AQA A-Level Microeconomics — Individuals, Firms, Markets and Market Failure
These notes cover every topic in the AQA microeconomics specification, from economic methodology and individual decision making through to market structures, labour markets, income distribution, and government intervention. Every topic is listed below — pick one to start revising.
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Studying Edexcel instead? The Theme 1 and Theme 3 notes cover the same ground.
Available Topics
1.1 Economic Methodology and the Economic Problem
5 topicsPositive vs normative, economic models, assumptions
1.2 Individual Economic Decision Making
4 topicsRationality, behavioural economics, demand theory
1.3 Price Determination in a Competitive Market
6 topicsDemand, supply, equilibrium, elasticities
- 1.3.1 The Determinants of the Demand for Goods and Services
- 1.3.2 Price, Income and Cross Elasticities of Demand
- 1.3.3 The Determinants of the Supply of Goods and Services
- 1.3.4 Price Elasticity of Supply
- 1.3.5 The Determination of Equilibrium Market Prices
- 1.3.6 The Interrelationship between Markets
1.4 Production, Costs and Revenue
8 topicsCosts, revenues, economies of scale, efficiency
1.5 Perfect Competition, Imperfectly Competitive Markets and Monopoly
11 topicsPerfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly, contestability
- 1.5.1 Market Structures
- 1.5.2 The Objectives of Firms
- 1.5.3 Perfect Competition
- 1.5.4 Monopolistic Competition
- 1.5.5 Oligopoly
- 1.5.6 Monopoly and Monopoly Power
- 1.5.7 Price Discrimination
- 1.5.8 The Dynamics of Competition and Competitive Market Processes
- 1.5.9 Contestable and Non-Contestable Markets
- 1.5.10 Market Structure, Static Efficiency, Dynamic Efficiency and Resource Allocation
- 1.5.11 Consumer and Producer Surplus
1.6 Labour Market
7 topicsDemand, supply, wage determination, discrimination
- 1.6.1 The Demand for Labour, Marginal Productivity Theory
- 1.6.2 Influence upon the Supply of Labour to Different Markets
- 1.6.3 The Determination of Relative Wage rates and Levels of Employment in Perfectly Competitive Labour Markets
- 1.6.4 The Determination of Relative Wage rates and Levels of Employment in Imperfectly Competitive Labour Markets
- 1.6.5 The Influence of Trade Unions in Determining Wages and Levels of Employment
- 1.6.6 The National Minimum Wage
- 1.6.7 Discrimination in the Labour Market
1.7 The Distribution of Income and Wealth: Poverty and Inequality
3 topicsIncome and wealth distribution, poverty, policies to reduce inequality
1.8 The Market Mechanism, Market Failure and Government Intervention in Markets
10 topicsRegulation, competition policy, public ownership
- 1.8.1 How Markets and Prices Allocate Resources
- 1.8.2 The Meaning of Market Failure
- 1.8.3 Public Goods, Private Goods and Quasi-Public Goods
- 1.8.4 Positive and Negative Externalities in Consumption and Production
- 1.8.5 Merit and Demerit Goods
- 1.8.6 Market Imperfections
- 1.8.7 Competition Policy
- 1.8.8 Public Ownership, Privatisation, Regulation and Deregulation of Markets
- 1.8.9 Government Intervention in Markets
- 1.8.10 Government Failure
Last updated: May 2026 | Specification version: AQA A-Level Economics (7136)
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