In March 2004, Ireland was the first country in the world to introduce an outright ban on smoking in workplaces.
In the analyses below, when drawing your diagrams assume that workers can choose among only two products to consume at work, namely tobacco and food. Assume each worker has a weekly allowance of $100, which they must spend at work (that is, they can't spend this allowance outside of work or they cannot save it). The price of a unit of food at work is $1 and remains at $1 in the absence of a policy initiative, the price of a unit of tobacco is $1 in the absence of a policy initiative. Please ignore all externalities when answering this assignment. When drawing diagrams, always include a discussion of what the diagram means, and of crucial elements of the diagram.
Your tasks:
a) Use an indifference curve-budget line analysis to depict the situations, prior to the ban on smoking, of a worker who smoked at work, and of a worker who did not smoke.
b) Use an indifference curve-budget line analysis to depict the situations, after the ban on smoking, of a worker who initially smoked at work, and of a worker who did not smoke.
c) Use consumer theory to assess how much worse off, if at all, each worker is after the ban.
d) Consider at least three (3) alternative policies that workplaces in Ireland could have implemented that might have achieved the same objective (reduce smoking levels). Evaluate and show the impact of these policies using your microeconomic theory. (Think about what may change the shape of the ICs; or what may change the Budget Constraint).
e) Appropriate referencing and citation. You need at least 3 references, which must be cited in the main text. Lecture notes are not a reference.