Thursday, February 20, 2020

Explanation of the graphics figures upon budget Assignment

Explanation of the graphics figures upon budget - Assignment Example The budget line implies that if Susan spent all her income on clothing she would be able to purchase OB units of it. If on the other hand, Susan spent all her income on food, she would be able to purchase OA units of food. If she allocates her income on both goods then all combinations of food and clothing she can attain are those on or within the line AB. Thus the triangle OAB defines the combinations of food and clothing attainable by Susan, given her income and the prices of food and clothing. Assuming that Susan is rational, and the law of diminishing marginal utility holds for both goods, and she has continuous and complete preferences, her preferences can be depicted by downward sloping convex indifference curves. Susan’s objective is to attain the highest possible indifference curve within the reach of her budget set. This is shown in figure 2. Figure 2: the utility maximising choice in Adelaide As shown above in figure 2, given her budget constraint, Susan’s utility maximizing choice in Adelaide is point E. She consumes OC of food and OD of clothing and this generates the level of utility denoted by the indifference curve IC1. Linda is aware that in Melbourne the prices of both goods are higher and that food is relatively more expensive than clothing compared to the situation in Adelaide. Therefore, with her present income (that she earns by working in Adelaide) Susan will be able to by lesser of both food and clothing. Additionally, because food is rela tively more expensive, not only she will be able to buy less of food if she invests all her income in food compared to the amount of food she would be able to buy in Adelaide, the reduction in the amount of food she can buy will be more than the reduction in the amount of clothing she will be able to buy. What this implies is that i) her budget line will shrink inwards and ii) it will be relatively more flat compared to her budget line in Adelaide. This is depicted in figure 3. Figure 3: FG - Susan's budget line in Melbourne if her income remains equal to her Adelaide income In the diagram above, FG is Susan’s budget line in Melbourne if her income remains unchanged. Observe that not only can she buy fewer amounts of either products, the reduction in her capacity to purchase clothing had she chosen to invest all her income in clothing, depicted by the amount GB in the figure above, is less than the reduction in the amount of food she can buy if she invests all her income in f ood, AF. This is implied by the fact that food is relatively more expensive than clothing in Melbourne. Figure 4: Susan's new budget set relative to her old preferred bundle and utility level. Therefore, as reflected in figure 4, Susan can no longer access the utility level denoted by the indifference curve IC1 and nor can she afford the commodity bundle she preferred when she was in Adelaide. Therefore her real income will fall if she has to move to Melbourne but her income is still as it was back in Adelaide. Linda, if she has to make sure Susan accepts the offer, will have to pay her enough to ensure that her real income is at least as high as it is presently in Adelaide. There are two possible ways of achieving this. I. If Susan is paid an income so that she can purchase a commodity bundle that places her again at the utility level IC1. This implies paying her an income over her present Adelaide income that will allow her to access her old indifference curve IC1. This would be w hat is termed as the Hicksian compensation. The idea is that Susan will be back at her old real income level if she has access to her old utility level. Figure 5: The Hicksian Compensation - PQ

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

International Finance Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

International Finance - Case Study Example In 1993, ICI demerged its bioscience businesses to a publicly listed company, Zeneca Group PLC. 1997 saw ICI transforming from a regional manufacturer of bulk chemicals to a global specialty chemical and paints leader with the acquisition of Unilever's Speciality Chemicals businesses. Over the last decade, ICI has transformed its portfolio through a number of acquisitions and divestments worth more than 12 billion. Proceeds from divestments have helped ICI reduce its net debt and improve its balance sheet strength (ICI Annual Report, 2006). This paper evaluates the international operations of ICI and discusses how important international trade is for the ICI Group. Various analyses are conducted such as strategic, financial, SWOT, and risk to provide a deeper insight into the company's international operations. ICI Board comprises of the Chairman, Chief Executive, 3 directors, and five non-executive directors. Collectively, the Board is responsible for the success of the company. Through the Chief Executive, the Board delegates to management the overall performance of the company through the setting of clear objectives, building long-term management capability and ensuring that the business is managed in conformity with the business principles. Core businesses Core businesses of ICI comprise ICI Paints and the adhesives, specialty starches, specialty polymers and electronic materials operations of National Starch. These businesses serve diverse consumer and industrial markets through 40 strategic business units. These businesses are supported by Group functions that provide expertise in the disciplines of information technology, finance, human resources, operations, procurement, safety, security, and applied technology (ICI Annual Report, 2006). ICI Paints has some of the world's leading paint and decorative product brands. ICI makes products to prepare and care for many building materials, and provides coatings for cans and packages. It is headquartered in the UK and has operations in 25 countries (ICI Annual Report, 2006). National Starch markets a broad array of products to various sectors such as food, healthcare and construction. It has four divisions that are grouped around adhesives, specialty starches, specialty polymers and electronic materials. National Starch is headquartered in the United States, and has manufacturing and customer service centres in 39 countries (ICI Annual Report, 2006). ICI has a number of regional and industrial businesses, principal operations for which are located in Pakistan and Argentina. They include the manufacture of pure terephthalic acid, polyester, sulphur-related chemicals, wine chemicals and soda ash (ICI Annual Report, 2006). ICI is headquartered in the UK, with geographically diversified operations worldwide. Asia and Latin America account for 36% of sales, North America 33%, Europe 29%, and the rest of the world 2%. ICI's businesses have adopted a staffing policy whereby local nationals are typically hired. Total employee strength at ICI is 29, 130, of which 87% are located outside the UK. ICI Group has operations in more than 50 countries around the world. More than 60% of the Group's revenue comes from sectors which are believed to be non-cyclical in nature, such