0455.3.5.5 — economies and diseconomies of scale How internal and external economies and diseconomies of scale can affect a firm/industry as the scale of: past paper questions
Real questions on 0455.3.5.5 — economies and diseconomies of scale how internal and external economies and diseconomies of scale can affect a firm/industry as the scale of
The newest 20 of 35 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.
- 0455/22 · October/November 2025 · Q2d[8]
Discuss whether or not firms benefit from their workers undertaking training.
See it on the paper → - 0455/22 · October/November 2025 · Q3c[6]
Analyse the internal economies of scale that a cosmetics firm could experience.
See it on the paper → - 0455/22 · October/November 2025 · Q5a[2]
Identify two motives for a firm dumping some of its products in a foreign market.
See it on the paper → - 0455/21 · May/June 2025 · Q1h[6]
Discuss whether or not a growth in the size of firms in Gabon’s textile industry will reduce their average cost of production. Section B Answer any three questions. Each question is introduced by stimulus material. In your answer you may refer to this material and/or to other examples that you have studied.
See it on the paper → - 0455/22 · February/March 2025 · Q3c[6]
Analyse how a small firm can compete successfully with a large firm in the same industry.
See it on the paper → - 0455/11 · October/November 2024 · Q13[1]
What is meant by internal diseconomies of scale?
See it on the paper → - 0455/21 · October/November 2024 · Q3b[4]
Explain how technological innovation can benefit firms.
See it on the paper → - 0455/23 · October/November 2024 · Q1a[1]
Calculate the average cost of producing a car in Belarus in 2021.
See it on the paper → - 0455/22 · February/March 2024 · Q2c[6]
Analyse the economies of scale a school may gain from an increase in its size.
See it on the paper → - 0455/21 · October/November 2023 · Q4c[6]
the economic benefits for a country in producing manufactured goods instead of primary-sector products.
See it on the paper → - 0455/22 · October/November 2023 · Q1g[6]
whether or not the cost of producing clothes in Honduras will fall in the future.
See it on the paper → - 0455/21 · May/June 2023 · Q1c[2]
one economy of scale that could benefit a coal-mining firm.
See it on the paper → - 0455/22 · May/June 2023 · Q4d[8]
Discuss whether or not small firms are more likely to go out of business than large firms.
See it on the paper → - 0455/12 · October/November 2022 · Q14[1]
Which effect of increased specialisation by firms and workers is most likely to cause problems for an economy?
See it on the paper → - 0455/21 · May/June 2022 · Q1h[6]
whether or not adopting capital-intensive production will benefit consumers.
See it on the paper → - 0455/23 · May/June 2022 · Q3a[2]
Identify two internal economies of scale.
See it on the paper → - 0455/22 · February/March 2022 · Q3a[2]
Define diseconomies of scale.
See it on the paper → - 0455/11 · October/November 2021 · Q14[1]
The size of the domestic car industry in Japan has enabled Japanese car producers to be more price competitive than rival car producers. What is an explanation for this?
See it on the paper → - 0455/12 · October/November 2021 · Q11[1]
Which result of increased specialisation in a firm is an advantage for the firm, but a disadvantage for some of the workers in the firm?
See it on the paper → - 0455/22 · October/November 2021 · Q1f[5]
Analyse how a successful airline industry can promote economic growth.
See it on the paper →
What examiners said
Strong responses recognised that this question is about economies and diseconomies of scale. Responses which identified and explained at least three economies and diseconomies of scale could achieve full marks. Weaker responses merely listed economies of scale or instead discussed factors which, although they would affect total costs, might not necessarily affect average costs. These include emplo...
— Examiner report, May/June 2025, 0455/21 Q1(h) (Cambridge)
There were some good answers to this question which explored several reasons why small firms may be able to compete successfully with a large firm in the same industry. Some candidates, however, lost focus and explained either why small firms may become large firms, by for example merging, or the disadvantages of small firms.
— Examiner report, February/March 2025, 0455/22 Q3(c) (Cambridge)
Slightly fewer than half of candidates were able to name an economy of scale based on information in the source material. The three acceptable answers were managerial – based on reference to the employment of specialist workers; technical – based on employing advanced equipment and external – based on a skilled labour force. Quite a few candidates stated financial or purchasing economies of scale...
— Examiner report, May/June 2023, 0455/21 Q1(c) (Cambridge)
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