Three Business World Lessons for Introductory Economics
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March 20, 2025To demonstrate applications of economics to real life, and especially to the business world, we present the stories of three popular businesses that have faced challenges, made mistakes, and experienced success during their business journey. For each company – Dr. Martens, Toys “R” Us, and Lululemon, we have developed a lesson plan to elaborate on how the company operates and how economics can explain the effect of certain events the company has experienced. The teaching guides can be easily used in introductory economics courses to offer real-world business examples of fundamental concepts such as the supply and demand model, product differentiation, monopolistic competition, barrier to entry, costs, innovation, shut-down decisions, patents, and brands. Our goal is to offer an engaging activity that exposes students to applications of introductory economics concepts to existing businesses.
by Stefani Milovanska-Farrington and G. Dirk Mateer
Milovanska-Farrington, S., & Mateer, G. D. (2025). Three Business World Lessons for Introductory Economics. Available online at Journal of Economics Teaching, DOI: 10.58311/jeconteach/5a3240f09824be594cab6da6846cbd1b548841ae
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