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2016/2017  BA-BHAAI1024U  Principles of Microeconomics – a Policy Perspective

English Title
Principles of Microeconomics – a Policy Perspective

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration Summer
Start time of the course Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 120
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor - Rodrigo Zeidan, Associate Professor of Practice of Business and Finance, New York University Shanghai, rz.acc@cbs.dk
    Sven Bislev - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
In case of any academic questions related to the course, please contact the course instructor or the academic director, Sven Bislev at sb.ikl@cbs.dk
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalization and international business
  • International political economy
  • Economics
Last updated on 29/05/2017
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Develop critical perspectives on fundamental arguments about economic and social policies.
  • Rethink critically economic policies such as government intervention, labor market restrictions, tariffs and quotas, among others.
  • Understand how markets work and what are the effects of market friction.
  • Analyze decision-making by firms, rent-seeking and profit maximization behavior.
  • Understand the microeconomic principles of macroeconomics.
Course prerequisites
None
Examination
Principles of Microeconomics - a Policy Perspective:
Exam ECTS 7.5
Examination form Written sit-in exam
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Not relevant
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer, Ordinary exam: End of July - beginning of August 2017

Retake exam: End of September - beginning of October 2017

3rd attempt (2nd retake) exam: End November - beginning of December 2017

Exam schedule is available on http://www.cbs.dk/summer http:/​/​www.cbs.dk/​uddannelse/​summer-university-programme/​exam.
Aids allowed to bring to the exam Closed book: no aids
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.
4 hour written sit-in exam, new exam question.

Exam form for 3rd attempt (2nd retake): 72 hours home project assignment, max. 10 pages.
Course content and structure

This course invites undergraduate students to delve into the principles of economics. The beginning of the XXI century marks a period of growth and challenge to both developing and developed economies, and in this course we begin to understand how to analyze economic phenomena. 
The main goal of the course is to present the main topics in microeconomics to a non-specialized audience. The focus will be on applications and policy implications, instead of formal demonstrations. Ideally, students will leave the course with a critical perspective on economic models and will be able to apply their knowledge to a plethora of different situations. The course is also structured to be a first step for those students that want to pursue more specialized knowledge in Economics. Critical thinking will be as important as knowledge of the formal mechanisms of economic models.
The course is structured to provide students with a series of coherent modules, beginning with the main definitions and going through models in Industrial and International Economics. The first module introduces the basic concepts in economics. The second module analysis the behaviour of markets and firms. The third module presents the main concepts in Industrial Economics; while the fourth brings Special Topics and applications to International Economics.

 

Class 1: Market Mechanisms; Supply and Demand. Government Policy: Price Controls and Taxes

Class 2: Elasticities of Supply and Demand; Societal Organization and Gains Through Trade. Labor Market
Class 3: Policy applications: Tariffs, import quotas, agricultural subsidies, economics of regulation.
Class 4: Theory of the Firm. Firm Equilibrium. Pricing and Costs.

Class 5: Break-Even Point. Price Discrimination.

Class 6: Perfect Competition, Externalities and Public Goods.

feedback activity: assignment on text: Market for Blood

Class 7: Market Power, Monopoly Pricing, Static Models of Oligopoly: Bertrand, Cournot, Stackelberg
Class 8: Product differentiation. Welfare Economics: Consumer and Producer Surplus 
Class 9: A Primer on Game Theory. Competition and Cooperation.

Class 10: Income Inequality and poverty

Class 11: Review Lecture
Teaching methods
Classes usually begin with a short lecture and are followed by discussion to ensure that students take primary responsibility for interpreting and critiquing the readings. Students are free to pursue interesting topics, but should relate to the literature and the framework presented in the module overview.
Student workload
Preliminary assignment 10 hours
Classroom attendance 33 hours
Preparation 144 hours
Feedback activity 7 hours
Examination 12 hours
Further Information

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

 

Feedback Activity: A feedback activity defined by the course instructor will take place approx. half-way through the course.

 

Course timetable is available on http://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/summer-university-programme/courses.
Expected literature

N. Gregory Mankiw (2014). Principles of Microeconomics. 7th Edition. South-Western College Pub.
Last updated on 29/05/2017