2020 Economics WAEC SSCE (School Candidates) May/June

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Economics 1 - Objective

Which of the following is central to the definition of Economics?
1. Resources
2. Wants
3. Scarcity
4. Capital
When the production possibility curve shifts outwards, the economy experiences
1. growth.
2. over-production.
3. inefficient use of resources.
4. under-production
Land as a factor of production is made useful through the
1. application of human effort.
2. acts of nature.
3. application of fertilizer.
4. use of machines.
In a free market economy, resources are allocated through the
1. government department
2. price mechanism.
3. trade union.
4. state planning committee.
The diagram in figure 1 above depicts a
1. simple bar chart
2. complex bar chart
3. component bar chart
4. multiple bar chart
Which of the following caused the change in demand from D1D1, to D2D2?
1. Fall in the income of consumers R
2. Rise in the price of substitute
3. Rise in the price of a complement
4. Fall in the supply of commodity X
The curves D0D0 and S0S0 are the initial demand and supply curves respectively. What happens when government provides subsidy to producers?
1. The supply curve will shift from S0S0 to S2S2
2. The supply will shift from S0S0 to S1S1
3. The demand curve will shift from D0D0 to D1D1
4. The supply curve will shift from S1S1 to S0S0
In figure 4 above, YZ represents
1. excess demand
2. excess supply
3. equilibrium quantity
4. equilibrium price
Goods are described as inferior if their demand
1. decreases as price falls.
2. increases as income rises.
3. decreases as income increases.
4. increases as price increases.
A consumer is in equilibrium when
1. his market supply is equal to his market demand.
2. he maximizes his satisfaction from spending his income.
3. the market is also in equilibrium.
4. he has consumed all he wants.
Goods that are abundant in supply usually have low
1. total utility.
2. marginal utility.
3. average utility.
4. time utility.
An increase in supply means that
1. more is sold at different prices
2. mere is sold at the same at the same price
3. there is a leftward shift of the supply curve.
4. there is a movement along the supply curve.
If an increase in the price of crude oil led to an increase in the prices of kerosene and grease, then kerosene and grease are in
1. joint supply.
2. competitive supply.
3. market supply.
4. composite supply,
A seller increased the quantity he offered for sale from 200 units to 250 units when price of his product increased by 12.5%. What is the price elasticity of supply of his product?
1. 2.00
2. 1.50
3. 1.00
4. 0.50
If an increase in the supply of beef increased the supply of hides, then beef and hides are in
1. competitive supply.
2. Joint supply.
3. composite supply.
4. joint demand.
If a beef market is in equilibrium at S4.00 per kg, an increase in price to $6.00 per kg may cause
1. surplus in the market.
2. shortage in the market
3. black market to come into operation.
4. rationing to be introduced.
A large firm may experience diseconomies of scale if there is
1. difficulty in coordinating decisions.
2. division of labour in production.
3. employment of more specialists.
4. decrease in the cost of production.
Increasing returns to scale suggests that
1. a firm can make profit by reducing output.
2. a firm can make more profit by increasing output.
3. as the producer reduces the quantity of raw materials used, the marginal product will double.
4. as the producer increases the quantity of raw materials used, the marginal product will fall.
One feature of the average fixed cost is that it
1. falls continuously but is never equal to zero.
2. is U-shaped and intersects the Y-axis.
3. rises and falls faster than the marginal cost.
4. is always higher than the average variable cost.
If the average fixed cost (AFC) of producing 5 bags of rice is $20.00, the average fixed cost of producing 10 bags will be
1. $2.00
2. $4.00
3. $10.00
4. $20.00
What is the unit price of the firm’s output?
1. $10.00
2. $2.70
3. $2.00
4. $1.70
What is the firm’s marginal revenue?
1. $153.00
2. $17.00
3. $1.70
4. $0.80
Organization and entrepreneurship are vested in different persons in a
1. cooperative society.
2. sole proprietorship.
3. partnership
4. public company.
The public sector in a mixed economy is not always efficient because of
1. bureaucratic practices
2. the desire to make huge profit
3. annual planning of activities
4. the activities of shareholders
Which function of the wholesaler enables him to stabilize prices?
1. Warehousing goods
2. Advertising the goods
3. Granting credit to retailers
4. Transporting goods
In the long run, as individuals higher wages, it causes
1. demand for food to decrease.
2. demand for leisure to decrease.
3. supply of normal goods to decrease.
4. supply of labour to decrease.
Population growth rate can be calculated as
1. birth rate - death rate - emigrants - immigrants.
2. birth rate - death rate + migration rate + migration rate.
3. birth rate - death rate
4. birth rate - death rate + immigrants
Labour productivity is defined as
1. output per man hour
2. average output
3. the maximum number of hours worked.
4. total output of labour.
Which of the following problems has the least effect on agriculture productivity in West Africa?
1. Incidence of pests and diseases
2. unfavourable weather conditions
3. urban-rural migration
4. illiteracy
The location of iron and steel industry at a place is due to
1. easy access to raw materials.
2. access to cheap labour.
3. government policy.
4. good infrastructure.
Import substitution as a strategy of industrialization is the
1. replacement of locally produced goods with imported ones.
2. development of local firms to produce local goods that are imported.
3. establishment of firms to process imported raw materials.
4. act of using local inputs to produce goods for export.
Which of the following are intermediate products?
1. Cement and steel
2. Furniture and shirt
3. Handkerchief and shoe
4. Table and door
How is NNP at factor cost derived from GNP at market prices? A
1. GNP - Depreciation + Indirect taxes + Subsidies
2. GNP - Depreciation - Indirect taxes + Subsidies
3. GNP + Depreciation + Indirect taxes - Subsidies
4. GNP + Depreciation - Indirect taxes + subsidies
Which of the following factors may lead to under-estimation of national income figures?
1. Availability off skilled statisticians
2. High volume of exports
3. Emigration of skilled workers to foreign countries
4. Subsistence production
Inflation may occur if
1. rate of productivity is higher than Wage rate.
2. prices fluctuate during a particular season of the year.
3. Wage increase productivity
4. the government embarks on restrictive monetary policies
Money would cease to be a good store of value when
1. prices of goods and services are falling slowly
2. there is high level of unemployment
3. prices of goods and services are rising rapidly
4. prices of goods and services are rising slowly
Governments in West Africa can curtail inflation by
1. purchasing securities in the open market
2. selling securities in the open market
3. encouraging importation of goods from all countries
4. encouraging bank lend for consumption
The central bank can reduce ability of commercial banks to give loans by
1. raising bank rate
2. reducing special deposit
3. reducing the liquidity ratio
4. issuing more currency
Tools of monetary policy do not include
1. open market operations
2. reserve requirement
3. bank rate.
4. tax and public expenditure.
During inflation, the appropriate fiscal measure to adopt is to
1. increase indirect taxes.
2. increase direct taxes
3. reduce personal income tax.
4. increase government expenditure
Mr. X and Mrs. Y pay $500.00 and $1,400.00 as taxes on their earnings of $5,000.00 and $7,060.00 respectively,
1. specific tax.
2. proportional tax.
3. regressive tax.
4. progressive tax.
Expenditure on food takes a large proportion of incomes of people in
1. industrialized countries.
2. advanced countries
3. developing countries
4. capitalist countries.
A country should embark on development planning to ensure that
1. it becomes popular among the comity of nations.
2. it also does what others are doing.
3. its scarce productive resources are efficiently utilized.
4. the nation is able to contribute its own quota to international organizations.
A country is allowed to import just 50,060 tonnes of rice annually. This describes
1. devaluation.
2. tariff.
3. embargo.
4. quota.
Dumping is selling goods in a foreign market at a price
1. below what is sold at the home market.
2. above what is sold at the home market.
3. equal to what is sold at the home market.
4. equal to the cost of producing goods.
The principle of comparative advantage encourages a country to
1. produce only consumer goods.
2. engage in trade if it can produce a commodity at a lower cost.
3. specialize in the of production of all goods.
4. try as much as possible to be self-sufficient.
In order to discourage the importation of manufactured goods, a country should adopt
1. import promotion Strategy.
2. export led strategy
3. liberal foreign exchange
4. import substitution strategy.
A free trade area is one in which
1. each member operates its own barriers against non-members
2. factors of production are mobile
3. members adopt a common external tariff against non=members
4. members adopt common fiscal and economic policies
The foremost objective of the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is to
1. help promote private and public investments.
2. assist members achieve balance of payment stability.
3. grant long term loans for infrastructure
4. maintain stability of foreign exchange
The exploitation of mineral resources constitutes which form of production?
1. Primary production
2. Secondary production
3. Tertiary production
4. services production

Economics 2 - Essay

Section A

Answer one question only from this section.

Table 1 below shows the number of “workers engaged by an agriculture firm over a period of time. Study it and answer the questions that follow.
1. Calculate the values of X, Y and Z.
2. At what level of employment of labour does the firm experience:
  1. increasing returns;
  2. decreasing returns
  3. negative returns?
3. State the law of diminishing returns
4. 1. On a graph sheet, draw the total product and marginal product curves.
  2. State any two relationship between the {wo curves in d(i) above.
Figure 1 below represents the possibility curve of a nation use it to answer the questions that follow.
1. What is the opportunity cost of
  1. producing 30 units of cocoa
  2. increasing textile production from 30 to 40 bales?
2. Interpret the following points as found in the graph
  1. point Y
  2. point G
  3. point X
3. List three conditions that can enable the nation to produce at point X.
4. State two basic common concepts illustrated in the diagram above
5. 1. Define production possibility curve
  2. What does the slope of the production possibility curve indicate?

Section B

Answer three questions only from this section

1. Define consumer goods
2. Explain the following forms of capital with an example each
  1. fixed capital
  2. social capital
  3. circulating capital
3. Outline three reasons for low level of savings in a country
1. Distinguish between the following pair of terms
  1. Capital expenditure and recurrent expenditure
  2. fiscal policy and monetary policy
2. Explain four reasons why the government of a country imposes taxes
1. Define Tariff
2. State the following laws
  1. The law of absolute cost advantage
  2. The law of comparative cost advantage
3. Outline any four assumptions behind the law of comparative cost advantage.
1. What is money?
2. Explain the following concepts
  1. Value of money
  2. demand for money
3. Identify any four determinants of transactions demand for money
1. Distinguish between competitive demand and joint demand.
2. Using diagrams, explain how the following factors will affect the equilibrium price and quantity of commodity R in the market:
  1. an increase in the price of the complement of commodity R;
  2. an increase in the price of a Substitute of commodity R;
  3. imposition of an indirect tax on commodity
1. Differentiate between subsistence farming and Commercial farming
2. State four features of Subsistence farming.
3. Outlines two positive and two negatives effects of mining on the economy of West African countries.