Economics 9708 · AS & A Level
Resource allocation in different economic systems
100 practice questions on Resource allocation in different economic systems, with worked solutions and instant marking.
Explain how governments experience rising opportunity cost when making decisions. Support your response with a production possibility curve diagram.
Feb/March 2018
Which shift in how resources are allocated within an economy matches a move from a planned economy to a market economy?
Feb/March 2020
Explain with the help of a production possibility curve diagram(s) how a decision to re-allocate resources in an economy to produce more capital goods and fewer consumer goods would affect consumers in both the short run and the long run.
Feb/March 2022
In which situation is the price system not a possible way of allocating resources?
Feb/March 2023
Explain the functions of price in resource allocation and consider how important these functions are for the possible effectiveness of a market economy.
Feb/March 2023
Which statement about a market economy is incorrect?
Feb/March 2025
Using a production possibility curve (PPC) diagram, explain scarcity and choice, and judge the extent to which every choice has an equal opportunity cost.
Feb/March 2025
Explain how enterprise and division of labour contribute to an economy.
May/June 2007
Explain the three economic questions that all economies face because of the basic economic problem.
May/June 2008
An economy is able to make agricultural and industrial goods. Explain what may happen to its production possibility curve if the productivity of agricultural workers rises.
May/June 2009
In a command economy, what determines how factors of production are allocated?
May/June 2010
What does not occur when price is used as the method for allocating resources?
May/June 2010
In a command economy, what determines how the factors of production are allocated?
May/June 2010
What is not happening when price serves as the mechanism for allocating resources?
May/June 2010
In a command economy, what is used as the basis for deciding how factors of production are allocated?
May/June 2010
Using examples, explain why different economic decision makers encounter the problem of scarcity.
May/June 2010
What is likely to be higher in a planned economy than in a market economy?
May/June 2011
What is likely to be higher in a planned economy than in a market economy?
May/June 2011
What is likely to be larger in a planned economy than in a market economy?
May/June 2011
Explain how an economic system functions.
May/June 2011
Explain how resources are distributed in a free market economy.
May/June 2011
The phrase ‘transition economy’ refers to a country that is
May/June 2012
Which is not a function of the price mechanism?
May/June 2012
What is one feature of a planned economy?
May/June 2012
The term ‘transition economy’ refers to a country that is
May/June 2012
Which item is not a function of the price mechanism?
May/June 2012
Explain the effect of a loss of confidence in money on an economy’s production possibility curve.
May/June 2012
Explain why every type of economic system gains from the existence and use of money.
May/June 2012
Explain whether the factors of production are always equally important in economic terms both within and between economies.
May/June 2012
In which situation is the price system not a possible method for allocating resources?
May/June 2013
An economy has shifted from a command economy to a market economy. What could rise after this change?
May/June 2013
What is likely to happen when an economy changes from state planning to a market system?
May/June 2013
Using a diagram, explain the ways in which a production possibility curve can demonstrate opportunity cost and economic growth.
May/June 2013
What is most likely to happen in the short run if central planning is replaced by a market-based system?
May/June 2014
When some former command economies have moved towards market economies, they have sometimes taken a gradual approach. This has involved keeping certain parts of the command system in place. Which is not a valid short-run reason for retaining the feature shown?
May/June 2014
Explain how private goods differ from public goods, and why a business can earn a profit from supplying private goods but not from supplying a public good.
May/June 2014
In order to raise their economic performance, Eastern European countries have moved away from planned economies towards mixed economies. What is the most likely general result of this change?
May/June 2015
The shift from centrally planned economies to market economies was accompanied by a major change in the composition of output. What was one immediate result of this transition?
May/June 2016
What is required for specialisation to be effective?
May/June 2016
What is likely to happen to bus travel in the market if an economy changed from a mixed economy to a market economy?
May/June 2017
In which area is the planned economy likely to provide greater benefits than the market economy?
May/June 2017
Explain the function of profit in an economy in which the price mechanism is used to allocate resources.
May/June 2017
Which of the following is certainly a feature of a nationalised industry?
May/June 2018
What is most likely to be seen as an advantage for producers and a disadvantage for consumers in a planned economy?
May/June 2018
Under what set of circumstances do prices have no influence on how resources are allocated between alternative uses, yet still act as a rationing mechanism?
May/June 2018
Explain the different methods by which resources are allocated in a market economy and a mixed economy.
May/June 2018
A government aims to shift its economy from central planning towards a market economy. Which policy would fit this objective?
May/June 2019
Explain, with the help of diagrams, how (i) constant and (ii) increasing opportunity costs influence the shape of an economy’s production possibility curve.
May/June 2019
As centrally planned economies moved to market economies, the mix of output changed considerably. What was one immediate result of this shift?
May/June 2020
What is an important role of the price mechanism?
May/June 2020
Which of the following would not count as a barter transaction?
May/June 2020
Use production possibility curve diagram(s) to show the difference between economic growth and a decrease in the amount of unused resources in an economy, and explain one reason that could bring about each one.
May/June 2020
Which feature of a planned economy could be seen as negative by a consumer but positive by a producer?
May/June 2021
Rail services are transferred from the private sector to the public sector. Which statement must be true?
May/June 2021
Assess the claim that a free market economy is neither possible nor desirable.
May/June 2021
Assess the suggestion that a free market economy is neither possible nor desirable.
May/June 2021
Which of the following does not occur when price is used as a way to allocate resources?
May/June 2022
What is the principal feature of a planned economy?
May/June 2022
Explain, using examples, why merit goods are classified as private goods rather than public goods.
May/June 2022
Using a production possibility curve diagram(s), compare growth in the productive capacity of an economy with growth that occurs when the amount of unused resources in an economy falls. Explain one reason that could lead to each one.
May/June 2022
What would be absent in a free-market, open economy?
May/June 2022
Which feature would not be present in a free-market, open economy?
May/June 2022
Which feature is not a characteristic of a mixed economy?
May/June 2023
With the use of examples, explain how public goods differ from merit goods and assess whether markets will always supply sufficient amounts of both goods.
May/June 2024
Which of the following is not a function of the price mechanism?
May/June 2025
Explain how production possibility curves can be applied when judging a country’s economic performance.
Oct/Nov 2006
Explain how resources are allocated within a market economy.
Oct/Nov 2007
What is usually regarded as one benefit of using the price mechanism as a rationing device?
Oct/Nov 2009
What is usually regarded as one benefit of using the price mechanism as a rationing device?
Oct/Nov 2009
Which disadvantages are most likely to occur in a market economy?
Oct/Nov 2010
Which disadvantages are most likely to arise in a market economy?
Oct/Nov 2010
Which disadvantages are most likely to occur in a market economy?
Oct/Nov 2010
Using the relevant type of elasticity of demand, explain the terms
Oct/Nov 2010
With reference to the relevant type of elasticity of demand, explain the terms
Oct/Nov 2010
If demand for a good decreases, its price decreases. What is the role of the price decrease?
Oct/Nov 2011
Which of the following is not a role that prices play in a perfectly competitive market economy?
Oct/Nov 2011
What is the key feature that defines a mixed economy?
Oct/Nov 2012
In what situation would it be necessary to use an alternative to the price mechanism in order to allocate a good among consumers?
Oct/Nov 2012
In what way is labour distributed in a market economy and in a planned economy?
Oct/Nov 2012
Explain, using a production possibility diagram, how the opportunity cost of producing different combinations of goods can be measured.
Oct/Nov 2012
In which circumstances will prices have no influence on deciding how resources are distributed among alternative uses, yet could still act as a rationing device?
Oct/Nov 2013
Which is usually regarded as one advantage of using the price mechanism as a rationing device?
Oct/Nov 2013
In a centrally planned economy, free market forces are given a major role in deciding how economic resources are distributed. What is most likely to happen in the short run?
Oct/Nov 2013
Explain the role that the enterprise factor of production plays in a free market economy, then compare it with the roles of the other factors in the production process.
Oct/Nov 2013
What is most likely to happen when a command economy begins to move towards a market economy?
Oct/Nov 2013
Discuss whether an economy would be better served if resources were allocated entirely by the private sector through the market system.
Oct/Nov 2013
What does the allocation of resources in a market economy involve?
Oct/Nov 2014
Using a diagram, explain how prices are used to allocate scarce resources in a market economy.
Oct/Nov 2014
Which characteristic of travelling by road would appear in a mixed economy but not in a pure market economy?
Oct/Nov 2015
What might account for the fact that, in the short term, a shift from a planned economy to a market economy often leads to a fall in national output?
Oct/Nov 2015
Explain the functions of price, enterprise and profit in a free market economy.
Oct/Nov 2015
If demand for a good decreases, its price also decreases. What is the role of the price fall?
Oct/Nov 2016
Which feature is most likely to distinguish the healthcare system in a mixed economy?
Oct/Nov 2016
Which shift in economic system is most likely to cause the largest increase in unemployment together with the biggest reduction in economic regulation?
Oct/Nov 2016
The diagram illustrates the demand and supply curves for parking spaces in a hospital car park. The managers decide to depend on the price mechanism to allocate parking spaces at the hospital. What must be present for this to operate?
Oct/Nov 2017
What does price not do when it serves as a way to allocate resources?
Oct/Nov 2017
Show how a movement along, and a shift in, a production possibility curve differ. Explain the possible causes of each. Use diagrams to support your response.
Oct/Nov 2017
What is usually regarded as one benefit of using the price mechanism as a rationing device?
Oct/Nov 2018
During 1995 to 2000, all of the countries named below shifted towards a market economy through privatisation programmes. Which country had the slowest pace of transition?
Oct/Nov 2018
‘Free markets make the most efficient use of resources and form the basis of a successful economy.’ To what extent do you agree with this view?
Oct/Nov 2019