Course Description

Course Name

Principles of Microeconomics

Session: VPRS3125

Hours & Credits

3 US Credits

Prerequisites & Language Level

Taught In English

  • There is no language prerequisite for courses at this language level.

Overview

GENERAL COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GENERAL COURSE OBJECTIVE:
Microeconomics is concerned with the behavior of the individual economic agents - consumers, households and businesses - that make up the overall economy. The goal of this course is to introduce students to the analytical tools and techniques used by economists to better understand the choices that economic agents make and how markets function.
 
EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
-understand the concept of scarcity and its consequences;
-predict the direction of price and quantity changes using the supply-demand model;
-determine the impact of a price change on total revenue using the concept of price
elasticity;
-understand the firm's cost structure and its link to profitability;
-distinguish between market structures (perfect competition, monopoly,
monopolistic competition and oligopoly);
-determine the profit maximizing level of output for each market structure; and
-analyze the economic efficiency of each market structure;
 
MANDATORY TEXTBOOK
ECONOMICS, N. Gregory Mankiw and Mark P. Taylor, CENGAGE Learning, (Third Edition).
 
ASSIGNED READINGS. The readings refer to the reference textbook and are required
knowledge for all examinations. If you read the chapters prior to the class concerned, you will
be better prepared to understand the course material and topics that will be discussed in class.
 
EVALUATION:
The final grade will be determined as follows:
(1) 20%: Class Participation.
(2) 20%: Quiz
(3) 20%: Midterm Examination.
(4) 40%: Final Examination.
Please note that when it comes to all written responses on all examinations, in
addition to evaluating content I will also be evaluating your writing and analytical
skills.
 
Class 1
Introduction to course.
Ten Principles of Economics and Thinking Like an Economist (Read Chapters 1& 2).
What is scarcity? Why markets are a good, but not perfect, way to allocate resources? Why do economists sometimes disagree with one another?
 
Class 2
The Market Forces of Supply and Demand (Read & Study Chapter 3).
What is a competitive market? What determines the demand and supply of a good in a competitive market? How do supply and demand together set the price of a good and the quantity sold? How do prices allocate scarce resources in market economies?
 
Class 3
Supply, Demand and Government Policies (Read & Study Chapter 8).
What are the effects of government policies that place ceilings and floors on prices? How a tax on a good affects the price of the good and the quantity sold? How is the burden of a tax split between buyers and sellers?
 
Class 4
Elasticity and Its Application (Read & Study Chapter 4).
What are the elasticity of demand and the elasticity of supply? What determines both elasticities? What is the
difference between elastic and inelastic demand and supply? What is the impact of the price elasticity of demand on total revenue?
 
Class 5
The Costs of Production PART ONE (Read & Study Chapter 6 pgs 134-150).
What items are included in a firm's costs of production? What is the link between a firm's production process and its total costs? How are per unit costs related? What is the relationship between short run and long run costs?
 
Class 6
The Costs of Production PART TWO.
REVIEW FOR MID-TERM EXAMINATION.
 
Class 7
MID-TERM EXAMINATION
 
Class 8
Firms in Competitive Markets (Read & Study Chapter 6 pgs 150-168).
How competitive firms decide: How much to produce? When to shut down production temporarily? Whether to exit or enter a market?
 
Class 9
Monopoly (Read & Study Chapter 14).
Why do some markets have only one seller? How does a monopoly determine the quantity to produce and the price to charge? How do the decisions of a monopoly affect economic welfare?
 
Class 10
Monopolistic Competition (Read & Study Chapter 15).
How do firms compete in this market? How different are the outcomes under monopolistic competition and perfect competition? Why do firms in this market produce at less than the efficient scale in the long run?
 
Class 11
Oligopoly PART ONE (Read & Study Chapter 16).
What outcomes are possible when a market is an oligopoly?
 
Class 12
Oligopoly PART TWO. Sustainable Development and Environmental Issues.
REVIEW FOR FINAL EXAMINATION.
 
 

*Course content subject to change