Please help me think of a topic for my economics paper?
Basically, I have to think of an interesting economic question and provide some convincing answers to the question. A case study is strongly recommended, but I can work on mathematical analysis as long as it deals with real examples. Econometric analysis is encouraged, but not required.
My professor's example question is: "In the real estate brokerage industry, why are commission rates inflexible?"
Then in the paper, I provide some background on the topic, talk about why it is interesting and why we should care, then present some possible explanations for the phenomenon and decide which explanations are most plausible.
I really need help thinking of something to write about, so please help me out. Thanks!
And the paper is about 10 pages long. This is for my Industrial Competition and Monopoly class.
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
Cigarette taxes are a hot topic. All 50 state governments have enacted taxes on cigarettes, and many have raised their taxes several times. Cigarette taxes are a way governments can achieve two social objectives. The first objective is to reduce the number of citizens who smoke. The government issuing the cigarette tax hopes that the rise in the cost of a package of cigarettes will induce people to quit smoking. The second objective is to raise government revenue. A cigarette tax, like any other tax, increases the amount of revenue governments can spend on social programs.
Issues you may want to address in your cigarette tax paper
1.Will cigarette taxes have the desired effect of reducing the demand for cigarettes?
2.Do increases in cigarette taxes have any other effects?
3.What are the distributional effects of cigarette taxes? Who pays for the bulk of the taxes: richer citizens or poorer citizens?
4.What do governments spend cigarette tax revenues on? How much of the tax collected goes to programs designed to help people to stop smoking? How much of it goes to increased health care costs due to smoking?
Statistics
•State Excise Tax Rates on Cigarettes
http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/cigaret…
Newspaper and Magazine Articles on Cigarette Taxes
•National Center for Policy Analysis - Will a Cigarette Tax Increase Really Help Uninsured Children?
http://www.ncpa.org/~ncpa/ba/ba231.html
•New York Fiscal Watch - NYC Cigarette Tax Hike Endangers Pataki Health Funding
http://www.nyfiscalwatch.com/html/fwm_20…
Journal Articles on Cigarette Taxes
•Putting Out the Fires: Will Higher Taxes Reduce the Onset of Youth Smoking? - Philip DeCicca, Donald Kenkel and Alan Mathios. Journal of Political Economy v110, n1 (February 2002): 144-69.
•Response by Adults to Increases in Cigarette Prices by Sociodemographic Characteristics. - Matthew C. Farrely et. Al, Southern Economic Journal v68, n1 (July 2001): 156-65.
•The Economics of Smoking - Frank J. Chloupka and Kenneth E. Warner, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper: 7047.
•Tobacco Taxes, Smoking Restrictions, Robert L. Ohsfeldt ; Raymond G. Boyle and Eli I. Capilouto, National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper: 6486.
ORRRRRR
In August 1997 The Kyoto Protocol was drawn up. The Kyoto Protocol is supposed to reduce the emissions of the six greenhouse gases. Once The Kyoto Protocol is signed by a country, it legally binds the nation to reduce emissions of these greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2% below their 1990 levels over the first five year period, from 2008 to 2012.
As of January 28th 2003 almost all of the industrialized countries have signed The Kyoto Protocol. The United States of America pulled out of The Kyoto Protocol in March 2001. This almost destroyed The Kyoto Protocol. However, July 2001 a compromised scaled-down version of The Kyoto Protocol was created but President Bush has stated that the US will never sign The Kyoto Protocol.
Issues you may want to address in your Kyoto Protocol paper
1.What will the economic effects of The Kyoto Protocol be for countries that did or did not sign it?
2.Why didn’t President Bush want to sign The Kyoto Protocol?
3.What would the economic effects have been to the US if Bush had signed the Kyoto Protocol?
4.What public policies will have to be changed if the US decides to sign The Kyoto Protocol? What effect will these policies have?
The Kyoto Protocol
•UN Convention - Kyoto Protocol
http://unfccc.int/
Newspaper and Magazine Articles on The Kyoto Protocol
•BBC Science - Kyoto Protocol
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/c…
•BBC - Kyoto: Why did the US Pull Out?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/america…
•CNN: Global Warming: US turns its back on Kyoto
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/globalw…
Policy Papers on the Kyoto Protocol
•UN - Understanding Climate Changes: A beginner’s guide to the UN Framework Convention and its Kyoto Protocol
http://unfccc.int/resource/beginner_02_e…
•David Suzuki - Economics and the Kyoto Protocol
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Climate_Chang…
Journal Articles on the Kyoto Protocol
•The New Cultural Imperialism: The Greens and Economic Development - Deepak Lal. University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Economics Working Paper: 814 (November 2000)
•The Economics of a Lost Deal: Kyoto-The Hague-Marrakesh - Jean-Charles Hourcade, Frederic Ghersi. Energy Journal v23, n3 (2002): 1-26
•The Role of Economics in Climate Change Policy - Warwick J. McKibbin, Peter J. Wilcoxen, Journal of Economic Perspectives v16, n2 (Spring 2002): 107-29
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