Current Rules
The National Economics Olympiad is an annual competition organized by the Fundación Olimpiadas Ecuatorianas de Ciencias 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 build friendly relations among young adults across the country, fostering cooperation and mutual understanding.
It pursues the following objectives:
- To discover, encourage, bring together, challenge, and give recognition to young people with exceptional talent in the fields of economics, finance, and business;
- To foster teenagers’ skills in logical thinking and the creative application of general knowledge to problem-solving;
- To foster friendly relations, international understanding, and a spirit of competition among young people interested in economics, finance, and business from all countries;
- To foster the development of national, regional, and local economics, finance, and business contests among pre-university students around the world;
- To create an opportunity to exchange information about school programs and practices across the country;
- To promote knowledge of economics, finance, and business.
The official language of the National Olympiad is English. Tasks, solutions, and grading schemes are drafted by the Problem Committee; 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 are 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 take part.
Participation
The competition is divided into three parts: economics and financial literacy, in which participation is individual, and business, in which participation is by team.
A team consists of no more than five contestants, including one leader. Team members may come from the same educational institution or from different institutions.
There is no limit on 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 provide only answers. In the case of problems, contestants must provide complete solutions along with their answers, and the jury will assess the quality of the solutions. The problems to be solved may be qualitative (verbal) or quantitative (mathematical).
The financial literacy competition may include multiple-choice questions, problems, or both (the conditions of the previous subclause apply to both types). This part of the competition may also include calculation tasks that contestants must solve with the help of specific software or a pocket calculator.
The economics and financial literacy sections are individual, and each participant must complete them independently. Any communication with anyone other than OLEEC officials is prohibited.
The business competition is a team event 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 team leaders and must be passed on to contestants.
Below is the minimum suggested academic content for competing.
Minimum syllabi for the competition:
- Economics syllabus
- Specialization and the gains from trade;
- Technology and long-run 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.
- Financial literacy 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
- Owning a business, with simple calculations
- Taxes
- Fundraising
- Business plan calculations
- Risk management
- Credit
- Payments and interest calculations, cost-benefit analysis
- Types of payments (annuity, graduated)
- Debt management
- Income and expense management
- Business syllabus
- Analytical thinking.
- Conceptual thinking.
- Quantitative thinking.
- Communication skills.
You can find the full breakdown of topics and subtopics on our website, at the following address: https://oleec-econ.org/curriculum/. You can also find past exams from previous editions in the training section: https://oleec-econ.org/training/.
Competition Format
The National Economics Olympiad will have 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 on Economics, and the second individual test is on Financial Literacy. The group test is on 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), 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 each incorrect answer). The 5 open-ended questions will represent different economics topics; the contestant must explicitly choose 4 of them to be graded. 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 count toward the contestant’s score. If, in this case, a contestant has not specified which solutions should be graded, the highest-scoring 5 answers will be excluded from consideration. Answers must be in English.
The Financial Literacy section is very similar to the Economics section. It includes 20 multiple-choice questions and 5 open-ended questions. The total time is 235 minutes. The multiple-choice questions assess basic understanding of financial concepts and may include calculations.
Each of the five open-ended questions will be posed quantitatively (including calculations), qualitatively (including detailed explanations), or a combination of both. These questions may cover a variety of topics, such as financial instruments, institutions, financial processes, crisis situations, and simulations of real-life circumstances. The ability to select financial instruments suited to protecting and growing capital will also be assessed, as will skills in planning, decision-making, critical thinking, and evaluating investment profitability. The financial model used in the competition is universal in nature, so no specialized knowledge of any particular country’s economy is required. Each contestant works individually toward their own result.
In each exam, the 20 multiple-choice questions will be graded (4 raw points for each correct answer, minus 1 raw point for each incorrect answer). The 5 open-ended questions will represent different finance topics; the contestant must explicitly choose 4 of them to be graded. 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 count toward the contestant’s score. If, in this case, a contestant has not specified which solutions should be graded, the highest-scoring 5 answers will be excluded from consideration.
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 or 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
The jury will be appointed by OLEEC’s Academic Department and will be made up of economics specialists and coaches of recognized national and international standing and professional qualification. The jury will appoint the members of the grading panels for each task, as it sees fit.
Grading and Publication of Results
The relevant tests will be graded by the panels appointed by the members of the jury. If any student presents a complete solution that differs from those shown by the Jury, it will be reviewed by at least two panels. If no error is found in the solution, it will receive the maximum score. If a 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 scores once the competition has ended.
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 specified in the syllabus.
Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals for team results are awarded based on the results of the competition’s three parts. 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 awarded to students who have shown a particularly ingenious solution to any of the tasks posed. Awarding a “Special Mention” is at the Jury’s sole discretion. In the event of ties, prizes will be duplicated.
All participants will receive diplomas certifying their participation in the NATIONAL ECONOMICS OLYMPIAD.
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.
The members of the National Teams for each competition will be determined by the Jury based on the results of the National Olympiad, suggestions from other teams, and the observations of jury members. The only acceptable criterion for this determination is maximizing the student’s probability of strong performance.
After approval, a candidate may be removed from the National Team if they fail to submit the required documentation or fail to meet the stipulated schedule and the tasks assigned for their training.
Expenses related to training, registration fees, paperwork, obtaining passports and visas, and air or ground travel tickets to and from the competition venue will be the responsibility of the respective competitors, as will any additional expenses not stipulated by the event’s organizers.
Registration
Registration is online and must be completed on our website following the instructions described in each year’s official call for participation.