Professor Christiaan Hogendorn
Fall 2015
V = Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics, 9th, 8th, 7th, 6th, and 5th editions
are all official textbooks for this course. Save money, buy an earlier edition!
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○ Items with an open circle are just for background, not required.
Course Policies and Grading Information
| Sept. 7 M | 1. Indifference Curves ● V Chapter titled “Preferences” [probs 7–11] ● V Chapter “Utility” [probs 1–7]. |
| Sept. 9 W | 2. Budget Constraint and Tangency Condition ● V Chapter “Budget Constraint” [probs 1–7] ● V Chapter titled “Choice” (except appendix) [probs 1–5]. |
| Sept. 14 M | 3. Utility Maximization, Demand and Engel Curves ● V Chapter “Choice,” appendix ● V Chapter “Demand” [probs 1–6] ○ Chai, A., & Moneta, A. (2010). “Retrospectives: Engel Curves.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 24(1), 225–240. |
| Sept. 16 W | 4. Utility Over Time and Price Indices ● V Chapter “Revealed Preference,” Sections 1, 8, 9 [prob 4] ● V Chapter “Intertemporal Choice” (skip section “The Slutsky Equation…”) [probs. 1–5] Problem Set 1 due. Answers. |
| Sept. 21 M | 5. Expected Utility ● V Chapter “Uncertainty” [probs 3–6] |
| Sept. 23 W | 6. Consumer Surplus, Market Demand, and Elasticity ● V Chapter “Consumer’s Surplus” [probs 2–4, V5 1–3] ● V Chapter “Market Demand” [probs 1–2] Problem Set 2 due. Answers. |
| Sept. 28 M | 7. Market Equilibrium and Taxes ● V Chapter “Equilibrium” [probs 1–5] |
| Sept. 30 W | 8. Externalities ● Pindyck and Rubinfeld, “Externalities and Public Goods,” Chapter 18 in Microeconomics. ● V Chapter titled “Information Technology” sections 4–7 Problem Set 3 due. Answers. |
| Oct. 5 M | 9. Production and Costs: The Short Run ● V Chapter “Technology” |
| Oct. 7 W | FIRST MIDTERM Classes 1–6, Problem Sets 1–3. Exam. Answers. |
| Oct. 12 M | 10. Production and Costs: The Long Run ● V Chapter “Cost Minimization” [probs 1–4] ● V Chapter “Cost Curves” [probs 1–3] ● Mathematica Notebook for class |
| Oct. 14 W | 11. Short-Run Perfect Competition ● V Chapter “Firm Supply” [probs 1–11] ● Mathematica Notebook for class Problem Set 4 due. Answers. |
| Oct. 19 M | 12. Long Run Perfect Competition ● V Chapter titled “Industry Supply” [probs 1–5,7] |
| Oct. 21 W | 13. Monopoly and Monopolistic Competition ● V Chapter titled “Monopoly” [probs 1–9] Problem Set 5 due. Answers. |
| Oct. 26 M | FALL BREAK |
| Oct. 28 W | 14. Monopoly Behavior ● V Chapter titled “Monopoly Behavior” ● V Chapter titled “Factor Markets,” section “Upstream and Downstream Monopolies” |
| Nov. 2 M | 15. Game Theory: Sequential Games ● V Chapter “Game Theory” [probs 1–6] Problem Set 6 due. Answers. |
| Nov. 4 W | SECOND MIDTERM Classes 7–13, Problem Sets 4–6 Exam. Answers. |
| Nov. 9 M | 16. Game Theory: Simultaneous Games ● V Chapter titled “Game Applications.” |
| Nov. 11 W | 17. Oligopoly ● V Chapter “Oligopoly” ● Mathematica Notebook for class |
| Nov. 16 M | 18. A Pure Exchange Economy ● V Chapter “Exchange” [probs 1–5]. |
| Nov. 18 W | 19. The Slutsky Equation ● V Chapter “Slutsky Equation,” including appendix. [probs 1–5] (Skip “voluntary real-time pricing”) Problem Set 7 due. Answers. |
| Nov. 23 M | 20. The Labor Market ● V Chapter “Buying and Selling” [probs 1–4] |
| THANKSGIVING RECESS | |
| Nov. 30 M | 21. Factor Markets and the Goods Market ● Mathematica Notebook for class |
| Dec. 2 W | 22. Factor Markets and Monopsony ● V Chapter titled “Factor Markets” [all probs] ● Mathematica Notebook for class Problem Set 8 due. Answers. |
| Dec. 7 M | 23. Asset Markets ● V Chapter titled “Asset Markets” [probs 1,2,4] |
| Dec. 9 W | 24. General Equilibrium ● Mathematica Notebook for class Problem Set 9 due. Answers. |
| Dec. 14 M | Review Session 2:00pm |
| Dec. 18 F | Final Exam PAC 002 (same room as class) Final Mathematica Take-Home due. |