Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-1 PART 1 ECONOMIC CONCEPTS AND SYSTEMS Chapter 1 Economic concepts

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-2 Lecture Plan What is Economics? Scarcity Basic economic problems Production possibility analysis

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-3 What is Economics? Economics is the study of how people and society choose to employ scarce productive resources to produce goods and services and distribute them among various groups of society ECONOMICS Macroeconomics Microeconomics

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-4 Microeconomics vs. Macroeconomics Microeconomics = the study of individual consumers, firms and industries – (‘Micro’ = the ancient Greek word for ‘small’) It focuses on: – The pricing and production decisions of industrial firms – Consumer behaviour and – The output and state of single industries Macroeconomics is concerned with how the economy functions as a whole (e.g. total income) – (‘Macro’ is the Greek word for ‘large’)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-5 Scarcity Every economy is endowed with what we call resources, which are inputs used in the production of goods and services for consumption to satisfy our needs and wants The basic economic problem of any society is the relative scarcity of resources in relation to the unlimited needs and wants of consumers

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-6 Resources Resources = All inputs that can be combined in many different ways to produce goods and services of various types to help satisfy people’s unlimited needs and wants Often referred to as the factors of production Resources include land, capital, labour and enterprise

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-7 Land All natural resources and endowments Examples: soils, crops, minerals, forests, oceans Critical resource for Australia (e.g. exports) The least flexible resource Factor income: rent Abundant resource for Australia but an increasingly scarce resource for East Asian countries (e.g. Singapore)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-8 Capital Any good or service used to produce others (i.e. intermediate goods) – e.g. factories, tools, machinery and equipment Most abundant factor for industrial countries (e.g. United States, Japan) Factor income: interest Note: Expenditure on capital is Investment

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-9 Labour Labour = Physical and mental work of people, whether, skilled or unskilled Examples: mechanics, doctors, farmers, computer programmers Most flexible resource Most abundant resource in developing countries Factor income: wages

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-10 Enterprise Management (e.g. ownership, control and/or coordination) of the other three factors of production (entrepreneurship) Covers the various organisational skills of ‘entrepreneurs’ Example: business managers Factor income: profit

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-11 Characteristics of Resources Scarce – Have alternative uses – Limited, finite Quantity of resources – Physical amount of resources available – Affected by resource endowment and population – Australia’s cropland is sq. km, while Indonesia’s cropland is sq. km – Australia’s labour force is around 9–10 million people, while Indonesia’s workforce is over 90 million people (cont.)

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-12 Characteristics of Resources (cont.) Quality of resources – Productivity of resources – Affected by technology, education and training of workforce – Land productivity (yield/ha) – Labour productivity (production per person) We achieve economic growth by increasing the quantity and/or quality of resources

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-13 Consumer Needs and Wants Needs: those things necessary to human survival e.g. food, shelter Wants: goods/services desired by the consumer e.g. hi-fi, travel, luxury cars Characteristics: – unlimited – recurrent – complementary – changeable

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-14 Satisfying Needs and Wants ProductionDistributionConsumption

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-15 Basic Economic Questions ScarcityChoices must be made 1. What To Produce? 2. How To Produce? 3. For Whom To Produce?

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-16 Opportunity Cost The Basic Economic Problem of Relative Scarcity is illustrated by two concepts: – Opportunity Cost, and – The Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) Opportunity cost = The sacrifice (or alternative forgone) in choosing to satisfy one need or want rather than another Note: Situations where there is NO opportunity cost = free goods

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-17 Production Possibility Frontier (PPF) Theory A simplified economic model which portrays scarcity, choice and opportunity cost The Static Production Possibility Frontier Analyses the economy at a fixed point in time Is based on the following assumptions: – There is a fixed quantity of resources – The economy only produces two products – Resources can be used interchangeably – All resources within the economy are used – Resources are used at maximum efficiency

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-18 An Example of the Static PPF Model Production Possibility Schedule AB CDE Tractors VCRs

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-19 The PPF Graph Tractors Video recorders PPF E D B C 0 A

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-20 Maximum Output Levels The PPF shows the maximum output of the economy If the economy devotes all of its resources to the production of VCRs it is able to produce 800 (+ zero tractors)—Production Possibility A Alternatively, if the economy chooses Production Possibility C it is able to produce 200 tractors and 400 VCRs

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-21 Opportunity Costs The PPF shows that to produce more of one product means producing less of another Opportunity costs of production can be measured e.g. if the economy moves from point C to D (along the PPF) it will produce an extra 100 tractors BUT 200 VCRs must be sacrificed Hence the opportunity cost is 200 VCRs

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-22 Points Outside the Static PPF Points outside the PPF (e.g. X) are not possible using existing technology and resources A B.X PPF

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-23 Points Inside the Static PPF At point Y, the economy is satisfying fewer needs and wants than is possible This is due to: – Resources not being fully employed and/or – Resources not being used in the most efficient way A B. Y PPF

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-24 The Dynamic PPF Model This model differs from the static PPF in that it incorporates changes over time It demonstrates the effect of changes in the quantity and quality of productive resources e.g. new resource discoveries, improvements in technology Changes in the quantity and/or quality of resources will SHIFT the PPF

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-25 Dynamic PPF When the quality/quantity of resources increases (decreases), the economy can produce more (less) of both products and the entire curve will SHIFT outwards (inwards) A

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-26 Note If the change in resources affects ONLY one product, the PPF will ONLY shift on one axis e.g.: A B A B OR

Copyright  2005 McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd PPT Slides t/a Economics for Business 3e by Fraser, Gionea and Fraser 1-27 The Significance of PPF Shifts Increased maximum output levels enable: 1. higher levels of consumption 2. greater satisfaction of consumer needs and wants Improvements in the quality of resources results in the more efficient use of scarce resources