BSB113 Economics Summer 2015
Assessment 2: Research summary
Submission date
THURSDAY 14

TH

JANUARY 3.00PM THROUGH SAFE ASSIGN VIA THE BSB113
BLACKBOARD WEBSITE
(SEE BB ASSESSMENT 2 FOLDER FOR DETAIL)

Please note that you are only required to submit an e-copy of your work through SafeAssign via the BSB113 Blackboard website.

NOT ASSIGNMENT MINDER

This document contains important information about your assessment. You will need to read it carefully to understand what is required. In addition to reading this document you are strongly advised to read the “Frequently asked Questions about Assessment 2” document (refer to the Assessment 2 folder on Blackboard).
Background
You are currently volunteering for Cancer Council Australia providing part time administration support for them at a local office. During a well-earned tea break a discussion ensues about the effectiveness of government policies aimed at reducing tobacco smoking. The discussion touches on ways of reducing smoking including a tax on cigarettes, a ban on advertising, plain paper covering for cigarette packs and shocking TV adverts depicting images of smokers with cancer associated with smoking cigarettes.
You remember that your lecturer in BSB113 had spoken about cigarette taxes. You say that your lecturer had mentioned that the evidence is that taxes are fairly successful at reducing smoking and that in
Australia overall rates of smoking have been declining for a number of years. Someone challenges this position, and notes that if this is the case, why has the government either used and/or is thinking about a adopting a range of other polices to target smokers, in addition to a tax on cigarettes. You answer that different polices affect a change in smoking behaviour in different ways. Some polices are more effective at impacting on smoking cessation rates, whilst other polices have been more effective at preventing the uptake of smoking by previous non-smokers (e.g. children).
Assessment Task
Your input into the discussion was overheard by the visiting CEO of Cancer Council Queensland. He is impressed by your insights and has asked that you write him a critical overview of the economics of a cigarette tax.

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You email your BSB113 unit coordinator for Economics desperate for some help. Steve suggests breaking your report down as follows:
1. Present an overview of the issues associated with smoking in Australia.
Hint: As an economist, we generally start by framing the problem. We also refer to this as setting the context: In this part of your summary, you need to clearly articulate why smoking is a problem from a societal perspective. This is not simply a case of stating “I think it is a problem because …”. You need to present and interpret data on economic costs of smoking, rates of smoking, and note key policy strategies with respect to reducing smoking behaviour (note this list is not exhaustive or presented in any particular order!)
2. Present a description of the relevant economic model to show how a tax on producers, that is equal to the external costs of smoking, would result in an efficient equilibrium.
Hint: So what is the economic model which underpins your economic analysis? We have been pretty focused on developing one key model so far this semester. Remember that “X” marks the spot!
3. Present a critical analysis of the effectiveness of a tax on cigarettes.
Hint: You are working with a word limit so you will need to be selective and concise with your arguments. Overall cigarette taxes are pretty successful (though you will not be getting marks for simply repeating this back to me). You must draw on appropriate academic literature and/or present empirical evidence about the success of cigarette taxes and also their potential limitations. With respect to limitations, there may be a case to argue that alterative polices may be more appropriate.
Note you are not required to say one policy is better than the other. It may be the case that the policies work effectively together or target different smoking groups etc.
Steve also recommends that:
 you write an unbiased informed critical economic summary and not a political document
 your summary is academically rigorous with references to relevant data and academic literature
 you do not get drawn into reporting emotive arguments (interesting as they are).
Reading
In a panic you contact your BSB113 unit coordinator (again!) and asked her if she could indicate some relevant reading in the area. Below is a list of reading that she provided to help get you started. A range of sources has been provided from books, Federal Government and international organisation’s reports, opinion pieces (the better ones of course) and peer reviewed journal articles. This is not an exhaustive list of references. You are also expected to research the literature yourself (refer to the Criterion
Reference Assessment (CRA)) table at the end of this document)

Steve suggests having a browse through the following reference as a start point.
The Economics of Tobacco Control: Evidence from the International Tobacco Control (ITC) Policy
Evaluation Project (2014). Tobacco Control, 23, suppl 1. Retrieved from http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/23/suppl_1.toc Dunlop, S. M (10/2011). "Impact of the 2010 tobacco tax increase in Australia on short-term smoking cessation: a continuous tracking survey". Medical Journal of Australia, 195 (8),p. 469.
Magnus, A., Cadilhac, D., Sheppard, L., Cumming, T., Pearce, D. and Carter, R. (2011). Economic
Benefits of Achieving Realistic Smoking Cessation Targets in Australia. American Journal of Public
Health. 2011 February; 101(2): 321–327. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.191056
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World Health Organisation (n.d) Tobacco Free Initiative (TFI). Retrieved August, 19 2014, from http://www.who.int/tobacco/en/ Australian Bureau of Statistics (n.d.) http://www.abs.gov.au/
Department of Treasury 2010, Enhancing social and market outcomes Retrieved from http://taxreview.treasury.gov.au/content/FinalReport.aspx?doc=html/publications/Papers/Final_Report _Part_2/chapter_e6-1.htm
Reading hints and tips
Feeling slightly overwhelmed you ask if there is a “trick” for working your way through the reading list.
Fortunately there is, Steve suggests:
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scanning the documents and locating specific words or phrases that are of interest. Focus on headings and subheadings, the contents page itself and the index for specific words (Top tip: it is easy to search PDF documents for keywords). when reading, be strategic. Some papers may be useful to support your arguments, other may not. get some help on how to read research papers. Studywell (http://www.studywell.library.qut.edu.au/) has some excellent advice on how to read (fast) and digest research papers.

Instructions for research summary report
Your audience’s background knowledge in economics
Whilst the CEO of Cancer Council Queensland does not have any formal economics training, he has picked up an understanding of economic theory and terminology. He is regularly exposed to documents drafted by economists and follows contemporary economic analysis in the media. For example, he is a regular reader of publications such as The Economist and takes a keen interest in economic articles published by economists for a wider audience in The Conversation (online) and Australian Policy Online.
Informed critical content
You are required to include a range of relevant scholarly sources that supports the flow and critical content of the discussion. All sources cited must be referenced using APA. For further information refer to Cite|Write http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/
If in doubt about how to reference a source please seek help from the subject librarian.
Maximum word length1250 words
Your research summary should not exceed 1250 words (excluding your reference list – but inclusive of in-text citations). Exceeding the word count will result in penalty.
A suggested word count breakdown (to get you started) is presented below for the breakdown of the research summary task:
1. setting the context ... 200 words.
2. a description of the relevant economic model... 450 words
3. a critical analysis of the key arguments ... 450 words
Your report should also include both an introduction and conclusion. The length of these should be in proportion to the length of the narrative being written (approximately 150 words for both).

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Note that the above word counts are a starting point. Your actual word count for each section will be specific to your individual assessment (informed by the weighting in the criteria reference assessment table at the end of this document).
Presentation and submission
It is expected that you will present your document in the form of a short essay.
No appendices are allowed. If appendices are submitted they will be disregarded by the marker.
You are advised of the following stylistic requirements:
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use font type Arial, font size 10 (minimum) line spacing should be single or no greater than1.25 margins should be set at 2.3cm all diagrams should be reproduced either by hand or imbedded in your document using the draw tool
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in Word, or Excel. If you draw the diagrams by hand you will need to scan them so they can be incorporated in your Safeassign submission. Cutting and pasting of diagrams from other documents is not acceptable and will be marked as copying (refer to CRA). all pages should be numbered (bottom footer right hand side) and include your student number (top header, right hand side) include a title page. This should include your name, student number and tutor’s name.

Final submission of your work is through Safeassign via the BSB113 Blackboard website. You should also keep a copy of your work for your own records. Once you have uploaded to Safeassign, it is your responsibility to check that complete document has been uploaded correctly.
Assessment submitted after the due date without an approved extension will not be marked and will receive a grade of 1 or 0%. If special circumstances prevent you from meeting the assessment due date, you can apply for an extension. If you don’t have an approved extension you should submit the work you have completed by the due date and it will be marked against the assessment criteria.

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See http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/word-help/draw-a-curve-or-circle-shape-HA010208316.aspx?CTT=3#BM14. There are also

a lot of good instructions on the internet (including Youtube) on how to construct diagrams using the Draw tool in Word.

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Researching for your research summary
Your work should be informed and supported by appropriate literature. Your research (or reading) of this literature informs your analysis, arguments, critique, conclusions etc. Therefore, the quality of your research will directly influence the quality of your work. In academia “appropriate literature” means that you should be principally researching scholarly sources.
Examples of scholarly sources include:
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Academic journals
University working papers/publications
Government and related departments/organisations reports (e.g. Australian Bureau of Statistics
(ABS))
International economic organisations articles and reports (e.g. OECD, United Nations and World
Bank)
Central Bank articles and reports (e.g. Reserve Bank of Australia)

Examples of high quality sources of relevant data would include ABS, OECD, World Bank, Government reports etc.
A common theme of all of the above published literature is that it is peer reviewed. Peer review is a process that is used to ensure that published work represents the best scholarship currently available
(and is also technically correct, not misleading etc.). In contrast, non-peer reviewed literature represents the opinion of the authors with only their guarantee that it is the best work possible.
Reliance on non-scholarly sources as part of your research is to be avoided. Examples of non-scholarly sources include:
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newspaper reports magazines articles non-peer reviewed articles and reports (be careful of private consultation reports, political papers etc.) subject-based dictionaries and/or glossaries (including Wikipedia) personal blogs/websites

Non-scholarly sources do have a role. As a matter of course you should be informing yourself about contemporary issues by reading a range of non-scholarly sources (e.g. by reading the newspaper).
Within non-scholarly sources there is a hierarchy of more acceptable publications that you should engage with. These include good quality newspapers (e.g. The Australian and The Financial Review) and specialist magazines (e.g. The Economist, The Conversation (online)).
Similarly, Wikipedia is a great starting point for looking up definitions or getting an overview of a subject.
However, using Wikipedia as a key source in your work simply demonstrates that you have failed to engage in the challenging, but rewarding, academic exercise of researching high-quality scholarly resources. 5

Helpful advice on writing your research summary
Your writing style needs to be clear and efficient (after all you only have 1250 words). Some key advice would be:
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remember structure in writing - introduce, discuss and conclude. use short sentences - long sentences lose the reader. one argument/idea per paragraph.

This assessment is a formal academic piece of writing. The words and language style you use will convey this. Language used should be appropriate. Things to avoid include informal language, shorthand or colloquialisms. A short check list of advice would include:
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use “do not” instead “don’t” use “cannot” instead of “can’t” write in the third person – avoid using personal pronouns. For example: “Research shows that ….” rather than “I think that …”.

Descriptions should be quantified and/or relative to a comparable benchmark. For example:
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instead of saying “there was a massive increase in China’s economic growth” you would phrase it as
“China’s economic growth, as measured by GDP, increased by X% over the period (include citation of where your evidence came from)”. instead of saying “GDP in China was better than everyone else’s” you would phrase it “GDP in China increased by X%. In comparison it fell by X% in USA and X% in the UK (include citation of where your evidence came from).”

Tables and figures in themselves do nothing to enhance an argument unless they are clear AND explained AND interpreted by you for the reader. When inserting a table or figure into your work it is good practice to give each a number (e.g. Figure 1, Table 1) and title it (the title should describe what the table or figure is presenting) and refer to the table or figure number explicitly in the text. Place the table or figure as near to the paragraph that you are going to discuss it in (either directly above or below). An example is given below in Figure 1. If you have hand drawn your tables and figures attach them to the end of your document.
In your reading, you will come across tables and figures that may be useful in helping explain or support a point that you want to make in your own work. Tables and figures should not be cut and pasted from articles, text books etc. Relevant tables and figures should be adapted to support your work and referenced, if appropriate. Figures can be drawn in Word using the Word draw tool. Similarly, tables of appropriate data can be created in Excel and imported into Word (or simply created in Word using the table tool).

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Vessel ownership was also a significant factor affecting efficiency. In general, vessels belonging to larger companies were more efficient than those belongin g to smaller companies, which in turn were more efficient than owner-operators. This may reflect the greater level of information sharing that can occur within a larger company fleet, but may also reflect fleet management skills, with the larger companies having better fleet managers. Alternatively, the larger companies may be able to attract and keep the better skippers and crew.
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1995-2000
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