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2011/2012  BA-PPE1  Microeconomics

English Title
Microeconomics

Course Information

Language English
Point 7,5 ECTS (225 SAT)
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Course Period Autumn
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study Board
Study Board for BSc/MSc i International Business and Politics
Course Coordinator
  • Kelly Foley - Department of Economics
Main Category of the Course
  • Economics, macro economics and managerial economics
Last updated on 29 maj 2012
Learning Objectives
  • Explain basic economic terminology (as e.g. opportunity costs) in a comprehensive and intuitive way.
  • Describe and justify the main assumptions behind simple economic models as e.g. the demand and supply model, the perfect competition model, the monopoly model, etc.
  • Illustrate diagrammatically these models and perform policy experiments (e.g. introducing taxes).
  • Derive numerically economic instruments and learn how to use them in practice (e.g. price elasticity, Lerner Index, etc.).
  • Solve algebraically simple microeconomic models in order to determine the equilibrium economic variables, and reflect on the solutions with a critical mind.
  • Use economic intuition to explain topical policy issues (e.g. why are housing taxes popular among economists?).
Microeconomics:
Assessment Written Exam
Marking Scale 7-step scale
Censorship Internal examiners
Exam Period December/January
Aids Please, see the detailed regulations below
Duration 4 Hours
Examination
Individual written 4-hour open book exam, graded by teacher and internal examiner on the 7-point scale.
Re-exam and make-up exam: The regulations are the same as for the ordinary exam.
Only non-programmable calculators are allowed.
Course Content
This course provides an introduction to the functioning of economic markets: it describes what lies behind the notions of demand and supply. Emphasis is placed on the behavioural assumptions that generate demand for particular products, and on whether the producers of a particular product compete in a perfect or an imperfect way. We also explore important extensions to the basic model such as uncertainty and asymmetric information. The main blocks of the curriculum are:
Supply and Demand; Consumer theory: preferences, rationality assumptions, budgetary constraints; Extensions: Uncertainty and information economics, Producer theory: production and costs functions; Market structure: perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly.
Teaching Methods
Lectures and Exercises.