Economics 9708 · AS & A Level
Monopolistic competition
90 practice questions on Monopolistic competition, with worked solutions and instant marking.
Which labour market data pattern is most likely to suggest an increase in cyclical unemployment? alterations in compulsory redundancies / voluntary resignations
Feb/March 2016
What evidence is given in the information for the statement that youth unemployment has been ‘hit hardest’?
Feb/March 2016
The diagram presents selected US labour statistics for 2001 to 2014. What can be concluded from the diagram about 2001-2014?
Feb/March 2017
The graph illustrates the percentage increase in average earnings in the UK economy. What is the most likely reason for the pattern that appears in the graph?
Feb/March 2020
In recent years, among European countries, the Netherlands recorded the largest share of part-time workers and an average working week of 32 hours for all employees. Greece had a lower share of part-time workers, but an average working week for all employees of 41 hours. What conclusion can be reached from this information?
Feb/March 2020
The table presents figures for an economy’s labour market. number of people of working age 42.7 million; number of people of working age who are actively seeking work, but are not working 2.2 million; number of people of working age who are not actively seeking work 9.4 million. What is the economy’s percentage employment rate, to the nearest whole number?
Feb/March 2022
The table displays the key features of employment in two occupations. What can be concluded with certainty from the table?
Feb/March 2023
To work out the unemployment rate, the number of unemployed people is compared with
Feb/March 2024
In country S, frictional unemployment has fallen, whereas in country T, structural unemployment has risen. What are possible reasons for these changes?
Feb/March 2025
Explain what determines the size of a country’s labour force.
May/June 2008
The diagram illustrates how the numbers of people employed in four different industries in a city changed between 2002 and 2007. What conclusions can be drawn from the diagram?
May/June 2010
The diagram illustrates how the numbers of people employed in four different industries in a city changed from 2002 to 2007. What conclusion can be drawn from the diagram?
May/June 2010
Which factor is most likely to cause the natural rate of unemployment to rise?
May/June 2010
What factors might cause the labour demand curve to shift left?
May/June 2010
Which is most likely to cause a rise in the natural rate of unemployment?
May/June 2010
The table presents the key features of employment in two occupations. What can be definitely deduced from the table?
May/June 2011
The table presents the main features of employment in two occupations. What can be deduced with certainty from the table?
May/June 2011
The table shows unemployment rates (%) for four countries in 1993 and 2002. What can be inferred from the table?
May/June 2012
Which change would immediately decrease the size of a country’s labour force?
May/June 2012
Both the number of people in work in a country and the unemployment level fall. What might account for this?
May/June 2012
Analyse what economic theory suggests might be the outcome of such a takeover for the enlarged firm and its workers.
May/June 2012
The table presents a country’s employment statistics. What are the participation rate and the unemployment rate?
May/June 2013
A government minister says that the principal economic advantage of placing a new factory in a coastal region is the 500 jobs that it will generate. What does this suggest about the coastal region?
May/June 2013
Which labour market data pattern is most likely to show a rise in cyclical unemployment? rises in compulsory redundancies / voluntary resignations
May/June 2013
In 2011, one of the UK’s largest multinational banks reported plans to cut its workforce by 43 000 around the size of a small town. Unemployment in the UK had climbed to almost 3 million in 2011. Analyse what might cause an increase in unemployment in a country.
May/June 2013
What is likely to happen if unemployment rises permanently and workers lose their skills?
May/June 2014
Turkey's population was 73 m in 2007. Its labour force amounted to 36 m, of which 12 m were trained for the primary sector and 24 m were trained for the secondary and tertiary sectors. Unemployment stood at 10%. What was the number of people unemployed?
May/June 2014
The table presents a country’s employment figures. Population of working age: 100 million; number in employment: 60 million; number unemployed: 4 million. What are the participation rate and the unemployment rate?
May/June 2014
The table illustrates how the pattern of employment (%) changed in four countries from 1980 to 2012. Which country did not show the same trends as the other three countries over the period 1980 to 2012?
May/June 2015
Which type of unemployment is linked to a shortfall in aggregate demand?
May/June 2016
‘In the short run, under perfect competition, wage rates in some occupations will be higher than in others.’ Explain the economic reasoning behind this.
May/June 2016
Explain how the age and employment structure of a population in a developing country may be different from that in a developed country.
May/June 2016
The method for finding the working-age population is shown below. ● ......1...... + ......2...... = labour force ● labour force + ......3...... = working-age population. Which row gives the right terms to fill gaps 1, 2 and 3?
May/June 2017
Why do some economists argue that frictional unemployment may create positive benefits?
May/June 2017
The chart indicates how employment changed by sector in a country from 2010 to 2016. Which statement about the period 2010 to 2016 must be true for this country?
May/June 2018
In an economy, real national output rises more quickly than employment. What might explain this?
May/June 2018
Which type of unemployment is matched correctly with the description of its cause?
May/June 2018
The diagram illustrates how the numbers employed in four separate industries in a city changed between 2012 and 2017. What can be concluded from the diagram?
May/June 2018
The table presents the principal features of employment in two occupations. What may be concluded with certainty from the table?
May/June 2019
A large coal mine has to shut down because demand for coal falls as consumers move to fuels that pollute less. The government arranges retraining courses and recruitment events for the coal mine workers. Which type of unemployment is the government trying to reduce?
May/June 2019
What is most likely to rise if an economy moves into a negative output gap?
May/June 2019
Labour from developing countries often migrates to developed countries and obtains employment. What effect would this movement of labour probably have on economic growth and on the pressure for wage increases in the developed country?
May/June 2020
The diagram presents selected US labour statistics from 2001 to 2013. What conclusion can be drawn from the diagram?
May/June 2020
What needs to be counted when calculating the number unemployed? all people of working age who are not in employment; people of pension age who still wish to work; part-time workers looking for full-time employment
May/June 2021
The diagram illustrates how the numbers employed in four different industries in a city changed between 2015 and 2020. What conclusion can be drawn from the diagram?
May/June 2021
Unemployment in an economy rises. What is a likely consequence?
May/June 2021
Explain the causes of unemployment and assess which is most likely to arise in a developing country.
May/June 2021
Using the data in Fig. 1.1, calculate how India’s unemployment rate changed between July 2020 and May 2021.
May/June 2023
A multinational company (MNC) relocates its production capacity to a developing country. What is likely to be the short-term effect of this in that developing country?
May/June 2023
Economists describe the unemployed as people who are not working but are actively looking for work. Among the other groups within the working-age population are those who are classified as inactive or self-employed. Which groups of people are counted as part of a country’s labour force?
May/June 2023
Four citizens have all been out of work for the last six months. Which citizen would not be described as structurally unemployed?
May/June 2023
When a multinational company (MNC) relocates its production capacity to a developing country, what is likely to happen in the short run in that developing country?
May/June 2023
Economists describe the unemployed as people who are out of work but are actively looking for a job. Other people of working age may be classified as inactive or self-employed. Which groups of people are counted as part of a country’s labour force?
May/June 2023
What is most likely to happen if the natural rate of unemployment falls?
May/June 2024
For 2020 in a country, the unemployment rate for the 16–64 age group who were seeking work was 4.0%. Over the same period, the employment rate for this group was 76.6%. What conclusion can be drawn from this?
May/June 2024
What is most likely to happen as a result of a decrease in the natural rate of unemployment?
May/June 2024
The table shows the percentage (%) rates of youth unemployment and total unemployment in France and the UK in 2001 and 2005. What conclusions can be drawn from the table?
May/June 2024
Explain what internal economies of scale mean, using an example from the information.
May/June 2024
The manufacturing share of an economy’s real GDP declined from 30% in 1990 to 12% in 2023. What type of unemployment would this have caused?
May/June 2025
What does hysteresis unemployment mean?
May/June 2025
Using an injections and withdrawals graph, assess the effect of a decrease in interest rates on the level of employment in an economy.
May/June 2025
Explain, using examples, why labour productivity may differ from one country to another.
Oct/Nov 2007
What factors could cause a country’s labour force to grow?
Oct/Nov 2009
The table presents the unemployment rate and population for selected countries in 2009. What conclusion can be drawn from this information?
Oct/Nov 2011
Which of the following is not one of the criteria used by the International Labour Office to decide whether a person is classified as unemployed during a labour force survey?
Oct/Nov 2012
Which type of unemployment resulted from the global fall in demand for electronic goods that began in the summer of 2001?
Oct/Nov 2012
A nation has a population of 100 million. 5 million people are unemployed, and the unemployment rate in the country is 10%. What is the size of the labour force?
Oct/Nov 2013
What could be one combination of a cost and a benefit of increasing unemployment levels?
Oct/Nov 2013
The number of people employed in a country and the level of unemployment both fall. What might account for this?
Oct/Nov 2014
Employment is likely to fall if wages fall. Employment is likely to fall if wages rise. Decide whether these seemingly opposite claims are correct when analysing the demand for and supply of labour.
Oct/Nov 2014
As the amount of overtime worked in manufacturing industry rises over a given period, what consequence is likely to follow?
Oct/Nov 2016
The rise in a country’s labour productivity is greater than the rise in its real national output. What might account for this?
Oct/Nov 2016
What might cause the size of a country’s labour force to grow?
Oct/Nov 2017
The table presents unemployment figures (%) for four countries in 1993 and 2002. UK Japan France Italy 1993 10.5 2.5 11.4 10.1 2002 5.0 5.4 8.8 8.5 What conclusions can be drawn from the table?
Oct/Nov 2017
Analyse what factors could lead to a rise in unemployment in an economy.
Oct/Nov 2017
What criteria are applied in official labour market surveys to decide whether a person is classified as unemployed?
Oct/Nov 2018
In 2007, Turkey's population stood at 73 m. The labour force totalled 36 m, with 12 m trained for the primary sector and 24 m trained for the secondary and tertiary sectors. The unemployment rate was 10%. How many people were unemployed?
Oct/Nov 2018
An economy’s manufacturing proportion of real GDP dropped from 30% in 1970 to 12% in 2016. What type of unemployment would this lead to?
Oct/Nov 2018
Which of the following is most likely to lead to a rise in unemployment?
Oct/Nov 2018
The table shows the percentages for youth unemployment and total unemployment in France and the UK in 2001 and 2005. What conclusions can be drawn from the table?
Oct/Nov 2019
The table gives data on employment in a country. year: 2012 numbers employed 10 m unemployment rate (%) 2; 2017 numbers employed 11 m unemployment rate (%) 10. What conclusion can be drawn from the table about the country in the period 2012 to 2017?
Oct/Nov 2019
What is most likely to increase if unemployment is rising in an economy?
Oct/Nov 2019
From January to March 2019, the table presents labour market statistics for Malaysia: employed 15m; unemployed 0.5m; not available for work 7m; population of working age 23m. How large is Malaysia’s labour force?
Oct/Nov 2021
What effect does this increase in employment have on labour productivity per hour?
Oct/Nov 2022
Because Country X has a low inflation rate, a stable currency and unemployed resources, it receives $25 billion in direct foreign investment. What is most likely to be one positive effect of this foreign direct investment inflow on country X?
Oct/Nov 2022
What would be the most probable cause of a fall in frictional unemployment?
Oct/Nov 2023
Using the data in Table 1.1, calculate the percentage change in the average real global price of oil between 2014 and 2020.
Oct/Nov 2023
When a pandemic causes many workers in developed countries to work from home, city centre businesses such as coffee shops and retailers close. If this pattern of working goes on after the pandemic, what is the most likely outcome?
Oct/Nov 2023
In an economy, unemployment increases because incomes drop as a result of a virus pandemic. How would this unemployment be classified?
Oct/Nov 2024
In a country, the number of people in employment and the unemployment level both fall. What might account for this?
Oct/Nov 2024