‫الجمهورية الجزائرية الديموقراطية الشعبية‬

République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire

‫وزارة التعليم العالي و البحث العلمي‬

Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche Scientifique

‫المدرسة العليا إلدارة االعمال – تلمسان‬

MODULE TITLE : GENERAL ECONOMY

1st Year – 1st Preparatory Cycle Academic Year: 2023/2024 Course duration: 90 min

CHAPTER 2 : ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Economic activity refers to the production, distribution, and consumption of

goods and services within an economy. It encompasses all the actions and
transactions that involve the allocation of resources to meet human wants and
needs. Economic activity can take place at various levels, from individual
households and businesses to governments and international trade.
Economists study economic activity to understand how resources are allocated,
how markets function, and how policies can impact an economy's overall health
and well-being.

I. Institutional sectors (economic agents)

In economics, institutional sectors refer to the various segments or groups of
economic agents in an economy. These sectors are categorized based on the type
of economic activities they engage in and their role in the overall functioning of
the economy.

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These institutional sectors are essential for economic analysis because they help in
understanding how income is generated and distributed among different economic
agents, how resources are allocated, and how economic policies can impact
various sectors of the economy.

II. The main categories of economic agents

National accounting (La comptabilité nationale) distinguishes between

institutional sectors (resident sectors) Following: non-financial businesses,
households, financial businesses, (banks and insurance), public administrations
and a non-institutional sector resident (the rest of the world).

Institutional sector Main function

Non-financial businesses Produce market goods and services

(productive) non-financial

Households consumption

Financial companies (banks and Produce financial services and

insurance) financing of the economy

Public administration Produce non-market services

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III. The operations of economic agents

 Transactions on goods and services

In a national economy, goods and services encountered come from national
production and imports. These goods and services are used for
consumption, for investment, and for export

 Distribution operations
They concern the distribution of income created between the different
agents. This distribution of income takes different forms, from
remuneration of work to dividends including rents and interests.

 Financial operations
They cover all the relationships between agents financing capacities and
agents in need of financing. They relate to the receivables and debts
between agents, and show how agents need financing covered this need
and, symmetrically, how agents with capacity financing used this surplus.

 External operations
They indicate all the flows economic relations between resident agents in
the economic territory and the non-resident agents belonging to the rest of
the world (these operations represent the trade balance)

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IV. The representation of operations by the economic circuit

 economic circuit
The economic circuit is a simplified representation of how money, goods, and
services flow between households and businesses in an economy. It helps
economists and policymakers understand the interrelationships between different
economic agents and sectors.

Références

• Radford, R. A. “The Economic Organisation of a P.O.W. Camp.”

Economica. no. 48 (1945): 189-201. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2550133.
• Alain de Combrugghe, (2016): Introduction aux principales de l’économie choix
et décisions économique . 2eme Edition, Deboeck Superieure, Pays bas.
• Bertrand Blancheton (2009): « Maxi fiches de sciences économiques » ed
Dunod, Paris.
• Brisacier, Bernard Dielle, (1994): « Introduction à l’économie générale » ed
Vuibert, Paris.