Economics
Economics
SYLLABUS
ECONOMICS
RECOMMENDED TEXTBOOKS
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DETAILED SYLLABUS
INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS
❑ The Economic Problem – Unlimited wants: limited means; scarcity and problem
of choice; economic activity; factors of production.
❑ Production – Employment of scarce resources; gains from trade; opportunity
costs.
❑ Economic Systems – Capitalism; Socialism; Communism, and evaluation of these
systems.
❑ The structure of Economics – Micro and macro economic.
MICRO-ECONOMICS
❑ Demand and Supply – Demand curves and reason for changes in demand; supply
curves and reasons for changes in supply; market price determination; price fixing
and short and long term equilibrium.
❑ Elasticity of demand – Forms of elasticity, price elasticity through demand and
supply; application of price elasticity to business demand and supply; other forms
of elasticity.
❑ Theory of Demand and Utility – Meaning of utility; law of diminishing utility;
consumption possibilities; indifference curve; consumer budgets; consumer
equilibrium; income and substitution effects.
❑ Theories of Costs and Production – Input/output relationships; law of diminishing
returns; production objectives in business; short-term costs relative to size of
operations and profit maximization.
❑ Market Structures – Characteristics of perfect competitive market including
output decisions based on demand and supply curves; characteristics of a
monopoly and decision making for determining output; comparison between
perfect competition and monopoly; monopolistic competitive markets; oligopoly.
MACRO-ECONOMICS
❑ Macro-Economic Activities – The meanings of and measuring gross domestic
product, gross national product, per capita income; nominal, real and potential
gross domestic product.
❑ Macro-Economic Equilibrium – Application of Y=C+I+G(X-M).
❑ Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply – Interaction; relationships in the
expenditure/income model; the AS-AD model multiplier.
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Economics (Zimbabwe) Page 3 of 4
PUBLIC FINANCE
❑ The Role of Government in the Economy – Its role in production; functions of
Government; the budget; Government income and expenditure.
❑ Taxation – Concepts; types of taxation; expenditure and taxation compared to the
level of income.
❑ Fiscal Policy – Objectives and instruments to enforce policy; policy implications.
LABOUR ECONOMICS
❑ Production Factor Analysis – Supply and demand for labour; wage and
employment determination; equilibrium wages; shortages in the labour market.
❑ Unemployment – Types and methods of combating each; cost unemployment.
❑ Trade Unions – Their functions and structure; National Employment Councils and
the collective bargaining process.
❑ Wages – Money and real wages; wage systems; inequality of wages.
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Economics (Zimbabwe) Page 4 of 4
THE EXAMINATION
1. Students will write one three-hour paper in the subject Economics (Zimbabwe)
and the examination is conducted twice per annum, in May and October.
2. The examination paper will comprise sufficient questions to allow the student a
choice in answering. The total marks awarded will be 100 marks.
3. The questions will comprise a mixture of straightforward recall type questions on
economic theory and also situational type questions in which the student’s ability
to apply economic principles to a given situation in the economy of Zimbabwe is
tested.
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