AGRIBUS 3500WT - Agricultural Economics and Policy III

Waite Campus - Semester 1 - 2017

This course provides a basic understanding of the nature, function and structure of agricultural markets, including the economics of commodity markets and of market failure, the role of international trade policy, and how governmental policy, at home and abroad, impacts on producers in Australia.

  • General Course Information
    Course Details
    Course Code AGRIBUS 3500WT
    Course Agricultural Economics and Policy III
    Coordinating Unit School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
    Term Semester 1
    Level Undergraduate
    Location/s Waite Campus
    Units 3
    Contact Up to 3 hours per week
    Available for Study Abroad and Exchange Y
    Assumed Knowledge AGRIC 1510WT, AGRIC 1520WT, AGRIBUS 2520WT
    Course Description This course provides a basic understanding of the nature, function and structure of agricultural markets, including the economics of commodity markets and of market failure, the role of international trade policy, and how governmental policy, at home and abroad, impacts on producers in Australia.
    Course Staff

    Course Coordinator: Mr Darren Koopman

    Course Timetable

    The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

  • Learning Outcomes
    Course Learning Outcomes
    1 Upon successful completion of this course, students will understand and appreciate the significance of:

    the relevance of the economic principles of scarcity, choice, trade-off, opportunity cost; effectiveness and eco-effectiveness, efficiency and eco-efficiency; anthropocentric and ecocentric thinking; price and price signals; economic systems 
    2 how to apply basic economic concepts to predict likely changes in product prices and quantities in mixed economy market systems
    3 introductory cost theory, markets, market structures, (comparative) market power
    4 the market failure concept
    5 the concept of 'policy' and the role of government policy re market failure
    6 the hierarchy of management environments, and their components and implications
    7 how changes in government regulations, taxes, consumer preferences and technology influence agricultural commodity markets and resource allocation
    8 the marketing concept and the 'customer-focussed' significance for agricultural business management
    9 commodity markets and differentiated product markets
    10 the implications of efficient supply chain/ demand chain/ value chain management
    University Graduate Attributes

    This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

    University Graduate Attribute Course Learning Outcome(s)
    Deep discipline knowledge
    • informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies
    • acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1
    • accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)
    1,2
    Teamwork and communication skills
    • developed from, with, and via the SGDE
    • honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies
    • encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning
    10
    Self-awareness and emotional intelligence
    • a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal
    • open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers
    • able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate
    7,10
  • Learning & Teaching Activities
    Learning & Teaching Modes
    Lectures will be integrated with case study tutorials, and be complimented by the student seminar program to achieve the learning outcomes.
    Workload

    The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

    A student enrolled in a 3 unit course, such as this, should expect to spend, on average 12 hours per week on the studies required. This includes both the formal contact time required to the course (e.g., lectures and practicals), as well as non-contact time (e.g., reading and revision).
    Learning Activities Summary
    Lecture Schedule
    Week 1
      introduction to economics… some important contributors to economic philosophy; resource categories; scarcity, choice, tradeoff; opportunity cost; social welfare concept; (eco)effectiveness, (eco)efficiency, ethics… NOT considered by economics; anthropocentric/ecocentric; relativity… relative cost, relative benefit; production possibility curve; price system; economic systems
    Week 2 demand and supply curves, demand shifters and supply shifters, market equilibrium price setting,
    Week 3 price cycles, price elasticity of demand (price response), income elasticity of demand (income response)
    Week 4 introduction to cost analysis… fixed cost, variable cost, marginal cost; marginal revenue; total utility, marginal utility; market structure, competitive markets, monopoly, (comparative) market power
    Week 5 resources; property rights and obligations; market failure, negative/positive externalities, public goods/bads; private costs, social costs, user costs, tax intervention; sustainability… weak/strong; total economic value (TEV)… forest example; business and environment considerations
    Week 6

    government role in policy… taxes, standards, pollution permits and permits trades; private organisations role/ business and environment topic

    Week 7 management, leadership; management environments, stakeholders and stakeholder management, some key drivers of change (with relevant opportunities and challenges): technology, consumerism, citizens and the natural environment, international trade and globalisation, international developments, the information age (‘knowledge age’); strategy and strategic management, Porter concept re cost/differentiated product… Porter industry 5-forces concept … Porter value chain concept
    Week 8 marketing functions, marketing concepts… product concept, services, experiential goods; role of consumer satisfaction; customers versus consumers, product features versus product benefits, 4Ps concept and its successors, commodities/differentiation… Theodore Levitt model; price and value, communication, distribution/logistics; cool chain etc
    Week 9 marketing concepts (continued), consumer behaviour considerations, industrial markets behaviour (Webster-Wind etc), some cross-cultural aspects (eg Geert Hofstede and GLOBE model
    Week 10 marketing concepts (continued)
    Week 11 food safety and food quality… concept of quality; concepts of hazard, risk, safety; elements of quality… intrinsic/extrinsic; increasing significance of the credence attribute; Juran trilogy® concept (quality planning/design, quality control, quality improvement); quality assurance (QA); quality costs; standards and codes of practice;tracking and tracing/ traceback; provenance; quality auditing (internal, and external)
    Week 12 industrialisation of agriculture; transaction costs; trust; coordination; alliances; chains… supply chain, demand chain, value chain
  • Assessment

    The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

    1. Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
    2. Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
    3. Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
    4. Assessment must maintain academic standards.

    Assessment Summary
    Assessment Task Task Type Due Weighting Learning Outcome
     Essay: Role of price.
    2000 words
    Summative

    Week 7

    15% 1,2,3,4,5
    Essay: Marketing, chains, food safety and quality
    2000 words
    Formative and Summative Week 12 15% 6,7,8,9,10
    Seminar presentation: Formative and Summative Rostered throughout the semester 10%
    Exam Summative Exam period 60%
    Assessment Detail
    Essay: Role of price.2000 words - 15%

    Essay: Marketing, chains, food safety and quality2000 words - 15%

    Seminar Presentation - 10%

    Exam - 60%

    Submission

    Late Submission

    If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply. A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.

    If an extension is not applied for, or not granted then a penalty for late submission will apply.  A penalty of 10% of the value of the assignment for each calendar day that the assignment is late (i.e. weekends count as 2 days), up to a maximum of 50% of the available marks will be applied. This means that an assignment that is 5 days late or more without an approved extension can only receive a maximum of 50% of the marks available for that assignment.

    Course Grading

    Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

    M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
    Grade Mark Description
    FNS   Fail No Submission
    F 1-49 Fail
    P 50-64 Pass
    C 65-74 Credit
    D 75-84 Distinction
    HD 85-100 High Distinction
    CN   Continuing
    NFE   No Formal Examination
    RP   Result Pending

    Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

    Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

    Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

  • Student Feedback

    The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

    SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.

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  • Policies & Guidelines
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