Economics 2017 Jamb Examination

Cost–push inflation arises when the cost of production increases, leading firms to raise prices in order to maintain profit margins.
Higher production costs may result from increased wages, expensive raw materials or higher energy costs.
This increase in production cost pushes the general price level upward, hence the term cost–push inflation.

Co-operative societies are founded on the principle of mutual assistance and member welfare.
The main objective is to protect members’ interests through collective efforts such as pooling resources, sharing profits and improving members’ economic conditions.
This makes option B the most aligned with the fundamental purpose of cooperatives.

Average product (AP) is calculated by dividing total product (TP) by the number of units of labour employed.
For 3 units of labour:\[ \text{AP} = \dfrac{150}{3} = 50 \]This shows that each unit of labour contributes an average output of 50 kg at the third unit of labour.

The money market deals with short-term borrowing and lending of funds, usually for periods of one year or less.
Institutions such as the central bank and money deposit banks participate actively in the money market.
Mortgage banks specialise in long-term lending for housing, making them outside the scope of the money market.

Petroleum refining produces a variety of by-products including fuels, paints, insecticides and other chemical derivatives.
Rubber, however, is obtained mainly from latex derived from rubber trees, not from petroleum.
Therefore, rubber is not a petroleum-based product.

A production possibility curve (PPC) illustrates scarcity, opportunity cost and allocative efficiency by showing the trade-offs in producing two different goods with limited resources.
Risk is not represented on the PPC, as it does not show uncertainty or probability-based outcomes.
The PPC focuses strictly on resource allocation and efficiency.

ECOWAS was established to promote economic integration and cooperation among West African states.
Member states may cooperate economically and form groups to influence markets within the region, making option C accurate.
It does not have only English as an official language and does not encourage dominance of bigger states.

Equilibrium price is the price at which quantity supplied equals quantity demanded.
At this price, there is no surplus or shortage in the market.
This means excess demand is zero, as buyers and sellers are perfectly matched at this price level.

A perfectly competitive market requires goods to be identical so that buyers do not prefer one seller’s product over another.
Such goods are described as homogenous because they are uniform in quality and features.
This ensures that competition is based purely on price.

The mode is the value that appears most frequently in a data set.
In the list 3, 8, 4, 6, 3, 5, 2, 7, 3 and 5, the number 3 appears three times, more than any other value.
Therefore, 3 is the modal value.