JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus | Download or View the PDF here

This is to inform all JAMB candidates offering Economics that the new Syllabus for 2019/2020 Jamb exam is out. Candidates can download or view the pdf format here.

The Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination syllabus for Commerce is designed to prepare the candidates for the Board’s examination.

 The following are what this syllabus strives to achieve:

1. demonstrate sufficient knowledge and understanding of the basic concepts, tolls and their general applications to economic analysis;
2. identify and explain the basic structure, operations and roles of the various economics units and institutions (national and international)
3. describe major economic activities production, distribution and consumption;
4.  identify and appraise the basic economic problems of society
5. develop the competence to proffer solutions to economic problems.

Jamb Economics Syllabus 2019/2020 Topics

1. Economics as a science [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Basic Concepts: Wants, Scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, Rationality, production, distribution, consumption etc
b. Economic problems of: what, how and for whom to produce

2. Economic Systems [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Types: free enterprise, centrally planned and mixed economies
b. Solutions to economic problems under different systems
c. Contemporary issues in economic systems (e.g. economic reforms, de      regulationetc).

3. Methods of Economic Analysis [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Scientific Approach:

i. inductive and deductive methods
ii. positive and normative reasoning

b. Basic Tools

 i. tables, charts and graphs
ii. measures of central tendency: mean, median and mode, and their applications.
iii. measures of dispersion; variance, standard deviation, range and their applications;
iv. merits and demerits of the tools.

4. The Theory of Demand [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a.

i. meaning and determinants of demand
ii. demand schedules and curves
iii. the distinction between change in quantity demanded and change in demand.

b. Types of demand: Composite, derived, competitive etc
c. Elasticity of demand: determinants, measurements, nature and applications (e.g. revenue).
d. Effects of changes in the determinants (price, income and cross-elasticities).

5. The Theory of Consumer Behaviour [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Basic Concepts:

i. utility (cardinal, ordinal and marginal utilities)
ii. value in use and value in exchange
iii. indifference curve and budget line.

b. Diminishing marginal utility and the law of demand.
c. Consumer equilibrium using the indifference curve and marginal analyses.
d. Effects of shift in the budget line and the indifference curve.
e. Consumer surplus and its applications.

6. The Theory of Supply [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a.

i. Meaning and determinants of supply
ii. Supply schedules and supply curves
iii. the distinction between change in quantity supplied and change in supply

b. Types of Supply: Joint/complementary, competitive and composite
c. Elasticity of Supply: determinants, measurements, nature and applications

7. The Theory of Price Determination [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. The concepts of market and price
b. Functions of the price system
c.

i. Price determination under a free market
ii. Price legislation and its effects

d. The effects of changes in supply and demand on equilibrium price and quantity

8. The Theory of Production [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

 a. Concepts of production and their interrelationships (TP, AP, MP and thelaw of variable proportion).
b. Scale of Production: Internal and external economies of scale and theirimplications.
c. Production functions and returns to scale
d. Producers’ equilibrium isoquant-isocost and marginal analyses.

9. Theory of Costs [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. The concepts of cost: Fixed, Variable Average and Marginal
b. Accountants’ and Economists’ notions of cost
c. Short-run and long-run costs
d. The marginal cost and the supply curve of firm.

10. Market Structure [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Perfectly competitive market:

i. Assumptions and characteristics;
ii. Short-run and long-run equilibrium of a perfect competitor;

b. Imperfect Market:

i. Pure monopoly, discriminatory monopoly and monopolistic competition.
ii. Short-run and long-run equilibrium positions.

c. Break-even/shut-down analysis in the various markets.

11. National Income [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Concepts: GNP, GDP, NI etc
b. National Income measurements and their problems
c. Uses of national incomes estimates
d. The circular flow of income (three sector model)
e. The multiplier concept.
f. Elementary theory of income determination and equilibrium national income.

12. Money and Inflation [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Types and functions of money
b. Demand for money and the supply of money
c. Quantity Theory of money (Fisher equation)
d. Inflation: Types, measurements, effects and control

13. Banking [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Types and functions of banks
b. The creation of money
c. Challenges facing the banking industry in Nigeria (reforms, consolidation)
d. The role of banks in economic development
e. Monetary policy and its instruments.

14. Public Finance [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Meaning and objectives
b. Sources of government revenue (taxes royalties, etc)
c. Principles of taxation
d. The effects of public expenditure
e. Government budget and public debts
f. Revenue allocation and resource control in Nigeria

15. Economic Growth and Development [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Meaning and scope
b. Indicators of growth and development
c. Factors affecting growth and development
d. Problems of development in Nigeria
e. Developing planning in Nigeria.

16. Agriculture in Nigeria [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. The role of agriculture in economic development;
b. Characteristics and problems;
c. Effects of agricultural policies;
d. Instability in agricultural income (causes, effects and solutions)

17. Industry and Industrialization [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Concepts and effects of location and localization of industry in Nigeria;
b. Problems of Industrialization strategies (e.g. export promotion, import
substitution etc)
c. SMEs and econ

omic development in Nigeria

18. Petroleum and the Nigerian Economy [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Development of the petroleum industry in Nigeria;
b. Contributions of petroleum to the Nigerian economy;
c. Linkage effects;
d. Upstream/downstream activities.

19. Business Organizations [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Private enterprises (e.g. sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability companies
and cooperative societies)
b. Problems of private enterprises;
c. Public enterprises;
d. Privatization and Commercialization as solutions to the problems of public enterprises.

20. Population [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Meaning and theories;
b. Census: importance and problems.
c. Size and growth: over-population, underpopulation and optimum population.
d. Structure and distribution;
e. Population policy and economic development.

21. International Trade [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Meaning and basis for international trade (absolute and comparative costs etc)
b. Balance of trade and balance of payments: problems and corrective measures;
c. Composition and direction of Nigeria’s foreign trade;
d. Exchange rate: meaning, types and determination.

22. International Economic Organizations [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

Roles and relevance of international organization e.g. ECOWAS, AU, EU, OPEC, ECA, IMF, EEC, OECD, World Bank, IBRD, WTO, ADB and UNCTAD etc to Nigeria.

23. Factors of Production and their Theories [JAMB 2019/2020 Economics Syllabus]

a. Types, features and rewards;
b. Determination of wages, interest and profits;
c. Theories: marginal productivity theory of wages and liquidity preference theory;
d. Factor mobility and efficiency;
e. Unemployment

Jamb Economics Syllabus 2019/2020 Recommended Textbook

• Aderinto, A.A names(s)? (1996). Economics: Exam Focus, Ibadan: University Press Plc.
• Black, J. (1997). Oxford Dictionary of Economics. Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Eyiyere, D.O. (1980). Economics Made Easy, Benin City, Quality Publishers Ltd.
• Fajana, F et al (1999). Countdown to SSCE/JME Economics Ibadan: Evans
• Falodun, A.B. et al (1997). Round-up Economics, Lagos: Longman
• Kountsoyiannis, A. (1979). Modern Microeconomics, London: Macmillan
• Lawal, O.A. (1985). Success in Economics, London: John Muray.
• Lipsey, R.G. (1997). An Introduction to Positive Economics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Samuelson, P and Nordhaus, W. (1989). Economics, Singapore: McGraw-Hill
• Udu E and Agu G.A. (2005). New System Economics: a Senior Secondary Course, Ibadan: Africana FIRST Publishers Ltd.
• Wannacott and Wannacott (1979). Economics, New York: McGraw-Hill.
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