If you are an economics student preparing to take the 2024 JAMB exam, then you should have the updated JAMB Syllabus for Economics this year. Having this will give you an edge/advantage in the coming exam as it will serve as a guide to your study.
It’s not enough to just study, you need to study the right materials and the right topics for the said subject; in this case, economics.
The JAMB Economics syllabus also contains objectives for each topic mentioned. These objectives are what you must know for every topic you study.
With that being said, let’s get to it.
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JAMB Syllabus for Economics Exam 2024/2025
#1. Natural Resources and The Nigerian Economy
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- trace the development of the major natural resources in Nigeria.
- assess the contribution of the oil and the non-oil sectors to the Nigerian economy.
- establish the linkages between the natural resources and other sectors.
- analyse the environmental effects of exploitation activities in Nigeria.
- distinguish between the upstream and downstream activities in the oil sector.
- examine the roles of NNPC and OPEC in the oil sector.
- suggest ways of controlling the effects of natural resource exploitation.
Content
- Development of major natural resources (petroleum, gold, diamond, timber, etc).
- Contributions of the oil and the non-oil sectors to the Nigerian economy.
- Linkage effects.
- Upstream/downstream of the oil sector.
- The role of NNPC and OPEC in the oil sector.
- Challenges facing natural resources exploitation.
#2. The Theory of Consumer Behaviour
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- Appraising the various utility concepts.
- apply the law of demand using the marginal utility analysis.
- use indifference curve and marginal analyses to determine consumer equilibrium.
- associate the income and substitution effects.
- apply consumer surplus to real-life situations.
Content
- Basic Concepts:
- utility (cardinal, ordinal and marginal utilities).
- indifference curve and budget line.
- Diminishing marginal utility and the law of demand.
- Consumer equilibrium using the indifference curve and marginal analyses.
- Effects of shift in the budget line and the indifference curve.
- Consumer surplus and its applications.
#3. The Theory of Price Determination
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- explain the concepts of market and price.
- examine the functions of the price system.
- evaluate the effects of government interference with the price system.
- differentiate between minimum and maximum price legislation.
- interpret the effects of changes in supply and demand on equilibrium price and quantity.
Content
- The concepts of market and price.
- Functions of the price system.
- Equilibrium price and quantity in product and factor markets.
- Price legislation and its effects.
- The effects of changes in supply and demand on equilibrium price and quantity.
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#4. Agriculture in Nigeria
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- identify the types and features of agriculture.
- examine the characteristics and problems of agriculture.
- assess the role of agriculture in economic development.
- appraise agricultural policies in Nigeria.
- evaluate the causes and effects of instability in agricultural incomes.
Content
- Types and features.
- The role of agriculture in economic development.
- Problems of agriculture.
- Effects of agricultural policies and their effects.
- Instability in agricultural incomes (causes, effects and solutions).
#5. Business Organizations
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- compare the types and basic features of private business organizations.
- assess the financing and management problems of business organizations.
- identify the features of public enterprises.
- identify the factors determining the size of firms.
- differentiate between privatization and commercialization.
- compare the advantages and disadvantages of privatization and commercialization.
Content
- Private enterprises (e.g. sole-proprietorship, partnership, limited liability companies, and cooperative societies).
- Problems of private enterprises.
- Public enterprises and their problems.
- Funding and management of business organizations.
- Factors determining the size of firms.
- Privatization and Commercialization as solutions to the problems of public enterprises.
#6. Economic Growth and Development
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- distinguish between economic growth and development.
- highlight the indicators of growth and development.
- identify the factors affecting growth and development.
- assess the problems of development in Nigeria.
- examine the role of planning in development.
Content
- Meaning and scope.
- Indicators of growth and development.
- Factors affecting growth and development.
- Problems of development in Nigeria.
- Developing planning in Nigeria.
#7. Economic Systems
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- compare the various economic systems.
- apply the knowledge of economic systems to contemporary issues in Nigeria.
- proffer solutions to economic problems in different economic systems.
Content
- Types: free enterprise, centrally planned, and mixed economies.
- Solutions to economic problems under different systems.
- Contemporary issues in economic systems (e.g. economic reforms, deregulation, banking sector consolidation, cash policy reform).
#8. Economics as A Science
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- compare various concepts in economics and their applications.
- interpret graphs/schedules in relation to the concepts.
- identify economic problems.
- proffer solutions to economic problems.
Content
- Basic Concepts: Wants, Scarcity, choice, scale of preference, opportunity cost, Rationality, production, distribution, consumption.
- Economic problems of: What, how, and for whom to produce and efficiency of resource use.
- Application of PPF to the solution of economic problems.
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#9. Factors of Production and Their Theories
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- identify the types; features and rewards of factors.
- analyse the determination of wages, interest, and profits.
- interpret the marginal productivity of liquidity preference theories.
- examine factors mobility and efficiency.
- examine the types and causes of unemployment in Nigeria.
- suggest solutions to unemployment in Nigeria.
Content
- Types, features, and rewards.
- Determination of wages, interest, and profits.
- Theories: marginal productivity theory of wages and liquidity preference theory.
- Factor mobility and efficiency.
- Unemployment and its solution
#10. Financial Institutions
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- Identify the types and functions of financial institutions.
- Explain the roles of financial institutions in economic development.
- Distinguish between the money and capital markets.
- Identify the various financial sector regulators and their functions.
- Explain the money creation process and its challenges.
- Examine the various monetary policy instruments and their effects.
- Appraise the challenges facing the financial institutions in Nigeria.
Content
- Types and functions of financial institutions (traditional, central bank, mortgage banks, merchant banks, insurance companies, building societies).
- The role of financial institutions in economic development.
- Money and capital markets.
- Financial sector regulations.
- Deposit money banks and the creation of money.
- Monetary policy and its instruments.
- Challenges facing financial institutions in Nigeria.
#11. Industry and Industrialization
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- differentiate between location and localization of industry.
- identify the factors influencing the location and localization of industry.
- examine the problems of industrialization.
- appraise some industrialization strategies.
- examine the role of industry in economic development.
Content
- Concepts and effects of location and localization of industry in Nigeria.
- Strategies and Industrialization in Nigeria.
- Industrialization and economic development in Nigeria.
- Funding and management of a business organization.
- Factors determining the size of firms.
#12. International Economic Organizations
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- identify the various economic organizations and their functions.
- evaluate their relevance to the Nigerian economy.
Content
- 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.
#13. International Trade
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- examine the basis for international trade.
- differentiate between absolute and comparative advantages.
- distinguish between balance of trade and balance of payments and their corrective measures.
- highlight the problems of balance of payments and their corrective measures.
- examine the composition and direction of NigeriaÂ’s foreign trade.
- identify the types of exchange rates.
- examine how exchange rates are determined.
Content
- Meaning and basis for international trade (absolute and comparative costs etc).
- Balance of trade and balance of payments: problems and corrective measures.
- Composition and direction of NigeriaÂ’s foreign trade
- Exchange rate: meaning, types, and determination.
#14. Market Structures
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- analyse the assumptions and characteristics of a perfectly competitive market.
- differentiate between the short-run and long-run equilibrium of a perfectly competitive firm.
- analyse the assumptions and characteristics of imperfect markets.
- differentiate between the short-run and long-run equilibria of imperfectly competitive firms.
- establish the conditions for the break-even/shutdown of firms.
Content
- Perfectly competitive market:
- Assumptions and characteristics.
- Short-run and long-run equilibrium of a perfect competitor.
- Imperfect Market:
- Pure monopoly, discriminatory monopoly, and monopolistic competition.
- Short-run and long-run equilibrium positions.
- Break-even/shut-down analysis in the various markets.
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#15. Methods and Tools of Economic Analysis
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- distinguish between the various forms of reasoning.
- apply these forms of reasoning to real life situations.
- use the tools to interpret economic data.
- analyse economic data using the tools.
- assess the merits and demerits of the tools.
Content
- Scientific Approach:
- inductive and deductive methods.
- positive and normative reasoning.
- Basic Tools:
- tables, charts, and graphs.
- measures of central tendency: mean, median, and mode, and their applications.
- measures of dispersion; variance, standard deviation, range, and their applications.
- merits and demerits of the tools.
#16. Money and Inflation
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- explain between the types, characteristics, and functions of money.
- identify the factors affecting the demand for and the supply of money.
- examine the relationship between the value of money and the price level.
- identify the components in the quantity theory of money.
- examine the causes and effects of inflation.
- calculate the consumer price index.
- interpret the consumer price index.
- examine ways of controlling inflation.
- examine the causes, measurement, effects, and control of deflation.
Content
- Types, characteristics, and functions of money.
- Demand for money and the supply of money.
- Quantity Theory of money (Fisher equation).
- The value of money and the price level.
- Inflation: Types, measurements, effects, and control.
- Deflation: Measurements, effects, and control.
#17. National Income
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- identify the major concepts in national income.
- compare the different ways of measuring national income.
- examine their problems.
- assess the uses and limitations of national income estimates.
- interpret the circular flow of income using the three-sector model.
- calculate the multipliers.
- evaluate their effects on equilibrium national income.
- explain the concepts of consumption, investment, and savings.
Content
- The Concepts of GNP, GDP, NI, NNP.
- National Income measurements and their problems.
- Uses and limitations of national income estimates.
- The circular flow of income (two and three-sector models).
- The concepts of consumption, investment, and savings.
- The multiplier and its effects.
- Elementary theory of income determination and equilibrium national income.
#18. Population
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- analyse the features of some population theories.
- examine the relevance of the theories to Nigeria.
- examine the uses and limitations of census data.
- identify determinants of the size, composition, and growth of population.
- analyse the structure and distribution of population.
- appraise government population policy in Nigeria.
Content
- Meaning and theories.
- Census: importance and problems.
- Size and growth: over-population, under-population, and optimum population.
- Structure and distribution.
- Population policy and economic development.
#19. Public Finance
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- identify the objectives of public finance.
- explain fiscal policy and its instruments.
- compare the various sources of government revenue.
- analyse the principles of taxation.
- analyse the incidence of taxation and its effects.
- examine the effects of public expenditure on the economy.
- examine the types and effects of budgets.
- highlight the criteria for revenue allocation in Nigeria and their impact.
Content
- Meaning and objectives.
- Fiscal policy and its instruments.(c) Sources of government revenue (taxes royalties, rents, grants, and aids).
- Principles of taxation.
- Tax incidence and its effects.
- The effects of public expenditure.
- Government budget and public debts.
- Revenue allocation and resource control in Nigeria.
#20. The Theory of Demand
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- identify the factors determining demand.
- interpret demand curves from demand schedules.
- differentiate between change in quantity demanded and in demand.
- compare the various types of demand and their interrelationships.
- relate the determinants to the nature of elasticity.
- compute elasticities.
- interpret elasticity coefficients in relation to real life situations.
Content
(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 and joint demand.
(c) Types, nature, and determinants of elasticity and their measurement- price, income and cross elasticity of demand.
(d) Importance of elasticity of demand to consumers, producers and government.
#21. The Theory of Production
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- relate TP, AP and MP with the law of variable proportion.
- compare internal and external economies of scale in production and their effects.
- identify the types of production functions.
- compare the different types of returns to the scale and their implications.
- determine the firmÂ’s equilibrium position using the isoquant-isocost and marginal analyses.
- identify the factors affecting productivity.
Content
- Meaning and types of production.
- Concepts of production and their interrelationships (TP, AP, MP and the law of variable proportion).
- Division of labour and specialization.
- Scale of Production: Internal and external economies of scale and their implications.
- Production functions and returns to scale.
- ProducersÂ’ equilibrium isoquant-isocost and marginal analyses.
- Factors affecting productivity.
#22. The Theory of Supply
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- identify the factors determining supply.
- interpret supply curves from supply schedules.
- differentiate between change in quantity supplied and change in supply.
- compare the various types of supply and their interrelationships.
- relate the determinants to the nature of elasticity.
- compute elasticity coefficients.
- interpret the coefficients in relation to real live situations.
Content
(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.
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#23. Theory of Costs and Revenue
Objectives
Candidates should be able to do the following:
- Explain the various cost concepts.
- Differentiate between accountantsÂ’ and economistsÂ’ notions of costs.
- Interpret the short-run and long-run cost curves.
- Establish the relationship between marginal cost and supply curve.
- Explain the various revenue concepts.
Content
- Concepts of cost: Fixed, Variable, Total Average, and Marginal.
- Concepts of revenue: Total, average, and marginal revenue.
- AccountantsÂ’ and EconomistsÂ’ notions of cost.
- Short-run and long-run costs.
- The marginal cost and the supply curve of firm.
JAMB Recommended Textbooks for Economics Exam
- Aderinto, A.A et al (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.
- Brownson-oton Richard (2010) What is Micro-Economics? Niky Printing and Publishing coy.
- Brownson-oton Richard (2010) What is Macro-Economics? Niky Printing and Publishing coy.
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In Summary
There you have it, the updated JAMB Syllabus for Economics Exam 2024, and the recommended textbooks you should read to help you pass the exam.
This JAMB Syllabus for Economics Exam is very important because, without it, you will not know where to concentrate while studying for your exam.
So make good use of this information and let your friends know about this by sharing this post right now with them. You can even form a reading group and discuss the home economics syllabus as you get ready for your exam.
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