ECNM08028: pass the exams, not just read the notes
Your complete guide to The University of Edinburgh's economics 1b module. See where the marks are, work real practice questions, and study with an AI tutor that knows ECNM08028.
Sia generates ECNM08028 practice questions, walks through production technologies and firm decision-making step by step, and quizzes you on the material the exam weights most heavily.
Worked example
A monopolist faces demand P = 100 − Q and has constant marginal cost of 20. What output does it choose, and how does that compare with the competitive outcome?
With a linear demand curve P = 100 − Q, marginal revenue falls twice as fast: MR = 100 − 2Q.
Under perfect competition, price equals marginal cost: 20 = 100 − Q gives Q = 80.
So the monopolist produces half the competitive output and charges three times the price. The gap between P = 60 and MC = 20 is the source of the deadweight loss.
The trap: Setting price equal to marginal cost, or setting demand equal to marginal cost. Both give the competitive answer. The monopolist's decision rule is MR = MC, and the reason MR differs from price is that selling one more unit requires lowering the price on every unit already being sold. That distinction is the single most examined idea in the market structure material. classic slip!
One exam decides 70% of your grade. The bulk of the mark, with the class exam and weekly work giving a signal beforehand. This whole page is built around that.
Overview
What ECNM08028 is, and where it sits
Economics 1B is the second half of Edinburgh's calculus-based first-year sequence, new for 2026/27 and taken as a co-requisite with Economics 1A. Where 1A works on individual choice and demand, 1B turns to the supply side and then to markets as a whole.
The semester covers production technologies and cost structures and applies them to firm decisions in the short and long run, then evaluates market outcomes under perfect competition, monopoly and imperfect competition, with models of pricing, market power and strategic interaction. It goes on to labour and capital markets through marginal productivity theory, intertemporal choice and wage and return determination, and closes with general-equilibrium and welfare tools applied to efficiency, exchange, production, taxation, externalities and public goods.
As in 1A, the mathematical techniques are developed within the course and applied to economic contexts, and learning-by-doing through problem solving is described as an important ingredient. Enrolment is restricted to first-year students on the economics and economics-joint programmes.
Always treat your own course outline and the exam timetable as authoritative.
Difficulty & time commitment
Is ECNM08028 hard, and how much time does it take?
ECNM08028 is manageable if you keep a weekly rhythm and treat the back half as the main event. The pattern is consistent: it starts gently and steepens, and the heaviest assessment is the part that separates grades.
The difficulty curve and the assessment weighting point the same way: the back half is harder and worth more. Front-loading effort there is the highest-return decision in the module.
Is this module for you
Who tends to do well, and who tends to struggle
You will likely do well if
- You kept the Semester 1 toolkit fluent; this semester applies it rather than rebuilding it.
- You can hold four market structures apart and say what distinguishes them.
- You are comfortable moving between a firm-level and a whole-economy view.
- You work the algebra weekly rather than reading the diagrams.
You may struggle if
- You treat marginal revenue as price. It is the error the monopoly material is built to expose.
- You leave general equilibrium and welfare to revision week; it is the most abstract block and it comes last.
- You did not keep up in Economics 1A, since the two are designed as a continuous pair.
- You expect the externalities material to be discursive. It is formal analysis here.
- Derive marginal revenue from the demand curve once, algebraically, rather than memorising that it falls twice as fast.
- For each market structure, write price, output and welfare side by side so comparisons are immediate.
- In factor market questions, always name whose marginal product is doing the work.
- For any intervention, quantify the welfare change rather than describing its direction.
Syllabus
The 8 topics, topic by topic
The exam-weight marker on each topic shows where the marks concentrate. The amber topics carry the highest exam weight.
T1 · Production technologies and cost structures
The firmHow inputs become output and what that implies for costs in the short and long run. The foundation for every supply decision that follows.
T2 · Firm decision-making
The firmApplying cost structures to the firm's output and pricing choices, with the short and long run distinguished properly.
T3 · Perfect competition
Market structureThe benchmark case, and what it implies about price, output and efficiency.
T4 · Monopoly and market power
Market structurePricing when the firm faces the market demand curve, and the welfare consequences of the resulting gap between price and marginal cost.
T5 · Imperfect competition and strategic interaction
Market structureThe cases between the two benchmarks, where firms' decisions depend on each other.
T6 · Labour and capital markets
Factor marketsMarginal productivity theory, intertemporal choice, and how wages and returns are determined.
T7 · General equilibrium and welfare
Whole-economy analysisMarkets considered together, and the tools for assessing efficiency in exchange and production.
T8 · Taxation, externalities and public goods
GovernmentWhere the market outcome diverges from the efficient one, and what formal analysis says about intervention.
How it's assessed
Assessment structure
| Component | Weight | Format & timing |
|---|---|---|
| Degree exam | 70% | Written examination. End of semester diet. The bulk of the mark, with the class exam and weekly work giving a signal beforehand. |
| Class exam | 20% | Class examination held during the semester. During the semester. A substantial in-semester check. |
| Weekly homework and quizzes | 10% | Homework and quizzes set weekly alongside tutorials. Weekly. Tutorials emphasise analytical problem-solving, and this component tracks it. |
- The published components sum to 100. No separate hurdle is published for this course.
- Written examination is 70% in one degree exam, with a further 20% in a class exam during the semester. The catalogue publishes no exam information table, so no paper length is stated.
- Calculator policy: Not stated in the course catalogue entry.
This is an exam-cram module. With the exams at 70% of the grade and the degree exam alone at 70%, your result is overwhelmingly decided by how well you perform under time pressure. The bulk of the mark, with the class exam and weekly work giving a signal beforehand.
How to actually pass it
A weekly rhythm, two checklists, and the traps to avoid
The module rewards consistency over cramming, and practice over re-reading. Here is the loop that works, then what to have nailed before each exam.
The weekly loop
Before the mid-semester checklist
- Production technologies and the shape of cost curves
- Short-run versus long-run firm decisions
- Perfect competition as the efficiency benchmark
- Monopoly pricing via MR = MC, and the resulting welfare loss
Before the final heaviest topics
- Imperfect competition and strategic interaction between firms
- Labour and capital markets through marginal productivity
- Intertemporal choice and return determination
- General equilibrium and the welfare theorems at the level developed
- Taxation, externalities and public goods analysed formally
The mistakes that cost marks
Setting price equal to marginal cost for a monopolist. That is the competitive rule. A monopolist sets marginal revenue equal to marginal cost, and MR is below price because expanding output lowers the price on every unit.
Confusing short-run and long-run cost conditions. Which inputs are fixed changes the decision entirely, and questions are written to test whether you noticed.
Describing externalities instead of analysing them. The learning outcome asks for formal microeconomic analysis, which means showing where private and social outcomes diverge and by how much.
Neglecting Economics 1A material. The pair is designed as one sequence; demand-side tools from Semester 1 are assumed here without reintroduction.
Teaching team
Who teaches ECNM08028
The bios below are factual. We do not rate lecturers; any star ratings are submitted by students who have taken ECNM08028.
Dr Sean Brocklebank
Listed as course organiser for Economics 1B in the 2026/27 course catalogue for the School of Economics, and also for Economics 1A, its co-requisite.
Teaching team as listed in the module materials reviewed. AskSia does not rate lecturers; star ratings are submitted by students who have taken ECNM08028.
Formula & concept sheet
The vocabulary and formulas you must own
- Production function
- The relationship between inputs and maximum output, and the starting point for cost analysis.
- Short run and long run
- Whether some inputs are fixed; the distinction that changes what the firm can adjust.
- Marginal cost
- The cost of producing one more unit; the supply-side half of every optimum in the course.
- Marginal revenue
- The revenue from one more unit, below price whenever the firm faces a downward-sloping demand curve.
- Perfect competition
- The benchmark in which price equals marginal cost and firms are price takers.
- Market power
- The ability to price above marginal cost, and the source of deadweight loss.
- Marginal productivity theory
- The account of factor payments in which inputs earn the value of their marginal product.
- Intertemporal choice
- Decisions spread across time, and the rate at which future amounts are traded for present ones.
- General equilibrium
- Analysis of all markets simultaneously, so that feedbacks between them are captured.
- Deadweight loss
- The welfare lost when output is not at the efficient level.
- Public good
- A non-rival, non-excludable good that markets under-provide.
Common acronyms: {'term': 'SCQF', 'def': 'Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework'} · {'term': 'ECTS', 'def': 'European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System'} · {'term': 'DRPS', 'def': "Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study, the university's course catalogue"}.
Set texts
The prescribed reading
The syllabus references map straight onto these.
Microeconomics and Behaviour, 4th UK edition
Frank and Cartwright.
Maths for Economics
Renshaw.
Where it fits
Prerequisites, related modules & why it matters
No prerequisites, but Economics 1A must be taken alongside it as a co-requisite. Enrolment is restricted to first-year students on the economics and economics-joint degree programmes.
Your ECNM08028 study toolkit
Study the module with Sia, not just read about it
Each tool already knows ECNM08028: your syllabus, your texts, and where the marks are. Grouped by how you study, from first contact to exam week.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to take Economics 1A as well?
Yes. The catalogue lists Economics 1A as a co-requisite, so the two run as a pair across Semesters 1 and 2.
Is this the second half of Economics 1?
In effect. Economics 1 is not delivered in 2026/27, and Economics 1A and 1B replace it as two 20-credit semester courses.
How is Economics 1B assessed?
Degree exam 70%, class exam 20%, weekly homework and quizzes 10%, the same structure as Economics 1A.
What is covered?
Production and costs, firm decisions, perfect competition, monopoly and imperfect competition, labour and capital markets, then general equilibrium, welfare, taxation, externalities and public goods.
What are the textbooks?
Frank and Cartwright, Microeconomics and Behaviour, 4th UK edition, with Renshaw's Maths for Economics suggested for mathematical support.
Which part causes most trouble?
The general equilibrium and welfare material at the end. It arrives late, it is more abstract than the market structure work before it, and it is examinable in full.
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