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2013/2014  BA-HA_HU4P  Principles of microeconomics - from Adam Smith to John Nash (a theoretical approach)

English Title
Principles of microeconomics - from Adam Smith to John Nash (a theoretical approach)

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration Summer
Course period Summer
Please check www.cbs.dk/summer for the course schedule.
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor - Dmitry Shapiro, UNC Charlotte, Belk College of Business
    Patricia Plackett - Department of Operations Management (OM)
Main academic disciplines
  • Management
  • Statistics and mathematics
  • Corporate and Business Strategy
  • Economics, macro economics and managerial economics
Last updated on 22-07-2013
Learning objectives
At the end of the course the student should:
  • Have basic understanding of how individual decisions by households and firms are made;
  • Be able to apply marginal analysis to solve for consumer and producer problems;
  • Understand a concept of market equilibrium and be able to calculate one;
  • Understand the difference between perfect competition, monopoly and oligopoly;
  • Have knowledge of basic game theory concepts.
Course prerequisites
One or preferably two semesters of calculus.
Prerequisites for registering for the exam
Compulsory assignments (assessed approved/not approved)
Mandatory Mid-term Assignment: The Mid-term Assignment will be a closed-book one-hour exam consisting of multiple-choice questions.
Examination
4 hour written exam:
Examination form Written sit-in exam
Individual or group exam Individual
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer Term
Aids allowed to bring to the exam Limited aids, see the list below and the exam plan/guidelines for further information:
  • Allowed calculators
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
Course content and structure
This course is an introduction to microeconomic theory and is designed to cover key microeconomic concepts such as consumer/producer theory, choice under uncertainty, equilibrium, perfect competition, welfare and monopoly. In addition, the course will cover basic game-theory concepts such as Nash and Subgame-Perfect Equilibria and will apply it to the analysis of oligopolistic competition and market entry.
 
Module 1: Consumer Theory, Preferences, Utility Maximization
Module 2: Marshallian Demand; Slutsky Equation
Module 3: Producer Theory, Cost and Profit, Supply Function
Module 4: Partial Equilibrium. Exchange Economy
Module 5: Exchange Economy. General Equilibrium with Production
Module 6: Welfare Theorems. Monopoly
Module 7: Choice under Uncertainty. Intertemporal choice.
Module 8: Normal Form Games. Best Response. Nash Equilibrium
Module 9: Models of oligopoly. Extensive-form Games. Backward Induction
Module 10: Subgame Perfect Equilibrium, entry games, Stackleberg competition.
Module 11: Comprehensive review

The course's development of personal competences:
 
The course will develop personal competence inanalyzing and understanding economic phenomena, e.g., economic agents decision-making, formal understanding of laissez-faire versus social planner discussion; basic knowledge of game-theory and analysis of strategic interactions.
Teaching methods
Chalk-and-blackboard lectures, slides, class discussion intended to relate the introduced theoretical concepts to the observed economic phenomena, YouTube videos.

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings to be read before the start of classes with a related task or tasks in the first two classes in order to 'jump-start' the learning process. Preliminary Assignment: students should read the mathematical appendix in the end of the textbook, pp. A1 – A10.
Expected literature
Textbook: Hal Varian“Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach” Published byW. W. Norton & Company (2009). ISBN: 9780393935332. Chapters: 2-8, 12-16, 19-25, 28-29, 33. The reading is about 500 pages.
Last updated on 22-07-2013