What the investigation does
The essay examines potential welfare gains from changes in three markets during falling household incomes: tobacco, alcohol and leisure centres. It surveys twelve newsagents and ten pubs across higher- and lower-income parts of Bexley, contacts local public-service specialists and leisure centres, and compares those responses with national statistics and reporting.
The analysis applies income elasticity and externality diagrams while acknowledging substitution between brands and outlets. It argues that reduced demerit-good consumption and increased leisure-centre use could produce benefits, but the conclusion limits this to potential gains. It recognizes that the study does not measure overall welfare, isolate income from every competing influence or establish the same result for all goods.
Why this example is worth reading
Uses a clearly bounded locality and compares evidence from areas with different income conditions.
Combines business questionnaires, specialist local contacts and national data, allowing disagreements between sources to enter the argument.
The conclusion distinguishes a possible gain in selected markets from a claim that falling income improves society overall.
What the examiner highlights
The examiner describes the question and context as clear, the investigation as imaginative and the argument as logical.
The notes credit sound analysis, precise subject language and a clear conclusion.
The main presentation criticism concerns incomplete sources in both the text and bibliography.
What to examine critically
Changes in expenditure, sales and consumption are not interchangeable; prices, cheaper brands and shifts from pubs to supermarkets complicate the inference.
The examiner flags incomplete source details in the text and bibliography; the paper's local interviews also rely substantially on informed opinion rather than measured causal effects.
Apply it to your own work
Use local evidence to test whether a national pattern applies to the chosen research setting.
Draw diagrams to support a specific evidence-based claim rather than to replace analysis.
State the difference between a potential sector-specific benefit and an overall welfare judgment.
Essay & assessment material
Read the original material alongside the breakdown, or download it to keep.
PDF pp. 3–4 contain 31/36 examiner assessment forms; p. 3 includes short handwritten criterion comments. PDF p. 2 is a separate supervisor report. The summaries below paraphrase only the examiner's legible notes.
Source & assessment context
Economics English exemplars, May 2012. The source PDFs retain their original attribution. The analysis on this page is AsterDraft’s independent teaching commentary.
Examiner mark: 31/36 (legacy criteria). PDF pp. 3–4 contain 31/36 examiner assessment forms; p. 3 includes short handwritten criterion comments. PDF p. 2 is a separate supervisor report. The summaries below paraphrase only the examiner's legible notes.
