37293 - Microeconomics

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the basic analytical tools for understanding the behaviour of economic agents (individuals, firms, public authorities) and their interactions in the market. At the end of the course students are able to: (a) analyse consumers’ expenditure and firms’ production decisions; (b) understand the interactions between consumers and firms in the market; (c) analyse the role of public policies in dealing with market failures.

Course contents

Prerequisite knowledge: Calculus

 

Program

1. Preliminaries

2. The Basics of Supply and Demand

3. Consumer Behavior

4. Individual and Market Demand

5. Uncertainty and Consumer Behavior

6. Production

7. The Cost of Production

8. Profit Maximization and Competitive Supply

9. The Analysis of Competitive Markets

10. Market Power: Monopoly

11. Oligopoly

12. Game Theory and Competitive Strategy

13. General Equilibrium and Economic Efficiency

Readings/Bibliography

Microeconomics, either 8th or 9th Edition (2013 o 2018) By Robert Pindyck, Daniel Rubinfeld Published by Pearson. 

As an alternative, see "The Economy" open source book available online at: www.core-econ.org

It is strongly recommended that students have access to a copy of the textbook. It is important to note that the slides alone are not sufficient for a thorough understanding of the subject matter. Therefore, students must complement their studies with the textbook to ensure a strong performance on the examination.

Teaching methods

Lectures with slides and other teaching materials.

When possible: classroom games and/or class presentations by the students.

Active participation to the in-class discussion is strongly encouraged.

Attending the classes is not compulsory, but highly recommended.

Assessment methods

The final grade is given by either :

1) two midterm written exams. The first midterm accounts for the 30% of the final grade, it covers (part of) the topics presented in the first module of the course and lasts about one hour. The second midterm exam accounts for the 70% of the final grade, it covers the remaining topics and lasts about one hour and a half.

Note: Only students with a sufficiently high grade in the first midterm exam (i.e., 15 or higher) will be admitted to the second mid-term exam: other candidates must proceed to the full exam.

There will be only one opportunity to take the first midterm, in April. The second midterm must be taken in June, on the same date of the full exam.

or

2) a full written exam of about two hours on all the topics covered in the course.

 

The content and structure of the exam questions is intended to assess familiarity with the material covered in the course lectures and to assess understanding of the theoretical content of the course. The nature of the exam questions will closely follow examples covered as exercises during the course and discussed in lectures/tutorials.

During exams students will NOT be allowed to use anything but a pen, pencil, and eraser. That is, students will NOT be allowed to bring materials such as: textbooks, lecture notes/slides; any written notes; web-enabled or data storage devices, or smartphones. Candidates found with such items will be removed from the exam and their work will not be graded.

The exam grading system is on a 0-30 scale. The maximum possible score is 30 cum laude, in case all answers are correct, complete, and formally rigorous. If that is not the case, the following grading scheme applies:

- <18: failed
- 18-23: sufficient
- 24-27: good
- 28-30: very good
- 30 Lode: excellent.

Students will be allowed to reject their final grade for the course at most TWICE. Upon publishing the exam results, the lecturers will inform students about the deadline to reject their grade. Notification of the intention to reject a grade must be sent in writing (by email). After the date specified, grades will be electronically registered (verbalizzato).

Teaching tools

Traditional lectures with slides, problem sets, multiple choices tests. Students' presentations and/or classroom games.

Teaching materials is downloadable from Virtuale.it

Office hours

See the website of Francesca Barigozzi