Professor Christiaan Hogendorn
Fall 2014
V= Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics, 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, and 5th editions
are all official textbooks for this course. Save money, buy an earlier edition!
Items marked with ! are not yet available.
○ Items with an open circle are just for background, not required.
Course Policies and Grading Information
| Sept. 2 T | 1. Indifference Curves ● V Chapter 3 [probs 7–11] ● V Chapter 4 [probs 1–7]. |
| Sept. 4 Th | 2. Budget Constraint and Tangency Condition ● V Chapter 2 [probs 1–7] ● V Chapter 5 (except appendix) [probs 1–5]. |
| Sept. 9 T | 3. Utility Maximization, Demand and Engel Curves ● V Chapter 5 appendix ● V Chapter 6 [probs 1–6] ○ Chai, A., & Moneta, A. (2010). “Retrospectives: Engel Curves.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(1), 225–240. Problem Set 1 due. !Answers. |
| Sept. 11 Th | 4. The Lump Sum Principle ● V Chapter 5, Section 5.6 [prob 6] ● V Chapter 7, Sections 7.1, 7.8, 7.9 [prob 4] |
| Sept. 16 T | 5. A Pure Exchange Economy ● V9 Chapter 32 [probs 1–5] (V78 Chapter 31) (V6 Chapter 30) (V5 Chapter 29). Problem Set 2 due. Answers. |
| Sept. 18 Th | 6. Consumer Surplus, Market Demand, and Elasticity ● V Chapter titled “Consumer’s Surplus” [probs 2–4, V5 1–3] ●V Chapter titled “Market Demand” [probs 1–2] |
| Sept. 23 T | 7. Market Equilibrium and Taxes ● V Chapter titled “Equilibrium” [probs 1–5] Problem Set 3 due. Answers. |
| Sept. 25 Th | 8. Externalities ● Skim V Chapter titled “Externalities” ● V Chapter titled “Information Technology” sections 4–7 |
| Sept. 30 T | FIRST MIDTERM Classes 1–6, Problem sets 1–3. Exam. Answers. |
| Oct. 2 Th | Class Cancelled |
| Oct. 7 T | 9. Public Goods ● V Chapter titled “Public Goods” Problem Set 4 due. Answers. |
| Oct. 9 Th | 10. 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. web link |
| Oct. 14 T | 11. Production and Costs: The Long Run ● V Chapter titled “Cost Minimization” [probs 1–4] ● V Chapter titled “Cost Curves” [probs 1–3] Problem Set 5 due. Answers. |
| Oct. 16 Th | 12. Firm Supply and Factor Demand ● V Chapter titled “Firm Supply” [probs 1–11] |
| Oct. 21 T | Fall Break |
| Oct. 23 Th | 13. Long Run Perfect Competition ● V Chapter titled “Industry Supply” [probs 1–5,7] |
| Oct. 28 T | 14. Monopoly and Monopolistic Competition ● V Chapter titled “Monopoly” [probs 1–9] Problem Set 6 due. Answers. |
| Oct. 30 Th | 15. Monopoly Behavior ● V Chapter titled “Monopoly Behavior” ● V Chapter titled “Factor Markets,” section “Upstream and Downstream Monopolies” |
| Nov. 4 T Election Day |
16. Game Theory: Sequential Games ● V Chapter titled “Game Theory” [probs 1–6] Problem Set 7 due. Answers. |
| Nov. 6 Th | 17. Game Theory: Simultaneous Games ● V Chapter titled “Game Applications.” |
| Nov. 11 T Veterans’ Day |
18. Oligopoly ● V Chapter titled “Oligopoly” Problem Set 8 due. Answers. |
| Nov. 13 Th | 19. Cybersecurity |
| Nov. 18 T | SECOND MIDTERM Classes 7–17, Problem Sets 4–8 Exam. Answers (partial). |
| Nov. 20 Th | 20. The Slutsky Equation ● V Chapter titled “Slutsky Equation,” including appendix. [probs 1–5] (Skip “voluntary real-time pricing”) |
| Nov. 25 T | 21. The Labor Market ● V Chapter titled “Buying and Selling” [probs 1–4] Problem Set 9 due. Answers. |
| Nov. 27 Th | Thanksgiving Recess |
| Dec. 2 T | 22. The Capital Market ● V Chapter titled “Intertemporal Choice” up to section on “Inflation” [probs. 1–5] ● V Chapter titled “Asset Markets” [probs 1,2,4] |
| Dec. 4 Th | 23. Imperfect Factor Markets ● V Chapter titled “Factor Markets” [all probs] Mathematica Notebook Review Problem Set 10. |
| Dec. 9 T | Review Session 5:30–7:30pm, PAC 107 |
| Dec. 10 W | Final Exam Sitting 1 2–5pm, PAC 004 |
| Dec. 11 Th | Final Exam Sitting 2 2–5pm, PAC 004 |