Intermediate Microeconomics




Information and Class Schedule (Spring, 2001)


January 23, 2001






Teacher


P. Gunning


Office Hours: S,T: 11:00-12:00; 1:00-2:00; Others by Appointment


http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/barclay/212/omancoll/welcomcl.htm


Send email: gunning@fcu.edu.tw




Course Title, Number, and Prerequisites


Intermediate Microecononmics ECO 301; Prerequisite: ECO 201.




Course Description


Intermediate microeconomics is the study of individual interaction in a market economy. It shows how private property rights provide an incentive for individuals to specialize and exchange. It is especially concerned with how the separate actions of a multitude of specialists get coordinated. This is accomplished by the numerous middleman and undertaking activity of individuals who take on the role of the entrepreneur. In this course, we shall study this coordination by focusing on both the knowledge, or human capital, that is used for this task and on the abstract role of the entrepreneur in the competitive process.


An important goal of studying interaction and coordination is to better evaluate various arguments that government intervention in the market economy can improve welfare. Among the situations in which benefits are claimed for government intervention are monopoly, externalities, and public goods. After forming a preliminary understanding of entrepreneurial competition in the market economy, we turn to these policy issues.




Grading and Examinations


Grading is based entirely on test performance, presentation, and attendance at presentations. There will be two exams during the semester in class and a final examination. The in class exams will count 20% of the final grade. The final exam will count 40%. The class presentation will count 15%. And attendance at the presentations will count 5%. Students must attend 80% of the presentations. 1% will be deducted for each presentation that is missed beyond the 80%.


No makeup exams will be given unless the student has permission prior to the exam, except in extraordinary circumstances. Cheating on an examination will result in an automatic failure and possible expulsion from the college and university.




Project


Each student will be given a personal project of investigating a topic on the attached list. Students must choose a topic by the 4th week. Once a topic is chosen, the student must work closely with the teacher in devising a study plan and presentation. The student may submit a written paper in addition to the presentation, but this is not necessary.




Class Materials


The primary material for this course is from the draft of a textbook that Professor Gunning. Some additional chapters will be given to students later in the semester.




Schedule




Week 1 The Market Economy (Ch. 1); Wants, Goods, and Cost (Ch. 2)


Week 2 Wants, Goods, and Cost (Ch. 2): Resources (Ch. 3)


Week 3 Private Property Rights System (Ch. 4); Human Capital in the Market Economy (Ch. 5)


Week 4 Human Capital in the Market Economy (Ch. 5); Coordination without a Market Economy (Ch. 6)


Week 5 Coordination without a Market Economy (Ch. 6); First Exam (20%)


Week 6 Economic Coordination (Ch. 7); The Entrepreneur Role (Ch. 8)


Week 7 The Entrepreneur Role (Ch. 8); Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium (Ch. 9)


Week 8 Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium (Ch. 9); The Firm and Industry in the No Entrepreneur Economy (Ch. 10)


Week 9 The Firm and Industry in the No Entrepreneur Economy (Ch. 10); Economic Change in a Competitive Industry (Ch. 11)


Week 10 Economic Change in a Competitive Industry (Ch. 11); Price Controls (Ch. 12)


Week 11 Second Exam (20%); Monopoly (Ch.. 13)


Week 12 Coordination by the Entrepreneur Role (Ch. 14)


Week 13 Modern Theory of the Firm (Ch. 15); Externality (Ch. 16)


Week 14 Externality (Ch. 16); The Common Property Resource (Ch. 17)


Week 15 Public Goods (Ch. 18)




Final Examination: comprehensive (40%)




Topics for Microeconomics




 


1.Elasticity of Demand and Supply: Meaning and Applications


 


2.Indifference Analysis of Substitution and Income Effects


 


3.Choice, Uncertainty and Risk


 


4.Examples of the Effects of Intervention in Competitive Markets: Must analyze three cases not discussed in class


 


5.Theory of Contestable Markets


 


6.The Theory of Monopsony (Review of JEL article -3-97)


 


7.Price Discrimination


 


8.Intertemporal Price Discrimination and Peak Load Pricing


 


9.Transfer Pricing



10.Oligopoly


 


11.Cartel Pricing


 


12.Game Theory and Competitive Strategy


 


13.Firms' Decisions Involving Depletable Resources


 


14.Edgeworth Box Diagram


 


15.Markets with Asymmetric Information and Market Signaling


 


16.Moral Hazard and the Principal Agent Problem


 


17.Theory of Transferable Emissions Permits



18.Transactions Costs Theory of the Organization of the Firm


 


19.Futures Markets and Speculation


 


20.Theory of the Allocation of Time


 


21.Rationing by Waiting


 


22.The Concept of Consumers' Surplus


 


23.Firm Specific Human Capital


 


24.Competing Theories of the Firm


 


25.Theories of Entrepreneurship


 


26.Entrepreneurial Discovery (review of JEL article -- 3-97))


 


27.Predatory Pricing


 


28.The Patent System


 


29.Economics of Discrimination


 


30.Social Costs of Monopoly


 


31.Theory of How Private Property Rights Evolve



32.Pure Theory of Externality


 


33.Theories of Economic Regulation


 


34.Economics of Unemployment


 


35.Microeconomic Theory of Household Saving (Review of JEL article -- 12-96)


 


36.Theory of Bounded Rationality (Review of JEL article -- 6-96)


 


37.Models of Monopolistic Competition (Review of JEL article -- 6-95)


 


38.Economics of Immigration (Review of JEL article -- 12-94)