ECB1101 · Introductory Microeconomics
The Complete Exam Bible · S1 2026Introductory Microeconomics
Introductory Microeconomics teaches how people, firms and governments choose under scarcity — demand & supply, elasticity, surplus, taxes & deadweight loss, externalities, costs of production and the four market structures. The final exam is 50% of your grade: 100 marks, closed book, in three sections (multiple-choice, short answer and hand-drawn graphs), with 40 of the 100 marks being graphs you draw by hand. This guide teaches each model to exam standard: the diagram markers reward, the formula they expect, and where the marks hide.
What ECB1101 covers
Eleven lecture topics → one exam-ready map. Each links to its free chapter guide.
How ECB1101 is assessed
| Component | Weight | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Final exam | 50% | Closed book · 100 marks · three sections (MCQ, short answer, hand-drawn graphs) |
| Individual assignment | 20% | Submitted across the semester |
| In-class & online quizzes | 30% | Spread over the teaching weeks — confirm the exact split in your unit guide |
Taxes & deadweight loss — the signature Section C diagram, mark by mark
- +1Draw S, D and the post-tax supply S+tax, shifted up by the full tax t.
- +2Mark Q2, buyer price Pb (on D) and seller price Ps (on S). The wedge Pb − Ps = t.
- +2Shade tax revenue (the Pb–Ps rectangle out to Q2) and the deadweight-loss triangle, Q2→Q1.
- +1State it: quantity falls Q1→Q2, buyers pay more, sellers keep less; DWL = welfare lost to trades that no longer happen.
Key terms
- Opportunity cost
- The value of the next-best alternative you give up when you make a choice — not the price you pay, and not everything else you didn't do. Sunk costs are not opportunity costs.
- Elasticity
- How responsive quantity is to a change in price, income or another good's price, written as a ratio of percentage changes. ECB1101 computes it by the midpoint (arc) method, so each change is divided by the average of the two values.
- Total surplus
- Consumer surplus plus producer surplus — the whole gain a market creates, measured as the area between the demand and supply curves up to the traded quantity. The competitive equilibrium maximises it.
- Deadweight loss
- Welfare lost to mutually beneficial trades that no longer happen — the triangle of surplus destroyed by a tax, a binding price control, an externality or market power.
- Marginal cost
- The extra cost of producing one more unit, MC = ΔTC/ΔQ. A competitive firm produces where price equals marginal cost (P = MC); MC cuts ATC and AVC at their minimum points.
ECB1101 FAQ
Is ECB1101 hard?
Conceptually approachable but mark-dense: most questions reward applying a model to a diagram or a calculation, so the difficulty is precision under exam time. The biggest single block of marks is Section C — 40 of the 100 exam marks — which is hand-drawn graphs, pure technique you can practise to automatic.
How is ECB1101 assessed?
The final exam is 50% of your unit mark: 100 marks, closed book, in three sections (multiple-choice, short answer/calculation, and hybrid graph-drawing). The rest is an individual assignment (about 20%) and in-class and online quizzes (about 30%); confirm this year's exact split in your unit guide.
What is on the ECB1101 final exam?
Demand & supply, elasticity, consumer and producer surplus, the tax / price-control / deadweight-loss chain, externalities and public goods, the costs of production, and the four market structures (perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly). Section C's hand-drawn tax-and-welfare and market-structure diagrams carry the most marks.
Do I need calculus for ECB1101?
No. Introductory Microeconomics is graphical and algebraic — linear equations, areas of triangles, and the midpoint elasticity formula. A calculator is allowed in the exam. Calculus appears in intermediate microeconomics, not here.
Is using AskSia for ECB1101 cheating?
No. AskSia is a study reference written in our own words — we host none of your lecturer's files, and Sia teaches you the method to earn the marks; it does not complete or sit your assessments.
How to study for the exam
Treat Section C as the grade-decider: 40 of the 100 exam marks are hand-drawn graphs, and markers deduct for any unlabelled axis, curve, shift or area more than for an arithmetic slip. For every model — demand & supply, surplus, the tax wedge, the cost family, the four market structures — practise drawing the diagram from a blank axis and labelling the exact areas examiners reward (surplus triangles, the Pb/Ps wedge, the DWL triangle, the profit/loss rectangle). The whole subject is a handful of models applied to fresh numbers and drawn, so banked diagram technique is the safest way to lift your mark.
