Posted: February 1st, 2015

Apply economic principles and accounting principles to firms at microeconomic level in the U.S.

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

ECO 201 Final Paper

Due Date

The paper is due at the end of Module 7 (However, various parts of the paper should be completed during the term).

Assignment: You are required to construct a case study/research paper during the course of the semester. The primary purpose of the paper is to:

• Further understand the economic way of thinking and the accounting implications.
• Give you an incentive to think critically about course information.
• Apply economic principles and accounting principles to firms at microeconomic level in the U.S.

Goal: Construct a case study/research paper that examines a firm in the U.S. from a microeconomic standpoint and provide suggestions based on your findings.

• Step 1: Choose a firm for your focus. In addition to picking a firm that you find interesting, you will likely want to pick a firm that has available data (or a firm that for which you can personally provide data). Publicly traded companies file reports with a great deal of data (preferred).
• Step 2: You will need to complete an analysis of the following categories for your firm. You should complete each section as we cover it in the course – although the paper is not due until the end of Module 7. This will help you to reinforce topics from the course. The following must be included:

NOTE: Be sure to break your paper into the following sections with headings:

• What does your firm do? Introduce your firm (Module 1)
• How have supply and demand conditions impacted the firm in recent years? (Module 2)
• Examine price elasticity of demand for the products your firm sells. (Module 3)
• Examine the costs of production for your firm. (Module 5)
• What is (are) your firm’s primary competitive advantage(s)? (Module 6)
• Are there entry barriers for firms in this industry? (Module 6)
• What substitutes are available for your product? (Module 6)
• What is the market share for firms in the industry? (Module 6)
• What market structure best describes the conditions your firm faces? (Module 6/7)
• Based on the characteristics of your firm, provide advice regarding what you think the firm should do going forward and provide a prediction of their future. (Module 7)

Paper Requirements:

• Length: Between 10 and 15 pages; title page and reference page do not count toward the total.
• Title page including the name of your paper, your name, and a paper abstract (this is a brief summary of your paper; around 150 words).
• Paper section:
  • An introduction that clearly introduces your firm and the goal of the paper.
  • The main body of the paper should clearly describe your findings and your suggestions.
  • A conclusion that summarizes and emphasizes your contribution.
• The paper should be double spaced with times new roman font (size 12), 1 inch margins and justified text.
• You should cite all sources that you use for data and analysis.
• Resources should be cited on a reference page using APA format:
  • http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• Be sure to use proper spelling and grammar.
• Additional Library resource databases containing company information, background and history, financial statements, SEC reports, SWOT analyses, scholarly journal, trade publication, magazine, and newspaper articles (including the Wall Street Journal), and market reports, can be found on the Library’s Company Information research guide: http://libguides.snhu.edu/companies .