Two of Uzbekistan's main industries are cotton and gas. Uzbekistan is the world's seventh largest producer, and fifth largest exporter, of cotton. The Uzbek government has tried to influence the cotton industry's price elasticity of supply. It has also nearly ended the use of child labour in cotton production. The country's output of gas increased by 7% in 2018 and its average cost of gas production fell.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2021). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [2] (a) Two from: ability to store; level of stocks; perishability; production time; level of spare capacity; cost of altering supply; time period under consideration – short/long run. Accept weather.
2. [4] (b) Logical explanation which might include: Enable children to be educated (1) raise productivity / workers' skills / literacy rates / long run economic growth (1). Improve children's health (1) increase life expectancy / raise living standards (1). Reduce cycle of poverty (1) children will later gain higher paid jobs (1). Raise wages (1) due to reduced supply of cheap labour (1). Remove international bans / encourage more foreign tourists (1) increase exports (1). Increase job opportunities for adults (1) lower unemployment / increase employment of adults (1).
3. [6] (c) Average cost may fall due to economies of scale (1) example of an economy of scale e.g. financial economy (1) explanation of the example (up to 2 marks) e.g. banks may charge lower interest rates (1) reducing firms' cost of borrowing (1). Another example e.g. buying economy (1) explanation of the example (up to 2 marks) e.g. able to buy in bulk (1) and receive a discount (1). Higher output may enable fixed costs to be spread over a larger output (1) which may reduce average fixed costs (1) whether average total cost will fall will depend on what happens to average fixed cost plus average variable cost (1). Average cost may rise due to diseconomies of scale (1) example e.g. managerial economy (1) explanation of the example (up to 2 marks) e.g. difficulty of keeping control of a large organisation (1) leading to more mistakes / poor decision making (1). Another example e.g. poor labour relations (1) explanation of the example (up to 2 marks) e.g. lack of contact between workers and managers (1) may be strikes (1).
4. [8] (d) Why it might: specialisation may increase efficiency, raise output, increase exports; may improve the current account of the balance of payments; imports of food may be reduced, reduced reliance on other countries for basic necessities; health and safety standards may be maintained; the industry is labour intensive in some countries and so may reduce unemployment. Why it might not: wages in the industry tend to be relatively low; the supply of agricultural products can fluctuate significantly due to changes in weather conditions; opportunity cost of fewer resources for manufacturing goods and for services; demand for manufactured goods and for services tend to rise more as income increases; agriculture uses up considerable amounts of water.