Past competitions in the UCL Department of Economics

The economics behind my behaviour as a Pret subscriber

by Khushi Kakrania

While earlier I made 2-3 cups of coffee on a pan, now I consume a larger quantity due to less effort in getting barista-made coffee from a Pret in almost every street in London. I am happier because I get utility not only from my consumption but also from a positive departure from my reference point.

Hence, being a time consistent economics student, I pay an immediate high cost to maximize intertemporal benefits minus costs over long time. This convenient arrangement is very likely to continue as subscription renewal is the default.

Afterglow

by Jiaxin Shi (Carol)
 

One obvious element I notice about this picture is transportation. Two ways of travelling are shown: walking and sailing. The development in transportation suggests a high degree of geographical mobility, and hence it boosts commercial transactions and chances of employment.

Another topic here is ‘inequality’. In the bottom of the picture, a couple were pacing home with cows. Here, women can stand together and work with men, which means that gender inequality is relatively eradicated.

But on the other side of the water stood the palaces. The bottom right shows the small houses for citizens. This suggests both the categorial inequality between royalty and ordinary citizenship, and the possible incoming intergenerational inequality of their offspring.

Reducing Poverty by Alleviating Asymmetric Information

by Kexin Wu

However, excessive promotion of this new marketing strategy and poorly designed regulations can cause some low-quality products to overly advertise themselves through live shows and pretend to be high-quality, which may deteriorate the market efficiency.