Cognitive Behavior Therapy Essay Example for Free

Psychological Behavior Therapy Essay What is psychological conduct treatment (CBT)? CBT works by changing people’s perspectives and their conduct. It centers around the considerations, pictures, convictions and perspectives that we hold (our subjective procedures) and how this identifies with the manner in which we carry on and manage our passionate issues. Examination has indicated that intellectual conduct treatment is viable in rewarding nervousness issue just as frenzy issue and social fears. The psychological part helps change the reasoning examples that shield one from conquering their feelings of trepidation. For instance, an individual with a frenzy issue may be helped in observing that their assaults are not so much cardiovascular failures as accepted. The inclination to decipher physical indications as the most dire outcome imaginable can be survived. Additionally, somebody showing side effects of a social fear could be instructed how to defeat the conviction that others are persistently making a decision about the person in question. The conduct treatment part gives close consideration to the connection between our concern, our conduct and our musings. CBT can be compelling treatment for the accompanying issues: outrage the executives, nervousness and fits of anxiety, sadness, medication and liquor issues, and post-horrendous pressure issue. These are only a couple of the numerous issues that can be effectively rewarded with CBT. Studies have indicated that having only twelve meetings of CBT can be as useful in regarding sadness as taking medicine all through a multi year follow-up period. Obviously, CBT is very mind boggling and isn't a wonder fix. Being treated by an advisor with explicit CBT aptitude is suggested. The customer should likewise be tenacious and liberal. The CBT approach has as of late been utilized in numerous pre-bundled, brand name projects, for example, â€Å"Reasoning and Rehabilitation,† â€Å"Aggression Replacement Therapy,† â€Å"Thinking for Change,† and others (â€Å"Preventing Future Crime with CBT†). In certain cases, drug can be went with psychotherapy for best outcomes in treatment. This is critical to give any treatment a reasonable preliminary. In the event that one methodology doesn’t work, odds are, another will. Be relentless and don’t surrender! Works Cited Forestalling Future Crime with Cognitive Behavior Therapy (http://www.all-about-psychology.com/subjective conduct therapy.html)

Putting an End to Gossip Essay Example For Students

Stopping Gossip Essay You are in a gathering of companions having a fabulous bygone era, and the entirety of the abrupt Susie starts to discuss what Sally wore to class today. Tattling and discussing others have become a constant piece of today’s society. We as a whole realize it isn't right to do it, so how would we stop? There are 3 different ways to stop. One, consider the results. Two, don't encircle yourself by those whom you know are visit gossipers. Three, you could change the theme if an individual starts to chatter. In the book of Proverbs, result is the establishment of Proverbs. Most sayings expressed have a result to be trailed. Additionally, if an individual needs to be insightful, Gossip Road will in the end reach a dead conclusion. Numerous adages hail astute men and reproach underhanded men. Maxims urge individuals to be savvy and to look for insight. Precepts notice tattling isn't shrewd. With everything taken into account what Susie says about Sally says more regarding Susie than it does about Sally. First errand is to perceive that tattling isn't right. Things being what they are, the reason is it wrong? All things considered, The Bible says it isn't right, correct? If one somehow managed to tell their confidant that they ought not babble on the grounds that the Bible says as much, that individual would presumably be next on the tattle list. The most sensible activity is to utilize presence of mind to get the gossiper to reason, instead of the Bible. Perhaps that individual can sit their confidant down and notice tattling harms connections. After all that is referenced in Proverbs; â€Å"A unreasonable individual works up struggle and a tattle isolates dear friends† (Proverbs 16: 28). As should be obvious there is an activity and an outcome; this is spotted all through Proverbs. A couple more â€Å" A shrewd man holds his tongue. Just a dolt proclaims all that he know; that lone prompts distress and trouble† (Proverbs 10:14). In spite of the fact that this isn't related precisely with tattling; in any case, one can comprehend the outcomes on the off chance that one tattles. Additionally, one can perceive tattling isn't ethically or morally right. It ruins great and advances hurt. â€Å"Self control implies controlling the tongue! A snappy counter can destroy everything† (Proverbs 13:3). Again not legitimately connected with tattling; be that as it may, one needs to show restraint to shield themselves from tattling. On the off chance that one can perceives the results beat the benefit of tattling the person is en route to halting tattle. Since one perceives that tattling isn't right, there are approaches to forestall tattling and stop struggle. In any case, there is the long path around to stop bits of gossip; â€Å" a tattle circumvents spreading bits of gossip while an astute man attempts to calm them† (Proverbs 11:13). This saying is attempting to exhibit the distinction between a gossiper and a shrewd man. Primary concern being, it is difficult to stop gossip once it has been said. As Proverbs says, â€Å" it’s difficult to stop a fight once it begins so don't let it begin† (Proverbs 17:14). Next an individual can encircle herself or himself with individuals who won't tattle. â€Å"Be with savvy men and become insightful. Be with insidious men and become evil† (Proverbs 13:20). In the event that an individual is encountering gossipy tidbits being told about the person; there is an approach to manage that. â€Å" Don’t confess your mysteries to a tattle except if you need them to communicate it to the world† (Proverbs 20:19). One can stop a tattle all together by cutting off what a gossiper flourishes off. Try not to disclose to them privileged insights, and they can't babble. A saying that accompanies that; â€Å"Fire goes out for absence of fuel, and pressures vanish when tattle stops† (Proverbs 26:20). With everything taken into account, to stop tattle or a gossiper, one must think before they do an activity. Sayings lives off the standard each activity has a response. In specific cases, activities makes hurt oneself as well as other people. Results in later time ought to be sufficient inspiration to stop tattle or a gossiper. .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 , .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 .postImageUrl , .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 .focused content region { min-stature: 80px; position: relative; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 , .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664:hover , .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664:visited , .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664:active { border:0!important; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 .clearfix:after { content: ; show: table; clear: both; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 { show: square; change: foundation shading 250ms; webkit-progress: foundation shading 250ms; width: 100%; haziness: 1; change: mistiness 250ms; webkit-progress: murkiness 250ms; foundation shading: #95A5A6; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664:active , .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664:hover { obscurity: 1; progress: darkness 250ms; webkit-progress: darkness 250ms; foundation shading: #2C3E50; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 .focused content region { width: 100%; position: relati ve; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 .ctaText { outskirt base: 0 strong #fff; shading: #2980B9; text dimension: 16px; textual style weight: intense; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; content beautification: underline; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 .postTitle { shading: #FFFFFF; text dimension: 16px; text style weight: 600; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; width: 100%; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 .ctaButton { foundation shading: #7F8C8D!important; shading: #2980B9; fringe: none; fringe range: 3px; box-shadow: none; text dimension: 14px; textual style weight: striking; line-tallness: 26px; moz-outskirt span: 3px; content adjust: focus; content improvement: none; content shadow: none; width: 80px; min-tallness: 80px; foundation: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/modules/intelly-related-posts/resources/pictures/straightforward arrow.png)no-rehash; position: total; right: 0; top: 0; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664:hover .ctaButton { foundation shading: #34495E!important; } .u 015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664 .focused content { show: table; stature: 80px; cushioning left: 18px; top: 0; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664-content { show: table-cell; edge: 0; cushioning: 0; cushioning right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-adjust: center; width: 100%; } .u015a3f5f1b5ba3ff19f1db921d910664:after { content: ; show: square; clear: both; } READ: Star Wars Movie Analysis EssayThe results tattle ruin great and quicken hurt. Educating tells regarding others can harm connections between individuals. Additionally tattling can make hurt the notoriety of the gossiper. Tattling will in the long run have a result. To quit tattling, one must perceive that it is a destructive activity. At that point that individual can stop bits of gossip, encircle oneself with individuals who don't prattle, and ultimately don't confess to a gossiper insider facts. On the off chance that you cut something off at the source it blossoms with, its fire will reduce.

Battle of the Atlantic in World War II

Clash of the Atlantic in World War II The Battle of the Atlantic was battled between September 1939 and May 1945 all through the sum of World War II. Leaders Partners Chief naval officer Sir Percy Noble, RNAdmiral Sir Max Horton, RNAdmiral Royal E. Ingersoll, USN Germany Great Admiral Erich RaederGrand Admiral Karl Doenitz Foundation With the British and French passageway into World War II on September 3, 1939, the German Kriegsmarine moved to execute techniques like those utilized in World War I. Incapable to move the Royal Navy as to capital ships, the Kriegsmarine started a crusade against Allied transportation with the objective of cutting off Britain from the provisions expected to take up arms. Managed by Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, German maritime powers looked to utilize a blend of surface bandits and U-vessels. Despite the fact that he supported the surface armada, which would come to incorporate the war vessels Bismarck and Tirpitz, Raeder was tested by his U-pontoon boss, at that point Commodore Karl Doenitz, in regards to the utilization of submarines. At first arranged to search out British warships, Doenitzs U-vessels had early achievement sinking the old ship HMS Royal Oak at Scapa Flow and the bearer HMS Courageous off Ireland. In spite of these triumphs, he vivaciously supported for utilizing gatherings of U-vessels, known as wolf packs, to assault the Atlantic guards that were resupplying Britain. In spite of the fact that the German surface bandits scored some early triumphs, they drew the consideration of the Royal Navy who tried to pulverize them or keep them in port. Commitment, for example, the Battle of the River Plate (1939) and the Battle of the Denmark Strait (1941) saw the British react to this danger. The Happy Time With the fall of France in June 1940, Doenitz increased new bases on the Bay of Biscay from which his U-pontoons could work. Spreading into the Atlantic, the U-vessels started assaulting British caravans in packs. These multi-transport bunches were additionally coordinated by insight gathered from the breaking of the British Naval Cipher No.â 3. Equipped with the surmised area of a moving toward guard, the wolf pack would send in a long queue over its foreseen way. At the point when a U-vessel located the caravan, it would radio its area and coordination of the assault would start. When the entirety of the U-pontoons were in position, the wolf pack would strike. Ordinarily led around evening time, these ambushes could include up to six U-pontoons and constrained the caravan escorts to manage different dangers from a few headings.  Through the rest of 1940 and into 1941, the U-pontoons delighted in enormous achievement and perpetrated overwhelming misfortunes on Allied transportation. Thus, it got known as the Happy Time (Die Glã ¼ckliche Zeit) among the U-vessel teams. Guaranteeing more than 270 Allied vessels during this period, U-pontoon officers such as Otto Kretschmer, Gã ¼nther Prien, and Joachim Schepke became VIPs in Germany. Key fights in the second 50% of 1940 included guards HX 72, SC 7, HX 79, and HX 90. Throughout the battling, these caravans lost 11 of 43, 20 of 35, 12 of 49, and 11 of 41 ships individually. These endeavors were upheld by Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor airplane which helped in finding Allied ships just as assaulting them. Changed over from long-go Lufthansa carriers, these airplane flew from bases in Bordeaux, France and Stavanger, Norway and entered profound into the North Sea and Atlantic. Fit for conveying a 2,000-pound bomb load, Condors ordinarily would strike at low elevation trying to section the objective vessel with three bombs. Focke-Wulf Fw 200 teams professed to have sunk 331,122 tons of Allied transportation between June 1940 to February 1941. In spite of the fact that powerful, the Condor was only occasionally accessible in more than constrained numbers and the risk later presented by Allied escort bearers and other airplane at last constrained its withdrawal. Guarding the Convoys In spite of the fact that British destroyers and corvettes were outfitted with ASDIC (sonar), the framework was as yet dubious and couldn't keep in touch with an objective during an assault. The Royal Navy was likewise hampered by an absence of reasonable escort vessels. This was facilitated in September 1940, when fifty old destroyers were gotten from the United States by means of the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. In the spring of 1941, as British enemy of submarine preparing improved and extra escort vessels arrived at the armada, misfortunes started to diminish and the Royal Navy started sinking U-pontoons at an expanding rate. To counter upgrades in British activities, Doenitz pushed his wolf packs further west constraining the Allies to give escorts to the whole Atlantic intersection. While the Royal Canadian Navy canvassed guards in the eastern Atlantic, it was supported by President Franklin Roosevelt who broadened the Pan-American Security Zone almost to Iceland. Despite the fact that unbiased, the United States gave accompanies inside this area. Regardless of these enhancements, U-vessels kept on working voluntarily in the focal Atlantic outside the scope of Allied airplane. This air hole presented issues until further developed sea watch airplane showed up. Activity Drumbeat Different components that helped in stemming Allied misfortunes were the catch of a German Enigma code machine and the establishment of new high-recurrence course discovering hardware for following U-vessels. With the US passage into the war after the assault on Pearl Harbor, Doenitz dispatched U-pontoons to the American coast and Caribbean under the name Operation Drumbeat. Starting activities in January 1942, the U-vessels started getting a charge out of a second cheerful time as they exploited unescorted American trader dispatches just as the US inability to execute a seaside dark out. As misfortunes mounted, the U.S. actualized a caravan framework in May 1942. With escorts working on the American coast, Doenitz pulled back his U-vessels back to the mid-Atlantic that late spring. Through the fall, misfortunes kept on mounting on the two sides as the escorts and U-pontoons conflicted. In November 1942, Admiral Sir Max Horton became president of the Western Approaches Command. As extra escort vessels opened up, he framed separate powers which were entrusted with supporting the caravan accompanies. As they were not attached to protecting an escort, these gatherings had the option to explicitly chase U-vessels. The Tide Turns In the winter and late-winter of 1943, the escort fights proceeded with expanding fierceness. As Allied transportation misfortunes mounted, the flexibly circumstance in Britain started to arrive at basic levels. Despite the fact that losing U-vessels in March, the Germany methodology of sinking ships quicker than the Allies could manufacture them seemed, by all accounts, to be succeeding. This eventually end up being a bogus day break as the tide quickly changed in April and May. Despite the fact that Allied misfortunes dropped in April, the crusade rotated on the safeguard of escort ONS 5. Assaulted by 30 U-vessels it lost thirteen ships in return for six of Doenitzs pontoons. After fourteen days, guard SC 130 repulsed German assaults and sunk five U-vessels while taking no misfortunes. The quick turn in Allied fortunes was the aftereffect of the incorporation of a few advances which had opened up in the first months. These incorporated the Hedgehog hostile to submarine mortar, proceeded with propels in perusing German radio traffic, upgraded radar, and the Leigh Light. The last gadget permitted Allied airplane to effectively assault surfaced U-vessels around evening time. Different advances incorporated the presentation of shipper plane carrying warships and long-go sea variations of the B-24 Liberator. Joined with new escort bearers, these dispensed with the air hole. Joined with wartime transport development programs, for example, Liberty delivers, these quickly gave the Allies the high ground. Named Black May by the Germans, May 1943 saw Doenitz lose 34 U-pontoons in the Atlantic in return for 34 Allied boats. Last Stages of Battle Pulling back his powers throughout the mid year, Doenitz attempted to grow new strategies and gear. These incorporated the making of U-fire pontoons with improved enemy of airplane barriers just as an assortment of countermeasures and new torpedoes. Coming back to the hostile in September, the U-vessels appreciated a concise time of progress before Allied powers again started causing substantial misfortunes. As Allied air power developed in quality, U-pontoons went under assault in the Bay of Biscay as they left and came back to port. With his armada being decreased, Doenitz went to new U-pontoon plans including the progressive Type XXI. Intended to work totally lowered, the Type XXI was quicker than any of its forerunners. Just four were finished before the finish of the war. Fallout The last activities of the Battle of the Atlantic occurred on May 7-8, 1945, not long before the German surrender. In the course of the battling, Allied misfortunes totaled around 3,500 dealer ships and 175 warships, just as around 72,000 mariners executed. German setbacks numbered 783 U-vessels and around 30,000 mariners (75% of the U-pontoon power). One of the most significant fronts of the war, accomplishment in the Atlantic was basic for the Allied reason. Refering to its significance, Prime Minister Winston Churchill later expressed: The Battle of the Atlantic was the commanding variable all through the war. Never for one second might we be able to overlook that everything happening somewhere else, ashore, adrift or noticeable all around relied at last upon its result...

Beh 225 Problem Solving Simulation - Free Essay Example

In order to solve this problem I had to figure out different ways to solve it that would have the desired result. In this scenario there is a man, cat, dog, and a mouse that need to cross the river but unfortunately the raft will only hold two of them at a time and the man cannot send the animals on the raft without him. Initially this seems very easy to solve unfortunately the cat cannot be left alone with the mouse or the dog unless the man is present otherwise they will fight or try to eat each other.. Once I had interpreted the problem, I attempted different strategies of crossing the river while keeping in mind that the cat could not be left alone with the dog or the mouse. So first I tried taking the cat over first then crossed back over to get the dog and then the mouse. This led to an obstacle since the dog or mouse was left alone with the cat which led to fighting or trying to eat the one another. I then tried taking the mouse over first but this led to the same problem, it left the dog and cat alone. At this point I was stumped on how this process was going to work so I resorted to heuristics to figure out a solution. This allowed me to come up with a solution that would allow me to get all of the animals across the river without leaving the dog or mouse alone with the mouse. First I took the cat to the other side of the river and went back for the dog. Once I got the dog to the other side, I sent the cat back across the river so the cat and dog were not left alone. Next I left the cat on the original side of the river and sent the mouse to the other side to join the dog. Lastly I sent the raft back across to pick up the cat and take back across the river to the other side where the dog and mouse were waiting. Initially I tried to solve the problem using my normal thought process since I thought the scenario was going to be simple to solve which was definitely not the case. I had to think outside of the box in order to discover the real solution that would get all three animals across the river without them fighting or trying to eat the other animals. So I followed the steps of interpreting the problem which eliminates the obstacles and this allowed for a solution. I do not believe that I was aware of the thought process in the beginning of this exercise. I tried using my normal thought process to reach a resolution in this scenario. I was thinking to hard about the whole situation that the actual resolution was so simple. Once I had gotten past my normal train of thought and found the obvious solution, it made me wonder why I had not thought of it initially. Since the raft had to go back across the river anyway there was no reason that the cat couldn’t go back to the original side. There was also no stipulation as to how many times an animal could cross the river either. In the end all of the animals made it to the other side and I have discover that the obvious solution may not always be part of my initial thought process and I need to think outside of the box.

How To Calculate the Variance and Standard Deviation

Variance and standard deviation are two closely related measures of variation that you will hear about a lot in studies, journals, or statistics class. They are two basic and fundamental concepts in statistics that must be understood in order to understand most other statistical concepts or procedures. Below, we’ll review what they are and how to find the variance and standard deviation. Key Takeaways: Variance and Standard Deviation The variance and standard deviation show us how much the scores in a distribution vary from the average.The standard deviation is the square root of the variance.For small data sets, the variance can be calculated by hand, but statistical programs can be used for larger data sets. Definition By definition, variance and standard deviation are both measures of variation for interval-ratio variables. They describe how much variation or diversity there is in a distribution. Both the variance and standard deviation increase or decrease based on how closely the scores cluster around the mean. Variance is defined as the average of the squared deviations from the mean. To calculate the variance, you first subtract the mean from each number and then square the results to find the squared differences. You then find the average of those squared differences. The result is the variance. The standard deviation is a measure of how spread out the numbers in a distribution are. It indicates how much, on average, each of the values in the distribution deviates from the mean, or center, of the distribution. It is calculated by taking the square root of the variance. A Conceptual Example The variance and standard deviation are important because they tell us things about the data set that we can’t learn just by looking at the mean, or average. As an example, imagine that you have three younger siblings: one sibling who is 13, and twins who are 10. In this case, the average age of your siblings would be 11. Now imagine that you have three siblings, ages 17, 12, and 4. In this case, the average age of your siblings would still be 11, but the variance and standard deviation would be larger. A Quantitative Example Let’s say we want to find the variance and standard deviation of the age among your group of 5 close friends. The ages of you and your friends are 25, 26, 27, 30, and 32. First, we must find the mean age: (25 26 27 30 32) / 5 28. Then, we need to calculate the differences from the mean for each of the 5 friends. 25 – 28 -326 – 28 -227 – 28 -130 – 28 232 – 28 4 Next, to calculate the variance, we take each difference from the mean, square it, then average the result. Variance ( (-3)2 (-2)2 (-1)2 22 42)/ 5 (9 4 1 4 16 ) / 5 6.8 So, the variance is 6.8. And the standard deviation is the square root of the variance, which is 2.61. What this means is that, on average, you and your friends are 2.61 years apart in age. Although it’s possible to calculate the variance by hand for smaller data sets such as this one, statistical software programs can also be used to calculate the variance and standard deviation. Sample Versus Population When conducting statistical tests, it’s important to be aware of the difference between a population and a sample. To calculate the standard deviation (or variance) of a population, you would need to collect measurements for everyone in the group you’re studying; for a sample, you would only collect measurements from a subset of the population. In the example above, we assumed that the group of five friends was a population; if we had treated it as a sample instead, calculating the sample standard deviation and sample variance would be slightly different (instead of dividing by the sample size to find the variance, we would have first subtracted one from the sample size and then divided by this smaller number). Importance of the Variance and Standard Deviation The variance and standard deviation are important in statistics, because they serve as the basis for other types of statistical calculations. For example, the standard deviation is necessary for converting test scores into Z-scores. The variance and standard deviation also play an important role when conducting statistical tests such as t-tests. References Frankfort-Nachmias, C. Leon-Guerrero, A. (2006). Social Statistics for a Diverse Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press.

Essay Exploring Autism in Children - 2819 Words

Exploring Autism in Children Susan was a normal, happy, active infant. Her parents were so relieved that all her checkups at the pediatricians office indicated that her growth and development were above average. At 6 months she could sit up and crawl and at 10 months she was walking. She seemed to babble more than her older brother did at the same age and was talking at 16 months. All the milestones in her early development were ahead of schedule. One day when she was 18 months old, her mother found her sitting alone in the yard spinning the wheels of her wagon with such persistence that her mom joked with her friends that maybe Susan would be an engineer when she grew up. Susans mother began to notice many unusual behaviors†¦show more content†¦Susans parents decided to take her to the doctor. She went through many tests and she was eventually diagnosed with Autism. By the time she was three, there was no language or interaction. After years of physical therapy, behavioral therapy and speech/ language therapy, Susan is now 15 and enrolled in residential boarding school, where she receives 24-hour supervision and care. This program is more expensive then a regular school based setting, but has benefited Susan. She has aides to help her with her daily living skills. Susan is able to hold a job at a sheltered workshop under the supervision of her aide (Neuwirth Segal). Autism affects one out of every 500 births and over one million people have Autism in the United States. Autism is four times more common in boys than girls. If a girl is Autistic, the symptoms are usually much more severe. Girls tend to have more of the symptoms and lower intelligence. The following paper will describe the Autism Spectrum Disorder, specifically as it relates to young children with Autism. It will also identify different types of Autism and accompanying disorders. It will describe the history, known causes, characteristics and the hope for the future. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines Autism as A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and non-verbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three that adversely affectsShow MoreRelatedAutism Is A Psychological Disorder Essay817 Words   |  4 Pageslong ,2008 p.284) â€Å"autism is a neurological disorder that effect a person ability to communicate, to understand language, to play and to relate to others. A diagnose of autism is given when a person exhibits 6 or more of 12 symptoms listed across three major areas social interaction, communication, and behavior.† These symptoms can start as early as childhood. The Prevalence is 2% of the population and is it is more common in boys than girls. Also, there is no known cause for autism but has to haveRead MoreAutism : What Causes Autism? Essay1112 Words   |  5 Pages What is Autism? 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The complication of limited funding is that people are not dealing with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) correctly, which worsens theRead MoreIs Autism A Developmental Disorder? E ssay1619 Words   |  7 PagesExploring Autism in Children Rutgers University Atypical Adolescence and Development Professor. Stevie McKenna November 2nd, 2016 Autism Abstract Autism is a developmental disorder in which an individual has problems with communication and interaction. Autism Spectrum Disorder was adopted as a categorization in 2013 and begins in childhood and follows throughout the course of a child’s life and is actually a collection of developmental brain disorders. There isRead MoreVaccines And Autism : Do Vaccines Cause Autism?1231 Words   |  5 PagesI. Vaccines Autism Do Vaccines cause Autism? II. Abstract Do vaccines cause autism is a question that has been bouncing around for over twenty years. The increase in the number of diagnosed cases of Autism Spectrum Disorder has increased significantly and due to the impact this has in people’s lives several studies have been done in an effort to determine the cause. More specifically the MMR, Measles, Mumps, and Rubella, vaccination has been accused of being the cause of autism. This accusation

Adlerian Psychology a Dolls House free essay sample

Alfred Adler is a psychologist who developed a theory that can explain the characters’ actions in A Doll’s House. After many years of study, Adler realized the importance of motivation and how it affected people’s actions. This was later developed into a theory, known as the Adlerian Theory, which states that there must be a motivational force behind all behaviors (Fisher). Evidence of the Adlerian Theory is found in A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen through the actions of Krogstad, Torvald, and Nora. Family and friends are usually the most significant motivation to one’s actions because the concern for his or her family and friends will cause them to do whatever necessary to please them. The influence of family and friends may also affect one’s view of life and this would affect one to act differently in order to carry out his or her new attitude towards life (Boeree). We will write a custom essay sample on Adlerian Psychology a Dolls House or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page An individual is part of a larger whole, the society, which means that one must to live up to society’s expectations to gain respect and acceptance (The Theory and Application of Adlerian Psychology). This demonstrates how a social setting can influence one’s behaviors. One’s primary goal in life is to gain acceptance and feel significant. The inferiority complex is when one feels a 2 lack of worth (Fisher). To overcome the inferiority complex, one must strive to reach a goal, known as the superiority complex (Fisher). In the process of the superiority complex, one will strive for perfection (Fisher). The determination to be a perfect individual forces one to act certain ways. Due to Krogstad’s desire to perfect his social status, he realizes the first step is to persuade Torvald into giving him his position back at the bank. In order to do so, he must blackmail Nora into convincing Torvald that he is more capable of the job than anyone else. Without a job, he is seen as lazy and worthless by his society, therefore, fighting for a position he believes he deserves would make others perceive him as someone who will fight for what he believes in. This delivers an image of a respectable man to society and this is what he wants. The feeling of worth and significance can cause confidence and security (The Theory and Application of Adlerian Psychology). Also, he wishes to grab every possible opportunity for his children, and without a job, the availability of these opportunities are limited. The pressure from Krogstad’s society to be respected and the love he has for his children caused him to do whatever he can to win back his job. Torvald however, is a very successful man when it comes to his job, but having his whole life revolve around it causes him to drift away from his family. He has become so attached to his new position at the bank and is so caught up with pleasing those around him that he reserves no time to spend 3 with his family. Torvald’s priority is to impress the society with his abilities and he puts his family second. Torvald’s motivation to keep him putting his everything in the bank is the respect he gets from the community. Even though the family is financially stable, he will not let Nora take money without his consent. Torvald treats Nora like a child and does not think of her as an equal to himself (Hardwick). He does this because he wants control over Nora and he craves the feeling of superiority. Because of the power and control Torvald wants over Nora, he refused Nora to borrow money when he was ill. However, Nora borrowed a large sum from Krogstad under her father’s name without Torvald’s knowledge. Nora did not consider the consequences when she forged her father’s signature because she was more concerned with Torvald’s health. Nora borrowed the money regardless of Torvald’s disapproval because she loved Torvald and could not risk him dying (Hardwick). Nora being treated the way she did by Torvald caused her to feel worthless. Torvald calls Nora by pet names which shows Torvald’s impression of her as a child. Nora and Torvald has never had an important conversation in all those years they have been married, meaning Torvald did not think Nora was intelligent or mature enough to understand important matters (Downs). This motivated her to leave Torvald and find her true self. Leaving Torvald was Nora’s way of overcoming the inferiority complex and the process of her finding herself is 4 her step into the superiority complex. In conclusion, one’s actions are caused by his or her societal surroundings or his or her personal desires. In A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen, Krogstad blackmailing Nora in order to get his position back in the bank is caused by his need to be accepted in society. Torvald’s control of all money coming in the household is caused by his desire to be superior to Nora. Nora’s decision to leave Torvald is caused by her need to find herself. The Adlerian Theory applies to these characters because they all have a motivational force behind their actions.

Social Work as a Profession

In the delivery of social services, the parties involved can be divided into either social workers or volunteers; the main differences that the two have is their way of approach to the subject. Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Social Work as a Profession specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Social workers are trained on different areas of handling mankind and situations as well on the best way to approach an issue, when they are on the field; they portray high levels of integrity and intellectualism. On the other hand most volunteers work from their personality, they feel they want to assist an ailing society thus they engage in the activity, they may have undergone training or not. The main conflict that might be seen between volunteers and professional social workers is the approach that either takes; volunteers might have the advantage of being closer to a society especially if he or she happens to have come from the particular society that he is offering services. Because of the closeness, communities are more likely to trust him than social worker coming from a different area. The danger comes that in case the approach or decisions taken by the volunteers are not the best, then the society is likely to suffer substandard decisions challenging social works ideology (Clayton Williams, 2004) When social workers (professionals) are on the field, they should not be closely supervised; this will offer them a chance to exercise their professionalism and handling situations the way they come. When working with different communities and people of diverse cultures, professionals needs to be flexible and willing to adjust according to the needs of the community that they are serving. When professionals are left without close monitoring and dictatorship on how they need to handle situations, then they are likely to be motivated in their works and work for the benefit of the society and their em ploying organization as a whole. Saying that social workers should be left to work independently does not in any way mean that they should be left to conduct their businesses without a central control; what the phrase means is that they should be given some freedom to practice their professionalism.Advertising Looking for assessment on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More People generally work better when they are shown that they are trusted to operate and conduct a certain task on behalf of the government or their employer, making them free will then facilitate working hand. In current era of Aids epidemics mostly in developing countries, the task and the roles that professional social workers undertake has taken a wider approach, they are used to educate, sometimes offer medication, advise, and create effective rooms where the affected and infected can get refuge. The goal has made the professionals play the role of community nurses and their advice and connection with communities around their working territory has been used by governments to pass information to the communities. On the other hand, the professionals in developing countries are used as government advisers on programs that are needed to be implemented in society level to facilitate economic growth of such places (Gerald, 2010). The widened role played by social workers (professionals), is likely to change the perception that communities and the government had held for the profession; the profession will be taken seriously by all parties involved and in the future there is likelihood of having for young people engaging in the community based work as a career. References Clayton, M., Williams, A.(2004). Social justice. New York: Wiley-Blackwell. Gerald, C. (2010). Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions. New Jersey: Cengage learning.Advertising We will write a custom assessment sample on Social Work as a Profession spe cifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This assessment on Social Work as a Profession was written and submitted by user Kathryn C. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Ethical Standards For Human Services Professionals Social Work Essay Essays

Ethical Standards For Human Services Professionals Social Work Essay Essays Ethical Standards For Human Services Professionals Social Work Essay Essay Ethical Standards For Human Services Professionals Social Work Essay Essay Human services are developed in expectancy and response of human demands. The profession is characterized by positive response of human demands taking into history all of their diverseness. In context of community and environment, Human services professionals offer aid to their clients and serve their peculiar demands. Need of moralss in human services profession is of significant importance ( Sinclair et al. , 1987 ) . Ethical motives are guidelines which represents set of criterions of behavior that is considered ethical by professionals and pedagogues. Ethical motives although non legal papers but aid to help in colony of jobs and issues related to ethical issues in human services profession. A brief overview of Ethical Standards for human services professionals: Human service professionals are cardinal participants in Human services sector. In this extremely customized profession, human service professional interacts often with households, persons and groups etc, all these are their clients. Human services professionals are instance directors, they are caregiver, teacher, physician, adviser, attorney, and psychologists etc. in the undermentioned subdivision, some ethical criterions are defined for human services professionals. My ethical statement: As a ethical homo services professional, I will endeaver to run into or transcend the statement below in twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours patterns of my professional life. My codification of moralss as a Human service professional: As a Human service professional I would wish to speak with the clients the ends, intent, and nature of assisting relationship before oncoming of relationship and besides inform the clients about restrictions of relationship. In my sentiment, clients should be treated with regard, self-respect and trust. As a Human service professional I will take attention for protection of client rights and confidentiality. Except some particular instances, when this confidentiality can be harmful for client. As Human services professional I will seek to take unity, security and safety of client records. I would wish to hold prior written consent by client when there is demand to portion client information with other professionals. As a Human services professional, I will seek protect the self-government right of clients. I would wish to be good cognizant of legal, federal, local and province Torahs related to human services. I will maintain myself informed about current societal issues that can impact community and clients. I will move as advocators that help to turn to the unmet demands of society and persons. As a Human service professional I would wish take it as my duty to unwrap my makings accurately. As a Human service professional, I will work with the purpose of assisting people and for achievement of ends of human service organisations. My basic end in human services will be to assist people in populating more satisfied life, more productive and independent life, by using the resources and cognition of society and technological invention. These moralss are core values of human services professionals: Above mentioned set of ethical patterns serves as set of nucleus values of moralss in human services profession, every professional who selects human service as profession must hold strong passion to function society and persons. As this profession is all about worlds, the chief concern of this profession is supplying single s solution of their personal and societal jobs. When covering with and functioning worlds, moralss become more of import ( Sinclair et al. , 1987 ) . A human services professional can present its services in better manner if he is good cognizant of importance of moralss in his profession. Code of moralss in human services profession helps to advance trust, confidentiality, acknowledgment and dialogue of client s right of self-government and informed consent. Healthcare professionals and other people involved in human services procedure should esteem right of privateness of their clients. In human service, clients are sharing their really confidential information and jobs with professionals, because they want from professionals to work out their jobs. It becomes ultimate duty of these professionals to develop the relationship of trust and unity with clients and maintain their information confidential, and do non portion it with others irrespective some exceeding state of affairss when demand to discourse it with their squad or other professional in order to work out out the job of their client. Even in this instance, information sh ould non be shared without written consent of client. Evaluation To do the person a productive portion of society, is besides an ultimate ends of human services professionals. Sometimes, clients do nt cognize the existent issue he/she is confronting, this may be a psychological or wellness related issue, in this state of affairs, human services professionals foremost find the existent cause and so goes for its solution. Each province and state has some legal model and Torahs for society, these Torahs are made for members of society which are human existences, so the consciousness and cognition of local and federal Torahs of province or state is critical for human service professionals as their profession is all about worlds. The professionals need to be ethical ideals, while esteeming for all civilizations, beliefs and relationships ( Seitz, A ; ONeill, 1996 ) . Ethical criterions for human service workers require passion and dedication by professionals and workers every bit good. Integrity, following the Torahs, conformity with policies and regulations, keeping the client records and instance files etc. all include professional moralss demands. Apart from their direct service to clients, human service professionals besides have duty to protest against societal unfairness and community authorization. If the codification of moralss is non employed and practiced in human services profession, it will convey devastation to society. There will be no relation of trust and unity can be developed among professionals and society. Peoples will experience loath to portion their jobs with their advisers as they will hold no surety that their information will be kept confidential. As a consequence, society will endure at big as people will populate lives full of jobs and concerns because human services works with purpose of better lives of their clients and to do all the members of society productive and active portion of society ( Seitz A ; ONeill, 1996 ) . Without ethical patterns and committedness of professionals to follow these patterns, mission of human services can non be achieved. Admiting the importance on ethical patterns, every homo services organisation has codification of moralss all members are encouraged to follow. So if we develop and pattern our personal codification of mora lss to stand out in our profession, it will be a good scheme to follow that will pave the manner for success in future.

Human Resource Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Human Resource - Essay Example The issue of job satisfaction has been studied in connection with the disciplines such as economics, psychology, management science and sociology .A good employer is one who would ensure that his employees are satisfied because satisfaction is closely related to their labor market behavior such as quits, productivity and absenteeism. Research shows that job satisfaction predicts if an employee will quit just like in case of wages .It is therefore imperative to study the determinants of job satisfaction. In this study focus will be an aspect of job satisfaction with age, degree in the field of study and the educational level of employment of persons working in different sectors of the economy (Clark et. al). There have been different attitudes of people towards job satisfaction in International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). Researchers have indicated that job satisfaction is affected by the factors like educational factors for example degree status, situation factors for example workplace situations and biological factors like age. Employees in this company give varying results on job satisfaction. They claim that the companies do not have a good pay master and annual appraisal. This stud Purpose and objectives of the study This study is trying to determine how age and education level are related to the level of job satisfaction of employees in this company. The research proposal is based on some crucial questions which will be a guide to the research. Research Questions. 1. What is the overall job satisfaction for employees working in the Human Resources Department 2. What degrees of satisfaction do the employees of International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) with factors raised on job satisfaction 3. What is the relationship between job satisfaction and variable factors such as field of study at college, educational levels and age Significance of the study The humanitarian aspect is one angle that helps people to look at job satisfaction in detail. All employees regardless of the level in which they are should be treated well and respected as it contributes to their wellbeing. From the utilitarian aspect, job satisfaction may affect how employees behave and this may have either positive or negative effects on productivity depending on how a worker feels when they are being treated. Scope and limitations The study will focus on the workers who are at the human resource department. The sample size

How the financial crisis will affect the ship repair yards and Article

How the financial crisis will affect the ship repair yards and shipping business - Article Example A typical argument put forward by shippers is that cyclical fluctuations in the shipping industry are typical because booms are followed by recessions. However the current financial crisis in the world has affected the industry so badly. Demand factors such as prices of other goods, production costs, demand for those other goods and the availability and the cost of finance have played a very significant role in the current decline in demand for shipping and freight services, including the decline at shipping yards for repairs. (Guironnet, Peypoch & Solonandresana, 2009). On the other hand supply factors are determined by the demand for shipping and freight services along with the prevailing interest rates. Suppliers went on accumulating excess capacity by ordering new ships and containers to meet the rising demand then. However the demand trend did not continue as was anticipated. The financial crisis has hit hard not only ship repair and building yards but also all connected services as well. Shippers in North America, Europe and Asia have been hit so hard by it. For instance the contracted tonnage of containerized cargo has declined by several millions of cubic feet. The annual decline has been one of the worst that industry has witnessed in the past. According to industry watchers there would be a further fall in demand for containerized cargo shipping till a few more months have lapsed. The existing contractual obligations are less likely to be honored by the buyers because losing what has already been paid is better than taking charge of a new or a repaired ship which would not be put in to service in the foreseeable future. The current financial crisis is inevitably the result of the global economic downturn. As early as 2008 the first major signs of a global economic crisis were seen though shippers did not pay heed to advice by economists that the crisis would engulf the

Supply Chain Management in Fast Fashion Companies (Zara & H&M) Literature review

Supply Chain Management in Fast Fashion Companies (Zara & H&M) - Literature review Example Barnes and Lea-Greenwood's (2006) article on fast fashion and supply chain management has revealed significant information in regard to the so called fast fashion phenomenon. Their research on fast fashion and its relation to supply chain management have even caught the attention of well known fashion companies, enthusiasts and the business press. Although the concept is new in the fashion industry, the authors were able to explore widely and expound briefly the strategy that led Zara and H&M to where they are now. The authors have defined fast fashion as a form of business strategy that targets to lessen the number of processes that are undergone in a buying cycle and lead times to deliver new fashion products in stores. When this happens, customer satisfaction is met, and this satisfaction is being driven by the speed in delivering fashion products that are in line with the current trends. Fast fashion is a concept that is considered a "mainstay in UK's fashion industry" (Barnes & Lea-Greenwood, 2006). To modern fashion retailers such as Zara and H&M, fast fashion is a key strategy that has helped them attain success. The two well known fashion companies have adopted this strategy and have continuously changed their clothing styles and product ranges to adapt to what is "in" at any moment. Rapid changes are made attracting more buyers of apparels under the brands Zara and H&M. Furthermore, Barnes and Lea-Greenwood (2006) have inferred that fast fashion is associated with supply chain management. For instance, it has been proposed, in reference to the said perspective, that the framework of a fast fashion business is dependent to vertical integration. Vertical integration, according to Welters and Lillethun (2011), centralizes the supply chain allowing buyers to obtain goods in a short span of time and at an affordable price. In a fashion business, there is pressure in defeating the previous years' performance and this cycle is a usual scenario. In the modern times, success in retailing is being attributed to supply chains instead of companies (Hines, 2004 cited in Barnes and & Lea-Greenwood, 2006). On the other hand, the authors (Barnes & Lea-Greenwood, 2006) have contended that, in spite of being connected to supply chain management, fast fashion is not totally affiliated with the strategy. Findings of the study conducted by Barnes and Lea-Greenwood (2006) have identified fast fashion as a consumer-driven process. Many things were taken into serious consideration prior to arriving at this judgment. First, they were able to observe that, at present, individuality has already become the trend for the buyer's fashion demands. Most consumers want to set a trend, and this behavior increases the demand for fast fashion. Many designers consider quick access to the media as a means for the young consumers to gain knowledge in regard to the new fashion trends. Respondents of the survey conducted by the two authors have also conceded to their ju dgment and have stated that progress in fast fashion is being driven by the changing consumer demand making it a crucial aspect of fashion and fashion retailing. Hence, fast fashion is the answer to the changing consumer demand of modern times. Furthermore, the supply chain has to adjust for it to respond to inconstant consumer demands. The fast fashion business paradigm relies on the capacity of an individual to acquire and react positively to changes in consumer tastes. Responses to these changes in the fast fashion business model are quick since connections to fashion markets, and fashion makers are in proximity (Doeringer & Crean, 2006 cited in Welters &

The Ghosts of The Woman Warrior Essay -- Maxine Hong Kingston Woman Wa

The Ghosts of The Woman Warrior In Maxine Hong Kingston's novel, The Woman Warrior, Kingston touches upon several aspects of life common to all. Her experiences as a child were illustrated through this book. People not of the Chinese culture were seen as ghosts in this child's world. The similarities between Kingston's childhood, and the reader's help make this novel universally readable. The images created by Kinston, and the parallels between her life and others justify the creation of The Woman Warrior. When writing an autobiography, it is the goal of the author to point out the lessons of her life to others. While the lessons expressed are not always unique, each has its purpose. Parent child differences are common; caused by changing times and beliefs. Kingston not only had to deal with the generation gap, but she had to deal with the dissimilar Chinese and American mindset and traditions. Kingston often explained in detail how her mother acts in certain situations. Maxine often felt embarrassed by her mom; when they received a wrong prescription, her mother wanted retribution from the pharmacist. It would be complex for Maxine to explain the situation to the store clerk, who would not understand. As a child such a situation is confusing, explaining to mom will not help, she is not American. Those who have not encountered a similar situation can still correlate the predicament the one's experiences. Telling stories is a tradition of many cultures. Parents tell of a mystical event, or sometimes of a person. Knowing the history of one's ancestors is important. As a whole, people are always making mistakes; to correct them the error must be remembered so that the same act is not repeated. "S... ...haman who would only treat those who were not dying. This was her way of making herself appear a better doctor. No one would want to be treated by a physician whose patients died. Maxine's mother is also reluctant to show her Medical diploma from China. She said, "The sweat of hard work is not to be displayed. It is much more graceful to appear favored by the gods."(??) Modesty is an attribute to one's personality, an especially important one in Chinese culture. Kingston recalls several events during her childhood in Stockton, during The Woman Warrior. No matter where one is from, one's parent child relations have similarities to those told in this novel. In every life there are people considered outsiders, those outsiders are ghosts to certain people. The biographical events on which this book is based provide a universal foundation for Kingston's novel. The Ghosts of The Woman Warrior Essay -- Maxine Hong Kingston Woman Wa The Ghosts of The Woman Warrior In Maxine Hong Kingston's novel, The Woman Warrior, Kingston touches upon several aspects of life common to all. Her experiences as a child were illustrated through this book. People not of the Chinese culture were seen as ghosts in this child's world. The similarities between Kingston's childhood, and the reader's help make this novel universally readable. The images created by Kinston, and the parallels between her life and others justify the creation of The Woman Warrior. When writing an autobiography, it is the goal of the author to point out the lessons of her life to others. While the lessons expressed are not always unique, each has its purpose. Parent child differences are common; caused by changing times and beliefs. Kingston not only had to deal with the generation gap, but she had to deal with the dissimilar Chinese and American mindset and traditions. Kingston often explained in detail how her mother acts in certain situations. Maxine often felt embarrassed by her mom; when they received a wrong prescription, her mother wanted retribution from the pharmacist. It would be complex for Maxine to explain the situation to the store clerk, who would not understand. As a child such a situation is confusing, explaining to mom will not help, she is not American. Those who have not encountered a similar situation can still correlate the predicament the one's experiences. Telling stories is a tradition of many cultures. Parents tell of a mystical event, or sometimes of a person. Knowing the history of one's ancestors is important. As a whole, people are always making mistakes; to correct them the error must be remembered so that the same act is not repeated. "S... ...haman who would only treat those who were not dying. This was her way of making herself appear a better doctor. No one would want to be treated by a physician whose patients died. Maxine's mother is also reluctant to show her Medical diploma from China. She said, "The sweat of hard work is not to be displayed. It is much more graceful to appear favored by the gods."(??) Modesty is an attribute to one's personality, an especially important one in Chinese culture. Kingston recalls several events during her childhood in Stockton, during The Woman Warrior. No matter where one is from, one's parent child relations have similarities to those told in this novel. In every life there are people considered outsiders, those outsiders are ghosts to certain people. The biographical events on which this book is based provide a universal foundation for Kingston's novel.

Economics and Firms

Micro Economic Essays These are some suggested micro economic essays. The essays are from different exam boards. In practise they ask similar questions so they will be helpful whatever your exam board. There are different ways to answer questions. But, all these answers contain enough material to get the top grade. Whenever the question requires evaluation, the essay contains the necessary critical distance. On the last page, there are some general tips for evaluation. Note: These essays are for revision purposes giving suggestions for how to answer questions. Don’t try to pass them off as your own work. For more micro economic help. See also the Economics Revision Guide available at www. economicshelp. org/ Copyright  © T. Pettinger 2011. All Rights Reserved (For single use license only) www. economicshelp. org Micro Economic Essays Market Structure 1. Discuss how firms within an oligopolistic market compete. 2. Discuss whether monopoly is always an undesirable form of market structure. 3. Explain how interdependence and uncertainty affect the behaviour of firms in Oligopolistic markets 4. Evaluate the view that only producers, and not consumers, benefit when oligopolistic firms collude to try to reduce the uncertainty they experience. . Explain why contestable markets generally function more efficiently than noncontestable markets. 6. Explain various barriers to entry to a market and how these barriers might affect market structure. 7. In the past, utility industries such as the postal service, electricity and gas, have been heavily protected by entry barriers. Evaluate the possible effects on efficiency and resource allocation of removing these barriers. 8. Explain the meaning of price discrimination and the conditions necessary for price discrimination. 9. Evaluate the view that, because price discrimination enables firms to make more profit, firms, but not consumers, benefit from price discrimination. 10. Evaluate different ways in which governments could make markets more competitive. 11. Discuss the extent to which new technology, such as the internet, has increased or decreased the competitiveness of markets. Government Intervention 1. Discuss the impact of deregulation on the local bus industry in Great Britain. 2. Evaluate the view that the government should give financial assistance to firms producing cars in the UK to increase their competitiveness. . Evaluate the view that government intervention can correct all the market failures caused by the effects of economic activity on the environment. 4. In some European countries, price controls are imposed upon pharmaceutical companies. Discuss the case for government intervention to control market prices. 5. Discuss whether the government should ever consider nationalising privatis ed industries? Labour Markets 1. Footballers receive high pay, while those in disagreeable occupations, such as road sweepers, are among the most lowly paid. How does economic theory explain such differences in pay? . Assess the case for and against the government intervening to raise the disposable income of workers on low pay. 3. Do you agree that if a trade union persuades employers to increase wages in a labour market, employment must inevitably fall in that labour market? Justify your answer? 4. Assess three labour market policies which might be used to increase the level of employment amongst incapacity claimants and lone parents on benefits. 5. Discuss the impact of net migration on UK labour markets 6. Discuss the relative merits of welfare benefits and taxes for reducing relative poverty in the UK. Market Failure / Transport 1. Discuss whether Cost-benefit analysis is a practical way to decide whether projects, such as new roads, should go ahead. 2. Discuss the case for a toll on motorway travel. 3. Discuss whether giving increased subsidies to firms providing bus services would correct the market failure arising from urban road congestion. 1. Discuss how firms within an oligopolistic market compete. An oligopolistic market is a market structure dominated by a few firms. One definition of an oligopoly, is a market where the five firms biggest firms have 50% or more of the market share. There are different ways firms in an oligopoly may compete. Firstly, the kinked demand curve model suggests that prices will be stable because firms have little or no incentive to change prices. If a firm increased price, they would be uncompetitive and lose market share; therefore demand is price elastic for a price increase. If they cut prices, other firms follow suit and there is a price war; therefore, if they cut prices, demand will be price inelastic and they will have less revenue. Therefore, the best solution is to keep prices stable. The Kinked Demand curve P P1 Profit max occurs at Q1 where MR = MC MC D=AR Q Q1 MR Because there is no incentive to change price, firms compete through non-price competition such as advertising, branding, after sales service and offering a better product. In other words firms try to sell goods through measures other than price. Non-price competition is particularly important for markets where branding is important such as soft drinks, clothes and mobile phones. Firms will try hard to differentiate their products through extra features, good reputation and effective advertising campaigns. However, the kinked demand curve has imitations. It doesn’t explain how prices were arrived at in the first place. In the real world, it doesn’t explain why prices in oligopoly do change. It is only one theoretical model to explain some behaviour under certain conditions. Also, if firms seek to maximise market share rather than profit maximisation then they may compete by cutting prices. Although, this makes t hem less profit, some firms may see increasing market share as the most important long-term objective. If demand is price inelastic, cutting prices will lead to lower revenue, however a firm may feel it is worth it. This is because cutting prices leads to increased market share, and it may enable a reduction in competition in the long term. Also with higher output they may be able to benefit from economies of scale and get rid of surplus stock. However, price wars are often selective (e. g. supermarkets cutting certain products) or short term. Also, shareholders often prefer profits and dividends to growth maximisations If there are a small number of firms, and there are barriers to entry in the industry, then firms in oligopoly may be able to collude. This is when they formally or tacitly agree to restrict supply, keep to quotas and therefore maintain higher prices which maximise profits. Collusion is actually illegal, but if there are barriers to entry then it may be possible for firms to tacitly collude and avoid detection. Collusion will be more likely if there is a dominant firm in the market who can influence market by setting output and prices. If there are large economies of scale in the industry, the oligopoly is more likely to be highly concentrated with less competitive pressures. The outcome of an oligopoly depends on several factors. If the oligopoly has very high barriers to entry, such as, economies of scale and strong brand loyalty, then it will be much easier for firms in oligopoly to act a like a monopolist and set higher prices. For example, the market for cola is highly concentrated; a large share of the market is held by two firms (Pepsi and Coca-Cola), and because of strong brand loyalty there is little price competition in this oligopolist market structure. However, in other oligopolies, such as clothing, there are lower barriers to entry and more competition. If an oligopoly is contestable, (no barriers to entry), then the oligopoly may be ery competitive and the outcome similar to competitive markets. 2. Discuss whether monopoly is always an undesirable form of market structure. A pure monopoly is when there is only one firm in the industry. However, a firm with a high market share (greater than 25%) is said to have monopoly power. A monopoly is seen as undesirable for several reasons. A monopolist ma ximises profit where MR = MC. Therefore it sets a price (PM) higher than in a competitive market (P1), leading to a fall in consumer surplus. Selling at the price of Pm, means that the firm is allocatively inefficient because at Qm, price is greater than marginal cost. Secondly, this monopoly diagram is productively inefficient because it is not the lowest point on the average cost curve. (Note if the market was competitive the firm would produce at P1, where D=AC+MC; this is normal profit and allocatively efficient) A monopoly may also have fewer incentives to cut costs because of a lack of competitors. Therefore, it will be x inefficient. This means the cost curves of a monopoly will be higher than they would if there was more competitive pressure. Similarly a monopoly may lack the incentives to develop new products and offer a good quality service. . g. the standard of food in a service station arguably drops due to lack of competition. Some monopolies may become too big and therefore suffer from diseconomies of scale because in a big firm it is harder to co-ordinate and motivate workers. Monopolies may also be able to use their market power to pay lower prices to suppliers. For example, a big supermarket like Tesco may be able to squeeze the pr ofit margins of farmers who supply them. Tesco’s can use their monopoly buying power to reduce incomes of farmers because farmers don’t have any alternatives to selling to supermarkets. Lastly, monopolies make supernormal profit and this can be said to be an inequitable and unfair distribution of resources in society. However, monopolies are not always against the public interest. If an industry has high fixed costs, then the economies of scale may mean the most efficient number of firms in an industry is one. If industry demand was 10,000, then the most efficient number of firms would be one. If there were more firms, then the average costs would be higher. However, this kind of natural monopoly is only relevant to certain industries like tap water and national networks of electricity and gas distribution. In many industries, economies of scale are not that large. Even in the car industry, which has high fixed costs and scope for specialisation, there is sill enough room for several firms. In some cases, monopoly can use their supernormal profit to invest in research and development. For example, a drugs company may rely on a patent to make supernormal profit which justifies the high cost of research and development. However, for many industries like supermarkets, it would be difficult to justify a monopoly as supermarkets have limited need for research and development. Thirdly, it is often assumed monopolies face less competitive pressure and so are likely to be x-inefficient. However, this is not always the case. A firm may gain monopoly power because it is efficient and dynamic; for example, Google, has monopoly power, but people wouldn’t consider it to be inefficient. The desirability of monopoly depends on the market and industry. As a general rule, competitive markets have several advantages over monopolies. However, in certain cases, monopoly may be justified, especially if these industries have very high fixed costs and there is a need of profit for research and development. In other cases, the government may need to allow the monopoly, but regulate the firm to prevent price increases (e. g. in case of privatised firms like water and electricity) 3. Explain how interdependence and uncertainty affect the behaviour of firms in Oligopolistic markets. Firms in oligopolistic markets can behave in numerous different ways. The kinked demand curve model suggests interdependence is very important. The model suggests that firms don’t have an incentive to increase prices because if they increased price, others wouldn’t follow suit and therefore they would be more expensive and lose market share. The Kinked Demand curve P P1 Profit max occurs at Q1 where MR = MC MC D=AR Q Q1 MR The kinked demand curve also suggests that there is little incentive for firms to cut prices because if they did, other firms would probably retaliate and cut prices as well (other firms wouldn’t want to lose market share). Therefore, for a price cut, demand is inelastic. Therefore, the kinked demand curve model suggests because of the interdependence of firms, prices will remain stable and firms will compete on nonprice competition. However, the kinked demand curve model makes a lot of assumptions which may not stand up in the real world. A firm cannot assume that others will respond to a price cut by also cutting prices. There is a great uncertainty; perhaps the firm wants to avoid a price war. Therefore, a firm may cut prices hoping that others won’t follow suit. This will happen if the firm is pursuing profit maximisation. Another model for oligopoly is collusion. In collusion firms seek to restrict output and increase price; this maximises profits for the industry. However, there is always the temptation for firms to exceed their quota and break the collusive agreements. If the collusive agreements are tacit, then there is no certainty that firms will stick to the agreement. Also, a firm may want to break the collusive agreement itself. They may think that other firms won’t retaliate so they can get away with it. It is this uncertainty which encourages firms to try and break the collusive agreement. Because of uncertainty about whether a price war may break out, firms may try to enter into collusive agreements. These could be informal agreements such as following the dominant firm and increasing prices at same rate. These collusive agreement and collusive practises are very desirable to insulate against uncertain prospects of a price war and consequent fall in profits. 4. Evaluate the view that only producers and not consumers, benefit when oligopolistic firms collude to try to reduce the uncertainty they experience. When oligopolistic firms collude, they are effectively acting like a monopolist. They are looking at the profit maximising price and output for the whole industry and setting output quotas accordingly. This will lead to higher prices and higher profits for firms. Because firms benefit from supernormal profits they can spend more on research and development. However, it could be argued that consumers may benefit from this investment. For example, in industries like automobile production and drug research, expensive investment is required to develop new engines and new drugs. Collusion is necessary to generate sufficient profits to finance investment. Although it means higher prices, consumers benefit in the long run because they get better quality products. However, there is no guarantee that firms will use profits for research and development into better products. They may simply give it to shareholders in the form of higher dividends. Alternatively, they may use the supernormal profits to fund predatory pricing in another market. This would be very bad for consumers. Under collusion, consumers face higher prices and a decline in consumer surplus, but they don’t benefit from any extra economies of scale. In monopoly, supernormal profit margins are justified because it is argued the monopoly is able to benefit from economies of scale which lead to lower average costs and therefore lower prices for consumers. However, in collusion, the consumer doesn’t benefit from economies of scale, but just faces higher prices. However, you could argue that collusion is essential to enable firms to survive. For example, there may be a bus industry which is struggling to survive. Without collusion one or two firms would go out of business. This would be bad for consumers because there would be less choice and less competition. Collusion may be necessary to keep the service going. Although prices may rise, this may be better in the long term because the service survives. However, there may be better ways to keep a bus industry in business. If necessary, the government could subsidise the industry. Collusion is not the best way to keep unprofitable firms in business. The merits of collusion depend on the industry in question. If the industry is already profitable, then collusion is unlikely to give any benefit to the consumer. The benefit will be the producers who gain more profit. However, in some industries collusion may give benefits to the consumer in the form of more funds for investment and better products or just enough profit to keep the firms in business. 5. Explain why contestable markets generally unction more efficiently than non-contestable markets. A contestable market is a market which has no barriers to entry or exit. This implies that sunk costs (costs which cannot be recovered on leaving) are zero or very low. This freedom of entry means that there is always the potential for new firms to enter. This threat of competition helps to keep prices low. If firms set prices too high, the supernormal profit wo uld encourage new firms to enter. The low prices help to increase allocative efficiency because prices will be close to marginal cost. A contestable market may also be more X efficient. The threat of competition means firms have more incentives to cut costs and remain efficient. Otherwise they will become unprofitable. For example, in a monopoly firms may have low incentives to be efficient and therefore, have no incentives to cut costs – leading to X inefficiency. A monopoly also tends to be productively inefficient, because it restricts output and keeps prices high, leading output which has high average costs. However, in a contestable market this will not happen. You could also argue that contestable markets enable some economies of scale (there doesn’t have to be 1,000s of firms like in perfect competition). This can mean contestable markets have greater efficiencies of scale. 6. Explain various barriers to entry to a market and how these barriers might affect market structure. A barrier to entry is a feature which makes it difficult or impossible for a new firm to enter the market. A common barrier to entry is the existence of economies of scale. If an industry has high fixed costs, then new firms will face higher averages costs than the incumbent firm. If a firm enters the market and sells Q1 then it cannot compete with firms who are already publishing at the MES with an average cost of AC1. Economies of scale can occur for various reasons such as technical, specialisation, managerial. They are common in industries which require large investment such as car production, airplane production. Brand loyalty is another common type of barrier to entry. If incumbent firms have a strong brand loyalty, it makes it difficult for new firms to enter. They would need to spend a large amount of money on advertising. Advertising is a sunk cost – they cannot get it back, if they have to leave the market. Therefore, it becomes a barrier to entry. Examples include soft drinks like Pepsi and coca cola. Sometimes barriers to entry can occur for geographical reasons. For example, only a few countries are able to produce diamonds. Being the first firm in the industry often leads to barriers to entry. For example, Microsoft was the first firm to dominate office software. This made it difficult for new firms to enter because everyone wanted compatibility with Microsoft. Google, was not the first search engine, but, now the internet is developed it would be hard for anyone to knock it off top spot because Google has built up a critical mass of support and is included in many packages automatically. Finally, barriers to entry might occur because it is difficult to get access to supplies. e. g. a new airline might not be able to get landing slots at Heathrow airport. 7. In the past, utility industries such as the postal service, electricity and gas, have been heavily protected by entry barriers. Evaluate the possible effects on efficiency and resource allocation of removing these barriers. Removing the barriers may encourage new firms to enter the market. If new firms enter the market it will become more competitive. A more competitive market will help to reduce prices as new firms try to gain market share. This should enable greater allocative efficiency. If a firm has a monopoly power, they are able to set prices higher than marginal cost. More competition will lower prices closer to marginal cost (although in these industries, marginal cost is often very low and fixed costs very high; therefore, perfect allocative efficiency is unlikely) Another benefit of competition is that firms may have greater incentives to offer a better service to customers. Firms will not just compete on price, but also non-price competition. For example, electric firms may offer special deals to insulate the house or create more energy efficiency. This greater competition will reduce x inefficiency in the industry. It is also possible that the threat of entry may encourage more innovation; helping to improve dynamic efficiency. However, there are potential drawbacks of deregulation. Firstly, many of these industries are natural monopolies. For example, the distribution of gas is a natural monopoly because of the high fixed costs. Therefore, there is a danger of creating a private monopoly, which charges higher prices. These private monopolies will need regulating. However, the regulators can make sure new firms have access to the network, therefore, even in an industry which was thought to be a natural monopoly can have competition, at least, in the retail sector. If new firms enter the market, competition may reduce the profitability of the industry. This may leave insufficient funds to finance investment in improving the network. Also, firms have a temptation to offer short-term price cuts rather than invest in the long-term future of the infrastructure. The customer may benefit in the short term, but loose out in the long term. However, you could argue, that firms exaggerate how much money they need for investment; the majority of profits goes to shareholders rather than gets invested. Firms may use resources to try and create barriers to entry or resources to keep existing customers; arguably this is an inefficient waste of resources. 8. Explain the meaning of price discrimination and the conditions necessary for price discrimination. Price discrimination involves selling the same good to different groups of customers for different prices. Third degree price discrimination involves selling to different groups. For example, OAPs may get cheaper train tickets than adults. Second-degree price discrimination involves charging different prices depending on the quantity bought. For example, the first 100 units of gas and electricity may be more expensive than subsequent units. First-degree price discrimination involves charging the maximum price that customers are willing to pay; it involves reducing all consumer surplus. It is rarely practical except in a Dutch auction. The first condition necessary for price discrimination is that consumers must have different elasticities of demand. For example, people travelling at peak time to get to work have a more inelastic demand and (like market segment A) so can be charged a higher price. Group B, which could be students, have a more elastic demand. Therefore, a lower price is charged. Secondly, it must be impossible to resell the good between the different markets. For example, it mustn’t be possible for an adult to use a child’s ticket to travel on the train. The firm must be a price maker. Price discrimination is not possible in perfect competition. Also the costs of implementing price discrimination ust be less than the benefits. 9. Evaluate the view that, because price discrimination enables firms to make more profit, firms, but not consumers, benefit from price discrimination. Price discrimination enables firms to increase the profitability of the industry. Firms can set a profit maximising price for different groups of consumers and therefore increase total profits. Therefore, some consumers will pay higher prices. For example, customers with inelastic demand – buying peak tickets will have a reduction in consumer surplus as firms increase their prices. Therefore some customers will lose out and pay a price higher than marginal cost (allocative inefficiency) However, some customers will benefit from price discrimination. The higher prices paid by inelastic customers can subsidise lower prices for other groups of consumers. For example, the high prices paid by customers travelling at peak time can help subsidies lower prices for old aged pensioners. Often people with inelastic demand (adults, people travelling peak time) have greater ability to pay than people with elastic demand (e. g. tudents, old people) Therefore, you could argue that price discrimination enables a fairer distribution of resources in society. However, it is not always possible to use price discrimination on the grounds of income. For example, an unemployed adult would have to pay full fare on the train. Pensioners who get cheap tickets could be quite well off. It could be argued that it is unfair firms make profit at the expense of consumers. However, profit can be beneficial for consumers. Firstly, firms may use profit to fund research and development. This enables dynamic efficiency and enables consumers to benefit from better quality products and services in the long term. This is important for some industries like pharmaceutical drugs and airplanes where a lot of investment is needed. However, it is debatable how much firms like supermarkets and cinemas would spend on research and development. Another potential benefit of profit is that it might enable a firm to stay in business, who otherwise would go out of business. For example, without price discrimination a train firm may not be able to survive. There might be no one individual price greater than average cost. However, through price discrimination, it can cover its losses and stay in business. In this case price discrimination is definitely beneficial for consumers. It is better to have higher prices than to have no service at all. Price discrimination also enables firms to spread demand more evenly over a season. It gives a reward to consumers who can travel out of season / off peak. This reduces overcrowding at peak times. 10. Evaluate different ways in which governments could make markets more competitive. To make a market more competitive requires a reduction in barriers to entry and encouraging new firms to enter the market. The first policy would be deregulation. This involves removing legal barriers to entry. For example, there used to be a legal monopoly for the delivery of letters. Removing this legal barrier enables new firms to enter the market providing choice and competition. However, there are problems. Firstly, these industries like mail delivery are often natural monopolies. This means the most efficient number of firms is one. For example, there are very high fixed costs in delivering tap water to every home in the UK. Therefore, deregulation of tap water would not encourage a new firm to enter because a new firm would never be able to compete and set up a network of pipes. The government could remove legal patents, for example drug patents. This would make the market for drugs more competitive. However, if the government abolished patents, it would discourage drug companies from investing in new medicines and alternatives. This would increase competition, but could leave the consumer worse off. The government could make sure the Office of Fair Trading investigates any potential anti-competitive practises. For example, if firms engage in predatory pricing or vertical price fixing agreements they will prevent new competitors from entering. If the government increased the penalties for predatory pricing (selling below cost), then new firms would have more confidence to enter. However, the OFT already have the potential to investigate, so it is doubtful whether increasing potential fines will make much more difference. Also, practises of vertical price fixing can be difficult to spot. If markets are dominated by monopolies; the government could consider breaking up the monopoly into smaller firms. For example, the US government considered breaking up Microsoft because it had too much market power. This could be an effective way to increase competition, however there are some problems. Firstly, the government may disrupt the smooth working of the firm. The new smaller firms may not be able to benefit from economies of scale. Also, there is the potential for the new firms to collude, because they share a common starting point. The last policy could be government subsidies for new firms to enter. For example, the government could subsidise firms to enter the gas industry and sell it. However, government subsidies require higher taxes and the government may have poor information about the best type of firms to subsidise. 11. Discuss the extent to which new technology, such as the internet, has increased or decreased the competitiveness of markets. The internet has become an important tool for business. It has changed the way people shop and buy, having implications for the competitiveness of markets. A competitive market implies several firms, with relative ease of entry, low prices and low profits. An uncompetitive market would be characterised by a few firms and higher prices. The internet has made it easier to find information about prices and costs. This has helped increased the competitiveness of markets. Consumers have easy access to relative prices; this existence of perfect information is a characteristic of perfect competition. Therefore many retail markets like selling books and DVDs are more competitive than before the internet. However, other markets are less influenced by the internet. For example, restaurants and clothing are market segments rely on traditional sales, rather than over the web. For many firms, the internet has helped reduced start up costs. This is because, with an internet presence, costs are much lower than buying a physical building. Thus for internet start ups, sunk costs (costs which can't be recovered) are much lower. However, it is only a few businesses that can rely on just an internet presence; there is still the need for factories and shops for the majority of businesses like manufacturing cars. In some businesses, the internet has created barriers to entry; for example, firms who dominate Google search rankings have a powerful barrier to entry. A new firm may find it difficult to enter because it is hard to get the good rankings which send a lot of customers. Google itself has generated strong brand loyalty, and a dominant market position, which is difficult for anyone to overcome. However, pay per click advertising is a way to get business from search results and it has lower overheads than traditional advertising. Improved technology such as the internet and better international travel means that markets are increasingly global in nature. This means firms increasingly face competition from abroad. For electronics and cars, markets are very global, increasing their competitiveness. However, globalisation does not always increase competition. The growth of strong multinationals has in a way helped push out smaller independent retailers with a corresponding decline in diversity and competition. Another issue is that in some markets, the internet has changed people’s patterns considerably. For example, many young people don't buy music, but download for free on internet sharing sites. This has changed the market much more than an increase in competition. However, it has meant the decline of several record shops and music publishing companies, leading to a higher market concentration in this area. Section - ­? Government Intervention 1. Discuss the impact of deregulation on the local bus industry in Great Britain Deregulation involves opening up a monopoly to competition. Often deregulation involves privatisation as well. For example, the bus industry in the UK, used to be run by a state monopoly (local council). However, after deregulation, new private firms can enter. The first impact of deregulation is the increase in number of firms and hence greater competition. As more firms enter the market, there is more price competition and therefore, price of bus tickets could go down. However, it is argued that prices haven’t fallen, but increased. This is because, firstly, the bus industry has large economies of scale. It is not practical to have several bus companies competing; the most efficient number of firms is 1 or perhaps 2. In the above diagram, the minimum efficient scale is 10,000 bus journeys a week. If the total demand was 10,000 then the most efficient number of firms would be one. If there were two or three firms then the average costs will be higher than if there was a natural monopoly. Also, with only one or two companies, there is not sufficient competition to reduce prices significantly. It is easy for two companies to collude, even tacitly. Also, before deregulation, bus companies were owned by local councils and low fares were often subsidised. However, the private companies want to maximise profits and often they find demand is inelastic so prices have risen. It is argued that more competition and the entry of private firms have created greater incentives for bus companies to offer better services. For example, since deregulation, there are more electronic bus stops, which give information on arrival times. This may be due to deregulation or just because better technology has made it more feasible. The problem with deregulating the bus industry is that it is simply difficult to have effective competition. Some would even argue the bus industry is a natural monopoly. It is argued two bus companies can be inefficient because they duplicate routes and cause congestion. However, others point to some gains from competition such as better quality buses and efforts to attract customers. 2. Evaluate the view that the government should give financial assistance to firms producing cars in the UK to increase their competitiveness. Government assistance could be justified on the grounds of market failure. For example, there could be market failure with UK firms under providing education and training schemes to their workers. When the workers are qualified, they may leave giving the firm no benefits but all the cost, therefore, because of the positive externalities involved, firms have little incentive to train and educate workers Governments could overcome this by paying for training schemes to increase labour productivity. The improved labour productivity will help the UK remain competitive and give long term economic benefits. The problem of this scheme is that it will cost money and there is no guarantee that it will be successful. For example, the government subsidies may be spent on training that does little to increase labour productivity; e. g. workers may be unwilling to learn or the firm may use the government subsidy to increase its profits rather than promote useful training schemes. Government assistance may encourage firms to be inefficient because they come to rely on government help. In the 1970s, the UK government gave a lot of financial assistance to British Leyland because it was losing money. However, the money did little to transform the company. If a company is losing money, it is probably due to bad management or producing the wrong kind of products. In this case it is unhelpful for the government to give assistance in the hope they become more competitive. In this case, the government assistance is encouraging inefficient firms to stay in business. It will be expensive for the taxpayer and have no real benefit. Governments often have poor information about the dynamics of industry. For example, the government may not know the best firms to subsidise or how to subsidise them. When it comes to increasing competitiveness it should be firms who have the best idea. If the banks are not willing to lend money to firms, it is probably because they don’t have a good business plan; therefore, the government would be advised to avoid it as well. However, government assistance could be justified if the problem was a lack of suitable finance. For example, in a credit crunch firms may be unable to gain sufficient finance for investment, even though this investment would be good. Therefore, government assistance could be justified. Here the lack of business finance is an example of market failure. Generally, cars have no positive externalities, they contribute to global carbon emissions, so governments might want to subsidise more environmentally friendly firms. However, the government might want to subside investment into low emission cars, which run on hybrid fuels. In a free market, there may be insufficient investment in this kind of technology because firms ignore the positive externalities of the low emission engines; therefore, this justifies government intervention. Governments could justify subsidising ‘green technology’ in cars, if they have sufficient positive externalities. This diagram shows how a government subsidy can increase output from Q1 to Q2, which is socially efficient. 3. Evaluate the view that government intervention can correct all the market failures caused by the effects of economic activity on the environment. Economic activity creates many negative externalities, which include damage to the environment. To some extent government intervention can overcome market failure and provide a more socially efficient level of economic activity. Economic activity may cause pollution. This damage to the environment is a negative externality and is ignored by the free market. Therefore, there is overconsumption of driving cars. In a free market equilibrium, at Q1, the marginal social cost is greater than the marginal social benefit. The diagram below shows that the free market equilibrium is Q1. However, at Q1 SMC is greater than SMB therefore there is overconsumption. However, the government can place a tax on the good, to make people pay the true social marginal cost. This shifts supply to S2 = S1 + Tax and reduces demand to Q2. This is socially efficient because the SMC=SMB at this output. Therefore, in theory the government have overcome the market failure. However, in practise, it is more difficult to achieve social efficiency. A tax on production may be ineffective in reducing demand if demand is very inelastic. There is scope for tax evasion e. g. a tax on disposal of toxic waste may lead to ‘fly tipping’ – illegal dumping which damages the environment. It is also difficult to measure the true external cost of economic activity. For example, the cost of global warming may be much higher for future generations; therefore, efforts to reduce demand now, may be insufficient. Also, some costs of growth may be unpredictable. e. . the Chernobyl disaster was not predicted and after the event, government intervention is too late. Also some economic activity is too damaging to just place a tax on the good. In this case it may be more efficient to have regulations, for example, saying that nuclear power shouldn’t be used at all. Another issue regarding the environment is that it requires global cooperation. For exampl e, the UK government may seek to limit carbon emissions. One policy may be a system of pollution permits. Here the government regulator gives firms the right to pollute a certain amount. If firms wish to exceed their pollution quotes, they have to buy more permits; this creates an incentive to reduce pollution and introduce new technology. In theory, pollution permits can provide a market-based system to reduce pollution levels. However, it may be difficult to implement; e. g. difficult to measure pollution levels. However, a more pressing difficulty is that carbon emissions are very much a global issue. If the biggest polluters, such as, China and the US keep increasing their carbon emissions, it makes the UK governments efforts’ relatively futile. 4. In some European countries, price controls are imposed upon pharmaceutical companies. Discuss the case for government intervention to control market prices. The first argument for government price controls is the idea of monopoly power. If firms have monopoly power in a market, they are in a position to increase prices. As the diagram below shows, this monopoly power enables firms to set prices (Pm) above marginal cost, which is allocatively inefficient (P>MC). In an ideal world, the government would be able to increase competition. But, in some markets, competition is not practical. In the case of Pharmaceutical companies they may get a pure monopoly because of their patent. In the example, of tap water, very high fixed costs mean competition is not practical. Therefore, monopoly power is inevitable and price controls are the only realistic way to prevent abuse of monopoly power and prevent allocative inefficiency. There are also issues of equity. In the case of drugs, it could be argued they should not be too expensive otherwise people cannot afford them. It is also the same with gas and water supplies. As an essential public service, it is important that they remain in reach of all income groups. Also, some goods like medicinal drugs may be paid for by the government. Capping prices on medicinal drugs will help to limit the government’s health care budget and therefore lead to lower taxes. However, there are arguments against price controls. If governments limit price, firms may not make sufficient profit to encourage more research and development. To develop new drugs is quite risky with no guarantee of success; therefore, it is essential to give firms sufficient incentive to develop them. Lower prices and lower profits could decrease dynamic efficiency. Also allocative efficiency may be an inappropriate measure given that the marginal cost of producing a drug is very low, but fixed costs are very high. There is also an element of potential government failure. For example, the government may not have sufficient information about the state of the industry to make an appropriate decision on price. Government could set prices which are too low and cause firms to leave the market. 5. Discuss whether the government should ever consider nationalising privatised industries? Nationalised firms are owned and run by the government. Privatisation is the process of selling the firms to the private sector; this means the firm will be run like a normal public limited company, rather than by the government. Several industries like rail, electricity, gas and telecoms were privatised in the 1980s and 1990s. There are several strong arguments for suggesting privatised firms are more efficient than nationalised industries. Firstly, it is argued that a private firm has a strong profit incentive to cut costs. A nationalised firm is not subject to the pressure of private shareholders, therefore it is more likely to be x-inefficient and productive inefficient. If the government nationalised privatised firms like BT and British Gas, it may result in greater inefficiency and therefore higher prices. However, private firms may make mistakes because shareholders encourage short termism and risk taking. In the case of the banking industry, risks were taken to make more profit, but the government had to step in to bailout the banks when they made losses. Governments can, in theory, take a longer-term view and avoid short-termism. However, governments may also be subject to political pressure, which encourages them to sacrifice long-term investment for short-term gain. Some industries like the banking have a great importance to the wider economy. If banks went under, it might cause loss of confidence in bank deposits; this could cause a mass withdrawal of money, leading to a fall in financial confidence. In this case, the government may have no option but to nationalise private firms. Here the motive is preventing a collapse in bank confidence. This argument is mainly relevant to the banking sector. If a car firm collapsed there would be less reason to intervene, apart from to protect job losses, which is an expensive way to prevent unemployment. One problem of privatised industries is that they were often in industries considered to be natural monopolies. For example, tap water and distribution of gas and electricity is essentially a natural monopoly. A natural monopoly, where industry demand is close to the minimum efficient scale (10,000 in above diagram) and therefore most efficient number of firms is one. Therefore, some privatised firms are a private monopoly and could exploit consumers through higher prices. This might be a reason to nationalise the firm. However, another option is regulation. Regulators can regulate price increases so we get the benefits of privatisation without the drawbacks of monopoly power. However, in practise, regulators may struggle to get right balance between protecting consumer and interests of firms. Regulators could suffer from regulatory capture and so they are too kind to the firm. Other industries, like rail could justify greater government intervention because they have many positive externalities, which mean the good is under-consumed in a free market. For example, rail travel helps reduce traffic congestion and pollution. Under privatisation, rail maybe under-consumed with too little investment. There is a stronger case for renationalising rail because a government can make allowances for the external benefits in offering public transport. However, an easier option maybe for the government to subsidise the private firm. The subsidy should, in theory, help to overcome the under-consumption in a free market and prevent the need to renationalise. Generally, privatised firms have better incentives to be efficient and respond to changing market signals. If the privatised firm is in a competitive market, for example, BT, there is no benefit to renationalising the firm because competitive pressures keep prices down. However, in an industry like rail, there may be a greater justification of renationalisation. In this industry, competition is not realistic so the government have created a private monopoly. Also, the external benefits to railways means that the government may need to have closer direction and subsidy to overcome market failure. Also the experience of the banks shows that sometimes, the government needs to nationalise firms for wider economic interest. Labour Markets - ­? Section Footballers receive high pay, while those in disagreeable occupations, such as road sweepers, are among the most lowly paid. 1. How does economic theory explain such differences in pay? Economic theory suggests that wages are determined by factors such as marginal revenue product, and the supply of labour. Jobs such as road sweepers do not need qualifications or specialised skills. Most people are able to do that job. Therefore the supply curve is elastic, meaning many are willing to work at relatively low wages. Cleaners – Elastic supply Low wages Footballers inelastic supply, higher wages However, jobs such as being a top footballer are highly skilled. Only a small % of the population is able to be a good footballer, therefore supply is inelastic. Because of the inelastic supply curve, footballers find it easier to bargain for higher wages. As well as differences in supply, footballers will have a higher marginal revenue product. Marginal Revenu e products depends on marginal product (the productivity of workers) and Marginal revenue of last good sold (this depends on the price of the good sold. Footballers can affect the revenue of their club significantly. Therefore, the MRP of footballers is high, a good footballer can make a lot of revenue for his team, in terms of advertising revenue and gate money; therefore because MRP is high, wages will be high. Road sweepers, however, do not have a high marginal revenue product. The council doesn’t gain extra income from cleaning the streets. It is seen as a service rather than revenue-generating job; therefore, it is seen as a job with a low MRP. Another reason could be that road sweepers face monopsonistic firms who are able to cut wages. Footballers have agents to help them get higher wages. Also public sector workers like road sweepers tend to be lower paid than private sector workers. 2. Assess the case for and against the government intervening to raise the disposable income of workers on low pay. The government could intervene through increasing minimum wages and / or offering means tested benefits. The two different strategies will have different effects. The first reason for raising the pay of low-income workers is to reduce relative poverty. Relative poverty reflects inequality in society. Often this inequality stems from unequal opportunities such as middle class parents can afford to get better education for their children so they get higher pay. By increasing incomes of the low paid, the government is helping to reduce inequality. Reducing inequality also has some practical economic arguments, as well as moral justifications. Income inequality could aggravate feelings of social alienation; this could cause problems such as crime, vandalism and tensions within society. Increasing the incomes of workers on low pay may create greater incentives for low paid workers to move from benefits to paid work. If wages are low, it may encourage people to remain on unemployment benefits and income support. Increasing wages, could save the government paying out benefits and reduce the poverty trap. Higher wages may increase worker productivity, motivation and loyalty to the company. This is known as the efficiency wage theory. It is argued if wages are too low, people don’t mind if they get made redundant. Higher wages increases worker loyalty and therefore productivity. Finally, workers low pay may be due to monopsonistic employers who want to exploit their monopoly power to pay lower wages than market forces. Therefore, if the government increases wages through minimum wages then it will not cause unemployment. However, there are practical problems to intervening to raise disposable incomes of workers. If the government increase wages by imposing a higher minimum wage, there is the scope for creating real wage unemployment. If wages rise, firms may not be able to afford the workers, especially if the job is traditionally low paid work in the service sector. However, this analysis assumes labour markets are competitive. In the real world, employers often hold a degree of monopsony power. This enables the employers to set lower wages and exploit workers. In this case, a minimum wage helps to overcome the effect of monopsony employers and won’t cause unemployment. If the government increase wages through offering means tested benefits then this may create a poverty trap. Basically, means tested benefits may discourage workers from working longer hours or getting better paid jobs. This is because the gain in income is limited due to the means tested benefits for low paid jobs. Also, means tested benefit may encourage firms to pay lower wages knowing that the government will top up the wages. A better solution may be to offer lower taxes for low paid workers. Another solution would be to offer benefits in kind, such as housing benefit and cheaper prescriptions e. t. c. This increases their disposable income without distorting labour markets. 3. Do you agree that if a trade union persuades employers to increase wages in a labour market, employment must inevitably fall in that labour market? Justify your answer? If the labour market is competitive, i. e. good information, many employers, then in theory an increase in wages above the equilibrium will cause a fall in employment. The diagram below shows that a rise in wages to W2 (through trade union pressure) causes a fall in employment from Q1 to Q2. If demand for labour is inelastic, then the fall in employment will be relatively small. Some labour markets may have inelastic demand if – labour is a small % of total costs or the workers are indispensable part of the production process. If demand for labour is perfectly inelastic then an increase in wages will not cause any fall in demand for labour. However, if demand for labour is elastic, then higher wages could lead to a big fall in demand for labour. There are other reasons why employment might not fall. Firstly, if the employer has monopsonistic power, it is able to pay workers a wage below the market equilibrium. The diagram bellows shows that increasing the wage from W2 to W3, will actually keep employment the same at Q2. If trades unions increase wages from W2 to W1, then employment levels will rise from Q2 to Q1. Arguably many employers in the UK have a degree of monopsonistic power; workers find it difficult to move and therefore employers can keep wages lower. This is especially the case in the service sector where workers work part time and have weak contracts. Another issue is labour productivity. It is argued that paying higher wages may increase the loyalty of workers to the firm; this is known as the efficiency wage theory, and if workers are more loyal they will have greater productivity. A more likely scenario is that trades unions argue for a productivity deal. This is when they bargain for higher wages in return for new working practises, which increase labour productivity. If labour productivity and MRP of workers increase then firms will be able to afford the higher wages. Another possibility is that if real wages increases, there will be an increase in aggregate demand causing higher output and higher demand for workers. On the other hand this increase in wages may just cause inflation. Also, on a micro level, higher wages in one sector will not affect the macro economy significantly. Empirical evidence in the UK, suggests that since the minimum wage was introduced in 1997, it hasn’t caused unemployment, this is despite the fact the minimum wage has increase faster than inflation. 4. Assess three labour market policies which might be used to increase the level of employment amongst incapacity claimants and lone parents on benefits. An increase in the minimum wage might increase the incentives for people to take a job rather than stay on benefits. If wages are low, there may be little incentive for people to take a job rather than stay on benefits. However, higher minimum wages may increase unemployment. Firms may reduce demand for workers because they cannot afford the higher wages. A NMW can lead to unemployment of Q3 – Q2. However, the UK minimum wage has been increased without any obvious fall in employment levels. This could be due to the fact employers have monopsonistic power and can afford to pay higher wages. Alternatively demand for labour may be inelastic. If demand is inelastic, the fall in employment will be small. Another policy is for the government to provide targeted training schemes for those on incapacity benefits. The government could train them in using computers and IT. This may enable them to work online from home. This makes them employable, despite their disabilities. However, it is not clear how successful these schemes would be. For example, even with better IT skills, it may be difficult to find jobs which enable you to work from home. Lone parents on benefits may not have time to take out training schemes because they need to look after children. Better child-care provision. If the government offer free or subsidised childcare, then lone parents will be able to go out and work, saving the government benefits. However, the cost of providing childcare may be as expensive as providing benefits. Also, the government cannot guarantee that lone parents will actually take out the opportunity to leave children in child-care. The real difficulty may be finding a job or the low differential between wages and benefits. . Discuss the impact of net migration on UK labour markets Net migration will increase the supply of labour, possibly causing wages to fall. This effect will be most noticeable in areas where migrants concentrate e. g. London and the South East. The effect will also be most noticeable in industries where migrants tend to work; this could be fruit pickers, builders or plumbers. However, although the supply of l abour increases, it is important to bear in mind, that an increase in the population will also cause an increase in economic growth and increase in demand for labour. The extra supply of labour should be met by the extra demand for labour. Therefore, the real wage rates could stay the same. The impact of migration also depends on the skills and qualifications of migrants. If the migrants don’t speak English and have low skills, they may struggle to find employment in the UK labour market. Therefore, it could cause a rise in structural unemployment. If the migrants do speak English and have skills which are in short supply, it can help deal with labour market shortages that do exist. For example, recently the government said it would be setting migration policy to allow workers with specific skills to enter; for example, maths teachers and nurses. This helps to fill gaps in the labour market. Note, it is unlikely to depress wages in these sectors because the wages are set by the government and not market forces. It is also possible, that migrants, especially if illegal migrants are more likely to work in the black market. For example, workers from low wage countries may be more willing to accept wages below the official minimum wage. This could lead to a bigger underground (unofficial) labour market and economy. However, there is no guarantee migrants will gravitate to the unofficial labour market, by nature it is hard to quantify. 6. Discuss the relative merits of welfare benefits and taxes for reducing relative poverty in the UK Relative poverty occurs when people receive an income significantly less than the average in society. For example, one definition may be a monthly income of less than 50% of the average monthly income. Welfare benefits include; job seekers allowance, income support, child benefit and pensions. The biggest cause of poverty is unemployment because relying on unemployment benefits gives a relatively low income; therefore increasing JSA would increase equality of distribution and make people on low incomes better off. However, there is a risk that higher benefits may increase voluntary unemployment; this is because income from benefits may be similar to the income from a job, therefore there becomes a disincentive to take a job. If higher benefits do discourage people from taking a job, it will increase cost of benefits to the government and also mean that people become economically inactive and lose motivation to work. However, it depends how much benefits were increased compared to the level of wages. It might be possible to increase welfare benefits but maintain an incentive to work. For example, if you take a low paid job, you could retain some income support. Also the minimum wage helps to increase the incentive to work in the UK. Income support or family credit involves giving means-tested top up benefits to those on low wages; this will help reduce income inequality. But, similar to unemployment benefit, there is a danger of creating a disincentive to work. However, at least meanstested benefits are cheaper than universal benefits. Also the government can try grade the means tested benefits, so there isn't a cut off point which discourages people working longer hours A higher state pension would also help reduce inequality amongst pensioners; however, it would be very expensive to increase the universal state pension, especially because there are increasing numbers of OAPs in the UK. Therefore, it may be more effective to target pensions to those who need it most, i. e. use means tested benefits. This could involve an extension of the govt minimum income guarantee for pensioners. The only problem of this is that it may discourage workers from saving for a private pension, because, they will not then get as much from the govt. A switch from regressive to progressive taxes would help improve income distribution, e. g. cutting cigarette tax and increasing income tax. A progressive tax takes a higher % of income from the rich. E. g. a top band of income tax could take 40% of incomes over ? 27,000. If the govt increased the top rate, this would cause a reduction in income inequality because it would reduce take home pay of high earners; also the revenue could be spent on increasing benefits to those on low incomes. However, this would cause problems because higher taxes may discourage people from working harder. Therefore, higher rate of income tax may cause lower AS and not increase revenue for the govt. However, the extent of this depends upon the income and substitution effect. For example, some people need to maintain a certain level of income; therefore, if taxes increase the income effect means that they need to work harder to earn more. It depends how much the tax rate is increased. Often it is the very wealthy who feel it is worth living in another country if tax rates become too high. Other policies, which may be more effective, could include an increase in the Minimum wage; this increases the wages of those on low pay. However, it may cause unemployment if the labour market is competitive. Also, it will not help the poorest on unemployment benefits. But, if labour markets are monopsonistic then a minimum wage will not cause unemployment. Also a min wage could increase labour productivity and incentives to get a job. Empirical evidence suggests a min wages does not cause unemployment. To conclude, it may be possible to reduce income inequality by increasing income tax rates and means tested benefits such as income support. However, there is a danger that if they are increase too much they may cause disincentive within the economy, this is something the govt will have to be careful about. There is a conflict between reducing relative poverty and damaging incentives to work. Policies are likely to be more effective if used in conjunction with general policies to reduce unemployment, which is one of the biggest causes of relative poverty. Section – Transport and Market Failure. 1. Discuss whether Cost-benefit analysis is a practical way to decide whether projects, such as new roads, should go ahead. Cost-benefit analysis is a way to evaluate potential projects and decide whether they are in the interest of the public. Cost-benefit analysis studies involve calculating the social costs and social benefits to a particular project. If the social benefits exceed the social costs, it is indicative that the project is desirable. The first stage of cost-benefit analysis is to identify all the different costs and benefits. These include the monetary costs such as materials to build road, and pay workers. But, also in building a road there are external costs, such as, damage to the environment, noise pollution and air pollution. These external costs are harder to identify and give a monetary value to. For example, you could ask people involved in project or living near road. However, it is difficult for people to give unbiased opinions and they are likely to put their own perspective onto the evaluation or survey. When a monetary value has been placed on all the benefits and costs, it becomes easier to decide whether the project should go ahead or not. The first problem encountered in using cost-benefit analysis is that it can be difficult to put a value on certain costs and benefits. For example, building a new airport may cause noise pollution, but it is hard to put an economic value on this. You could ask people, but this is unreliable and people may give different figures. Therefore, guestimates need to be used, but they may be wrong. A second problem is that it is hard to identify all potential costs and benefits. For example, building a nuclear power station it might be hard to know potential future problems. For example, the Chernobyl nuclear accident would be something not included in a cost benefit analysis. In any planni