IKEA: Product, pricing, and pass-through’, Research in Economics, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 507-520. Available at: https://doi.org.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/10.1016/j.rie.2017.03.003
Blaug, M. (2001), ‘Is competition such a good thing? Static efficiency versus dynamic efficiency’, Review of Industrial Organization, Vol. 19, pp. 37-48. Available at: https://doi.org.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/10.1023/A:101116062279
Brown low, G. (2015), ‘Back to the failure: An analytic narrative of the De Lorean debacle’, Business History, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 155-181. Available at: https://doi.org.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/10.1080/00076791.2014.977875
Colvin, C. L., and Winfree, P. (2019), ‘Applied history, applied economics, and economic history’, Journal of Applied History, vol. 1, pp. 28-41. Available at: http://www.quceh.org.uk/uploads/1/0/5/5/10558478/wp19-07.pdf
Coyle, D. (2017), ‘Rethinking GDP’, IMF Finance and Development, vol. 4, pp. 16-19. Available at: https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2017/03/pdf/coyle.pdf
Crafts, N. (2012), ‘British relative economic decline revisited: The role of competition’, Explorations in Economic History, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 17-29. Available at: https://doi.org.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/10.1016/j.eeh.2011.06.004
Crafts, N. (2019), ‘The sources of British economic growth since the Industrial Revolution: Not the same old story’, Journal of Economic Surveys, online ahead of publication. Available at: https://doi.org.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/10.1111/joes.12349
Gibbons, R. (1998), ‘Incentives in organizations’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 115-132. Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.12.4.115
Holden, R. T. (2005), ‘The original management incentive schemes’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 135-144. Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/089533005775196688
Kahle, K. M., and Stulz, R. M. (2017), ‘Is the US public corporation in trouble?’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 67-88. Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.31.3.67
Kay, J. A. (1991), `Economics and business’, The Economic Journal, Vol. 101, No. 404, pp. 57-63. Available at: https://doi.org.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/10.2307/2233838
Kovacic, W. E., and Shapiro, C. (2000), ‘Antitrust policy: A century of economic and legal thinking’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 43-60. Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.14.1.43
Mokyr, J., Vickers, C., and Ziebarth, N. L. (2015), ‘The history of technological anxiety and the future of economic growth: Is this time different?’ Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 29 no. 3, pp. 31-50. Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.29.3.31
Prendergast, C. (1999), ‘The provision of incentives in firms’, Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 7-63. Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jel.37.1.7
Saloner, G. (1991), ‘Modeling, game theory, and strategic management’, Strategic Management Journal, vol. 12, no. S2, pp. 119-136. Available at: https://www-jstor-org.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/stable/2486437
Teece, D. (2019), `A capability theory of the firm: an economics and (strategic) management perspective’, New Zealand Economic Papers, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 1-43. Available at: https://doi.org.queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/10.1080/00779954.2017.1371208
Zingales, L. (2017), ‘Towards a political theory of the firm’, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 31, No. 3, pp. 113-130. Available at: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/jep.31.3.113
