UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
Department of Economics
ECON 281 – A4
Intermediate Microeconomic Theory I Fall 2016
Instructor:
Andrew Eckert Office: Tory 9-29 Phone: 492-3959
Email: [email protected]
Class Schedule:
Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:20 in T 1 91.
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 1:00 – 2:00, or by appointment (see me after class or contact me by telephone or email). Additional office hours may be scheduled before the exam or assignment due dates.
Tutor Center and Practice Sessions: There is a tutor (a PhD student) available to ECON 281 students in all sections. The tutor’s office hours, held in Tory 8 – 29, are TBA. Students are welcome to ask the tutor questions about the lecture material, readings, or the practice problems.
The tutor cannot give you answers to assignment questions.
As well, the tutor will be holding sessions throughout the term, in which he will be going through additional practice questions. These sessions are recommended, but are not mandatory.
Practice questions, without answers, will be circulated the week before each session. If you are unable to attend a session you are welcome to come to the tutor’s office hours to speak with him about the questions. Each practice session in a week will cover the same questions.
Practice sessions will be held on the following days (times and room TBA):
September 22 & 23 October 6 & 7 October 20 & 21 November 3 & 4 November 17 & 18 December 1 & 2
Prerequisites:
ECON 101 or equivalent. This prerequisite will be checked, and students who do not meet the prerequisite will be removed from the course.
First year calculus (eg MATH 113) is NOT a prerequisite for this course. HOWEVER, we will be making extensive use of high school-level math. If you are uncomfortable with this material, I strongly recommend doing some review at the start of term.
Purpose of the Course:
This course discusses the theory of consumer behavior; theory of production and cost; price and output determination under competition, monopoly and other market structures.
Evaluation:
The final grade for the course will be determined according to the following formula:
Midterm Exam (October 25) 30%
Homework Assignments (4) 30%
Final Exam (December 12, tentative) 40%
The final exam will be cumulative, covering material from the entire term. More weight will be placed on material presented after the midterm exam. NOTE: The final exam date listed is tentative - you need to check the date and time for the correct section of the final exam later).
Assignments will be posted on eClass. The circulation and due dates of the assignments are as follows:
Assignment Circulated Due
1 Monday September 12 Monday September 26
2 Friday September 30 Friday October 14
3 Friday October 28 Wednesday November 16
4 Friday November 18 Wednesday November 30
Grades are not given for attendance or in-class participation.
The formula given above will be used to compute a grade out of one hundred for the course. In translating these numeric grades to letter grades, letter grades will be assigned in an attempt to achieve a grade point average between 2.6 and 3.2. Note however that, depending on
circumstances, the grade point average of the class may lie outside of this interval. Final grades are based both on absolute and relative performance.
University policy on missed exams and term work can be found in Section 23.3 of the Calendar.
Note that approval for missing the midterm exam is at my discretion. Students who offer a medical justification must submit the Request for Deferral of Examinations and/or Term Work form, available online on eClass. Students who wish to request a deferred final exam must apply to the Student Services Office of their home Faculty (not to me). Please consult the Calendar for further details.
Assignments are due to the Economics Department office (8th floor Tory) by 4:30 on the due date. Late assignments will receive no marks unless I have granted you an extension for a valid reason before the due date. Students who miss the midterm exam for an approved reason will have the weight of the mid-term placed on the final exam. The deferred final examination for those students who are granted one will be held on Friday January 6, 2017, at 3:00 PM.
eClass
I will be using eClass to post course documents. These will include the course outline, assignments, past exam questions and PowerPoint slides used in class. PowerPoint slides are posted after each lecture.
Books and Materials:
The required textbook for this course is:
Besanko, D., and R. Braeutigam. Microeconomics, John Wiley, 2010 (5th ed).
I will be basing my lectures on the most recent version of the text. If you wish to use a previous edition of the text, please consult with me first regarding compatibility.
Course Outline and Readings:
In the following, all chapter references are for Besanko and Braeutigam. Please note that all dates listed (except exam dates) are approximate. The exact sections covered in each chapter may be changed as the term proceeds. Any changes will be announced in class.
1. Introduction; Analyzing Economic Problems (Ch. 1) September 1 2. Demand and Supply Analysis (Ch. 2) September 6-8 3. Consumer Preferences and the Concept of Utility (Ch. 3) September 13 -15
4. Consumer Choice (Ch. 4) September 20 - 22
Excluding Section 4.4, Appendix
5. The Theory of Demand (Ch. 5) September 27 – October 4
Excluding Section 5.6
6. Inputs and Production Functions (Ch 6.) October 6 – 11
Excluding Appendix
7. Costs and Cost Minimization (Ch. 7) October 13 - 18
Excluding Appendix pages 287 – 288.
NOTE: MIDTERM IS OCTOBER 25
8. Cost Curves (Ch. 8) October 20 - 27
Excluding 8.4, Appendix
9. Perfectly Competitive Markets (Ch. 9) November 1 – November 3
Excluding Appendix
10. Competitive Markets: Applications (Ch. 10) November 15 - 17 NOTE: NO CLASSES NOVEMBER 8 AND 10!
11. Monopoly and Monopsony; Factor Markets (Ch. 11)* November 22 - 29
Excluding 11.4
12. Capturing Surplus (Ch. 12) December 1 - 6
Excluding 12.6
*In addition, the following chapter, which has been made available on eclass, is a required reading for this section:
Pindyck, R. and D. Rubinfeld (2013): Microeconomics, 5th Edition, Chapter 14.
Other Notes:
Audio or video recording of lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching environment by students is allowed only with the prior written consent of the instructor or as a part of an
approved accommodation plan. Recorded material is to be used solely for personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for any other purpose without prior written consent from the content author(s).
Policy about course outlines can be found in the Evaluation Procedures and Grading System section of the University Calendar.
The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University.
Student Accessibility Services: If you have a condition that may require some classroom or exam modifications, please contact SAS (www.ssds.ualberta.ca) to obtain a determination as to what accommodations should be made.
Student Success Centre: The Student Success Centre (www.studentsuccess.ualberta.ca) offers a variety of learning resources, including a variety of workshops in learning effective study and exam strategies. Sessions are available in person and online, for a fee.
