Exam 2015, questions - Applied economics PDF

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applied economics past exam 15...

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UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER WESTMINSTER BUSINESS SCHOOL

EXAMINATION PAPER MAY 2015 MODULE CODE:

BEQM603

MODULE TITLE:

APPLIED ECONOMICS

DATE:

22nd May 2015

TIME:

10.00am – 12.30pm

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES: SECTION A: Answer FOUR of the five parts in this section. This section is worth 40 marks. SECTION B: Answer TWO questions in this section. Each question is worth 30 marks. This is a CLOSED book exam. The use of silent non-programmable calculators is permitted. The use of dictionaries is permitted.

TIME ALLOWED: 2 HOURS and 30 MINUTES (inclusive of 15 minutes planning time). Upon the start of the examination candidates will have 15 minutes planning time. During this time you may NOT open or write in the answer booklet other than to complete the answer booklet front cover. If you wish to make notes please use the back of this examination paper.

PLEASE DO NOT TURN OVER THIS PAGE UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO BY THE INVIGILATOR BEQM603-PK-S2-1415

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SECTION A: Answer FOUR of five parts in this section. This section is worth 40 marks. Q1. a)

How does the existence of an Output Gap affect the decisions of macroeconomic policy makers? (10 marks)

b)

Briefly discuss how the concept of ‘Malinvestment’ can be used to explain the cause of business cycles. (10 marks)

c)

Explain how awareness of ‘Leading’ & ‘Lagging’ indicators can help us to understand the fluctuations of the economy through the business cycle. (10 marks)

d)

How can policy makers use the concept of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) when making decisions about resource allocation in healthcare? (10 marks)

e)

Briefly discuss the difficulties involved when attempting to apply the concept of Pareto Optimality to policy choices which benefit some people, but impose costs on others. (10 marks)

Section B starts on the next page

BEQM603-PK-S2-1415

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SECTION B: Answer TWO questions in this section. Each question is worth 30 marks. Q2. a)

Explain the factors which have led to the rapid growth in UK house prices since 2010. (15 marks)

b)

Discuss the measures which the government could take to improve affordability in the UK housing market. (15 marks) (Total: 30 marks)

Q3. a)

What factors have led to the persistence of high levels of long term unemployment in Europe? (15 marks)

b)

What measures can governments take to respond to this problem? (15 marks) (Total: 30 marks)

Q4. Use recent relevant examples to show how EU merger policy aims to improve the level of competition and consumer welfare in European markets. (30 marks)

Q5. Critically evaluate the economic and environmental arguments for and against the expansion of airport capacity in the south east of England. (30 marks) Q6. a)

Explain the reasons why governments may be reluctant to use expansionary fiscal policy as a method of boosting economic growth. (15 marks)

b)

Discuss the limitations of using Quantitative Easing (QE) to deal with low levels of economic growth. (15 marks) (Total: 30 marks) End of Examination

BEQM603-PK-S2-1415

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