09446 - Microeconomics

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Rimini
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Business Economics (cod. 8848)

Learning outcomes

The successful student should know the basics of microeconomic analysis. In particular, s/he will be able to assess the behaviour of consumers and firms, and how markets work; to identify theoretically relevant market models; to apply microeconomic principles in looking at the real world.

Course contents

Please note: This is an introductory course in microeconomics, which provides the basic analysis of the economic agents' behaviour and the end result of their interaction.

Course content

Part 1

1. An introduction to political economy: Methodological problems; using models; microeconomics and macroeconomics.

2. Theory of consumers' behaviour and general equilibrium in pure exchange:

·     preference representation and budget constraints; individual demand: demand functions (marshallian and hicksian) and engel curves; consumers' surplus;

·     intertemporal choice and choice under uncertainty;

·     general equilibrium in pure exchange; Pareto efficiency and the core; the fundamental theorems of welfare economics;

·     introductory remarks on the economics of information: moral hazard and adverse selection.

3. Production and costs:

·     theory of production.

·     cost theory.

 

Part 2

4. The economics of markets:

·     aggregation and market demand, elasticity and comparative statics;

·     perfect competition and monopoly;

·     product differentation and monopolistic competition; Chamberlin and Hotelling;

·     oligopoly: non cooperative games and Nash equilibrium; the standard models of Cournot, Bertrand and Stackelberg; repeated games and collusion; games in extensive form and entry barriers;

·     natural monopoly and contestability; introductory remaks on the economics of regulation.

.     factor markets

5. Economic efficiency and welfare:

·     externalities and the Coase theorem;

·     public goods and public choices.

Readings/Bibliography

R.H. Frank, Microeconomia. Comportamento razionale, mercato e istituzioni. McGraw-Hill Italia, Milano, ultima edizione.

Further information about contents, the final exam, exam samples and lecture slides are available at

https://elearning-cds.unibo.it/course/view.php?id=8966

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures.

Assessment methods

The exam consists of a written test with open questions.

Office hours

See the website of Rainer Andergassen