Bachelor of Social Work (B.S.W.) Introduction to Economics Syllabus - Mumbai University
This is the syllabus of the College of Social Work (Empowered Autonomous), Nirmala Niketan, which is the only college offering the B.S.W. under the University of Mumbai. The college has been autonomous since 2019-20 and empowered autonomous since 2024-25, so it sets this syllabus and conducts these examinations itself, and the degree awarded is still a University of Mumbai degree. The University last set a common B.S.W. paper of its own in 2019; this is the current document, amended in June 2026.
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Syllabus for Introduction to Economics
About this course
This course is designed to provide students with a foundational understanding of economic concepts and their practical applications. It introduces core ideas such as demand and supply, market structures, and national income, enabling students to grasp how economies function at both micro and macro levels. Additionally, the course offers an overview of key issues in the Indian economy and its development trajectory. Through this, students will be equipped to critically engage with economic theories and apply them to real-world contexts, particularly within the framework of India’s economic challenges and policies.
Course objectives
- To introduce the definition and basic concepts of economics as demand and supply, market structure and their application, concepts of national income.
- To provide an overview on the Indian economic problems and development discourse.
Learning outcomes
- CO 97 Discuss the basic concepts of economics.
- CO 98 Critically reflect on the basic laws of demand and supply
- CO 99 Discuss how markets operate as well as theory of firm.
- CO 100 Analyse the concepts related to national income, economic development and growth and problems of Indian economy.
Unit I: Overview on key economics concepts
- Nature and scope of economics, definition and concepts, economic systems, approaches to the study of economics.
- Wants – their characteristics and classification, law of diminishing marginal utility.
- Engel’s law of family expenditure – consumer’s surplus.
- Theory of firm, factors of production – land and its characteristics, labour and division of labour
- Capital and its characteristics – classification and capital formation
- Laws of return – law of diminishing marginal return.
- Market structure, monopoly, monopsony, duopoly, oligopoly
Essential readings
- Chapter 1 of Begg, D., G. Vernasca, S. Fischer and R. Dornbusch (2020). Economics. (McGraw Hill). Twelfth edition
- Chapter 2 of Begg, D., G. Vernasca, S. Fischer and R. Dornbusch (2020). Economics. (McGraw Hill). Twelfth edition
Unit II: Market and Nation
- Law of supply; Utility theories, Theories of rent, wage, interest and profit;
- Introduction to national income and its computing; Government spending and revenue
- Economics of social welfare
- Growth and challenges of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors in India.
Essential readings
- Chapter 3 and 4 of Begg, D., G. Vernasca, S. Fischer and R. Dornbusch (2020). Economics. (McGraw Hill). Twelfth edition
- Thomas, A. (2021). Macro Economics: An Introduction. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press
Reproduced from Regulations and Syllabus of Bachelor of Social Work Degree (2023), Amended 2026, published by the College of Social Work (Empowered Autonomous), Nirmala Niketan, which is affiliated to the University of Mumbai and sets this syllabus itself. Wording is as printed in that document.
The complete syllabus
This subject is cut from the college's own syllabus document. Open it here if you want the whole thing rather than a single subject.