The world’s four largest accountancy firms experienced a decline in demand for their services at the start of 2023. One cause of this lower demand was a decline in mergers in other industries, including the chocolate industry. Three of the accountancy firms reduced the number of new workers they hired and the other accountancy firm announced job losses. The ability of workers to gain new jobs is influenced by their mobility.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2025). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [1] reduce competition / increase market power / increase market share / may become a monopoly / become a price maker / higher barriers to entry.
2. [1] gain economies of scale / reduce (average) cost / increased efficiency / higher productivity.
3. [1] gain control over outlets.
4. [1] gain control over raw materials.
5. [1] rationalisation.
6. [1] greater profit / revenue.
7. [1] new ideas / access to improved technology.
8. [1] spread risks.
9. [1] more resources / more labour / more capital / more enterprise / more land.
10. [1] higher demand / more sales / larger size of firm.
11. [1] gain consumer data.
12. [1] If more than two advantages given, consider the first three.
13. [1] Loss of income (1) resulting in lower living standards / lower quality of life / poverty / inability to buy necessities / lower purchasing power / lower spending / lower consumption / lower spending on a particular good or services e.g. education/healthcare/housing/holidays (1).
14. [1] Loss of skills (1) may need to gain new skills / as miss out on training / make it more difficult to get another job / lower paid job / reduced mobility of labour (1).
15. [1] May be more likely to get into debt (1) harder to repay any past loans (1).
16. [1] Harder to get a loan (1) banks may not expect them to be able to repay loan (1).
17. [1] Loss of fringe benefits (1) example e.g. health insurance / home (1).
18. [1] Less attractive to future employers / bad reputation (1) make it more difficult to get another job (1).
19. [1] Mental health problems / stress / illness / divorce (1) loss of self-esteem/loss of self-confidence / making it more difficult to get another job / reduced life expectancy / due to difficulty/time to find another job (1).
20. [1] May have to sell possessions (1) to gain money / to meet bills (1).
21. [1] Demotivation (1) give up looking for work / become a discouraged worker / become voluntarily unemployed (1).
22. [1] Reduced ability to save (1) reduced ability to cope with unexpected events/ to finance e.g. education / healthcare / retirement (1).
23. [1] One mark each for each of two reasons identified and one mark each for each of two explanations.
24. [1] If more than two reasons given, consider the first three.
25. [1] Reward 'making it more difficult to get another job' only once.
26. [1] An increase in the ability of workers to change jobs / provide more choice of jobs (1) occupational mobility of labour (1) improve skills / productivity / experience by changing jobs (1).
27. [1] An increase in the ability of workers to move from one area to another (1) geographical mobility of labour (1) move to a more pleasant area (1).
28. [1] Can reduce structural / regional / frictional (1) unemployment (1) enable workers to get new jobs more quickly / reduce long term unemployment (1) may enable some workers to find higher paid jobs / gain higher wages / reduce poverty / higher standard of living / better working conditions (1) raise tax revenue / reduce government spending on benefits (1).
29. [1] It can reduce labour shortages (1) reduce costs / cost-push inflation (1) increase output / increase GDP / cause economic growth (1).
30. [1] It can enable firms to respond more quickly/more fully to changes in consumer demand / increase flexibility / change in size (1) reduce surpluses and shortages of products (1).
31. [1] Reward but do not expect reference to reduce labour market failure.
32. [1] may have substitutes.
33. [1] may be seen as a luxury.
34. [1] PED of particular brands will be more elastic than demand for chocolate as a whole.
35. [1] the longer the time period, the easier it will be for consumers to change their spending patterns.
36. [1] may be addictive.
37. [1] may be seen as a necessity.
38. [1] may take up a small % of income.