Learn/NECO SSCE/Syllabus/EconomicsStudy this course in LearnPractice opens in your NECO SSCE workspace after you sign in. Questions and lecture notes stay there.Practice this courseOpen lecture notesOfficial rules, eligibility, and dates stay on the NECO SSCE guide.course outlineHOME MANAGEMENTManagement ConceptsDecision MakingHuman and Material Resources in the HomeBasic Skills in Caring for the Home and SocietyConsumer SkillsSound Health PracticesSelf-Reliant Skills for Effective LivingDEFINITION AND SCOPE OF ECONOMICSScarcity and ChoiceScale of PreferenceOpportunity CostProduction Possibility CurveEconomic activities – Production, Distribution and ConsumptionClassification of economic activities - Primary, Secondary and Tertiary and their relative contributions in terms of output/income, employment, savings, investment and foreign exchangeFACTORS OF PRODUCTIONLand, labour, capital and entrepreneurship- meaning, characteristics and importanceTYPES AND BASIC FEATURES OF ECONOMIC SYSTEMSTypes - capitalism, socialism and mixed economyBasic features of eachAdvantages and disadvantages of eachEconomic problems of society and the approaches for solving them under each of the systemsBASIC TOOLS OF ECONOMIC ANALYSISTables, graphs and chartsSome basic statistical measures and representations – arithmetic mean, median, mode and their simple applicationsDEMANDConcept of demand and law of demandThe demand schedules and curveReasons for exceptional demand curvesTypes of demand (derived, composite, joint and competitive)Factors determining demand for goods and services – price of the commodity, prices of other commodities, income, tastes, price expectation, etcDistinction between a shift of and movement along a demand curveConcept of elasticity of demandTypes of elasticity of demand and their measurement – price, income and cross elasticities of demandImportance of the concept of elasticity of demand to consumers, producers and governmentSUPPLYConcept of supply and law of supplySupply schedules and curveTypes of Supply – composite, complementary and competitiveFactors determining supply – input prices, technology, prices of other commodities, climatic factors, etcDistinction between the shift of and movement along the supply curveConcept and measurement of elasticity of supply and its importance to producers and governmentTHEORY OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOURThe utility concepts- total utility, average utility, marginal utility and the calculation of utility schedulesThe law of diminishing marginal utilityRelationship between total utility, average utility and marginal utilityThe concept of equilibrium of a consumerDetermination of consumer equilibriumThe effects of changes in price on consumer equilibriumThe relationship between marginal utility and the demand curveTHEORY OF PRICE DETERMINATIONThe Concept of the market; interaction between demand and supplyPrice determination under free and regulated marketsEquilibrium price and quantity in product and factor marketsThe effects of changes in supply and demand on equilibrium prices and quantitiesIntroduction to algebraic determination of equilibrium price and quantityPrice controls: maximum and minimum price regulations- meaning and their effects; rationing, black market (parallel market)THEORY OF PRODUCTIONProduction: division of labour and specializationScale of production (Internal and External economies)Concept of total, average and marginal productivity and law of variable proportionsTHEORY OF COST AND REVENUECost concepts: total cost, average cost, marginal cost, variable cost, fixed cost; short run and long run costsDistinction between economist's and accountant's view of cost (opportunity cost and money cost)Revenue concepts: total, average and marginal revenue; Marginal revenue ProductMARKET STRUCTURESConcept of a market, characteristics of various market structuresDetermination of price and output under different structures - perfect competition and imperfect competition (monopoly and monopolistic competition)Review of cost and revenue conceptsPrice discriminationBUSINESS ORGANIZATIONSTypes and basic features of business enterprises – Sole Proprietorship; Partnership, Joint- Stock companies (Private and Public), Co-operatives; Statutory Corporation, Joint venturesSources of fundsGeneral and basic problems of business enterprisesPrivatization and Commercialization as solutions to problems of public enterprisesIndigenization and nationalization policiesDISTRIBUTIVE TRADEProcess of distributionRole of producers, role of wholesalers, retailers and co-operativesThe role of government agencies in product distribution and the problems of distribution and their solutionsPOPULATION AND LABOUR MARKETPopulation - determination and implication of size and growth of population, Rural – urban migration, Malthusian theory of population Geographical, age, sex and occupational distributionImportance and problems of censusPopulation and economic development (under - population, optimum population and over- population)Labour Market - Concept of 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 determinationConcept of unemployment and underemployment, Trade Unions, Employers' association and Government policies on labour and wagesAGRICULTUREStructure (e.g. food crops, export crops, livestock, fisheries)Systems of agriculture (peasant, commercial, co-operative and state farming)Importance of agriculture to the national economyMarketing of agricultural products (commodity boards)Agricultural policies (minimum agricultural prices) problems of agriculture and remediesINDUSTRIALIZATIONMeaning and types of industryDefinition of industrial concepts: plant, firm, industry and industrial estatesLocation of industry, localization, role of industrialization in economic developmentStrategies of industrializationProblems of industrializationThe link between agricultural and industrial developmentNATIONAL INCOMEMeaning of major national income concepts e.g. Gross Domestic Product, Gross National ProductNet National Product, etcDifferent ways of measuring national income and their problemsUses and limitations of national income data; trends and structure of national incomeMONEY AND INFLATIONMoney - definition and historical development-barter and its problems, types, characteristics functionsSupply of and demand for money, value of money and the price levelInflation: meaning types, causes, effects and controlFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSTypes (traditional, Central Bank, Commercial Bank, Development Bank, Merchant Bank, and Insurance Companies, Building Societies)Development and functions of financial institutionsMoney and capital markets; meaning, types and functionsPUBLIC FINANCEFiscal policy and objectives of public financeSources of government revenueTaxation -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 taxesComposition/ structure of public expenditure (recurrent and capital expenditure): effects of public expenditureGovernment budget and the national debtECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNINGMeaning of economic development, distinction between economic growth and developmentCharacteristics and problems of developing countriesElements of development planning (objectives of planning, and problems of planning)Types of plans (short term, medium term, perspective or long term, rolling plan etc.)INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND BALANCE OF PAYMENTSInternational 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 controlTrend and structure of West African countries' external tradeBalance of Payments: role of money in international transactions, meaning and components of balance of payments, balance of payments disequilibrium, balance of payments adjustments (exchange rate policy, exchange control, monetary and fiscal policies) and financing (the use of reserves and international borrowing)ECONOMIC INTEGRATIONEconomic Integration (objectives, levels of and features)Development and problems of economic integration in West Africa- ECOWASINTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORGANIZATIONSDevelopment 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)Relevance of such organizations to West African CountriesMAJOR NATURAL RESOURCESDevelopment of major natural resources (petroleum, gold, diamond, timber, groundnut etc)Effects on West African economies (positive and negative)
