Economics 7 without Theory of the Firm?

[kaus123]

Hey everyone,

So long story short I was originally in Econ SL, moved to HL and never got to studying/properly understanding Theory of the Firm from Micro. Now I know that its a pretty big section and important but my question can I still get a 7 without studying it but studying everyhing else (including the other HL Topics)?

My teacher says no but I think its possible because Paper 1 and 2 are very nicely divided with questions from all sections and in Paper 3 I would just have to manoevre my technique so to say. I have a high 6 on my IAs and have been getting low 6s on practice papers with no knowledge of Theory of the Firm.

So is a 7 still possible by studying everything but ToF? Your thoughts

[itsjustib]

I'm in HL and not planning to answer a TOTF question. It shouldnt be a problem at all. You have macro, trade/international eco and development to choose on paper 1, and you also only have 1 TOTF on paper 2 usually, so you're safe!

[Ika Lob]

You are choosing not to answer a question from the easiest part of the syllabus because.... why?

[Matthew Sinclair]

I agree, theory of the firm is the easiest part of the syllabus. It is also one of the parts that comes up in EVERY exam. So you know that if you study it, you'll be writing questions about it. It's very simple to memorise the definitions and diagrams. Examples are easy. You should really learn it and learn it well. Theory of the Firm (and Market Failure, Unemployment, Inflation, Taxation) are probably some of the easiest and most tested things that I would recommend as essential!

I would say, yes it's possible, any thing is. Although I would also say that it's more likely you would end up with a 5 or a 6 because you are limiting yourself in the exam to the choice of questions you have. It means you're forcing yourself to answer the other questions, which may be horrible and you might not know what to do. My advice, having choice is CRUCIAL in the exams. As I found out, this was the most important in economics (and english).

Good luck.

Study it, please!

[dessskris]

you can get at least a 6, I guess. if you are a good student that is. actually it depends on the questions that will come out..

it's true that Paper 1 and 2 are very nicely divided with questions from all sections and you'll need to use your economic knowledge from various chapters to answer one question.

I just want to let you know that in the theory of the firm, the concepts are very simple and easy to understand. just the diagrams are hard to memorise. I am in SL but the HL and SL classes are combined and the teacher made us learn HL topics too. so I learned this chapter and I understand it quite well. just remember the characteristics of each firm type and the diagrams and the shut down point, and you'll be fine. just spend a few hours reading it. who knows if you'll need it a lot.

good luck!

[kaus123]

You are choosing not to answer a question from the easiest part of the syllabus because.... why?

I agree, theory of the firm is the easiest part of the syllabus. It is also one of the parts that comes up in EVERY exam. So you know that if you study it, you'll be writing questions about it. It's very simple to memorise the definitions and diagrams. Examples are easy. You should really learn it and learn it well. Theory of the Firm (and Market Failure, Unemployment, Inflation, Taxation) are probably some of the easiest and most tested things that I would recommend as essential!

I would say, yes it's possible, any thing is. Although I would also say that it's more likely you would end up with a 5 or a 6 because you are limiting yourself in the exam to the choice of questions you have. It means you're forcing yourself to answer the other questions, which may be horrible and you might not know what to do. My advice, having choice is CRUCIAL in the exams. As I found out, this was the most important in economics (and english).

Good luck.

Study it, please!

you can get at least a 6, I guess. if you are a good student that is. actually it depends on the questions that will come out..

it's true that Paper 1 and 2 are very nicely divided with questions from all sections and you'll need to use your economic knowledge from various chapters to answer one question.

I just want to let you know that in the theory of the firm, the concepts are very simple and easy to understand. just the diagrams are hard to memorise. I am in SL but the HL and SL classes are combined and the teacher made us learn HL topics too. so I learned this chapter and I understand it quite well. just remember the characteristics of each firm type and the diagrams and the shut down point, and you'll be fine. just spend a few hours reading it. who knows if you'll need it a lot.

good luck!

To be honest whenever I tried studying ToF I didn't find at as easy as maybe some of you are making it seem but maybe that's just me. We all find some topics easier than others..

I completely agree that it shows up on every paper but due to the choice we have on Paper 3 (thank god), I'm just planning to answer questions relating to the other sections (I'm good at International, the SL part of Micro and Macro). And while doing past papers all this time there hasn't once been a case that I absolutely had to answer a ToF question because I couldn't do any others and fingers crossed this trend will follow for tomorrow's paper as well.

But personal opinions aside what are the most important things to know from ToF which show up just in case?

Thanks

[Matthew Sinclair]

Well maybe you are yet to sit the November 2010 Economics HL paper 3 (which I did last year for my finals)...I think it was impossible to sit that exam without Theory of the Firm. There were definitely 2 questions on it and I swear a third question contained part.

The IBO is smart, very smart. They make sure you study the syllabus in it's entirety. That's why the questions are often mixed in regards to the syllabus, so it could be part micro, part international.

Just be careful is what I'm saying! And don't say we didn't warn you that it's risky if you're going for a 7. If you were only needing a 5 I would say it wouldn't matter, but those who want 7s generally know the entire syllabus inside-and-out and are prepared to answer pretty much any question they are given.

Just dedicate a bit of time each week to ToF, you should be able to pick it up in time. Ask your teacher for more help maybe? Ask for someone else's notes? I strongly recommend you find the time to learn it if you are serious about the 7

[kaus123]

Well maybe you are yet to sit the November 2010 Economics HL paper 3 (which I did last year for my finals)...I think it was impossible to sit that exam without Theory of the Firm. There were definitely 2 questions on it and I swear a third question contained part.

The IBO is smart, very smart. They make sure you study the syllabus in it's entirety. That's why the questions are often mixed in regards to the syllabus, so it could be part micro, part international.

Just be careful is what I'm saying! And don't say we didn't warn you that it's risky if you're going for a 7. If you were only needing a 5 I would say it wouldn't matter, but those who want 7s generally know the entire syllabus inside-and-out and are prepared to answer pretty much any question they are given.

Just dedicate a bit of time each week to ToF, you should be able to pick it up in time. Ask your teacher for more help maybe? Ask for someone else's notes? I strongly recommend you find the time to learn it if you are serious about the 7

No,No I'm doing paper 3 tomorrow , otherwise I would definitely have had the time to study ToF and wouldn't be asking this question

That is why time is such a crucial factor here and I can't do much in the few hours I have. So I'mjust going through more past papers and revising everythings else I do know, hoping for the best. But just in case disaster strikes what do you think are the most important things from ToF that I definitely should know just in case?

[Matthew Sinclair]

Well maybe you are yet to sit the November 2010 Economics HL paper 3 (which I did last year for my finals)...I think it was impossible to sit that exam without Theory of the Firm. There were definitely 2 questions on it and I swear a third question contained part.

The IBO is smart, very smart. They make sure you study the syllabus in it's entirety. That's why the questions are often mixed in regards to the syllabus, so it could be part micro, part international.

Just be careful is what I'm saying! And don't say we didn't warn you that it's risky if you're going for a 7. If you were only needing a 5 I would say it wouldn't matter, but those who want 7s generally know the entire syllabus inside-and-out and are prepared to answer pretty much any question they are given.

Just dedicate a bit of time each week to ToF, you should be able to pick it up in time. Ask your teacher for more help maybe? Ask for someone else's notes? I strongly recommend you find the time to learn it if you are serious about the 7

No,No I'm doing paper 3 tomorrow , otherwise I would definitely have had the time to study ToF and wouldn't be asking this question

That is why time is such a crucial factor here and I can't do much in the few hours I have. So I'mjust going through more past papers and revising everythings else I do know, hoping for the best. But just in case disaster strikes what do you think are the most important things from ToF that I definitely should know just in case?

Ok, well in that case, I'd say it's better to focus on the other areas of the syllabus. MARKET FAILURE!! I cannot stress that one enough haha. It's so frequent! Make sure you have some real-world examples (or make some up haha).

If you do have a bit of time for ToF, then maybe the different market types (monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition, perfect competition) would be good to know...although that's a few diagrams to learn and a bit of memorisation...yet most of it is kind of generally knowledge like the characteristics of each are fairly obvious.

Maybe you could learn cost theory? Like the short run and long run cost curves, economies/diseconomies of scale?

At least familiarise yourself with the definitions but otherwise I think there's too much to learn in ToF as it is.

Maybe just focus on the rest of the syllabus. You're right in that you will be able to get around ToF and you could definitely still get a 7, just make sure you read the ENTIRETY of the questions before starting to make sure it doesn't have a bit of ToF in there. And if there's one part of the question with ToF, try and make it a part that doesn't count much so you can just make up something. Don't leave anything blank. Use your common sense/imagination/at least put down some examples and definitions or something. The 8 mark questions are of course the most important.

Make sure you use the 5 minute prep time to read through all the questions, although I suppose in your case your lucky because you can just skip ones (or one) that is CLEARLY ToF (if there even is one). Maybe because my exam had so much, yours won't.

Good luck and study your arse off!!

Edited May 16, 2011 by Matthew Sinclair

[kasandude]

I learned the basics to TotF in a few hours. Really, just skim through it and learn the graphs for the different market structures. And the questions for TotF from past papers were the easiest of the lot, so I see no reason why you wouldn't want to try to learn it. It's actually all very logical and simple, and effort vs. usefullness-in-exam is fairly low here, so you have nothing to lose...

[kaus123]

Well maybe you are yet to sit the November 2010 Economics HL paper 3 (which I did last year for my finals)...I think it was impossible to sit that exam without Theory of the Firm. There were definitely 2 questions on it and I swear a third question contained part.

The IBO is smart, very smart. They make sure you study the syllabus in it's entirety. That's why the questions are often mixed in regards to the syllabus, so it could be part micro, part international.

Just be careful is what I'm saying! And don't say we didn't warn you that it's risky if you're going for a 7. If you were only needing a 5 I would say it wouldn't matter, but those who want 7s generally know the entire syllabus inside-and-out and are prepared to answer pretty much any question they are given.

Just dedicate a bit of time each week to ToF, you should be able to pick it up in time. Ask your teacher for more help maybe? Ask for someone else's notes? I strongly recommend you find the time to learn it if you are serious about the 7

No,No I'm doing paper 3 tomorrow , otherwise I would definitely have had the time to study ToF and wouldn't be asking this question

That is why time is such a crucial factor here and I can't do much in the few hours I have. So I'mjust going through more past papers and revising everythings else I do know, hoping for the best. But just in case disaster strikes what do you think are the most important things from ToF that I definitely should know just in case?

Ok, well in that case, I'd say it's better to focus on the other areas of the syllabus. MARKET FAILURE!! I cannot stress that one enough haha. It's so frequent! Make sure you have some real-world examples (or make some up haha).

If you do have a bit of time for ToF, then maybe the different market types (monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition, perfect competition) would be good to know...although that's a few diagrams to learn and a bit of memorisation...yet most of it is kind of generally knowledge like the characteristics of each are fairly obvious.

Maybe you could learn cost theory? Like the short run and long run cost curves, economies/diseconomies of scale?

At least familiarise yourself with the definitions but otherwise I think there's too much to learn in ToF as it is.

Maybe just focus on the rest of the syllabus. You're right in that you will be able to get around ToF and you could definitely still get a 7, just make sure you read the ENTIRETY of the questions before starting to make sure it doesn't have a bit of ToF in there. And if there's one part of the question with ToF, try and make it a part that doesn't count much so you can just make up something. Don't leave anything blank. Use your common sense/imagination/at least put down some examples and definitions or something. The 8 mark questions are of course the most important.

Make sure you use the 5 minute prep time to read through all the questions, although I suppose in your case your lucky because you can just skip ones (or one) that is CLEARLY ToF (if there even is one). Maybe because my exam had so much, yours won't.

Good luck and study your arse off!!

Thank you so much! I was starting to get really worried here but I feel a bit better now.

I'll see how much time I have after revising everything else and try to understand the basic ToF concepts

*fingers crossed*

[Matthew Sinclair]

I learned the basics to TotF in a few hours. Really, just skim through it and learn the graphs for the different market structures. And the questions for TotF from past papers were the easiest of the lot, so I see no reason why you wouldn't want to try to learn it. It's actually all very logical and simple, and effort vs. usefullness-in-exam is fairly low here, so you have nothing to lose...

I agree here. If you have about 4 hours I reckon you can get through it all. Just be brief and have it in dot points. Memorise the graphs, they look confusing, but they're not too bad. It's easy as heck to memorise the characteristics of each firm, honestly, it's as simple as a monopoly has 1 firm, complete market share, high barriers to entry etc. Very simple and obvious. Think of some real world examples, and it becomes SO SO SO much easier to talk about. You basically describe the example. So Monopoly, I'd use "Australia Post" (our postal service). There is only one firm in the market, they have complete market share, there are high barriers to entry (well actually the government prevents entry I think), they are capable of supernatural profits in the short run which can be sustained into the long run etc...I could make all of this up just by thinking about Australia Post.

Perfect Competition = few real world examples, the closest I said was grain farmers in the EU as they produce homogenous products (identical and indistinguishable by consumers), no/low barriers to entry, in the long run, the market balances itself out, because if losses are being made, firms will leave etc.

Monopolistic competition = many small firms, producing similar products with some differentiation. Marketing, branding, product loyalty etc. Think hair salons in the UK or something.

Oligopoly = 3 or 4 large firms having about a 70% market share (or something like that). Non-Price competition (branding, marketing etc). They don't engage in price competition because that leads to price wars that ultimately don't benefit the firms. Eg: if one firm lowers their price, then others will too = pointless. If one raises it, then none of the others will follow = pointless/loss of sales etc. Examples could be maybe telephone companies? Look up some better ones.

Remember it's best to use REAL WORLD examples Knowing the examples helps heaps and heaps in knowing the theory behind it :)

Good luck!