37293 - Microeconomics

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student grasps the basic knowledge of microeconomic theory and he/she can take part to the public debate with sufficient precision and independent judgement. In particular the student knows the theory of decisions under certainty, uncertainty and strategic interaction; he/she understands the working of the markets and can provide an assessment in terms of efficiency; he/she understands the various forms of market failures and the possible solutions.

Course contents

The course is organized with a part of lectures taught online on MS TEAMS (26 hours) and another taught in presence (24 hours). The number of students allowed in class is determined on the basis of class capacity and by the health and safety provisions that deal with the pandemic emergency. In case more students want to attend classes in presence than permitted by the rules, a system of shifts will be organized so to allow students to participate. Regardless of the health-related conditions and the specific organization of the course, students will be able to follow the lessons of the entire course remotely on MS TEAMS.

Topics

• Market equilibrium and efficiency
• Consumption
• Production and perfect competition
• Strategic interaction
• Externalities
• Public goods and common resources
• Asymmetric information
• Monopoly
• Oligopoly
• Collective choices

The program written above is valid for students attending classes, for those that do not attend classes, and for students from previous years who still have to sit for the exam. There is no distinction between these categories of students in terms of program to be studied or exam format.

Readings/Bibliography

The textbook is:

Microeconomics (2018, 5th Edition) Author(s): Paul Krugman and Robin Wells, Macmillan International.

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

The Economy. Economics for a Changing World. First Edition. The CORE Team. Get a free online copy at the following website:

• https://www.core-econ.org/project/core-the-economy/

Other useful resources can be also found at the website: https://www.core-econ.org/

Teaching methods

Lectures held by the teacher and exercise sessions held by the tutor.

Assessment methods

There are three partial exams (written), each on specific topics of the course, and a final exam (written) which focuses on the entire program.
The final exam consists of a set of open questions. In this case, the final grade is a weighted average between the average grade of the three partial exams (whose weight is 0.8) and the final exam grade (whose weight is 0.2).

If the student does not participate in the partial exams or refuses the result, the total exam on the entire program.

Both the partial exams and the total exams consists of a combination of multiple choice questions, open questions and exercises.

Teaching tools

Additional material will be published during the course on the platform Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Natalia Montinari