0455/21/M/J/24 

In recent years, the mobility of labour, the number of women in the labour force and GDP have increased in Bangladesh. In 2019, the central bank of Bangladesh approved three new commercial banks. In that year, women on average earned 77% of the pay of men in Bangladesh. The country’s economy experienced the world’s seventh highest economic growth rate, with an increase in GDP of 7.4%.

• Identify two influences on the mobility of labour. [2]

• Analyse why women may be paid less than men. [6] 

0455/22/F/M/24 

Some firms in Monaco have experienced external growth. Firms in Monaco pay high wages. Workers in Monaco benefit from fiscal policy which contributes to high employment. Their government does impose VAT on food, including fruit. Some economists have suggested that instead of taxing fruit, governments should provide free fruit to consumers. 

• Explain two reasons why low-skilled workers may be highly paid. [4] 

0455/22/O/N/23 

In the US, the supply of meat from emus, a large bird, is price-elastic. Recently, US farmers have switched to keeping other livestock and growing crops that changed their demand for labour. US farmers are influenced by the subsidies the government provides for the production of selected food items. Some people are reluctant to become farm workers as they think living standards are low in rural areas. 

• Analyse what influences a farmer’s demand for labour. [6] 

0455/22/M/J/23

In 2019, China’s economic growth rate was 6.1% and Chinese households increased their spending. More Chinese people attended sports events and the earnings of top sportspeople increased. China exported more despite a rise in tariffs on some of its products. For example, the US imposed higher tariffs on the imports of Chinese tea and coffee.

• Explain two reasons why some top sportspeople have high earnings. [4]

0455/21/M/J/23

Many people from the Philippines work in another country, often in industries that provide merit goods and public goods. In 2020, the Philippine government raised more tax revenue. Some was spent on policy measures to increase life expectancy and some on policy measures to reduce unemployment. The country’s unemployment rate was also affected by a rise in the country’s foreign exchange rate.

• Identify two influences on which country a person decides to work in. [2]

0455/23/O/N/22 

Poland is the world’s top exporter of toothpaste, a product that is in inelastic demand. In 2019, some Polish firms producing toothpaste considered a horizontal merger. Also in 2019, the wages of dentists increased globally. This increase was particularly high in the UK where dentists received, on average, a 25% wage rise. 

• Discuss whether or not an increase in the wages of dentists will increase the number of dentists employed. [8] 

0455/22/F/M/23

Safiye Ali  became the first  female doctor in Turkey in 1923. By 2020, 40% of Turkish doctors were women. Over this period, labour productivity increased. Turkey also experience advances in technology, a change in the current account balance on its balance of payments  and a significant increase in the size of population.

• Explain two reasons why someone may choose to become a doctor. [4]

0455/22/O/N/22 

The economic problem results in choices and opportunity cost. People have to decide what job to do and where to live. In recent years Australia has recruited teachers from a number of countries including Canada, the UK and the US. Most of these teachers specialise in a single subject. 

• Analyse why the wages of all teachers may increase. [6] 

• Discuss whether or not a teacher would benefit from specialisation. [8] 

0455/21/O/N/22 

Medan is the third largest city in Indonesia by population. It is sometimes known as the city of a million shop-houses as many people start small firms at the street level of their homes. This has led to an increase in the market supply of industries such as cafes and clothes shops. Also, due to the growth in demand for food delivery, the unemployment rate has fallen. However, mobility of labour is limited both within Medan and within Indonesia 

• Explain two influences on the mobility of labour. [4] 

0455/23/M/J/21 

Cyclical unemployment is below the national average in some big cities in Canada such as Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal. This could be a result of higher government spending and tax cuts in big cities. However, productivity is low. There are also concerns that structural unemployment may increase as some industries cannot compete with more efficient foreign firms. 

• Discuss whether or not competition between firms in the same industry is always a disadvantage to workers. [8] 

0455/22/F/M/21 

Sweden has a mixed economic system. In 2018, it was operating at a point inside its production possibility curve (PPC). In 2018, the country’s schools employed nearly 2500 extra teachers. A few of these had previously been actors. A higher number had previously been government officials involved with regulation of Swedish monopolies. 

• Analyse why an actor may decide to become a teacher. [6] 

0455/21/M/J/22 

Singapore is a high-income country with a shortage of land and labour. Singapore is often given as an example of a market economy. The Singaporean government does, however, intervene in the economy. For example, it encourages its population to eat two servings of fruit and two servings of vegetables per day. 

• Explain how an increase in a worker’s income can affect their mobility of labour. [4] 

0455/21/M/J/22 

Uganda specialises in agricultural products and has a relatively small secondary sector. In the 1990s, the Ugandan government privatised most of its firms, including banks and railways. Some economists thought this privatisation was unsuccessful because poverty increased and unemployment remained high. In recent years, the Ugandan government has used supply-side policy measures to reduce unemployment. 

• Analyse how specialisation can benefit firms. [6] 

0455/21/M/J/22 

Trade union membership is much higher in Sweden than in most countries. In 2019, 70% of Swedish workers were members of a trade union. More than 85% of Swedish workers are employed in the tertiary sector, compared with only 2% in the primary sector. Swedish workers spend their incomes on a variety of products some of which, e.g. sweets, are demerit goods. Sweden has the 7th highest per head consumption of sweets in the world. 

• Discuss whether or not tertiary sector workers are paid more than primary sector workers. [8] 

0455/23/O/N/20 

It was announced in November 2016 that 500 and 1000 rupee banknotes could no longer be used in shops in India. These were replaced by the central bank, an institution that makes extensive use of division of labour. In India, cash is still an important form of money used in economic transactions. The replacement of banknotes put pressure on banking staff and other workers in the tertiary sector, and affected the general price level. 

• Explain two reasons why workers in the tertiary sector may be paid more than workers in the primary sector. [4] 

• Analyse the advantages for firms of using division of labour. [6] 

0455/22/O/N/20 

Wage rate growth has increased recently in Kazakhstan, but its economic growth rate has slowed. This is, in part, due to a fall in exports. To try to increase the economic growth rate, the government has increased its spending on investment. In August 2015, it adopted a floating foreign exchange rate system in an attempt to improve the country’s macroeconomic performance. 

• Define wages. [2] 

0455/22/O/N/20 

Italy is home to the world’s oldest bank and some of the world’s oldest car producers. Internationally, both industries are facing a number of challenges. The wages of bank workers and car workers are increasing. Demand for bank loans and for cars is changing, in part, due to changes in population size. It is predicted that the price elasticity of demand (PED) for cars will also change in the future. 

• Analyse the possible causes of a rise in the wages of bank workers. [6] 

0455/21/O/N/20 

Free trade has allowed the Mexican economy to specialise in low-cost manufacturing. Unemployment nationally is relatively low, but approximately 50 million people were still considered to be in poverty in 2016. In addition, there are worries that technological advances will soon replace labour with capital. 

• Analyse how firms can benefit from specialisation. [6] 

0455/23/M/J/20 

There is a high level of division of labour in the United Kingdom (UK) energy industry. Cold weather in early 2018 caused very high demand for energy and a change in its price. This led to a temporary shortage of energy for firms and households in the UK. Part of the change in price may have been the result of UK energy firms abusing their monopoly power. This would be an example of market failure. 

• Discuss whether or not workers benefit from division of labour. [8] 

0455/22/M/J/20 

A number of countries are withdrawing high value banknotes. For instance, Singapore plans to stop issuing its $10000 note. High value notes were originally intended to act as a convenient store of value. Central banks are concerned some notes are now being used illegally. The Singapore Police Force and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (its central bank) were trying to recruit more workers in 2017. It was expected that the central bank would raise the rate of interest in 2018. 

• Analyse the influences on the mobility of workers. [6] 

0455/22/F/M/20 

The main industries in the Seychelles, an island country in the Indian ocean, are tourism and fishing. The price elasticity of supply of fish is affected by the relatively short time that fish can be stored. Economic goods and free goods play a role in both fishing and tourism. With rises in the skills of workers and an increase in enterprise, GDP per head has increased by more than seven times over the last fifty years. 

• Discuss whether or not skilled workers are always paid more than unskilled workers. [8] 

455/22/F/M/19 

The mobile (cell) phone industry is growing in Asia with more workers being employed. In March 2017, there was a merger between two mobile phone producers, both of which had relatively high fixed costs. This merger created one of the largest mobile phone firms and moved the Asian market further from perfect competition and closer to monopoly. It was expected that profits in the industry would increase as a result of the merger. 

• Analyse what determines a firm’s demand for labour. [6] 

0455/21/O/N/18 

During a recent recession in Europe, Spain had an unemployment rate of over 25%. This led to high levels of emigration from Spain into higher-wage European economies such as Germany and the UK. This has created both opportunities and problems in countries where immigration was higher than emigration. 

• Explain two reasons for wage differentials between different economies. [4] 

0455/21/O/N/18 

Teachers in many countries oppose their governments’ cuts in spending on education. They worry that this could reduce the standard of education and also the welfare of teachers employed in the state sector. Some teachers specialise in teaching one subject while others teach a number of subjects. 

• Identify two reasons why a person may want to work in the state sector. [2] 

• Discuss whether or not a worker would benefit by specialising. [8] 

0455/22/M/J/18 

In October 2015, the Chinese government switched from its one child policy to a two child policy partly because of the challenges caused by an ageing population. The birth rate was falling anyway due to rising female participation in the labour force, improvements in education, later marriages and the rapidly rising price of housing. 

• Analyse why more women may enter the labour force. [6] 

0455/21/M/J/18 

More than 80% of Qatar’s population are immigrants. Net immigration has helped to meet the country’s demand for labour. As well as a shortage of workers, the country has a shortage of drinking water. The government has run public campaigns to stop people using their free supply of drinking water to fill their swimming pools and water their gardens. In 2016, the government increased its spending to increase the country’s economic growth rate. 

• Analyse what determines the demand for labour. [6] 

0455/21/M/J/18 

In England football stadiums are usually built and financed by the private sector, but in some countries the stadiums are built and financed by the government. Many football stadiums in the English Premier League are full on match days. In the short run the supply of seats is perfectly inelastic. The football clubs could actually raise prices, still sell their tickets and so raise their profits. Premier League footballers currently receive very high wages. 

• Analyse why Premier League footballers receive very high wages. [6] 

0455/22/F/M/18 

France is a mixed economy. During recent years there have been a number of changes in its labour market. More workers are employed in the tertiary sector and fewer workers in the primary sector. Average working hours have increased and public sector workers have received wage rises. 

• Discuss whether or not a government should increase the wages it pays to workers in the public sector. [8]