Economics 301, Section 1: Microeconomic Analysis

Professor Christiaan Hogendorn
Fall 2012

Syllabus

Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics, 8th, 7th, 6th, and 5th editions are all official textbooks for this course. Save money, buy an earlier edition!

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Course Policies and Grading

I. Consumer Preferences and Demand
Sept. 3 M 1. Indifference Curves
V5678, Chapter 3 [probs 7-11], 4 [probs 1-7].
Sept. 5 W 2. Budget Constraint and Tangency Condition
V5678, Chapter 2 [probs 1-7], 5 (except appendix) [probs 1-5].
Sept. 10 M 3. Utility Maximization with the Lagrangian
V5678, Chapter 5 appendix, Chapter 6 [probs 1-6]
Sept. 12 W 4. Demand Curves and Engle Curves
Sept. 17 M 5. The Lump Sum Principle
V5678, Chapter 5, Section 5.6 [prob 6]
V5678, Chapter 7, Sections 7.1, 7.8, 7.9 [prob 4]
Sept. 19W 6. A Pure Exchange Economy
V78, Chapter 31 [probs 1-5] (V6, Chapter 30 [probs 1-5]) (V5, Chapter 29 [probs 1-5]).

II. The Goods Market
Sept. 24 M 7. Consumer Surplus, Market Demand, and Elasticity
V, Chapter 14 [probs 2-4, V5 1-3], 15 [probs 1-2]
Sept. 26 W No Class
Leave Problem set outside my office door (PAC 331)
Oct. 1 M 8. Market Equilibrium and Taxes
V, Chapter 16 [probs 1-5]
Oct. 3 W FIRST MIDTERM
Classes 1-6, Problem sets 1-3.
Oct. 8 M 9. Externalities and Public Goods
Skim V, Chapter 33 (V5, Chapter 32)
Read V, Chapter 35 [prob 3]
Oct. 10 W 10. Reading
Dupor, Bill, and Wen-Fang Liu, "Jealousy and Equilibrium Overconsumption," American Economic Review, March 2003: 423-428. (Read carefully until 2nd to last paragraph beginning on pg. 427, then skim.) web link

III. Production
Oct. 15 M OCTOBER BREAK
Oct. 17 W 11. Production and Costs: The Short Run
Walter Nicholson, "Production Functions," Chapter 11 in Microeconomic Theory. (Will be e-mailed to you.)
  • Oberfield, E., & Raval, D. (2012). Micro Data and the Macro Elasticity of Substitution. US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies Paper No. CES-WP-12-05.
Oct. 22 M 12. Production and Costs: The Long Run
V, Chapter 20 [probs 1-4], Chapter 21 [probs 1-3]
Oct. 24 W 13. Firm Supply and Factor Demand
V, Chapter 22 [probs 1-11]
Oct. 29 M 14. Hurricane Sandy (no class)

V. Models of Firm Behavior
Oct. 31 W 14. Catch up
Nov. 5 M 15. Long Run Perfect Competition
V, Chapter 23 [probs 1-5,7].
Nov. 7 W 16. Monopoly and Efficiency
V, Chapter 24 [probs 1-9], 25 [1-4].
Nov. 12 M 17. Game Theory
V, Chapter 28 [probs 1-6].
Nov. 14 W SECOND MIDTERM
Classes 7-15, Problem Sets 4-7
Nov. 19 M 18. Cournot and Perfect Competition
V, Chapter 27 [probs 1-6].
Nov. 21 W THANKSGIVING RECESS

IV. Factor Markets and General Equilibrium
Nov. 26 M 19. The Slutsky Equation
V, Chapter 8 (Skip "voluntary real-time prcing" in 6th ed) [probs 1-5]
Nov. 28 W 20. The Labor Market
V, Chapter 9 [probs 1-4]
Dec. 3 M 21. The Capital Market
V5678, Chapter 10, Sections 10.1-10.4 [probs. 1-5], V5678 Chapter 11 [probs 1,2,4]
Dec. 5 W 22. Imperfect Factor Markets
V5678, Chapter 26 [all probs]
Skipped? 23. Reading
Parry, Ian W.H. and Small, Kenneth A., "Does Britain or the United States Have the Right Gasoline Tax?" American Economic Review, 95(4) September 2005: 1276-1289. web link

Dec. 11 T Review Session
2:40-4:00pm

Dec. 12 W FINAL EXAM SITTING 1
2:00-5:00pm
Dec. 13 Th FINAL EXAM SITTING 2
2:00-5:00pm