Economics 401: Intermediate Microeconomics, fall 2009


Instructor: Jeremy A. Sandford

Office hours: TH 9:30-10:30am, 335L B&E
Lecture: 9-10:15 MW, BE 301

Midterm date: Monday, October 19, in class
Final date: Monday, December 14 10:30am-12:30pm
Quiz dates: 9/16, 9/30, 10/14, 11/4, 11/23

Required text: Perloff, Jeffrey Microeconomics, Pearson/Addison Wesley

Syllabus

Last year's website

Readings to date: Perloff, chapters 1-5, 11-14, 17, 19.1-19.3, notes on quantity discrimination

Problem set 1, "due" 9/16/09, answers
Problem set 2, "due" 9/30/09, answers
Problem set 3, "due" 10/14/09, answers
Problem set 4, "due" 11/4/09, answers
Problem set 5, "due" 11/23/09, answers
Problem set 6, "due" 12/14/09, answers

Homework assignment


Schedule


Wednesday, August 26: Intro, syllabus, brief discussion

Monday, August 31: Basic supply and demand models, import quotas

Wednesday, September 2: price controls, taxes, elasticity

Monday, September 7: Labor Day, no class

Wednesday, September 9: elasticity and tax incidence
reading: Perloff, chapter 3

Monday, September 14: elasticity, problem solving from HW 1
reading: Perloff, chapter 3

Wednesday, Septmber 16: consumer choice, indifference curves Quiz #1 (with answers)
reading: Perloff, chapter 4

Monday, September 21: budget sets and consumer maximization
reading: Perloff, chapter 4

Wednesday, September 23: utility function, mathematical approach to maximization
reading: Perloff, chapter 4

Monday, September 28: deriving demand curves from consumer choice problem
reading: Perloff, chapter 5

Wednesday, September 30: demand curves, income and substitution effects, Quiz #2(with answers)
reading: Perloff, chapter 5

Monday, October 5: Labor/leisure decisions and implications for tax policy
reading: Perloff, chapter 5

Wednesday, October 7: quick overview of competitive markets, consumer and producer surplus
reading: reveiew Perloff, chapter 9 as needed

Monday, October 12: Monopoly
reading: Perloff, chapter 11

Wednesday, October 14: Monopoly, quiz #3 (with answers)
reading: Perloff, chapter 11

Monday, October 19: Midterm, Answers
grade distribution:
A 90-100
A- 84-90
B+ 78-84
B 67-78
B- 62-67
C+ 56-60
C 45-53
C- 40-45
D/F <40

Wednesday, October 21: Lerner index, causes of monopoly
reading: Perloff, chapter 11

Monday, October 26: price discrimination, discrimination by quantity
reading: notes on quantity discrimination

Wednesday, October 28: price discrimination, perfect price discrimination and multimarket price discrimination
reading: Perloff, chapter 12

Monday, November 2: Oligopoly: Bertrand pricing
reading: Perloff, chapter 13

Wednesday, November 4: Oligopoly, Quiz #4 (with answers)
reading: Perloff, chapter 13

Monday, November 9: Oligopoly: Cournot model
reading: Perloff, chapter 13

Wednesday, November 11: Game theory I: simultaneous move games
reading: Perloff, chapter 14

Monday, November 16: Game theory II: sequential move games
reading: Perloff, chapter 14

Wednesday, November 18: Risk and uncertainty
reading: Perloff, chapter 17

Monday, November 23: Quiz #5 (with answers)
topics: chapters 13 and 14

Wednesday, November 25: No class (thanksgiving break)

Monday, November 30: expected utility, insurance markets
reading: Perloff, chapter 17

Wednesday, December 2: adverse selection
"Bad grade insurance" at UC-San Diego
reading: Perloff, sections 19.1-19.3

Monday, December 7: Moral hazard and Henry Ford
reading: Did Henry Ford pay efficiency wages?, Daniel Raff and Lawrence Summers

Wednesday, December 9: HW 6 review
Grades going into the final

Monday, December 14: Final exam, 10:30am-12:30pm
Final course grades