Economics Syllabus UPSC Mains Exam
Economics Optional Syllabus Paper – I
Advanced Micro Economics
- Marshallian and Walrasiam Approaches to Price determination.
- Alternative Distribution Theories → Ricardo, Kaldor, Kaleeki.
- Markets Structure → Monopolistic Competition, Duopoly, Oligopoly.
- Modern Welfare Criteria → Pareto Hicks & Scitovsky, Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem, A.K. Sen’s Social Welfare Function.
Advanced Macro Economics
- Approaches to Employment Income and Interest Rate determination
- Classical, Keynes (IS-LM) curve
- Neo classical synthesis and New classical
- Theories of Interest Rate determination and Interest Rate Structure.
Money – Banking and Finance
- Demand for and Supply of Money
- Money Multiplier Quantity Theory of Money (Fisher, Pique and Friedman)
- Keyne’s Theory on Demand for Money
- Goals and Instruments of Monetary Management in Closed and Open Economies
- Relation between the Central Bank and the Treasury
- Proposal for ceiling on growth rate of money
- Public Finance and its Role in Market Economy
- In stabilization of supply, allocation of resources and in distribution and development
- Sources of Govt. revenue, forms of Taxes and Subsidies, their incidence and effects
- Limits to taxation, loans, crowding-out effects and limits to borrowings. Public Expenditure and its effects
International Economics
- Old and New Theories of International Trade
- Comparative Advantage
- Terms of Trade and Offer Curve
- Product Cycle and Strategic Trade Theories
- Trade as an engine of growth and theories of under development in an open economy
- Forms of Protection → Tariff and quota
- Balance of Payments Adjustments → Alternative Approaches.
- Price versus income, income adjustments under fixed exchange rates
- Theories of Policy Mix
- Exchange rate adjustments under capital mobility
- Floating Rates and their Implications for Developing Countries → Currency Boards
- Trade Policy and Developing Countries
- BOP, adjustments and Policy Coordination in open economy macro-model
- Speculative attacks
- Trade Blocks and Monetary Unions
- WTO → TRIMS, TRIPS, Domestic Measures, Different Rounds of WTO talks
Growth and Development
- Theories of growth
- Harrod’s model,
- Lewis model of development with surplus labour
- Balanced and Unbalanced growth,
- Human Capital and Economic Growth.
- Research and Development and Economic Growth
- Process of Economic Development of Less developed countries
- Myrdal and Kuzments on economic development and structural change
- Role of Agriculture in Economic Development of less developed countries.
- Economic development and International Trade and Investment, Role of Multinationals
- Planning and Economic Development → Changing role of Markets and Planning, Private- Public Partnership.
- Welfare indicators and measures of growth – Human Development Indices. The basic needs approach.
- Development and Environmental Sustainability – Renewable and Non Renewable Resources, Environmental Degradation, Intergenerational equity development.
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Economics Optional Syllabus Paper – II
Indian Economy in Pre-Independence Era
- Land System and its changes, Commercialization of agriculture, Drain theory, Laissez faire theory and critique
- Manufacture and Transport → Jute, Cotton, Railways, Money and Credit
Indian Economy after Independence
- The Pre Liberalization Era
- Contribution of Vakil, Gadgil and V.K.R.V. Rao
- Agriculture → Land Reforms and land tenure system, Green Revolution and capital formation in agriculture
- Industry Trends in composition and growth, Role of public and private sector, Small scale and cottage industries
- National and Per capita income → patterns, trends, aggregate and Sectoral composition and changes there in
- Broad factors determining National Income and distribution, Measures of poverty, Trends in poverty and inequality
- The Post Liberalization Era
- New Economic Reform and Agriculture → Agriculture and WTO, Food processing, Subsidies, Agricultural prices and public distribution system, Impact of public expenditure on agricultural growth
- New Economic Policy and Industry → Strategy of industrialization, Privatization, Disinvestments, Role of foreign direct investment and multinationals.
- New Economic Policy and Trade → Intellectual property rights → Implications of TRIPS, TRIMS, GATS and new EXIM policy
- New Exchange Rate Regime → Partial and full convertibility, Capital account convertibility
- New Economic Policy and Public Finance → Fiscal Responsibility Act, Twelfth Finance Commission and Fiscal Federalism and Fiscal Consolidation
- New Economic Policy and Monetary system
- Role of RBI under the new regime
- Planning → From central Planning to indicative planning, Relation between planning and markets for growth and decentralized planning → 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments.
- New Economic Policy and Employment → Employment and poverty, Rural wages, Employment Generation, Poverty alleviation schemes, New Rural, Employment Guarantee Scheme.