Economics Waec Syllabus

• Scarcity and Choice
• Scale of Preference, Opportunity Cost,
• Production Possibility Curve.
• Economic activities
  • Production, Distribution and Consumption.
• Classification of economic activities
  • Primary, Secondary and Tertiary and their relative contributions in terms of output/income, employment, savings, investment and foreign exchange.

• Land
• labour
• capital
• entrepreneurship
  • meaning, characteristics and importance

• Types
  • capitalism, socialism and mixed economy
• Basic features of each
• Advantages and disadvantages of each
• The economic problems of society and the approaches for solving them under each of the systems.

• Tables, graphs, and charts
• Some basic statistical measures and representations:
  • arithmetic mean, median, mode and their simple applications.

• Concept of demand and law of demand
• the demand schedules and curve
• reasons for exceptional demand curves
• types of demand (derived, composite, joint and competitive)
• factors determining a demand for goods and services – price of the commodity
• prices of other commodities, income, tastes, price expectation, etc.
• The distinction between a shift of and movement along a demand curve
• the concept of elasticity of demand.
• Types of elasticity of demand and their measurement – price, income and cross elasticities of demand:
• the importance of the concept of elasticity of demand to consumers, producers and government.

• Concept of supply and law of supply
• supply schedules and curve
• types of Supply
  • composite
  • complementary
  • competitive.
• Factors determining supply
  • input prices
  • technology
  • prices of other commodities
  • climatic factors, etc.
• Distinction between the shift of and movement along the supply curve
• Concept and measurement of elasticity of supply and its importance to producers and government

• The utility concepts- total utility, average utility
• marginal utility and the calculation of utility schedules.
• The law of diminishing marginal utility
  • the relationship between total utility, average utility and marginal utility.
• The concept of equilibrium of a consumer. Determination of consumer equilibrium.
• The effects of changes in price on consumer equilibrium.
• The relationship between marginal utility and the demand curve.

• The Concept of the market; the interaction between demand and supply.
• Price determination under free and regulated markets. Equilibrium price and quantity in product and factor markets.
• The effects of changes in supply and demand on equilibrium prices and quantities.
• Introduction to the algebraic determination of equilibrium price and quantity.
• Price controls: maximum and minimum price regulations
  • meaning and their effects
  • rationing
  • black market (parallel market)

• Production
  • division of labour and specialization
• Scale of production
  • Internal and External economies
• the concept of total, average and marginal productivity and the law of variable proportions.

• Cost concepts
  • total cost
  • average cost
  • marginal cost
  • variable cost
  • fixed cost
  • short-run
  • long-run costs.
• Distinction between economist’s and accountant’s view of cost
  • opportunity cost and money cost
• Revenue concepts
  • total, average and marginal revenue
  • Marginal revenue Product

• Concept of a market
• characteristics of various market structures
• determination of price and output under different structures
  • perfect competition and imperfect competition
  • monopoly and monopolistic competition.
• Review of cost and revenue concepts.
• Price discrimination.

• Types and basic features of business enterprises
  • Sole Proprietorship
  • Partnership
  • Joint- Stock companies (Private and Public)
  • Co-operatives, Statutory Corporations
  • Joint ventures.
• Sources of funds.
• General and basic problems of business enterprises.
• Privatization and Commercialization as solutions to problems of public enterprises.
• Indigenization and nationalization policies.

• Process of distribution
• the role of producers
• the role of wholesalers, retailers, and co-operatives
• the role of government agencies in product distribution
• the problems of distribution, and their solutions.

• Population
  • determination and implication of size and growth of population
  • Rural–urban migration
  • Malthusian theory of population
  • Geographical, age, sex and occupational distribution.
  • Importance and problems of the census.
  • Population and economic development (underpopulation, optimum population and overpopulation)
• Labour Market
  • Concept of the labour force and human capital
  • efficiency and mobility of labour
  • factors affecting the size of the labour force
  • particularly the population characteristics (age, sex, occupation, education, etc.)
• supply of and demand for labour:
  • wage determination
  • Concept of unemployment and underemployment
  • Trade Unions
  • Employers’ association and Government policies on labour and wages.

• Structure (e.g. food crops, export crops, livestock, fisheries)
• systems of agriculture peasant, commercial, co-operative and state farming)
• the importance of agriculture to the national economy
• marketing of agricultural products (commodity boards).

• Meaning and types of industries.
• Definition of industrial concepts:
  • plant, firm, industry, and industrial estates.
• Location of industry
• localization, and the role of industrialization in economic development.
• Strategies of industrialization.
• Problems of industrialization.
• The link between agricultural and industrial development.

• Meaning of major national income concepts e.g.
  • Gross Domestic Product
  • Gross National Product.
  • Net National Product, etc.
• Different ways of measuring national income and their problems.
• Uses and limitations of national income data; trends and structure of national income

• Money
  • definition and historical development
  • barter and its problems
  • types, characteristics functions.
  • Supply of and demand for money, the value of money, and the price level.
• Inflation:
  • meaning types
  • causes
  • effects and control.

• Types
  • traditional
  • Central Bank
  • Commercial Bank
  • Development Bank
  • Merchant Bank
  • Insurance Companies
  • Building Societies
• development and functions of financial institutions.
• Money and capital markets;
  • meaning, types and functions

• Fiscal policy and objectives of public finance:
• Sources of government revenue.
• Taxation
  • types(direct and indirect)
  • objectives
  • merits
  • demerits and incidence
• Principles/canons of taxation
  • Rates of taxation(proportional, progressive and regressive)
  • direct and indirect taxation
• incidence and effects of taxes; composition and structure of public expenditure (recurrent and capital expenditure)
• effects of public expenditure. Government budget and the national debt.

• Meaning of economic development
• the distinction between economic growth and development
• characteristics and problems of developing countries
• elements of development planning
  • objectives of planning and problems of planning
  • Types of plans
    • short-term
    • medium-term
    • perspective
    • long-term
    • rolling plan, etc.

• International Trade:
  • differences between domestic and international trade
  • the basis of international trade
  • absolute and comparative cost advantage
  • terms of trade (definition and measurement)
  • commercial policy (objectives) and instruments –  tariffs (types) and direct control.
  • Trend and structure of West African countries’ external trade
• Balance of Payments:
  • role of money in international transactions
  • meaning and components of the balance of payments
  • the balance of payments disequilibrium
  • the balance of payments adjustments (exchange rate policy exchange control
  • monetary and fiscal policies)
  • financing (the use of reserves and international borrowing).

• Economic Integration (objectives, levels of and features).
• Development and problems of economic integration in West Africa – ECOWAS

Development and role of:

• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
• Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
• International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
• African Development Bank (AfDB)
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)etc., the relevance of such organizations to West African countries.

• Development of major natural resources
  • petroleum
  • gold
  • diamond
  • timber
  • groundnut, etc
• Effects on West African economies
  • positive effects
  • negative effects