Indian Economic Service (IES)

• Cardinal utility Analysis:

• Marginal utility and demand,

• Consumer’s surplus, Indifference curve Analysis and utility function,

• Price income and substitution effects,

• Slutsky theorem and derivation of demand curve,

• Revealed preference theory.

• Duality and indirect utility function and expenditure function,

• Choice under risk and uncertainty.

• Simple games of complete information,

• Concept of Nash equilibrium.

• Factors of production and production function.

• Forms of Production Functions: Cobb Douglas, CES and Fixed coefficient type, Translog production function.

• Laws of return, Returns to scale and Return to factors of production.

• Duality and cost function,

• Measures of productive efficiency of firms, technical and allocative efficiency.

• Partial Equilibrium versus General Equilibrium approach.

• Equilibrium of the firm and industry.

• Pricing under different market structures,

• Public sector pricing,

• Marginal cost pricing,

• Peak load pricing,

• Cross-subsidy free pricing and average cost pricing.

• Marshallian and Walrasian stability analysis.

• Pricing with incomplete information and moral hazard problems.

• Neo classical distribution theories;

• Marginal productivity theory of determination of factor prices,

• Factor shares and adding up problems.

• Euler’s theorem,

• Pricing of factors under imperfect competition, monopoly and bilateral monopoly.

• Macro- distribution theories of Ricardo, Marx, Kaldor, Kalecki.

• Inter-personal comparison and aggression problem,

• Public goods and externalities,

• Divergence between social and private welfare,

• Compensation principle.

• Pareto optimality.

• Social choice and other recent schools, including Coase and Sen.

• Differentiation and Integration and their application in economics.

• Optimisation techniques,

• Sets,

• Matrices and their application in economics.

• Linear algebra

• Linear programming in economics

• Input-output model of Leontief.

• Measures of central tendency and dispersions,

• Correlation and Regression.

• Time series.

• Index numbers.

• Sampling of curves based on various linear and non-linear function.

• Least square methods and other multivariate analysis (only concepts and interpretation of results).

• Analysis of Variance,

• Factor analysis,

• Principle component analysis,

• Discriminant analysis.

• Pareto law of Distribution,

• longnormal distribution,

• Measurement of income inequality.

• Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient.

• Univariate and multivariate regression analysis.

• Problems and remedies of Hetroscedasticity, Autocorrelation and Multicollnearity.

Mercantilism Physiocrats, Classical, Marxist, Neo-classical, Keynesian and Monetarist schools of thought.

• Measurement of National Income,

• Inter relationship between three measures of national income in the presence of Government sector and International transactions.

• Environmental considerations,

• Green national income.

• The Classical theory of Employment and Output and Neo classical approaches.

• Equilibrium, analysis under classical and neo classical analysis.

• Keynesian theory of Employment and output.

• Post Keynesian developments.

• The inflationary gap;

• Demand pull versus cost push inflation,

• The Philip’s curve and its policy implication.

• Classical theory of Money,

• Quantity theory of Money.

• Friedman’s restatement of the quantity theory, the neutrality of money.

• The supply and demand for loanable funds and equilibrium in financial markets,

• Keynes’ theory on demand for money.

• IS-LM Model and AD-AS Model in Keynesian Theory.

• Finance and economic development,

• Financial markets, stock market, gift market, banking and insurance.

• Equity markets,

• Role of primary and secondary markets and efficiency,

• Derivatives markets; Future and options.

• Concepts of Economic Growth and Development and their measurement:

• Characteristics of less developed countries and obstacles to their development – growth, poverty and income distribution.

• Theories of growth:

• Classical Approach: Adam Smith, Marx and Schumpeter

• Neo classical approach; Robinson, Solow, Kaldor and Harrod Domar.

• Theories of Economic Development, Rostow, Rosenstein-Roden, Nurske, Hirschman, Leibenstien and Arthur Lewis, Amin and Frank (Dependency scool) respective role of state and the market.

• Utilitarian and Welfarist approach to social development and A.K. Sen’s critique.

• Sen’s capability approach to economic development.

• The Human Development Index. Physical quality of Life Index and Human Poverty Index.

• Basics of Endogenous Growth Theory.

• Gains from International Trade,

• Terms of Trade, policy,

• International trade and economic development

• Theories of International Trade; Ricardo, Haberler, Heckscher- Ohlin and Stopler-Samuelson

• Theory of Tariffs

• Regional Trade Arrangements.

• Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, Global Financial Crisis of 2008 and Euro Zone Crisis- Causes and Impact.

• Disequilibrium in Balance of Payments,

• Mechanism of Adjustments,

• Foreign Trade Multiplier,

• Exchange Rates,

• Import and Exchange Controls and Multiple Exchange Rates.

• IS-LM Model and Mundell- Fleming Model of Balance of Payments.

• UN agencies dealing with economic aspects,

• Role of Multilateral Development Bodies (MDBs), such as World Bank, IMF and WTO,

• Multinational Corporations.

• G-20.

• Theories of taxation: Optimal taxes and tax reforms, incidence of taxation.

• Theories of public expenditure

• Objectives and effects of public expenditure,

• Public expenditure policy and social cost benefit analysis,

• Criteria of public investment decisions,

• Social rate of discount, shadow prices of investment,

• Unskilled labour and foreign exchange.

• Budgetary deficits.

• Theory of public debt management.

• Environmentally sustainable development,

• Rio process 1992 to 2012,

• Green GDP,

• UN Methodology of Integrated Environmental and Economic Accounting.

• Environmental Values: Users and non-users values, option value.

• Valuation Methods: Stated and revealed preference methods.

• Design of Environmental Policy Instruments: Pollution taxes and pollution permits, collective action and informal regulation by local communities.

• Theories of exhaustible and renewable resources.

• International environmental agreements, RIO Conventions.

• Climatic change problems.

• Kyoto protocol, UNFCC, Bali Action Plan, Agreements up to 2017, tradable permits and  carbon taxes.

• Carbon Markets and Market Mechanisms.

• Climate Change Finance and Green Climate Fund.

• Market structure,

• Conduct and performance of firms,

• Product differentiation and market concentration,

• Monopolistic price theory and oligopolistic interdependence and pricing,

• Entry preventing pricing,

• Micro level investment decisions and the behaviour of firms,

• Research and development and innovation,

• Market structure and profitability,

• Public policy and development of firms.

• Planning in a developing economy.

• Planning regulation and market.

• Indicative planning.

• Decentralised planning.

• Alternative development strategie

• Goal of self-reliance based on import substitution and protection,

• The post-1991 globalisation strategies based on stabilisation and structural adjustment packages:

• Fiscal reforms, financial sector reforms and trade reforms.

• Constitutional provisions relating to fiscal and financial powers of the States,

• Finance Commissions and their formulae for sharing taxes,

• Financial aspect of Sarkaria Commission Report,

• Financial aspects of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.

• Tax, expenditure, budgetary deficits, pension and fiscal reforms,

• Public debt management and reforms,

• Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act,

• Black money and Parallel economy in India—definition, estimates, genesis, consequences and remedies.

• Estimates of inequality and poverty measures for India,

• Appraisal of Government measures,

• India’s human development record in global perspective.

• India’s population policy and development.

• Technologies and institutions,

• Land relations and land reforms,

• Rural credit,

• Modern farm inputs and marketing— price policy and subsidies;

• Commercialisation and diversification.

• Rural development programmes including poverty alleviation programmes,

• Development of economic and social infrastructure and New Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

• Different types of migratory flows and their impact on the economies of their origin and destination,

• The process of growth of urban settlements;

• Urban development strategies.

• Industrial Policy Reform;

• Reservation Policy relating to small scale industries.

• Competition policy,

• Sources of industrial finances.

• Bank, share market, insurance companies, pension funds, non-banking sources and foreign direct investment,

• Role of foreign capital for direct investment and portfolio investment,

• Public sector reform,

• Privatisation and disinvestment.

• Employment, unemployment and underemployment,

• Industrial relations and labour welfare

• Strategies for employment generation

• Urban labour market and informal sector employment,

• Report of National Commission on Labour,

• Social issues relating to labour e.g. Child Labour, Bonded Labour

• International Labour Standard and its impact. 

• Salient features of India’s foreign trade,

• Composition, direction and organisation of trade,

• Recent changes in trade,

• Balance of payments, tariff policy, exchange rate,

• India and WTO requirements.

• Bilateral Trade Agreements and their implications.

• Financial sector reforms,

• Organisation of India’s money market,

• Changing roles of the Reserve Bank of India, commercial banks, development finance institutions, foreign banks and non-banking financial institutions,

• Indian capital market and SEBI,

• Development in Global Financial Market and its relationship with Indian Financial Sector.

• Commodity Market in India-Spot and Futures Market,

• Role of FMC.

• Definition, trends, estimates, consequences and remedies (control):

• Wholesale Price Index.

• Consumer Price Index: components and trends.