essay for econ

Assume that you are an economist and work for Department of Justice (DOJ). You received the assignment below. Write your essay/economic analysis that you will present to DOJ to explain the possible merger effects.

Please, choose a real market example that fits one of the economic models that we have studied, excluding perfect competition or monopoly (we studied perfect competition before midterm 1 and you cannot have a merger in monopoly). If the market is not 100% similar to our models, you can make assumptions such that the market fits the model (for instance, “I consider that Dell and IBM computers are very similar”.)

This market should have a possible merger in the future. You should not pick an example from any textbook, DOJ website, or any other place that has analyzed the case already. If you want, you can choose any market example you want and then assume that it will be a merger between two firms, even if there will not be a real merger in that market. When you choose the market you should not choose a market that was discussed in our class like the merger of T-Mobile with Sprint. You should be original and have your own analysis.

Similar to the cases that you read this semester, please define the market before the merger. Write your economic analysis of the market: choose the model that fits this market and analyze the initial state of the market. You should bring the knowledge that you have accumulated in this class and what you learned from reading the summaries.

Here are just a couple of suggestions, but you should not limit your analysis to these questions: Can you find the price in the market? Can you say something about the demand, marginal cost, or consumer surplus, etc.? For example, can you say what the level of marginal cost is? If not, how can you calculate it? What additional information you need to calculate it (total cost for different level of outputs is something that you cannot get from the firms, so it is not a good explanation), etc.?

What can you conclude about this market after the merger? Again, this is a part where you as an economist have to bring your own analysis.

At the end of the essay, you must list all your references (website links, online newspaper articles, etc.) that you used to collect the information/data about your market.

PS: something to remember from my syllabus:

Tips how to answer an essay question (for the exams and homework)

On the internet, you can find many websites with pieces of advice on how to answer an essay question. One webpage that I like states:

“An effective answer will not do the following:

· restate the question (which wastes time)

· list everything that could conceivably be relevant to the question (which not only wastes time but suggests to the grader that you can't distinguish relevant from irrelevant information)

· place potentially useful statements of fact in random order (which forces the grader to attempt to discern your logic, usually to your detriment)

· use vague or very general sentences (which forces the grader to guess what you really meant to write)

An effective answer will do the following:

· state the major point as the first sentence (which declares an immediate focus for your answer and inspires confidence in the grader that you know what you are doing as you answer the question)

· organize supportive or explanatory material to follow the major point (which helps the grader understand your logic and the intent of your answer)

· use specific terms and careful language (which helps minimize ambiguity so that the grader does not misinterpret the meaning of the answer)”.