792-300 Advanced Agricultural Economics

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Objectives:

The objective of this subject is to enable the student to:

• understand the determinants of supply and demand and their impact on price and consumption levels;

• understand the behaviour of firms in the market in determining outputs and prices;

• the relationship between total average and marginal costs and the production function;

• analyse market power and the impact of monopolies, monopsonies, oligopolies and oligopsonies;

• understand price discrimination and its effect on the market;

• describe the major macroeconomic characteristics of the Australian economy;

• understand the major measures of macroeconomic performance, GDP, the price index and inflation and the balance of payments;

• describe, analyse and assess the current phase of the Australian business cycle and its likely future movements.

Content:

The economic problem and the theory of supply and demand. The operation of the price mechanism under both perfect and imperfect competition. The theory of consumer choice and the theory of production and costs. An evaluation of microeconomic policies and their impact on the efficiency of the economy; an introduction to the macroeconomic tools and definitions including the circular flow of money, the balance of payments, measurements of money aggregates and the demand for money. An introduction to the Keynesian model and the expenditure multiplier process. An overview of the Public Sector and Government Budgetary Policy, Monetary Policy and Incomes Policy.

Assessment: