Reference no: EM132309681

Assignment

1 Introduction and Overview

In this assessment task you will take the role of an expert Quantitative Analyst employed by a government organization in Australia. Government decision makers heavily rely on the advice of experts like you when formulating policy or making important developmental decisions.

You are to conduct an in-depth industry analysis, as outlined in Section 2. As you write the report, keep in mind that the audience is other expert economists. Employ the correct economic terminology and assume the readers have an understanding of the underlying economic theory. Your report must be short but comprehensive, including all key facts and details. Your report should not exceed six pages of A4 (including references and any Appendix).

The font used should be Arial 12pt. Margins should be set at 2.54cm and header & footer at 1.25cm, include page numbers in either the header or footer.

2 Task

The farmed livestock industries of the Australian agriculture sector, including the beef cattle, dairy, sheep, pig and poultry industries, play a significant role in the Australian economy. You are tasked to produce an Economic Impact Assessment of Australia’s cattle and sheep industry. In addition, you need to assess how any changes in Australia’s cattle and sheep Industry will impact the Singapore economy in general.

Economic impact assessment is about how one industry sector (or a project or activity within that sector) affects other sectors in the economy. Input-output tables are often used to identify relationships between sectors within an economy.

The data required for this task can be found in the ‘Assignment Data’ Excel file1. This data consists of 32 Australian industries, including the cattle and sheep industry. The external demand (e.g. from the government, exports, etc.) of the dollar amounts for each industry and household spending are also provided.

3 Benchmark Report and Expectations

You should treat the KPMG2 2015 Economic Impact Assessment of the Tasmanian Aquaculture Industry as the benchmark for your report writing style.

It is expected that your report should cover:

a) The significance of the Australian cattle and sheep Industry to the services trade to Australia in general (note: only a discussion is expected)

b) If all the Australian cattle and sheep industry’s production is consumed within Australia, such that Australia is a closed economy, which other Australian industry would be most important to the cattle and sheep industry? Explain this finding and its consequences to the  economy (in general), if this industry experiences poor performance (note: only a discussion is expected, preferably with reference(s))
c)

i. Calculate and report the Type I multipliers for all industries. (To equip you for calculating the technology matrix, first watch the video podcast on calculating a technology matrix for a larger economy, that is available under “Assignment help” on Canvas. Also refer to Appendix 3 for a simple explanation using a three-sector economy).

ii. Explain the Australian cattle and sheep industry Type I multiplier.

iii. Calculate and report the Type II multipliers for all industries.

iv. Explain the Australian cattle and sheep industry Type II multiplier3 (please refer to Appendix 3 for more details).

d) Suppose the economy is now ‘open’ and thus has an external demand (e.g. from the government, exports, etc.) of the dollar amounts for each respective industry. In the latest budget the Australian government has declared significant cuts to the ‘Transport and Support Services’ Industry. In fact, it has decided to cut the external demand of this industry by half.

Discuss the impact of this on the Australian cattle and sheep industry. Discuss which industry outside ‘Transport and Support Services’ will be most heavily impacted by the cut to Transport and Support Services external demand and possible reasons for why this other industry would be impacted (preferably with reference(s))? 

Express the change in the other industry’s output both in dollars and percentage (note: Leontif Input-Output analysis is expected, do not include Household spending in this analysis, you can use the same (I-M)^-1 matrix developed when calculating Type I multipliers in part c(i).

e) Applying your knowledge of economics, indicate one factor (not covered above) that would make Australian exports attractive to Singaporeans. Explain your choice with economic theory, reports you have seen in the media, or in academic journal articles.

f) Include references where appropriate

g) A brief literature review (similar to Table (2): Impact studies of farm and non-farm salmon fishing of the benchmark report, KPMG, page 5) explaining the main findings of at least two research papers relevant to your research report

h) Based on your analysis, provide recommendation(s) for the Australian government (if any).

Attachment:- Assignment Appendix.rar