Microsoft Word - Application 1.docx
ECON203 Microeconomic Analysis (Session 2, 2018)
Application assessment 1
Ticket scalping
e-sale
Something I’m sure we’ve all experienced is the frustration that comes with trying to
purchase tickets online for a big event (concert, sporting fixture etc) only to see all the
available seats sold in a shockingly short time, and before we even get a chance to
purchase any. It doesn’t help those feeling to see tickets that we feel we could have
ought appearing almost instantly on eBay or other re-sale avenues.
Consider the following discussions of the topic:
• ‘The economics of ticket scalping’
• ‘The man who
oke Ticketmaster’
What are the relevant welfare effects of ticket scalping
e-sale (note that the choice of
descriptor is not neutral)? Who is made better and worse off by the existence of this
activity, and how are the gains and losses distributed?
Thinking back to the discussions around ethics in ECON111, are there fairness
considerations that would justify government action (or costly private action e.g.
purchase requirements that would lock out scalpers) even if ticket re-selling increases
the gains from trade?1
At times, grocery retailers have attempted to restrict bulk-buying of infant formula, as
described in this story:
• ‘Coles moves baby formula behind the counter after china bulk buy’
Are these cases comparable? Why, or why not?
1 Not that I’m questioning your memory or anything, but think about the distinction between the
consequentialist and the deontological approaches to evaluating moral outcomes J
https:
theconversation.com/the-economics-of-ticket-scalping-83434
http:
http:
http:
https:
mothe
oard.vice.com/en_us/article/mgxqb8/the-man-who-
oke-ticketmaste
http:
www.abc.net.au/news/ XXXXXXXXXX/coles-moves-baby-formula-behind-the-counter-after-china-bulk-buy/9763502