[ECON 1] AQA Economics Unit 1 - 13th May 2013

i did context 2 and as my agaisnt argument i spoke about the large size of the smartphone market leading to innovation since firms might invest it in research and development, thus shifting ppf curve outwards. and i drew a ppf curve too.

(this is a very brief version, and i refered to extract E)

is this good enough for the argument? or how many marks do you reckon i might have gotten for it?

Hi, I found multiple choice to be pretty hard compared to previous ones. Did you lot get mostly B's on it?

I had lots of B's and D's. Friends that sat the exam with me got lots of B's and D's too

For context 1, here are some useful points that would be beneficial if you included them in the essay:

1)Define market failure, merit good etc..

2) Explain how universities have positive externalities, effects of a rise in fees, subsidies

3) Explain arguments for subsidies (e.g Reduced inequality which could help prevent market failure, many people do not have access otherwise to university, law of unintended consequence of decreased social equality in society..)

4) Explain reasons for higher fees (e.g Demand was shown to be inelastic meaning increase would help increase income, money could help increase quality of courses, the private benefits are huge in the long run as people earn £161000 more in their lifetime etc..)

5) Talk about reasons against subsidies (Over dependance on subsidy, could lead to government failure as costs exceed benefits etc..)


6) Overall down to normative view of government- may look in short term rather than long term. Also, whichever they choose depends on price elasticity of university courses..



I did something a long those lines! Could have also talked about Maximum prices or other policies too, hope it helped

What was the answer to the multiple chie question on price indexes ??

i think it was across the whole period something increased....as there may have been fluctuations in price across the whole period but the end point was at a higher price index then the begginning point

does anyone know what the answer is to the economies of scale question in the multiple choice? something to do with finiancial or technical or marketing economies of scales... and what was the answer to the burden of tax shared out between producers and consumers? was the answer A or C its bothering me. thanks!

thank you! nice to know I got the correct ones. Which context did you choose for the essay and how did you find it? context 1 so far looks like the wrong choice and I regret choosing it! I am more worried about my essay than anything else.

I did option 2 and for the 25 marker i spoke about taxing mobile phone (analysis being that it might not cause a decrease in demand due to the inelastic demand curve), then i talked about how an advertising campaign to educate consumers about the negative externalities of mobile phone usage. Then i said alternatively the government might not have to intervene in mobile phone market at all and instead could set a maximum price for a substitute good without the negative externalities (in this case the hands free device mentioned in the extract). My final conclusion being that by setting a maximum price or subsidising the substitute good it would not only reduce demand for mobile phones but would create a more competitive market which could lead to allocative or productive efficiency..... anyone else do this one? If so do my points sound ok?

Hey everybody,

Would any one of you guys happen to remember whether the Data Response question for Context 1 was to state 2 significant points of comparison, or just two significant points?



Thanks in advanced!