The case study examines international tourism in ASEAN countries after the COVID-19 pandemic, the slow recovery in arrivals, information failure and...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
A Level Economics Market Failure Questions
Every A Level H2 Economics exam question on market failure from the last ten years, linked to the worked answers, with the model essays on the same topic. Externalities, public goods, information failure and government intervention.
Past year exam questionsMarket Failure in the A Level papers
Explain, with examples, how asymmetric information can lead to adverse selection and moral hazard.
The case study examines the supermarket industry in the United Kingdom and Singapore, drawing on it to test oligopoly characteristics, control of...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
Explain why the fixed costs of owning a new car in Singapore are considerably higher than the variable costs and why this is likely to lead to...
The case study examines the costs and benefits of education, drawing on it to test private and external benefits, opportunity cost, asymmetric...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
Explain the different impacts on the prices of vegetables due to bad weather and falls in consumer incomes. [10]
Explain why a firm considers the level of competition in the industry when making decisions about the price and output level of its product. [10]
Explain how improvements in a country's material and non-material standard of living can be measured. [10]
The case study looks at innovation as a key to prosperity in an age of new technologies, drawing on the electric car transition, R&D and market...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
Explain two different reasons for the market failure associated with the provision of street lighting.
The case study examines changes in the market for seafood, including substitute and supply shifts in the cod market, a maximum price, government...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
Explain how economic theory suggests consumers act rationally to decide whether or not to buy a bicycle, and how producers of bicycles act rationally...
With the aid of a diagram, explain what is meant by consumer surplus and producer surplus.
Explain why Singapore's telco market might be considered to be an oligopoly and how economic theory suggests this market structure would affect the...
The case study examines anti-competitive behaviour in Singapore, drawing on the CCCS infringement decisions against fresh chicken distributors and...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
Explain how pollution leads to market failure.
Explain why a shortage of water might still exist after the rise in the price of water.
The case study examines market failures in the Vietnamese energy market, drawing on global coal demand, negative externalities from coal use, a UK...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
With the aid of a diagram, explain how this firm's total expenditure on its workforce will have changed as a result. [10]
Explain why vaccinations against infectious diseases, if left to market forces, might be allocated undesirably. [10]
The case study examines fiscal policies for health improvement, using sugar-sweetened beverages as the lens to test elasticity, branding, rational...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
The case study looks at Bangladesh's pursuit of inclusive economic growth, drawing on exchange rate movements, the Gini coefficient, the nature of...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
Explain what needs to be considered when a government makes rational spending decisions about such projects.
The case study looks at the Westernisation of the Japanese diet and the market for beef imports into Japan, drawing on it to test negative...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
Use supply and demand analysis to explain why falling interest rates and continued income growth may have led to a rapid rise in residential property...
Government policies to restrict the use of cars and encourage the public to use the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system continue to be a source of heated...
The case study examines India's rise as a major agricultural exporter, using it to test minimum support prices and price floors, the terms of trade,...
The case study question is cited only. See the worked answer for the full breakdown.
Explain why a government intervenes in the provision of healthcare.
Model essaysWorked essays on market failure
Discuss whether reducing subsidies for museums is justified.
Explain why museums are not public goods, but the government considers it necessary to intervene in the market for museums.
Discuss the measures a government can implement to improve resource allocation in the market for tourism services.
Explain how a rational consumer decides whether to travel abroad for leisure and how such decision-making may lead to an inefficient allocation of resources.
Discuss the extent to which government policies are successful in encouraging more consumers to adopt electric vehicles to maximise social welfare in the electric vehicle market.
Attempt them, then check against the model.
The worked answers to the past year questions are in the TYS Answers hub, and each model essay shows how a top answer is built. Every ETG student also gets the AI coach that plans every essay and case study with you. Bring your hardest question to a trial lesson.
Work the questions alongside the notes that teach the tools: Market Failure notes, the Market Failure model essays, and the full notes and glossary.
Questions students ask
Are these the official A Level Economics answers for the market failure questions?
No. SEAB sets and marks the A Level papers. The past year questions are cited so you can find them, and the worked answers and model essays are Mr Eugene Toh's own, author of the H1 and H2 A Level Economics TYS answer keys published by SAP and sold at Popular.
Where are the answers to these questions?
Each past year question links to its worked answer in the TYS Answers hub, and each model essay links to a full worked essay. Every ETG student also gets the AI coach that plans every essay and case study of the last ten years.
Can I get A Level Economics questions sorted by topic?
Yes. This page collects the exam questions and model essays on market failure in one place. Use the other topic pages in the question bank for the rest of the syllabus.
Free resources
Get the printable Summary and Diagrams pack.
The notes are free to read because the concepts should be. Join the mailing list for the 112 page Summary and Diagrams pack, drawn the way ETG teaches them, plus new chapters and worked answers as we publish. You can also follow along on Telegram.
Form not loading? Open the sign-up form.