Economics 401: Intermediate Microeconomics, spring 2011


Instructor: Prof. Jeremy A. Sandford

Office hour: W 10-11am, 335L B&E, or by appointment
Lecture: 9:30-10:45 TH, BE 305

Midterm date: Tuesday, March 8, in class
Final date: Tuesday, May 3 8:00am-10:00am

Required text: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, Microeconomics, Pearson/Prentice Hall

Syllabus

Last year's website

Homework 1, answers
Homework 2, answers
Homework 3, answers
Homework 4, answers
Homework 5, answers
Homework 6 (with answers)

Final course grades sorted by overall score and letter grade (I am not supposed to post student ID numbers online, so to figure out which line is yours, you need to know your HW/midterm scores)


Schedule


Thursday, January 13: Intro, syllabus, supply and demand review
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, Chapters 1-2

Tuesday, January 18: indivual preferences, indifference curves, marginal rate of substitution
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 3

Thursday, January 20: indifference curves, utility functions, budget lines, constrained maximization of utility
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 3

Tuesday, January 25: constrained maximization of utility, interpretation of slopes of budget line adn indifference curves, perfect substitutes
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 3

Thursday, January 27: Sample problem worksheet

Tuesday, February 1: consumer demand, income/substitution effects, network externalities
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 4

Thursday, February 3: uncertainty and risk attitudes
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 5

Tuesday, Feburary 8: measuring risk aversion, insurance
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 5

Thursday, February 10: firms and production
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 6

Tuesday, February 15: firm costs and profit maximization
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 7

Thursday, February 17: cost functions, variable, fixed, and total costs, distinction between fixed and sunk costs
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 7

Tuesday, February 22: market structure: monopoly versus competitive markets, "perfectly competitive" markets, barriers to entry
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 8

Thursday, February 24: perfectly competitive markets, entry and exit
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 8

Tuesday, March 1: recap of perfect competition, practice problems
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 8

Thursday, March 3: Monopoly
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 10

Tuesday, March 8: Midterm exam, in class

Thursday, March 10: No class (Mark-Paul Gosselaar's birthday)

Tuesday, March 15: No class (spring break)

Thursday, March 17: No class (spring break)

Tuesday, March 22: Monopoly
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 10

Thursday, March 24: No class

Tuesday, March 29: Measuring and regulating monopoly, natural monopoly
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 10

Thursday, March 31: Monopolist price discrimination
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 11

Tuesday, April 5: Second-degree price discrimination extended example
reading: Notes on second-degree price discrimination

Thursday, April 7: Game theory: introduction, vocabulary, solving simultaneous-move games, dominant and dominated strategies
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 13

Tuesday, April 12: Game theory: Nash equilibrium, mixed strategies
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 13

Thursday, April 14: Game theory: sequential games
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, chapter 13

Tuesday, April 19: The market for lemons: adverse selection
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, section 17.1
The market for "Lemons" by George Akerlof (link may require you to be on campus)

Thursday, April 21: Education as a signal
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, section 17.2
Job market signaling, by Michael Spence (link may require you to be on campus)

Tuesday, April 26: Moral hazard, efficiency wages
reading: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, sections 17.3-17.6

Thursday, April 28: No class

Tuesday, May 3, 8-10am: Final exam
topics: everything from monopoly onward (post-midterm material)
the exam will be the same format as the midterm, just slightly longer. You can use any books, notes, or calculators you want. No computers, phones, tablets, or anything that can access the Internet.