2021 National Economics, Finance and Business Olympiad

The Ecuadorian Science Olympiads Foundation, FOEC, is pleased to invite all students from every educational institution in the country to the National Economics, Finance and Business Olympiad, 2021 edition.

It is an annual competition organized for secondary school students. It is designed to stimulate the activities of students interested in economics, business, and finance through creative problem-solving. It helps foster friendly relationships among young adults across the country, promoting cooperation and mutual understanding.

It pursues the following objectives:

• Discover, encourage, gather, challenge, and recognize young people with exceptional talent in the fields of economics, finance, and business;
• Foster teenagers’ skills in logical thinking and the creative application of general knowledge to problem-solving;
• Foster friendly relationships, international understanding, and the spirit of competition among young people interested in economics, finance, and business from all countries;
• Encourage the development of national, regional, and local competitions in economics, finance, and business among pre-university students worldwide;
• Create an opportunity for exchanging information on school programs and practices across the country;
• Promote knowledge of economics, finance, and business.

The official language of the National Olympiad is English. Tasks, solutions, and grading schemes are prepared by the Problems Committee and no translations are provided. Contestants must submit their solutions in English.

Levels

The National Olympiad will have a single level of participation in which all competitors will be included. Students regularly enrolled at any educational institution up to the 3rd year of “bachillerato” as of December 1 of the competition year, and who are under 20 years of age as of July 30 of the current year, may participate.

Participation

The competition is divided into three parts: economics, financial education, whose participation is individual, and business, whose participation is by teams.

A team consists of no more than five contestants, including a leader. Team members may come from the same educational institution, or from different educational institutions.

There is no limit to the number of students or teams per institution.

Academic Content and Syllabi

The economics competition may include multiple-choice questions, complex problems, or both. For multiple-choice questions, contestants only provide answers. In the case of problems, contestants must provide complete solutions along with answers, and the jury will evaluate the quality of the solutions. The problems to be solved may be qualitative (verbal) or quantitative (mathematical).

The financial education competition may include multiple-choice questions or problems or both (the conditions of the previous clause apply to both types). This part of the competition may also include calculation tasks that contestants will need to solve with the help of specific software or a pocket calculator.

The economics and financial education sections are individual and each participant must complete them independently. Any communication with anyone other than OLEEC officials is prohibited.

The business competition is by teams and may include a written, electronic, or oral presentation of results. The Jury may provide some preparation information before the competition. This information is sent to the team leaders and must be passed on to the contestants.

Below is the minimum academic content suggested for competing.

Minimum competition syllabi:

1. Economics Syllabus
   • Specialization and gains from trade;
   • Technology and long-term growth;
   • Game theory: conflict and cooperation;
   • Institutions;
   • Firms;
   • Competitive markets for goods and services (including government interventions
   • non-clearing markets);
   • labor market;
   • Market failures;
   • Macroeconomic data: measuring income, inflation, and unemployment;
   • Money;
   • Fluctuations and macroeconomic policy;
   • Open economy;
   • Inequality;
   • Environment;
   • New industries and markets: innovations and networks.
2. Financial Education Syllabus
   • Income and expense management
     • Fixed costs (taxes, loans, education, basic needs)
     • Variable costs
     • Expenses
     • Basic Accounting
   • Investment
     • General knowledge of investment instruments and their use.
     • Investment Planning
     • Funds
     • Retirement Savings
     • Compound interest
     • Rates of return and risk-return analysis
     • Ability to recognize fraud
     • Insurance
     • Own business with simple calculations
       • Taxes
       • Fundraising
       • Business plan calculation
       • Risk management
   • Credit
     • Payments and interest calculation, cost-benefit analysis
     • Types of payments (annuity, differentiated)
     • Debt management
3. Business Syllabus
   • Analytical thinking.
   • Conceptual thinking.
   • Quantitative thinking.
   • Communication skills.

The extended content of topics and subtopics presented can be found on our website, at the following address: https://oleec-econ.org/curriculum/. You can also find tests from previous editions in the training section: https://oleec-econ.org/training/.

Competition Format

The National Economics Olympiad will have 3 parts:

2 individual tests taken on consecutive days and 1 group test taken a few days after the second individual test. The first individual test is Economics and the second individual test is Financial Education. The group test is Business.

The Economics section includes 20 multiple-choice questions and 5 open-ended questions; the total time limit is 235 minutes. The multiple-choice questions assess basic understanding of economic concepts (which may include simple calculations). Each of the 5 open-ended questions will be posed quantitatively (including calculations) or qualitatively (including detailed explanations) or both.

In each exam, the 20 multiple-choice questions will be graded (4 raw points for each correct answer, minus 1 raw point for an incorrect answer). The 5 open-ended questions will represent different economics topics; the contestant must explicitly choose 4 of them to be graded in their work. The maximum score for each open-ended question is 30 raw points. If a contestant provides solutions for all 5 open-ended questions, the jury will comment on all of them, but only 4 will be added to the contestant’s score. If in this case a contestant has not specified which solutions to grade, the maximum score of 5 answers will be excluded. Answers must be in English.

In the Financial Education section, contestants will compete in creating a personal financial plan. It will be a simulation contest based on the real financial world, in a virtual simulation game. They will address various financial instruments and institutions, economic processes, crisis situations, and simulations of life circumstances. They will need to choose useful financial instruments that work for protecting and growing the game’s capital. The game process will require participants to plan, make decisions, think critically, evaluate the profitability of their investments, and achieve the stated goal. The financial model used in the competition will be universal, so no specialized knowledge of any particular country’s economy is required. Each contestant will work toward their individual result.

The Financial Literacy Game (FLG) will be provided by the International Economics Olympiad.

The Business section is a team competition and includes an oral presentation of results. Presentations must be supported by slides. Both the oral presentation and the slides must be in English. It lasts two days: 1) preparation day; 2) presentation day. During the preparation day, contestants may use any online and offline materials, but contacting other people for help is prohibited. All teams must submit their slides by 11:59 PM local time on the preparation day. No changes to the slides are allowed after this time.

Grading Jury

It will be appointed by OLEEC’s Academic Department and will be made up of specialists in Economics and coaches of recognized national and international prestige and professional qualifications. The jury will appoint the members of the grading panels for each task, as it sees fit.

Grading and Publication of Results

The respective tests will be graded by the panels appointed by the jury members. If any student presents a complete solution that differs from those presented by the Jury, it will be analyzed by at least two panels. If no error is found in the solution, it will receive the maximum score. If any solution is particularly ingenious, the jury reserves the right to add it to the Olympiad’s final solutions document, which can be downloaded from our website. Students may learn their own scores at the end of the competition.

Winners

Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals will be awarded to the top individual finishers, based on their performance and results in the Final Phase, according to the proportion indicated in the syllabus.

Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals for the team results are awarded based on the results of the three parts of the competition. The exact formula for calculating total results is specified in the syllabus, including tie-breaking rules. Normally, one medal of each type is awarded unless the jury decides to make exceptions.

A “Special Mention” will be conferred on students who have shown a particularly ingenious solution to any of the tasks proposed. Awarding a “Special Mention” will be at the jury’s sole discretion. In case of ties, the prizes will be duplicated.

All participants will receive diplomas certifying their participation in the NATIONAL ECONOMICS OLYMPIAD.

The winners of the National Economics Olympiad will have the opportunity to join the National Teams that will represent the country at the International Economics Olympiad, IEO.

Additionally, the competitor who achieves the highest score across the 3 tests may obtain a scholarship to study at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics (HSE University).

The members of the National Teams, as well as the scholarship winner, will be determined by the Jury based on the results of the National Olympiad, suggestions from other teams, and observations from jury members. The only acceptable criterion for this determination is maximizing the probability of the student’s good performance.

After approval, a candidate may be removed from the National Team if they fail to submit the required documentation or fail to comply with the stipulated schedule and assigned training tasks.

Expenses related to training, registration fees, procedures, obtaining passports, visas, and air or ground travel tickets to and from the competition venue will be borne by the respective competitors, as well as any additional expenses not stipulated by the event organization.

Registration

You can register in two ways: Individually or as a Group:

• Individual: Competitors who register on their own.
  https://forms.gle/37n5nqjZC6H5vgyE9
• Group: Institutions that register several competitors at once.
  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N3e13MHJja_cqqMcHF3tcP5Nk0fZ9n1wj8vGuiFqoJU/

Due to international regulations, competitors must specify their grade level as of December 1, 2020.

Registration costs 5 USD per competitor.

To make the payment, deposit or transfer 5 USD per competitor to savings account # 105511084-3 at Banco del Pacífico, in the name of Fundación Olimpiadas Ecuatorianas de Ciencias (RUC 0993189723001). Then scan the transaction receipt so that its content is legible and have it ready to upload to the corresponding Registration Form. Due to space constraints, only images and PDF files of up to 1MB are accepted. You will receive a confirmation email once the process is complete.

Deadline for registration, form submission, and verification:

April 15, 2021 @ 11:59 PM

Schedule: