How to write a good economics based personal statement

Unit 3: Why many mergers/takeovers fail!

Many mergers and takeovers between businesses fail to achieve the expected revenue and cost gains for shareholders. This short revision video looks at some of the key reasons.

 

Unit 3: Essential last minute material

Guys,

I really think the two topics below could come up in case study questions. I would like to see you all in school Sunday/Monday to discuss.

1. E-Commerce and it's effect on industry and barriers to entry.

In this revision video we look at the rapid growth of e-commerce and consider the impact on market competition in different industries. Pure play e-commerce firms such as Uber and AirBNB are now significant challengers to established products and brands but bricks and mortar businesses are fighting back especially with the use of omni-channel retailing.




2. Dis-economies of scale, mergers and de-mergers

Many big companies that have grown and merged to diversify are now realising that in many cases, the clash of culture is too difficult to overcome. A question that tests your ability to see the downside of mergers and growth.

Dave Lewis is continuing with his strategy of focusing Tesco on its core retail activities with a series of business disposals.

Today Tesco have announced the sale of Dobbies Garden Centres for £217million.

Last week Tesco announced that it had sold the Giraffe chain of family restaurants as well as its 95% shareholding in Turkish grocery business Kipa.

Investment analysts had long questioned the strategic logic of Tesco investing in garden centres and family restaurants, suggesting that it was an inappropriate strategy of related diversification.

These are just three examples of Dave Lewis managing Tesco's business portfolio to bring much greater focus to the group and to realise cash for non-core assets.

Lewis is also taking steps to reduce the operating costs of the key UK supermarket business. The Guardian reports today that another series of Tesco superstores are abandoning 24-hour opening.

Unit 3: The first mover advantage

A business first into the market can develop a significant competitive advantage but there are disadvantages too from being first into a sector.

Unit 3: The prisoners Dilemma - Game Theory

This is a short revision video taking students through the basic version of the Prisoner's Dilemma - game theory can be applied and evaluated in many parts of the year 2 micro course.

Unit 4: Globalisation - Costs & Benefits

In this short revision clip we explore some of the claimed advantages from the process of globalisation. Many of them centre around the gains from specialisation and exchange across national borders.




There are many critics of globalisation and this short clip looks at eight arguments. We spend a few moments considering imbalances both between and within countries - an important aspect of the globalisation debate.

Theme 3: The 'Good' Country Index

The new specifications in A Level Economics challenges students to think a little more laterally about what is meant by economic progress and growth. While measuring GDP remains significant, an analytical student will include other measures to indicate how well a country or its economy may be performing. Here's an index that has been around for a few years but brings a different look at performance - the Good Country Index. By 'Good' the index is referring to how a country contributes to the planet and humanity through its policies and behaviours.

It ranks 163 countries, using a wide variety of data from many sources on 6 categories such as 'Contribution to Science and Technology' and 'Contribution to Prosperity and Equality'. These rankings are then averaged out to give an overall ranking. Sweden has been announced as the 'Goodest' country using this method and, guess what, the UK is ranked 4th in the world!

Information about the Good Country Index can be found from their website here.

Unit 3 & 4: Trade and efficiency

In theory, trade in goods and services ought to bring about a more efficient allocation of scarce resources. This short revision video looks at how trade can influence allocative, productive, dynamic and X-inefficiency in markets - it is diagram-free!

Unit 3: What is Dynamic Efficiency?

This short revision video looks at aspects of dynamic efficiency in markets.

Dynamic efficiency occurs over time and is strongly linked to the pace of innovation 
within a market and improvements in both the range of choice for consumers and
also the performance / reliability / quality of products.

Dynamic efficiency gains are often to be see in monopolistic competition and 
oligopolistic competition - in the latter case, where there are sufficiently large 
number of scaled businesses to earn and re-invest supernormal profits and 
where there are also many smaller firms perhaps better able to be innovative in 
niches within an industry.