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2015/2016  BA-BHAAI1024U  Principles of Microeconomics – a Policy Perspective

English Title
Principles of Microeconomics – a Policy Perspective

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration Summer
Start time of the course Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Max. participants 140
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor: Rodrigo Zeidan Associate Professor of Finance and Economics Fundação Dom Cabral rodrigo.zeidan@fdc.org.br
    Sven Bislev - Department of Intercultural Communication and Management (ICM)
In case of any academic questions related to the course, please contact the course instructor or the academic director, Sven Bislev at sb.ikl@cbs.dk
Main academic disciplines
  • International political economy
  • Economics
Last updated on 09-06-2016
Learning objectives
To achieve the grade 12, students should meet the following learning objectives with no or only minor mistakes or errors:
  • Develop critical perspectives on fundamental arguments about economic and social policies.
  • Rethink critically economic policies such as government intervention, labor market restrictions, tariffs and quotas, among others
  • Understand how markets work and what are the effects of market friction are.
  • Analyze decision-making by firms, rent-seeking and profit maximization behavior.
  • Understand the microeconomic principles of macroeconomics
Course prerequisites
No prerequisites.
Examination
Principles of microeconomics – a policy perspective:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam
Individual or group exam Individual
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer, Ordinary exam: 1-5 August 2016
Retake exam: Within two months from the ordinary exam.
Aids allowed to bring to the exam Closed Book: no aids
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
a 4 hour written sit-in exam, with a new exam question
Course content and structure

This course invites undergraduate students to delve into the principles of economics. The beginning of the XXI century marks a period of growth and challenge to both developing and developed economies, and in this course we begin to understand how to analyze economic phenomena. 
The main goal of the course is to present the main topics in microeconomics to a non-specialized audience. The focus will be on applications and policy implications, instead of formal demonstrations. Ideally, students will leave the course with a critical perspective on economic models and will be able to apply their knowledge to a plethora of different situations. The course is also structured to be a first step for those students that want to pursue more specialized knowledge in Economics. Critical thinking will be as important as knowledge of the formal mechanisms of economic models. 
The course is structured to provide students with a series of coherent modules, beginning with the main definitions and going through models in Industral and International Economics. The first module introduces the basic concepts in economics. The second module analysis the behaviour of markets and firms. The third module presents the main concepts in Industrial Economics; while the fourth brings Special Topics and applications to International Economics. 

 

Class 1: Market Mechanisms; Supply and Demand. Government Policy: Price Controls and Taxes 

 

Class 2: Labor Market. Elasticities of Supply and Demand; 
Societal Organization and Gains Through Trade.


Class 3: Theory of the Firm. Firm Equilibrium. Pricing and Costs.

Class 4:Break-Even Point. Price Discrimination. 

 

Class 5: Perfect Competition, Externalities and Public Goods.

 

Class 6:Market Power, Monopoly Pricing, Static Models of Oligopoly;  

 

Class 7: Product differentiation. Welfare Economics.

 

Class 8: A Primer on Game Theory. Competition and Cooperation.

 

Class 9: Income Inequality and poverty 

 

Class 10: Policy applications: Tariffs, import quotas, agricultural subsidies, economics of regulation. 

 

Class 11: Comprehensive Review

 
Teaching methods
Classes usually begin with a lecture that is followed by discussion to ensure that students are able to interpret and critique the readings
Student workload
Preliminary assignment 10 hours
Classroom attendance 33 hours
Preparation 144 hours
Feedback activity 7 hours
Examination 12 hours
Further Information

 

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings or video clips to be read or viewed before the start of classes with a related task scheduled for class 1 in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.

 

Feedback Activity: A feedback activitity defined by the course instructor will take place app. half-way through the course. 
 

 

The timetable is available on  http://www.cbs.dk/files/cbs.dk/isup_timetable_2016_updated.pdf
Expected literature

PRIMARY LITERATURE (MUST-HAVE BOOKS):

N. Gregory Mankiw: Principles of Microeconomics

ISBN 9781408081983 (European edition)

South-Western College Pub.

 

Last updated on 09-06-2016