Nir Dagan / Teaching

Intermediate microeconomics (EC111)

Note: This document refers to the course of Fall 1999. There is new information for EC111, Spring 2000

• incomplete solution to the midterm exam
• General description
• Required texts
• Homework assignments
• Outline of the course
• Resources from other courses

General description

The course intermediate microeconomics discusses first the theories of consumer and firm decision making. Then we turn to study how prices are determined in equilibrium and how resources are allocated. We will consider both competitive markets and markets with a monopolist. We will also study concepts of economic efficiency and evaluate whether different markets mechanisms result in an efficient allocation of resources.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites are: MA6, MA7, MA9 or equivalent; and EC11 or advanced placement. Willingness to work hard is strongly recommended.

Lectures

Lectures are scheduled for K hour, Tuesday and Thursday, 2:30-3:50. The professor may be contacted in several ways. The teaching assistant is Mr. Younghwan In, and his conference sections are in Wednesday 12:00 and 7:00. His office hours are Monday 1:00-3:00, in the basement of Robinson Hall.

Grading

The grades will be composed of the following parts: Homeworks 10%, midterm exam 35% and final exam 55%

Required texts

• Hal Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach, 5th Ed., W.W. Norton, 1999.
• Theodore Bergstrom & Hal Varian, Workouts in Intermediate Microeconomics, 5th Ed., W.W. Norton, 1999

Homework assignments

Unless stated otherwise assignments are from Workouts in Intermediate Microeconomics mentioned above.

• Due Tuesday September 28: 3.1, 3.3, 3.5, 3.8, 3.14, 4.1, 4.3, 4.8, 4.9, 4.11.
• Due Tuesday September 21: 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.6, 2.7, 2.11.
• Due Tuesday September 14: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3

Outline of the course

1. Introduction
2. Consumer theory
   1. The budget constraint, preferences, and utility functions
   2. Optimization, offer curve, demand function, consumer's surplus
3. Theory of the firm
   1. Production technology and the production function
   2. Minimization of cost and cost functions
   3. Maximization of profit and the supply function
4. Equilibrium in a single market
   1. Aggregate demand and supply, competitive equilibrium, market surplus.
   2. A market with a monopoly, comparison with competitive equilibrium.
5. General competitive equilibrium
   1. The Edgeworth box and economic (or Pareto) efficiency
   2. Offer curves and competitive equilibrium

Resources from other courses

• Economic theory I a similar course that I gave elsewhere. Includes some problem sets and a solved exam.
• A math refresher for EC111 (in PDF format) by Jim Davis.
• Handouts from EC113 (spring 1999) by Rajiv Vohra (in PDF format)
  • Optimal consumer choice
  • Consumer's surplus