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2020/2021  BA-BHAAI1023U  Principles of Microeconomics – a Business Perspective

English Title
Principles of Microeconomics – a Business 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
  • Sven Bislev - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
For academic questions related to the course, please contact instructor: Miguel Suarez, Ph.D., Vienna University of Economics and Business, msv.acc@cbs.dk
Main academic disciplines
  • Economics
Teaching methods
  • Online teaching
Last updated on 27/04/2021

Relevant links
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Fully explain the basic concepts, models, theories and tools used in the principles of microeconomics and use them to analyze economic decisions by individuals and by firms.
  • Identify the foundational assumptions used in their own economic analysis and in the economics analysis of others.
  • Predict the effects of supply and demand changes on the direction of market price and quantity. Use the tools of consumer and producer surplus to identify the gains form exchange and the gains from the ability to manipulate price or quantity (e.g., the effects of barriers to entry, market power, monopolization, price controls, taxes, subsidies, and quotas.)
  • Articulate and explain the systematic nature of economic analysis and address likely secondary effects of particular policies and institutional frameworks.
Course prerequisites
None
Examination
Principles of Microeconomics - a Business Perspective:
Exam ECTS 7.5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Please see text below
4 hour home assignment. No requirement for maximum number of pages.
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer, Ordinary exam: 4-hour home assignment in the period of 26–30 July 2021
Retake exam: 4-hour home assignment in the period of 20 – 24 September 2021
3rd attempt (2nd retake) exam: 72-hour home assignment – 22 – 25 November 2021 – for all ISUP courses simultaneously


Exam schedules available on https:/​/​www.cbs.dk/​uddannelse/​international-summer-university-programme-isup/​courses-and-exams
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Retake exam: 4-hour home assignment, new exam question
Exam form for 3rd attempt (2nd retake): 72-hour home assignment, max. 10 pages.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach
Course content:
Principles of Microeconomics is an introductory undergraduate course that teaches the fundamentals of microeconomics.  
 
This course begins with an introduction to supply and demand and the basic forces that determine an equilibrium in a market economy. Next, it introduces a framework for learning about consumer behavior and analyzing consumer decisions. We then turn our attention to firms and their decisions about optimal production, and the impact of different market structures on firms' behavior. The final section of the course provides an introduction to some of the more advanced topics that can be analyzed using microeconomic theory. These include international trade, the impact of uncertainty on consumer behavior and the operation of capital markets. 
 
Each week, practical exercises will be discussed in class, enabling students to better comprehend the theoretical concepts explained during the week.  
 
By the end of the course, students will be able to understand introductory microeconomic theory, solve basic microeconomic problems, and use these techniques to think about a number of policy questions relevant to the operation of the real economy.

 

Course structure:

Preliminary assignment: Please read the first 3 chapters of the textbook and prepare questions to discuss during the first class.  
 
Class 1:  Supply and Demand - Introduction to Microeconomics (Chapter 1) - Supply and Demand (Chapter 2) - Applying the Supply and Demand Model (Chapter 3)  
 
Class 2: Consumer Theory - Preferences and Utility (Chapter 4) - Budget Constraints (Chapter 4) - Exercises 
 
Class 3: Consumer Theory - Deriving Demand Curves (Chapter 5) - Applying Consumer Theory (Chapter 5) - Exercises 
 
Class 4: Producer Theory - Firms and Production (Chapter 6) - Productivity and Costs (Chapter 7) 
 
Class 5: Producer Theory - Competition (Chapter 8) 
 
Class 6:  - Exercises 
 
Feedback activity: The optional mid-term assignment will be a take-home examination covering course materials up to that point and will be similar to the final examination. It will be posted on Canvas at the end of the second week- after Class 4, and discussed in Class 6. This midterm is best viewed as learning opportunity for students. I encourage you, and you have my explicit permission, to work with a classmate or small team. Ideally, you will learn from one another.  
 
Class 7: Welfare Economics - Principles of Welfare Economics (Chapter 9) 
 
Class 8: Monopoly - Monopoly (Chapter 11) - Exercises 
 
Class 9: Oligopoly - Oligopoly (Chapter 12) - Exercises 
 
Class 10: Topics in Intermediate Microeconomics - Factor Markets and Vertical Integration (Chapter 15) - International Trade - Uncertainty (Chapter 17) 
 
Class 11: Topics in Intermediate Microeconomics - Capital Supply and Markets (Chapter 16)
Description of the teaching methods
This year all courses are taught digitally over the Internet. Instructors will apply direct/live teaching through a link (like Skype, Team, Zoom). In some courses, pre-recorded material will also be used.
Feedback during the teaching period
Feedback activity: The optional mid-term assignment will be a take-home examination covering course materials up to that point and will be similar to the final examination. It will be posted on Canvas at the end of the second week- after Class 4, and discussed in Class 6. This midterm is best viewed as learning opportunity for students. I encourage you, and you have my explicit permission, to work with a classmate or small team. Ideally, you will learn from one another.
Student workload
Preliminary assignment 20 hours
Classroom attendance 33 hours
Preparation 126 hours
Feedback activity 7 hours
Examination 20 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.

 

Course timetable is available on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams

 

We reserve the right to cancel the course if we do not get enough applications. This will be communicated on https://www.cbs.dk/uddannelse/international-summer-university-programme-isup/courses-and-exams in March 2021.
Expected literature

Mandatory readings:

 

Microeconomics, Global Edition, 8th Edition 
Jeffrey M. Perloff  
©2018, Pearson  
ISBN-13:  9781292215624
 

 
Last updated on 27/04/2021