新高中經濟學課程學與教策略系列： (1) 建構式學習方法 ( 重辦課程 )

新高中經濟學課程學與教策略系列：(1) 建構式學習方法(重辦課程)

討論問題 • 你有否應用類似的教學方法於這課題上，抑或還有其他方法？若有的話，請分享。若果沒有，為什麼不採用呢？

Double-auction experiment • The first market experiment was conducted by Chamberlain (1948) • Vernon Smith, a participant in one of Chamberlain's experiments, modified it and created the double auction • It is an experiment trying to simulate forces of demand and supply in a market

You’ll be given the following: • a label which shows whether you’re a buyer (red) or a seller (blue) • a piece of paper which shows either your value / cost, and allows you to record the trading information after each round • There’ll be around 3-4 rounds of trading. Each round lasts for about 5 minutes. Each round of trading is a new one.

Your objective: Get as much “gain” as possible: buyer’s gain OR seller’s gain You don’t have to trade with others if you can’t find chances of profitable trade. • Don’t trade at a loss!

You don’t have to reveal your cost / value • After trading, please go to the “market manager”, get a green form and provide the following information : 1) trading price 2) buyer value and seller cost

Don’t be “shy”. Just “shout”! • If you can’t find trading partners for long, don’t give up; just keep on searching, using all market information available • Don’t always stick with the same person throughout the game

Incentives: • The top 2 buyers and top 2 sellers with the highest gains will have a special prize.

Discuss the following questions (If time doesn’t allow you to finish all, just do Questions 1-2) • 1. What are the strengths and limitations of this experiment? • 2a. What economic concepts are involved in this experiment? b. Suppose you have used this game to illustrate a certain/some economic concepts in a lesson. After playing the game with the class, think of about 4-5 questions that you would put in a worksheet or you would ask. 3. (optional) How can this game be modified to illustrate more economic concepts?

Debriefing handout Table A Sellers’ and buyers’ information Now use the information in Table A to complete the demand and supply schedule:

How will you explain to students about the deadweight loss (or excess burden) caused by taxes?

Tax distorts incentives and hence people’s behavior. People allocate resources according to tax incentives, rather than the true costs and benefits of the goods. • For instance, if the government taxes housing, people live in smaller houses and spend more of their income on other things. If the government taxes ice-cream, people eat less ice-cream and more frozen yogurt.

Tax prevents some trades that would be profitable for both buyer and seller in the absence of a tax. Consumers buy less and producers produce less. Market size shrinks below the optimum. Taxes and Efficiency 130 S + tax Consumer surplus S Tax revenue 105 Deadweight loss 100 c Price (dollars per CD player) 95 D Producer surplus 75 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Quantity (thousands of CD players per week)

Do many students have difficulty in understanding this concept?

What if some students still find this concept too “abstract” to understand? Any other ways to make this concept more concrete (especially to those with the least abstract thinking ability)?

In Session 1(where there’s no tax) • Find the sum of total consumer and seller surplus. • In Session 2 (where tax is added), both consumer and seller surplus decrease because some goes to tax revenue. • Again find the sum of consumer surplus, seller surplus & tax revenue. • Is the sum in Session 2 the same as that in Session 1? Why?

P Sellers Pay the Sales Tax 50 New Supply Curve 45 Original Supply Curve 40 35 New Equilibrium 30 25 Old Equilibrium 20 15 Demand Curve 10 5 Q 0 5 10 15

A: Consumer surplus B: Seller surplus C: Tax revenue D: Deadweight loss of a sales tax P 50 45 New Supply Curve 40 Original Supply Curve 35 New Equilibrium 30 25 Old Equilibrium 20 15 Demand Curve 10 5 Q 0 5 10 15

新高中經濟學課程學與教策略系列 ： (1) 建構式學習方法 ( 重辦課程 )