ECON 3070-006 INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMIC THEORY

Fall 2003, Department of Economics

University of Colorado at Boulder

 

Instructor: Scott Savage

Office: ECON 109

Email: scott.savage@colorado.edu

Phone: (303) 735-1165

Office hours: TR 2:15-3:45 or by appointment

Class time and location: TR 12:30-1:45, EDUC 155

Class website: http://webct.colorado.edu

 

Course Description

 

Intermediate Microeconomics introduces students to the basic microeconomic concepts and tools used to analyze individual and firm behavior under conditions of scarcity.  The course comprises five parts.  Part I reviews economic models and supply and demand.  Part II examines consumer choice and demand applications.  Theory of the firm analyses firm technology, costs and production in Part III.  Part IV examines pricing and output under perfect competition, general equilibrium and economic welfare.  Market power, structure and price discrimination are covered in Part V.  Part VI examines special topics such as inter-temporal choice, externalities and public goods.

 

Objectives

 

Learn and apply the basis tools of economics to understand how agents interact with one another, how they make optimal decisions, and how markets are organized and operate. 

 

Become comfortable using algebra, calculus and diagrams to develop economic models for use in an applied setting.

 

Develop oral and written communication skills with classroom interaction, homework questions, assignments and examinations,

 

Prerequisites

 

Available to students who have completed Introduction to Economics (ECON 1000) or Principles of Microeconomics (ECON 2010), and either Math Tools for Economists I (ECON 1078) and Math Tools for Economists II (ECON 1088), or MATH 1300. 

 

The course will be taught with graphs, diagrams and technical tools.  Students should be familiar with microeconomic principles, algebra and calculus covered in perquisite classes, and be comfortable writing short-answer and essay style answers in assignments and examinations.

 

 

Textbooks

 

The required textbook is Microeconomics, third edition, by Jeffrey M. Perloff, 2004, by Pearson Addison Wesley, New York, ISBN 0-321-20053-5.

 

The optional textbook is Study Guide to Accompany Microeconomics, third edition, by Charles F. Mason and Robert Whaples, 2004 by Pearson Addison Wesley, New York,

ISBN 0-321-18572-2.

 

Lectures will generally follow the format in Perloff (2004).  Mason and Whaples’ (2004) study guide complements Perloff and provides excellent summaries of key concepts, additional applications, solved problems and answers to practice problems.

 

Class requirements

 

The class meets each Tuesday and Thursday from 12:30-1:45pm.  Tuesday will typically be a lecture format with theory and applied problems.  Thursday will finish off any incomplete lecture material from Tuesday, discuss assigned homework questions, and conduct quizzes.  Assigned homework questions will be available weekly online at

http://webct.colorado.edu

 

Try to select a regular seat in class so it is easier for me get to know you.  Although there is no grade for attendance, a sign-up sheet will be passed around frequently and your class participation duly noted.  Feel free to form study groups to review and discuss lecture/reading material, homework questions, assignments etc., but you must submit individual work for grading (hint: if you work with a study group or individual class mates on assignments, please list the names of these persons on the front page of your submitted assignment).

 

Students should:

 

(a)            attend two 75 minute classes per week;

(b)           read the assigned chapters prior to the lecture class;

(c)            review notes after the lecture class, and prepare assigned homework questions for discussion in class;

(d)           complete and submit two assignments;

(e)            complete (a minimum of 4 out of 5) quizzes;

(f)             complete one mid-term examination; and

(g)            complete one final examination

 

Students are also expected to be punctual, polite and prepared to engage in discussion with the instructor and class mates. See http://colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html

for University of Colorado polices on student classroom and course-related behavior.

 

 

 

Grading

 

There will be two assignments, five quizzes (with the lowest quiz score dropped from the overall grade), one mid-term examination, and one final examination. The weightings for these assessments are:

 

Assignments                             (2´10%)          20 %

Quizzes                                    (4´5%)            20 %

Mid-term examination   (1´30%)          30 %

Final examination                      (1´30%)          30 %

 

The mid-term and final examination will consist of multiple choice and problem solving questions that require diagrammatic, mathematical and written skills.  Questions will be taken from weekly homework questions, assignments, lectures and class discussions.  The date for the final examination is Saturday, December 13, 7:30–10:00am.

 

There will be no make-up quizzes.  Late assignments will not be accepted unless there is a proven emergency.  There will be no-make up mid-term examination unless there is a proven emergency.  Any student that misses the mid-term examination due to proven emergency may have their final examination weighted at 60 percent with approval from the instructor.

 

Important dates for assessment

 

            Sep 4               Quiz 1

            Sep 18             Quiz 2

            Sep 30             Assignment 1 due (at the beginning of class)

            Oct 16             Mid-term examination

            Oct 23             Quiz 3

            Nov 6              Quiz 4

            Nov 20                        Quiz 5

            Dec 4               Assignment 2 due (at the beginning of class)

            Dec 13             Final examination

 

Tentative course outline

 

Proposed topics, dates and chapter readings are provided below in Table 1.

 

Please note the course outline is subject to change during the term depending on how fast we work through the proposed topics.  All changes will be announced online and in class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table 1. Proposed course outline

Week

Date

Topic

Reading

 

1.

 

Aug 26

Aug 28

 

Part I.  Review

- Introduction, models, supply-demand

- Review questions/problems (see below)

 

Ch 1, 2

Ch 2, 3

 

2.

 

Sep 2, 4

Part II.  Consumer Theory

- Preferences, utility, constraints

 

Chapter 4

 

3.

Sep 9, 11

 

- Preferences and utility, constraints

Chapter 4

4.

Sep 16, 18

 

- Consumer choice

 

Chapter 4

5.

Sep 23, 25

- Demand curve, applications

Chapter 5

 

 

6.

 

Sep 30

Oct 2

Part III.  Theory of the Firm

- Production

- No class, Fall break

 

 

Chapter 6

 

7.

Oct 7

Oct 9

- Production

- Short run and long-run costs

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

 

8.

Oct 14

Oct 16

 

- Short run and long-run costs

- Mid-term examination

Chapter 7

 

9.

 

Oct 21, 23

Part IV.  Perfect competition

- Competitive firms and markets

 

Chapter 8

 

10.

Oct 28, 30

- Welfare

Chapter 9

 

11.

Nov 4, 6

- General equilibrium, efficiency

Chapter 10

 

 

12.

 

Nov 11, 13

Part V. Market Power, Structure & Pricing

- Monopoly

 

Chapter 11

 

13.

Nov 18, 20

- Price discrimination

Chapter 12

 

14.

Nov 25

Nov 27

- Monopolistic competition, oligopoly

- No class, Thanksgiving holiday

Chapter 13

 

 

15.

 

Dec 2, 4

 

Part VI.  Special Topics

- Inter-temporal choice

 

Chapter 16

 

16.

Dec 9

Dec 11

- Externalities, public goods

- Review, last day of class

Chapter 18

 

 

Homework questions

 

Aug 28, Sep 4

 

Perloff (2004), Chapter 2, Q1, Q7, Q10, Q11, P15, P17, P18, P21, P22.

Perloff (2004), Chapter 3, Q6, Q7, Q14, P16, P18.

 

Future homework questions will be posted online at http://webct.colorado.edu