MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

FIJI SEVENTH FORM EXAMINATION

2008

ECONOMICS

COPYRIGHT: MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, REPUBLIC OF THE FIJI ISLANDS

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

FIJI SEVENTH FORM EXAMINATION 2008

ECONOMICS

EXAMINER’S REPORT

INTRODUCTION

The 2008 Economics paper for the FSFE used the same format as that of the previous years. The
examination paper had 3 Sections. Section A, assessed the students knowledge of the syllabus content
and its application. Majority of the candidates scored well with the knowledge questions. Application
of knowledge through computation and statistical analysis needs a lot of improvement.

Section B was mostly on short answer questions. Majority of the candidates did not answer Question
3 and 4 well. Teachers need to spend more time revising the Microeconomic and Macroeconomic
Section of the syllabus.

Section C allows the candidates to express themselves through writing essays on the topics given. We
commend the teachers who have developed the skill of writing good essays. It was evident in the
students’ scripts.

1880 candidates sat this paper in 2008. Congratulations to all the candidates who have proven
themselves. We advise the teachers to improve teaching methods and give the students more
opportunities in the classrooms to apply their knowledge, analyse data and express themselves through
written essays or oral presentation. Research work should be encouraged.

SECTION A : MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

The possible responses are as follows :

1 C 11 C 21 C
2 C 12 C 22 C
3 A 13 C 23 A
4 C 14 A 24 D
5 D 15 A 25 C
6 C 16 C 26 B
7 D 17 B 27 D
8 C 18 D 28 C
9 C 19 C 29 D
10 D 20 B 30 C
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SECTION B :

QUESTION 1 INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS

(a) (i) Many candidates responded well in this area; however marks were lost for not
specifying the correct units.

(ii) Some candidates stated down the Law of Demand as an answer, which is not correct.
The right answer is the Law of Increasing Costs.

(iii) Many candidates did not have this correct. A common answer is either the definition
and purpose of the Production Possibilities Curve or the assumptions that underlie it.
The required answer is simply because of Constant Costs.

(iv) Well answered. This is simply FSLC work.

(b) Well answered. It is pleasing to note that FSF Economics teachers now know which
economists or theorists to emphasize on.

(c) Poorly answered. This is a very fundamental question; and many did not answer this correctly.
Many candidates came up with the four broad types of economic systems, namely traditional,
mixed, planned and market which was not correct. The answer is in line with the definition of
Economic System – which is how a society organizes itself to solve the three basic economic
problems of What, How and For whom to produce ?

QUESTION 2 INTERNATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS

(a) Parts (i) to (iv) of this section were poorly answered. A lot of work is needed on the Balance
of Payments Account and its components. Quite a good number of candidates failed to
compute the values correctly.

(b) Well answered.

(c) Well answered.

(d) Well answered overall. However, there is a certain skill that needs to be acquired when it
comes to resource interpretation; and the skill is that answers are to be directly derived from
the passage itself. Those candidates who failed to use the given resource or passage did not get
this correct.
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QUESTION 3 MICROECONOMICS

(a) (i) Many candidates did not answer this question correctly. Some were able to provide the
right answer for that of Oligopoly but failed to do so for Monopolistic Competition.
For Monopolistic Competition, many candidates had the answer for that of a Monopoly
– one seller, instead.

(ii) Poorly answered. Many failed to reason this. Responses given were not to the point.
Acceptable answers include the following : though only a few large firms, competition
still exists, thus, they need to produce a differentiated product – made possible by non-
pricing competitive marketing strategies, such as product variation and differentiation.
Or in order to maintain consumer loyalty; increase market shares, increase sales and
attract customers.

(iii) Well answered.

(iv) Poorly answered. The required response is that simply because a monopoly has
economies of scale, legal franchises and cost advantages. More so a monopoly is able
to sell at a price where MR = MC.

(b) This was not well answered. A lot of work is still needed on correct graphical analysis and
labeling. This graph is on output analysis and the properties and characteristics of the Total
Physical Product (TPP) and the Marginal Physical Product (MPP) Curves. In many cases,
candidates reshuffled the labels for the two axes. Instead of having the Output on the Y-axis
and the Unit of Variable Input along the X-axis, it was the other way round. Marks were lost.

(c) Poorly answered. Many candidates did not answer this correctly. Many of them just
paraphrased the question and this should not be so, especially at this level. The acceptable
answer is that the Marginal Cost (MC) Curve shows the additional cost of producing each item.
Its ‘J’ shape reflects the pattern of the marginal output curve from the theory of Diminishing
Marginal Returns.

(d) The differentiation of pairs of terms was not well taken by many of the candidates, especially
the pairs of terms on Internal and External Economies of Scale and that of the Law of Variable
Proportions and the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.

QUESTION 4 MACROECONOMICS

(a) (i) 1. Not well answered. Some candidates were able to state the correct equation of
Y = C + I + G + X – M to work from at the beginning things; but failed to
mathematically manipulate it correctly. Again marks were lost when the dollar
sign and the million (m) notation were part of the answer.
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2. Poorly answered. This is in fact the slope for the Consumption Function –
which is a direct read off from the data/equation. The correct answer is 0.9 and
not 0.9 with something extra to it.

3. Poorly answered. The same problem that was faced in number 2 above is also
confronted here. The right answer is 0.75 which is the slope of the Import
Function and not 0.75 with other elements attached to it.

(ii) Well answered.

(b) Parts (i) and (ii) were well answered. However, those candidates that had them wrong, failed
to interpret that the money supply 1, 2 and 3 have been given in standard notation form in the
resource and there is no need to come up with any explanatory notes on it. And this is exactly
what some candidates did.

Part (iii) was not well answered. Many candidates failed to comprehend that liquidity of
money decreases as one moves away from the center. In fact, the problem lies in the
understanding of the definition of Liquidity.

(c) (i) Number 1, 2, 3 and 4 were well answered. However, marks were lost when values did
not take up the dollar sign and the million (m) notation. This is an area where many of
the required answers were a direct interpretation from the given graph.

(ii) The standard notation Gn stand for Net Government expenditures/spending, which is
arrived at by subtracting Taxation Revenue from Government Expenditures. However,
Government expenditures/spending is also accepted as an answer.

(d) This entire part is on Labour Economics. Many candidates failed to interpret the graph on the
demand and supply of labour prudently. A lot of work is still needed in this area.

(i) The correct equilibrium wage rate is $4.00 per hour. Some candidates had something
extra to the $4.00. Those who had it wrong manipulated the $4.00 with something else.

(ii) There were two answers to this part. And the answers are either 300 workers at the
minimum wage rate or 0 at the equilibrium wage rate.

(iii) Again there were two answers to this part. It is either 100 workers at the minimum
wage rate or 200 workers at the equilibrium wage rate.
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SECTION C : ESSAYS

This is a subjective section of the paper and candidates should be able to express their opinions very
well in this area. Teachers of the subject should be able to put across to their students the required
skills that go together with essay writing.

There were six essays given in the paper; and as usual candidates were required to choose carefully
and write on only two. It was quite obvious that many candidates did not really make use of their ten
minutes reading time to select and choose very well on their two essays that they were going to write
on. During the course of the examination, some candidates wrote for a while on one topic and then
later found that they were not able to answer the other parts of the topic, crossed it off and then wrote
on another topic. By then considerable amount of time is wasted.

Question 2, 4 and 6 were common choices among the candidates. Question 2 was on the Household
sector; and many candidates used the two-sector circular flow model in their write-up. Question 4 was
on Multinational Corporations (MNC’s) and those candidates who chose to write on this, wrote very
well – especially on the definition, advantages and the disadvantages of MNC’s.

Question 6 was on the educational field trip. This was a very popular choice among the candidates.
However, it was very obvious from some of the candidates’ write-ups that there was no organized
educational field trip at all and candidates were just using their power of imagination. This could
become a problem in this subjective section of the paper. Simply because facts and recent updated
statistical data on selected industries/firms may be required to compound things.

On the whole, there has been a significant improvement in this area; and I would like to express my
sincere gratitude to the teachers who are out there in the field.

Here are five tips for writing a good economic examination essay question :

1. Ask yourself what the examiner really wants you to write – identify the key words and phrases
from the given topic.

2. Commence with an acceptable introduction. Use words from the question and define the key
terms or concepts.

3. Cross out each part of the question on your question paper as you answer it so you will be sure
to answer all of the parts.

4. Define briefly any special economics terms you use and relate them to what you are writing
about.

5. End with a conclusion that sums up the answer, after re-reading your essay. Do not leave the
reader in suspense.

I sincerely hope that this report will be of great assistance to both the teachers and the students as far
as Form 7 Economics is concerned.

THE END