Allocation of Resources · 4 question types
Past paper frequency (2018 to 2024)
This topic accounts for approximately 20% of your exam marks.
Demand is the single highest-frequency topic; demand definition, curve shifts, and factors appear on virtually every Paper 2, typically worth 10 to 18 marks.
A change in the good's own price (and nothing else) produces a movement along the existing . The curve does not move; only the point on it moves.
The syllabus gives two specific names for these movements.
Extension of . When the price falls (P↓), the quantity demanded rises, and the point moves down and to the right along the curve.
Contraction of demand. When the price rises (P↑), the quantity demanded falls, and the point moves up and to the left along the curve.
Extension vs contraction in demand
Defining an extension or contraction in demand comes up (2 marks), so you need to know it is a movement along the demand curve caused by a change in the good's own price (price falls → extension; price rises → contraction). Say "change in quantity demanded", not "change in demand" — the curve itself does not move.