What does rational economic decision making assume about how individuals make choices?

It assumes individuals weigh up costs and benefits to maximise their own welfare.

Define economic incentives.

Economic incentives are factors that motivate individuals to change their behaviour, including financial rewards, penalties, or changes in relative prices.

Give an example of an economic incentive that might discourage a particular behaviour.

A penalty or tax that increases the cost of an activity, making it less attractive to undertake.

What is total utility?

Total utility is the overall satisfaction a consumer derives from consuming a given total quantity of a good or service.

Define marginal utility.

Marginal utility is the additional satisfaction gained from consuming one more unit of a good or service.

How does marginal utility differ from total utility?

Marginal utility measures the extra satisfaction from one additional unit, whereas total utility measures the cumulative satisfaction from all units consumed.

AQA A-Level Economics 7136

Economic Methodology and the Economic Problem

Topic overview Economics as a social science, and positive and normative statements The economic problem, factors of production and opportunity cost Production possibility diagrams

Individual Economic Decision Making

Topic overview Consumer behaviour and utility Imperfect information Aspects of behavioural economic theory Behavioural economics and economic policy

Price Determination in a Competitive Market

Topic overview Demand, the demand curve, income and wealth Substitutes, complements and consumer preferences Price elasticity of demand and total revenue The determinants of price elasticity of demand Income and cross elasticity of demand The determinants of supply Price elasticity of supply Equilibrium, disequilibrium and how a market clears Shifts in demand and supply, and the price mechanism The interrelationship between markets

Production, Costs and Revenue

Topic overview Production, productivity and specialisation Costs of production in the short and long run Economies and diseconomies of scale Revenue and profit The law of diminishing returns and returns to scale Technological change

Perfect Competition, Imperfectly Competitive Markets and Monopoly

Topic overview The characteristics of the four market structures Price takers, price makers and non-price competition Competitive markets The objectives of firms Profit maximisation and the divorce of ownership from control Profit maximisation and the shutdown condition Price taking, entry and exit, and long-run equilibrium Efficiency in perfect competition and its assumptions Monopolistic competition in the short run Monopolistic competition in the long run The characteristics of oligopoly and barriers to entry The kinked demand curve and price rigidity Collusion, cartels and price leadership Non-price competition in oligopoly The advantages and disadvantages of oligopoly Monopoly power and barriers to entry The monopoly diagram and supernormal profit The costs and benefits of monopoly Price discrimination The dynamics of competition Creative destruction and the competitive market process Contestable and non-contestable markets Static and dynamic efficiency Market structure and resource allocation Consumer and producer surplus

The Labour Market

Topic overview The demand for labour and marginal productivity theory The supply of labour Wage determination in competitive labour markets Wage determination in imperfectly competitive labour markets Trade unions and wage determination The National Minimum Wage Discrimination in the labour market

The Distribution of Income and Wealth: Poverty and Inequality

Topic overview Income, wealth and the causes of their distribution Equality, equity, the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient The arguments about inequality The problem of poverty Progressive taxation and transfer payments Means-tested benefits, universal benefits and the poverty trap Wealth taxes and state provision Evaluating redistribution

The Market Mechanism, Market Failure and Government Intervention

Topic overview How markets and prices allocate resources The meaning of market failure Public goods, private goods and quasi-public goods Positive and negative externalities Merit and demerit goods Market imperfections An inequitable distribution of income and wealth Indirect taxes and subsidies Price controls, state provision and regulation Pollution permits and the extension of property rights Evaluating intervention and the mixed economy Government failure Competition policy Public ownership, privatisation, regulation and deregulation

The Measurement of Macroeconomic Performance

Topic overview The objectives of government economic policy Macroeconomic indicators and index numbers Uses of national income data

How the Macroeconomy Works

Topic overview The circular flow of income The aggregate demand and aggregate supply curves What shifts short-run and long-run aggregate supply Macroeconomic equilibrium and economic shocks Consumption and investment Government spending and net exports The accelerator, saving and investment Aggregate demand and the level of economic activity The determinants of aggregate supply

Economic Performance

Topic overview Short-run and long-run economic growth The economic cycle and output gaps Demand-side and supply-side shocks Measuring unemployment and the types of unemployment The determinants of employment and policies to reduce unemployment Inflation and deflation The quantity theory of money Consequences of inflation and deflation The balance of payments on current account Output gaps and the growth-inflation conflict Reconciling policy objectives in the AD/AS model

Financial Markets and Monetary Policy

Topic overview The characteristics and functions of money Financial markets and their role Debt, equity and bond yields Commercial banks, investment banks and the balance sheet Liquidity, profitability, security and credit creation The instruments and institutions of monetary policy How bank rate changes affect the economy What the MPC considers, and the exchange rate channel The functions of a central bank The bank rate and the MPC's decisions Exchange rate movements and the macroeconomy The monetary policy transmission mechanism Quantitative easing and unconventional policy The regulators and the risks banks face Liquidity ratios, capital ratios and systemic risk

Fiscal Policy and Supply-Side Policies

Topic overview Fiscal policy and aggregate demand Types of tax The budget balance and the national debt The purposes of public expenditure and taxation The principles of taxation Budget deficits, surpluses and their effects The national debt and fiscal rules Supply-side policies and how they work Market-based and interventionist supply-side policies

The International Economy

Topic overview The causes and characteristics of globalisation The impact of globalisation on developed and developing economies Multinational corporations Comparative and absolute advantage The effects of trade and changing trade patterns Tariffs, quotas and the tariff diagram Arguments for and against protectionism Trading blocs and the World Trade Organisation The components of the balance of payments Causes of current account imbalances and investment flows Correcting imbalances and their consequences How exchange rates are determined in a floating system Government intervention and fixed exchange rates Floating rates and currency unions Growth, development and less-developed economies Measuring development: the HDI and other indicators Investment and education as drivers of development Corruption, governance and institutional barriers Infrastructure, human capital and property rights Market-based and interventionist development strategies Aid and trade as development strategies Growth, globalisation and inequality

Individual Economic Decision Making

4 subtopics
13 things to know
Papers 1 and 3

What Individual Economic Decision Making covers

Individual economic decision making is examined on Papers 1 and 3. It sets the rational consumer of traditional theory against the evidence that people use shortcuts and act on more than self-interest, and asks what that means for policy.

Where it is assessed

Papers 1 and 3

Markets and market failure, then the synoptic paper.

Check the AQA specification ↗

The 4 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Evaluation

What does rational decision making assume, and how do economic incentives change behaviour?

Evaluation

What comparison does a rational consumer make, and what limits their spending?

Evaluation

When should a consumer stop consuming, and why does information matter?

Process

How does moral hazard differ from adverse selection?

Evaluation

What is imperfect information, and why does it prevent fully rational choice?

Evaluation

How does imperfect information affect the decisions of consumers and producers?

Numbers

What is bounded rationality, which traditional assumption does it challenge, and what are heuristics?

Numbers

How do biases, fairness and altruism challenge rational choice theory?

Evaluation

What is availability bias, and what is altruism in behavioural economics?

Key term

Why might using heuristics lead to poor economic decisions?

Numbers

Why might a nudge suit organ donor registration better than mandated choice?

Numbers

Why might incentive-based policies fail, and how does framing influence decisions?

Key term

Apart from government, which other agencies can apply behavioural economics insights to influence decisions?

Take Individual Economic Decision Making further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

Rational choice vs Bounded rationality
Rational choice: selection intended to maximise personal utility. Bounded rationality: choice constrained by information and cognitive limits.
Anchoring vs Availability bias
Anchoring: reliance on an initial reference point. Availability bias: reliance on information recalled most easily.
Nudge vs Mandate
Nudge: choice architecture that preserves available options. Mandate: a compulsory requirement restricting available options.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What does rational economic decision making assume about how individuals make choices?
Model answer
It assumes individuals weigh up costs and benefits to maximise their own welfare.
2
Define economic incentives.
Model answer
Economic incentives are factors that motivate individuals to change their behaviour, including financial rewards, penalties, or changes in relative prices.
3
Give an example of an economic incentive that might discourage a particular behaviour.
Model answer
A penalty or tax that increases the cost of an activity, making it less attractive to undertake.
4
What is total utility?
Model answer
Total utility is the overall satisfaction a consumer derives from consuming a given total quantity of a good or service.
5
Define marginal utility.
Model answer
Marginal utility is the additional satisfaction gained from consuming one more unit of a good or service.
6
How does marginal utility differ from total utility?
Model answer
Marginal utility measures the extra satisfaction from one additional unit, whereas total utility measures the cumulative satisfaction from all units consumed.

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Economic Methodology and the Economic Problem

Individual Economic Decision Making

Price Determination in a Competitive Market

Production, Costs and Revenue

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Individual Economic Decision Making revision questions

What does Individual Economic Decision Making cover in AQA A-Level Economics?: 4 subtopics: consumer behaviour and utility, imperfect information, aspects of behavioural economic theory and behavioural economics and economic policy. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
How is Individual Economic Decision Making organised?: By the AQA 7136 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.

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