Enrolments for 2022 have closed.
Public Policy and Welfare
Undergraduate | TAS-BEA200 | 2022
Course information for 2022 intake View information for 2024 course intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- Subject may require attendance
- Entry requirements
- Part of a degree
- Duration
- 14 weeks
HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Public Policy and Welfare
About this subject
Upon completion of this subject, the student should be able to:
- Use economic concepts and theories to analyse economic decisions
- Apply economic theory to identify public policy issues and how public policy is influenced by efficiency and equity
- Individually as well as within teams apply economic models to analyse key public policies
- Effectively communicate economics in written format
- 1. Week 1
- 1.1) Introduction and Review of 1st year
- 1.2) • Models and Terms
- 1.3) • Supply & Demand
- 1.4) • Arbitrage, Price Differences & Law of One Price
- 1.5) • Elasticity
- 2. Week 2
- 2.1) Choice
- 2.2) • Budget Constraints
- 2.3) • Preferences and Choices
- 2.4) • Utility Functions and Indifference Curves
- 2.5) • Public Policy and Choice
- 3. Week 3
- 3.1) Demand
- 3.2) • Derivation and Comparative Statics of Individual Demand
- 3.3) • Interior and Corner Solutions
- 3.4) • Substitution and Income Effects
- 3.5) • Derivation and Comparative Statics of Market Demand
- 4. Week 4
- 4.1) Applications I – Taxes and Subsidies
- 4.2) • Consumption vs Income Taxes
- 4.3) • Commodity Taxes and Subsidies
- 4.4) • The impact of Sin Taxes (sugar, alcohol, tobacco, drugs)
- 4.5) • Fringe Benefits Taxation and Policy
- 5. Week 5
- 5.1) Applications II – Education
- 5.2) • The Australian Education System and its Funding.
- 5.3) • The choice between Public and Private education.
- 5.4) • An evaluation of education funding systems: full public, full private, public-private hybrid, voucher system.
- 6. Week 6
- 6.1) Applications III – Labour/Leisure Choices
- 6.2) • The Australian Labour Market
- 6.3) • Deriving the Labour Supply and Participation Rates
- 6.4) • The impact of welfare payments, clawback, property income, penalty rates, minimum wages, child care on the labour supply.
- 7. Week 7
- 7.1) Applications IV – Intertemporal Choice
- 7.2) • Borrowers and Savers
- 7.3) • Rate of Time Preference, Discounting and Interest Rates
- 7.4) • The impact of interest rates, inflation, credit constraints, changes in future income.
BEA200 has two main purposes. First, it provides the basic foundations of economics and the essential building blocks for higher-level economics subjects. Starting from fundamental assumptions, this subject develops the neoclassical theory of the optimising behaviour of consumers and firms and the process of interaction of these agents within various market structures. Secondly, Intermediate Microeconomics shows how the economic theory developed can be directly applied to help solve the decisions that face policy makers, firms and households, such as dealing with time, minimising cost, production, maximising profit through pricing and analysing markets, competition and welfare. It achieves this through application of the theory to real-world examples and solving problems of this nature.
- Microeconomic Analysis Task (35%)
- Final Exam (50%)
- 5 Multiple Choice Quizzes (15%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
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Entry requirements
Part of a degree
To enrol in this subject you must be accepted into one of the following degrees:
Core
- TAS-BEC-DEG-2022 - Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Economics
- TAS-PEC-DEG-2022 - Bachelor of Psychological Science and Bachelor of Economics
- TAS-ECO-DEG-2022 - Bachelor of Economics
Prior study
You must either have successfully completed the following subject(s) before starting this subject, or currently be enrolled in the following subject(s) in a prior study period; or enrol in the following subject(s) to study prior to this subject:
Please note that your enrolment in this subject is conditional on successful completion of these prerequisite subject(s). If you study the prerequisite subject(s) in the study period immediately prior to studying this subject, your result for the prerequisite subject(s) will not be finalised prior to the close of enrolment. In this situation, should you not complete your prerequisite subject(s) successfully you should not continue with your enrolment in this subject. If you are currently enrolled in the prerequisite subject(s) and believe you may not complete these all successfully, it is your responsibility to reschedule your study of this subject to give you time to re-attempt the prerequisite subject(s).
Others
Pre-requisite: BEA111
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
Related degrees
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Undergraduate
TAS-BEC-DEGUndergraduate
TAS-PEC-DEGUndergraduate
TAS-ECO-DEG