TJC 2023 JC2 H2 Prelim Question Paper Paper 1

TEMASEK JUNIOR COLLEGE 2023 JC2 PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS Higher 2 ECONOMICS 9570/01 Paper 1 23 August 2023 2 hours 30 min Additional Materials: two 12-page answer booklets READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS FIRST Answer booklets will be provided with this question paper. You should follow the instructions on the f ront cover of the answer booklet. If you need additional answer paper ask the invigilator for a continuatio n booklet. Answer all questions. Indicate the question number clearly in your answers. Start Question 1 and Question 2 on separate answer booklets. The number of marks is given in brackets [ ] at the end of each question or part question. This document consists of 7 printed pages and 1 blank page.

2 Question 1: The Future of Food in Singapore Extract 1: Why cloud kitchens are disrupting the Food & Beverage sector As technology rapidly advanced, so did innovation w ithin the food and beverage (F&B) sector. Third-party apps like Uber Eats have made ordering out easy with just a click of a button. It is with the advancement of this technology that has allowed new businesses like cloud kitchens to thrive. A cloud kitchen is basically a commercial kitchen optimized for food delivery. What that means is that you can have your restaurant ready for takeout orders, without ever needing a dine-in space. One of the major reasons to pivot toward cloud kitc hens is the pandemic. As restauranteurs struggle to find ways to succeed in the new normal, consumer behaviour has also shifted radically. Consumers are no longer comfortable with dining out, and many are tired of cooking at home. Adapted from Forbes.com , 29 Sep 2020 Extract 2: F&B firms not easing off on delivery despite strong dine-in recovery In the two months since many Covid-19 rules in Singapore were relaxed, F&B outlets have seen a strong recovery for dine-in but have no plans to wind down delivery efforts. This is because delivery sales, their lifeline during the pandemic, have become a key pillar of business, serving up convenience that customers can no longer do with out. During the pandemic, restrictions battered dine-in sales, leading eateries to beef up their delivery arms, such as by tying up with platforms or setting up cloud kitchens. Ms Lee, the co-founder of Poke Theory, hopes to grow the delivery business, as “customers are just used to the convenience now as people get too used to ordering delivery. I think it’s never going to be replacing dining out, but it's a part of life now.” Source: Channelnewsasia , 1 July 2022 Extract 3: Fifth of global food-related emissions due to transport Food transport constitutes 19 per cent of food emis sions, equivalent to 6 per cent of emissions from all sources, research finds. This is up to seven times higher than previously estimated, and far exceeds the transport emissions of other commod ities. The study estimates global food systems, due to transport, production, and land use change, contribute about 30 per cent of total human-produced greenhouse gas emissions. So, food t ransport – at around 6 per cent – is a sizeable proportion of overall emissions. Cloud kitchens may play a part in addressing this. The more kitchens that share a location, the greater the chances of a rider consolidating several orders to the same area, which would reduce the delivery miles per meal compared with delivering from several individual takeaway sites. Researchers also say that among affluent countries especially, the biggest food transport emitters per capita, eating locally grown and produced food should be a priority. Adapted from The University of Sydney , 21 June 2022 and Financial Times , 2021 Extract 4: Strengthening food security in Singapore Having to import more than 90 per cent of its food for its population of almost six million, land- scarce Singapore is subjected to the volatilities of the global food market, including export bans and disruptions to transport routes. The Covid-19 situation has brought the issue of food security – access to safe and nutritious food – into sharper focus.

3 [Turn Over Beside working to ensure food supply continuity as countries shut down their borders, Singapore has also set its sights on raising its local food p roduction. The "30 by 30" goal aims to increase the cultivation of vegetables and boost the product ion of protein sources to 30 per cent of Singapore's nutritional needs locally by 2030. Authorities also established a $30 million grant to support local farmers to ramp up local production of eggs, vegetables and fish. There has also been growing focus on food waste. Wh en food is wasted, more food has to be sourced to meet the food demand and this affects ou r food security. A 2016 household waste study on the amount of waste disposed found that fo od waste accounted for about half of the waste disposed of by each Singapore household a day. Of this, more than half of the food waste could have been prevented through actions such as n ot over-ordering, over-buying or over- cooking. A Food Waste Reduction outreach programme was launched to encourage the adoption of smart food purchase, storage and preparation hab its that help to educate consumers on reducing food wastage. Adapted from Singapore Food Agency and The Straits Times, 2020 Extract 5: GrabFood’s three technology strategies Grab prepares three technology strategies to domina te market share in Southeast Asia. First, provide a local touch in which the display on the a pplication page is different in each country. “This is so that the platform can focus on customer interest based on the consumption patterns of each country,” said the Head of Engineering Deli veries, Mr Kuang. In addition, content on various displays, such as banners and images also adjusts for a local touch. Second, to provide recommendations for alternative order options to consumers. If the user is unable to find the food he is looking for, the application will look for similar merchant partners based on the similarity of keywords on the menu. Third, personalised applications. Apart from recommendations, Grab is also developing the ability to make applications cl oser to users, based on the things they like, tapping on artificial intelligence. Such strategies may be key with the looming changes for the gig economy – a labour market that relies heavily on temporary and part-time positions filled by independent contractors and freelancers rather than full time permanent employees. In Singapore, measures bolstering CPF savings of gig economy workers will be rolled out i n 2024. Unlike regular employees, who contribute 20 per cent of their wages to their CPF while their employers contribute 17 per cent, neither platform workers nor their platform compani es need to contribute to CPF ordinary or special accounts. Under the new regulations, gig workers under age 30 will also be required to contribute to these accounts to ensure they have enough savings for housing and retirement. But the recommendation has been met with considerable concerns. Dr Walter Theseira, an associate professor of economics explained that this would cause "significant changes to consumer prices, take-home wages and platform operating costs" addin g, "It is not practical to implement this overnight, all at once." Adapted from Channelnewsasia , 2021 and Mime.asia , 2019 Table 1: Revenue of Grab Holdings Inc.'s delivery services (in USD millions) Source: Statista , 2023 2020 2021 2022 Grab Holdings Inc’s revenue from delivery services 5 148 663

4 [Turn Over Questions (a) Using the marginalist principle, explain why a rati onal working adult would choose to purchase food via UberEats.