UGC NET Economics Syllabus
Ecoholics
Made by: Sanat Shrivastava
(Assistant Professor of Economics in Jagran Lakecity University
and Faculty of Economics at Kalhana Academy, New Delhi).
1. Micro – Economic Analysis
Demand Analysis – Marshallian, Hicksian, and Revealed
preference approaches.
Theory of Production and Costs; Theory of Firms
Pricing (theory of pricing) and output under different
forms of market structure: Collusive and non – collusive
oligopolies. Monopoly, Monopolistic competition,
Duopoly and Oligopoly.
Factor Pricing analysis.
Elements of general equilibrium and new welfare
economics.
Elementary idea of cost–benefit analysis.
Theory of Demand – Axiomatic approach, Demand
functions; Theory of Consumer Behaviour: Consumer
behaviour under conditions of uncertainty.
Different models of objectives of the firm–Baumol,
Morris and Williamson.
Microeconomics and Game Theory
Theory of Games – Two–person, Zero–sum Game, Pure
and Mixed strategy, Saddle point solution, Linear
programming and input output analysis.
2. Macro – Economic Analysis
Determination of output and employment – Classical
approach, Keynesian approach, post-Keynesian
approaches, Consumption hypotheses; Theories of
investment and accelerator; Concept of Investment
Multiplier
Demand for Money – Fisher and Cambridge versions,
Approaches of Keynesian, Friedman, Patinkin, Baumol
and Tobin.
Supply of Money, Money supply, Determinants of money
supply, high–powered money, Money multiplier.
Phillips Curve analysis.
Business cycles – Models of Samuelson, Hicks and
Kaldor; Samuelson-Hicks Trade Cycle Model.
Macroeconomics and Business Cycles
Macro–economic Equilibrium – Relative roles of
monetary and fiscal policies.
Indian Economy: Money and banking – Concepts of
money supply, inflation, monetary policy, and financial
sector reforms.
Employment and output determination with fixed and
flexible prices (IS – LM, Aggregate demand and
aggregate supply analysis ).
Fleming–Mundell open economy model.
Static and Dynamic Multiplier and Accelerator,
3. Development and Planning
Growth Models – Harrod and Domar, Neoclassical
models – Solow, Meade, Kaldor’s Model with
technological progress, endogenous growth models.
Economic Growth, Economic Development and
sustainable Development – Importance of institutions –
Government and markets – Perpetuation of
underdevelopment – Vicious circle of poverty, circular
causation, structural view of underdevelopment –
Measurement of development conventional, HDI and
quality of life indices.
Theories of Development – Classical, Marx and
Schumpeter; Economic Growth – Harrod–Domar model,
instability of equilibrium, neoclassical growth – Solow’s
model, steady state growth. Approaches to
development: Balanced growth, critical minimum effort,
big push, unlimited supply of labour, unbalanced
growth, low income equilibrium trap.
Indicators and measurement of poverty.
Importance of agriculture and industry in economic
development – choice of techniques and appropriate
technology – Investment criteria.
Objectives and role of monetary and fiscal policies in
economic development; Techniques of planning; Plan
Models in India; planning in a market – oriented
economy
Theories of growth and development – Models of growth
of Joan Robinson; Technical Progress – Hicks, Harrod and
learning by doing, production function approach to the
determinants of growth: Endogenous growth : role of
education, research and knowledge – explanation of
cross country differentials in economic development and
growth.
Theories of development and structural analysis of
development – Imperfect market paradigm, Lewis model
of development, Ranis – Fei model, Dependency theory
of development.
Factors in economy development – natural resources,
population, capital, Human Resource Development and
infrastructure.
Planning and Economic Development.
4. Public Finance
Role of the Government in Economic activity –
Allocation, distribution and stabilization functions;
Private, Public and Merit goods.
The Public Budgets – Kinds of Budgets, Zero–base
budgeting, different concepts of budget deficits; Public
Expenditure – Hypotheses; effects and evaluation.
Public Revenue – Different approaches to the division of
tax burden, incidence and effects of taxation; Theories
of Taxation and Types; elasticity and buoyancy; taxable
capacity Public Debt – Sources, effects, burden and its
management.
Fiscal Federalism – Theory and problems; Problems of
Centre–State Financial relations in India; Horizontal and
vertical imbalances; the Finance Commissions.
Fiscal Policy – Neutral and compensatory and functional
finance; balanced budget multiplier.
Public finance – Trends in revenue and expenditures of
the Central and State Governments, Public debt;
analysis of the Union Budget; Budgets of the Union
Government in India
Theories of public expenditure – effects on savings,
investment and growth Burden of public debt.
Public Debt – India’s Public debt since 1951 – growth
composition, ownership pattern and debt management.
Fiscal Policy and Fiscal Reforms in India.
5. International Economics
Theories of International Trade: Empirical verification
and Relevance International Trade under Imperfect
competition Terms of Trade and Economic Growth; Trade
and Aid – International trade as ‘engine of growth’ –
Globalization and LDC’s – Secular Deterioration of Terms
of Trade Hypothesis – a critical review.
Equilibrium/disequilibrium in Balance of Payment –
Traditional, Absorption and Monetary approaches for
adjustment in the Balance of Payments, Foreign Trade
multiplier.
Impact of Tariffs, Partial and general equilibrium
analysis; Political economy of Non-Tariff Barriers.
Theory of regionalism at Global level – Collapse of
Bretton–Wood System – Recent Regional blocs –
multilateralism and world trading system – evolution
and distortion; emerging International Monetary
Systems
Monetary reforms.
Trade Policy and Reforms in India; Foreign trade –
Trends, Balance of payments and trade reforms.
International trade under conditions of imperfect
competition in goods market.
Theory of International reserves.
Optimum Currency Areas – Theory and impact in the
developed and developing countries.
WTO and its impact on the different sectors of the
economy.
Two – gap analysis, Prebisch, Singer and Myrdal views;
gains from trade and LDCs.
Globalization – Developments in Exchange Markets, Euro
– Currency Markets, and International Bond Markets,
International Debt crisis.
Theory of Foreign Exchange Markets – Exchange
Trading, Arbitrage and Market Hedging.
Costs, Prices, WTO and Indian Agriculture.
Globalization, Liberalization and the Indian Industrial
Sector.
Trade Reforms and Liberalization.
6. Statistical Methods
Measures of Central tendency, dispersion, skewness and
kurtosis.
Elementary theory of probability – Binomial, Poisson and
Normal distributions.
Simple correlation and regression analysis.
Statistical inferences – Applications, sampling
distributions (t, x2 and F tests ) sampling of attributes,
testing of Hypothesis.
Index numbers and time series analysis.
Sampling and census methods, types of sampling and
errors.
Quantitative Economics
Application of Differential and Integral Calculus in
theories of consumer behaviour, Production and pricing
under different market conditions.
Input – output analysis and linear programming.
Application of Correlation and Regression.
Testing of Hypothesis in Regression Analysis.
Econometric Methods
Single Equation Linear Model:
Assumption and properties of OLS.
Multiple Regression Model – Estimation and
Interpretation.
Multi–collinearity – Auto – correlation and
heteroscedasticity – Causes, detection, consequences
and remedy.
Dummy variables, distributed lags – Need, limitations
and interpretation.
Applications in Economics.
Simultaneous Equation models:
Structural and reduced forms.
Endogenous and exogenous variables.
Identification problems and conditions.
Single equation methods of estimations – TSLS, indirect
least squares and least variance ratio.
Techniques of Forecasting :
ARMA, ARIMA.
Econometric properties of time series, Unit root,
integrated series, random walk and white noise.
7. Indian Economy
Basic Economic indicators – National income,
performance of different sectors; Trends in prices and
money supply.
Agriculture – Institutional (Land reforms, Green
revolution). and technological aspects (Agricultural
inputs and shifts in production function), new
agricultural policy; Industry – New industrial policy and
liberalization.
Poverty, unemployment, migration, and environment.
Industrial structure and economic growth.
Pattern of industrialization – Public and Private; large
and small industries.
Theories of Industrial location – Indian experience.
Industrial productivity – measurement, partial and total
trends Industrial Finance in India.
Industrial Labour – Problems, policies and reforms in
India Economic Reforms and industrial growth.
Infrastructure and Economic Development.
Agricultural Economics in India
Role of Agriculture in Indian Economy – Share of
Agriculture, interrelationship between agriculture and
industry.
Capital formation in the rural sector – Savings, assets
and credits.
Strategies for rural development.
Regional disparities in Indian agriculture.
Cooperative movement in India – Organization, structure
and development of different types of cooperatives in
India.
Growth and Productivity trends in Indian Agriculture.
Development of distributive institutions – Costs and
price policies.
Agricultural marketing and credit.
Trends in migration and labour markets. Minimum
Wages Act.
WTO and sustainable agricultural development.
Reforms in Indian agriculture.
Monetary Economics
Components of money supply.
Role, constituents and functions of money and capital
markets.
RBI – recent monetary and credit policies.
Commercial banks and co – operative banks.
Specialized financial and investment institutions.
Non – Bank financial institutions and Regional Rural
Banks.
Financial sector reforms.
8. Demography
Population and Economic development – interrelation
between population, development and environment,
sustainable development.
Malthusian theory of population, Optimum theory of
population, theory of demographic transition, population
as ‘Limits to Growth’ and as ‘Ultimate Source’.
Concepts of Demography – Vital rates, Life tables,
composition and uses, Measurement of fertility – Total
fertility rate, gross and net reproduction rate – Age
pyramids, population projection – stable, stationary and
quasi – stationary population; characteristics of Indian
population through recent census.
Poverty in India – Absolute and relative; analysis of
poverty in India.
Social Sector, Poverty and Reforms in India.
9. Environmental Economics
Environment as necessity – amenity and public goods;
causes of environmental and ecosystem degeneration –
policies for controlling pollution – economic and
persuasive; their relative effectiveness in LDCs; Relation
between population, poverty and environmental
degradation – microplanning for environment and eco –
preservation – water sheds, joint forest management
and self – help groups.
Role of State in environmental preservation – Review of
environmental legislation in India.
Women, Environment and Economic Development.
