Introduction to Microeconomics | OCR A-Level Economics (H460)

Introduction to Microeconomics

70 questions
7 subtopics
Component 01: Microeconomics
Component 01 and Component 03

Introduction to Microeconomics is examined on component 01 of OCR Economics, Microeconomics.

70 recall questions across 7 subtopics.

Sample questions from Introduction to Microeconomics

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Economic and free goods, scarcity and positive and normative statements

State the economic problem in a single sentence.

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Human wants are unlimited but the resources available to satisfy them are finite, so choices about how resources are used must be made.
Economic and free goods, scarcity and positive and normative statements

What is a normative statement?

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A value judgement about what ought to be, which cannot be shown true or false by evidence alone.
Economic agents and the factors of production

What is the main economic role of firms?

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Firms buy factors of production and combine them to produce goods and services for sale.
Economic agents and the factors of production

What does the factor land include besides the ground itself?

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All natural resources, such as minerals, forests, fish stocks, water and fertile soil.
Factor rewards, rationality and the objectives of economic agents

What does rationality mean in economics?

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Agents are assumed to weigh the costs and benefits of each option and choose the one that best meets their own objective, such as maximum utility or profit.
Factor rewards, rationality and the objectives of economic agents

Why can the objectives of firms and government come into conflict?

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A firm maximising profit has no incentive to count the external costs it imposes, while government seeks maximum social welfare and therefore wants those costs taken into account.
Incentives and the functions of the price mechanism

How does a rising price act as an incentive to producers?

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It increases the profit available in that market, encouraging existing firms to expand output and new firms to enter.
Incentives and the functions of the price mechanism

What is one example of a financial incentive used to change consumer behaviour?

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A subsidy on electric vehicles lowers their purchase price and encourages consumers to switch away from petrol cars.

The 7 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Economic and free goods, scarcity and positive and normative statements	Recall questions on economic goods and free goods, scarcity and the basic economic questions, needs and wants, and telling positive statements from normative ones.	10
Economic agents and the factors of production	Recall questions on the three economic agents and their roles, the four factors of production, what land and capital include, and what the entrepreneur contributes.	8
Factor rewards, rationality and the objectives of economic agents	Recall questions on the rewards earned by each factor of production, profit as a residual reward, rationality and its limits, and the objectives households, firms and government pursue.	8
Incentives and the functions of the price mechanism	Recall questions on incentives, the signalling, incentive and rationing functions of the price mechanism, financial incentives, perverse incentives and the role of property rights.	8
Market, planned and mixed economies and allocative and productive efficiency	Recall questions on free market, planned and mixed economies with their advantages and weaknesses, productive and allocative efficiency, and how the profit motive allocates resources.	14
Opportunity cost, trade-offs and the production possibility curve	Recall questions on opportunity cost and trade-offs, the axes and concave shape of the production possibility curve, and what points on, inside and outside the curve show.	9
Shifts of the production possibility curve and uses of opportunity cost	Recall questions on movements along and shifts of the production possibility curve, capital versus consumer goods, the slope as opportunity cost, uses of opportunity cost and limitations of the model.	13

Introduction to Microeconomics is 70 of the 1,226 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £8

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.