09446 - Microeconomics (A-E)

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course the students will: - master the basic tools for the study of the behaviour of the main economic agents (consumers, firms, government) and of their interactions in the markets. - know the basic theoretical instruments for the understanding of the redistributive effects of public policies, with particular reference to the Italian case.

Course contents

The course is organized with a part of lectures taught online on MS TEAMS (30 hours) and another taught in presence (30 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.

 

Overview of the course (the detailed and updated syllabus will be available on IOL and the on the instructor's personal website)

INTRODUCTION

• The Capitalist revolution and wealth inequality
• Technological change, population and economic growth
  

PART I: Scarcity, work, and choice

• Labour, preferences, opportunity costs
• Economic growth and labour time (theory, historic evolution and cross-country differences)
• Wealth and substitution effect

PART II: Social interactions

• Game theory
• Social preferences (prisoner's dilemma, public goods etc)
• Lab and field experiments

PART III: The firm

• Owners, managers, and employees
• The firm and its clients

PART IV: Supply and demand

• Competitive markets and equilibrium
• The case of the labour market

Readings/Bibliography

The CORE Team (2018), Economia: Comprendere il mondo che cambia, il Mulino.

Ebook version available here free of charges: https://www.core-econ.org/project/leconomia/

The book is also available in English.

Teaching methods

Lectures and exercises, complemented by supporting material. Interactive tools and market simulations will be used during the lectures to foster the understanding of the phenomena under study.

Attendance of both lectures and exercises is strongly recommended. 

Assessment methods

Written exam structured around three parts: multiple choice questions, theoretical questions, and exercises. 

NO oral exam.

During the semester, students will be able to take two partial exams (the final grade is the average of the two partials).

No additional partial exams will be scheduled during the academic year.

Teaching tools

A total of 60h of frontal lectures and 20h of exercises. 

 

Slides, the material for the exercises, and other material will be made available online on IOL and on the personal webpage of the instructor: https://sites.google.com/site/stefaniabortolotti/teaching

 

Both the book and the additional material are compulsory for the preparation of the exam.

 

Office hour (only by appointment): Thursday from 9.00 am to 11.00 am. Please write an email to the instructor at least 24h before.  

Links to further information

https://sites.google.com/site/stefaniabortolotti/teaching

Office hours

See the website of Stefania Bortolotti