SYLLABUS

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Economics
Economic as a science
Economic Systems
Methods of Economic Analysis
Theory of Demand and Supply
The Theory of Consumer Behaviour
The Theory of Price Determination
The Theory of Production and Costs
Market Structure
National Income
Money and Inflation
Public Finance
Economic Growth and Development
Agriculture in Nigeria
Industry and Industrialization
Petroleum and the Nigerian Economy
Business Organizations
Population
International Trade and International Economic Organization
Factors of Production and their Theories
Financial Institutions
Distributive Trade


TOPIC CONTENTS
1. DEFINITION AND SCOPE - Meaning, scope and usefulness of Economics
OF ECONOMICS - Basic Concepts – (wants, scarcity, scale of
- preference, choice, opportunity cost and its
significance)
- Economic activities – Production, Distribution and
Consumption.
- Classification of economic activities – Primary,
Secondary and Tertiary and their relative contributions in terms of output/income, employment, saving and foreign exchange.

2. BASIC TOOLS FOR ECONOMIC - Charts, Graphs, tables and functions.
ANALYSIS - Measures of central tendency e.g. mean, median, mode and their simple applications.
- Simple linear equations.
Measures of Dispersions; range, standard deviation, variance and simple applications.

3. BASIC ECONOMIC PROBLEMS
OF SOCIETY - What to produce?
- How to produce?
- For whom to produce?
- Efficiency of resource use.

4. TYPES AND BASIC FEATURES - Types-capitalism, socialism, mixed economy,
OF ECONOMIC SYSTEM welfarism etc.
- The basic features of each system.
- Economic problems of society and the
approaches for solving them under each of the
systems.

5. THEORY OF CONSUMER - Concepts of utility (total, average and marginal
BEHAVIOUR utility).
- Law of diminishing marginal utility.
- Relationship between marginal utility and
demand curve.
- Utility maximization

6. PRODUCTION AND THEORY - Production-meaning and types.
OF COST - Factors of production.
- Division of labour and specialization
- Scale of production (small and large scale
Production, internal and external economies).
- Production possibility curve.
- Concepts of total, average and marginal
Productivity and the laws of variable
proportion.
- Cost Concepts: fixed cost, variable cost, total
cost, average cost, marginal cost, short-run
and long-run costs.
- Distinction between economist’s and
accountant’s view of cost (opportunity cost and
money cost).
- Factors affecting productivity.
- Factors determining the size of firms.

7. DEMAND THEORY - Concept of demand (demand schedules and
Curves and laws of demand.
- Types of demand (derived, composite, joint
and competitive).
- Factors determining demand for goods and
services.
- Distinction between the shift in demand and
movement along a demand curve.
- Concept of elasticity of demand
- Types of elasticity and their measurement –
price, income and cross elasticity of demand.

8. SUPPLY THEORY - Supply schedules and curves.
- Types of supply (composite, complimentary
and competitive).
- Factors affecting supply.
- Distinction between the shift in supply and
movement along a supply curve.
- Concept and measurement of elasticity of
supply and its importance to producers and
government.

9. THEORY OF PRICE DETERMINATION – Market forces.
- Equilibrium price and quantity in product and
factor markets.
- Inter-relation between demand and supply.
- Price determination under free and regulated
markets.
- Effects of changes in supply and demand on
equilibrium price and quantities.
- Price control: maximum and minimum price
regulations.
- Concepts of revenue (total, average and
marginal revenue).


10. MARKET STRUCTURES - Definition of market
- Types of market (perfect and imperfect
market).
- Determination of price and output under
different market structures.

11. AGRICULTURE - Components of agriculture (crop production,
livestock forestry, fishery etc.).
- Systems of agriculture, peasant farming,
plantation, mechanization, cooperative
farming, etc.
- Problems of agriculture in Nigeria.
- Solutions to problems of agriculture in
Nigeria
- Importance of agriculture in economic
development.
- Agricultural Policies in West Africa with
special reference to Nigeria.
- Marketing of agricultural commodities.
- Prospects of agriculture in Nigeria.

12. MONEY - Definition of money
- Historical development of money
- Functions of money
- Characteristics of money
- Demand and supply of money
- Value of money and the price level

13. INFLATION - Meaning and types of inflation/deflation
- Causes, effects and control of
inflation/deflation.
- Inflation in Nigeria.

14. BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS - Types and basic features of business
enterprises – (Sole Proprietorship,
Partnership, Cooperative Society, Joint Stock
Companies – Private and Public, public
corporations)
- Sources of fund for business enterprises.
- General and specific problems of business
enterprises.
- Privatization and commercialization as
solutions to problems of public enterprises.

15. DISTRIBUTIVE TRADE - Process of distribution
- Roles of wholesalers, retailers and
cooperatives.
- The role of government agencies in
commodity distribution in Nigeria.
- Problems and solutions of distribution in
Nigeria.

16. POPULATION - Meaning and definition of population
- Determinants and implications of size and
growth of population.
` - Theories of population e.g. Malthusian
theory, Demographic Transition theory, etc.
- Geographical, age, sex and occupational
distribution of population.
- Population census-meaning, importance and
problems of census in Nigeria. (method of
updating population census).
- Concept of under population, over
population, optimum population and their
implications.

17. LABOUR MARKET - Concept of labour force.
- Supply and demand for labour.
- Factors affecting the size of the labour force
especially the population characteristics (age,
sex, occupation, education, etc.)
- Efficiency and mobility of labour.
- Concept of unemployment and wage
determination.
- Trade Unions and other institutions.

18. INDUSTRIALIZATION - Firm and Industry
- Types of industry
- Location and Localization of industry
- Role of industrialization in economic
development
- Strategies and problems of industrialization
in Nigeria.
- Indigenisation policy in Nigeria.

19. FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS - Meaning and types of financial institutions
(traditional, central bank, development bank,
commercial bank insurance companies etc).
- Development and functions of financial
institutions.
Money and capital markets.
- Stock exchange.

20. NATIONAL INCOME - Meaning of major national income concepts
e.g GNP, GDP, NNP, NI, etc.
- Different ways of measuring national income
and their problems (income, output and
expenditure methods)
- Uses and limitations of national income
estimates.
- Theory of income determination, circular flow
of income in a simple economy.
- Concept of investment, consumption and
savings.
- Elementary theory of the multiplier
- Equilibrium level of income.
- Multiplier effect.

21. PUBLIC FINANCE - What is Public Finance?
- Fiscal policy and objectives of public finance.
- Sources of government revenue.
- Direct and indirect taxation.
- Incidence and effects of taxes.
- Structure of public expenditure (recurrent
and capital expenditure).
- Effects of public expenditure.
- Government budgets and National debt
- Revenue allocation in Nigeria.

22. INTERNATIONAL TRADE - Differences between domestic and
international trade.
- Basis of international trade.
- Commodity terms of trade, definitions and
measurement.
- Commercial policy, objectives and instrument
(tarrifs and direct control).
- Export processing zones (EPZ)
- Economic integration, objectives, types and
features.

23. BALANCE OF PAYMENTS - Money’s role in international transactions.
- Components of balance of payments.
- Meaning 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).
- Nigeria’s balance of payments.

24. PETROLEUM AND THE - Development of the petroleum industry.
NIGERIAN ECONOMY - Contributions of petroleum to the Nigerian
Economy (positive and negative).
- Role of NNPC and OPEC in the production,
refining and marketing of petroleum.

25. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT - What is economic development?
AND PLANNING - Distinction between economic growth and
development.
- Problems of economic development.
- Alternative explanations of economic
development.
- Planning: Why plan? Types of plan.
- Problems of planning.
- Nigerian planning experience.

26. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC - Development and role of OPEC, ECA, IMF,
ORGANISATIONS IBRD, EEC, ADB, UNCTAD, West African
Clearing House, Niger Basin Commission etc.
- Relevance of such organization to Nigeria
and other developing countries.
(New Partnership for African Development
NEPAD)

27. ECOWAS - Meaning, Historical Development, Objectives,
Achievements and Problems.