Microeconomics I

Code:

1EC105

Acronym:

MICI

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Economics

Instance: 2013/2014 - 1S (of 09-09-2013 to 20-12-2013)

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Agrupamento Científico de Economia
Course/CS Responsible:	Bachelor in Economics

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LECO	374	Bologna Syllabus since 2012	1	-	6	63	162

Teaching language

Portuguese

Objectives

The main objectives of this course are: (1) understanding some basic economic instruments and principles and (2) applying those instruments and principles to some economic problems, mainly individual decision-making problems and market problems.

Learning outcomes and competences

Students are stimulated to participate in the lectures and read several chapters of some books. Either the two tests or the final exam requires a solid preparation by the students. In general, each professor allocates one hour per week to attend students.

Working method

Presencial

Program

Chapter 0. Mathematical instruments: Graphical analysis; Total value, average value and marginal value. Part I-Basic Economic Concepts Chapter 1. Choice and Scarcity 1.1 The principle of scarcity 1.2 The cost-benefit principle 1.2.1 Opportunity cost 1.2.2 Reservation price 1.2.3 The opportunity cost and the best alternative activity 1.2.4 Distinction between average cost (benefit) and marginal cost (benefit) 1.2.5 The opportunity cost and the sunk cost 1.3 Absolute advantage and comparative advantage 1.4 Production possibilities curve 1.5 Positive analysis versus normative analysis 1.6 Microeconomics versus macroeconomics Chapter 2. Supply and Demand 2.1 The concept of a market 2.2 Demand 2.2.1 The market demand curve 2.2.2 Determinants of the market demand 2.3 Supply 2.3.1The market supply curve 2.3.2 Determinants of the market supply 2.4 Market equilibrium 2.5 Changes in market equilibrium 2.6 Elasticity 2.6.1 The price elasticity of demand 2.6.2 The income elasticity of demand 2.6.3 The cross-price elasticity of demand 2.6.4 The price elasticity of supply 2.7 The price elasticity of demand and supply and the changes in the market equilibrium Chapter 3. Supply, Demand and Government Policies 3.1 Controls on prices 3.1.1 Price ceilings 3.1.2 Price floors 3.2 Production Quotas 3.3. Taxes and subsidies 3.4 Applications Chapter 4. Supply, Demand and Efficiency of Markets 4.2 Consumer Surplus 4.2 Producer surplus 4.3 Market equilibrium and efficiency 4.4 Market efficiency and economic policies 4.4.1 Market efficiency and taxes 4.4.2 Market efficiency and price controls 4.4.3 Market efficiency and production quotas 4.5 Applications Part II – Consumer Choice Theory and Demand Chapter 5. Consumer Behavior 5.1 Consumer preferences 5.1.1 Properties of consumer preferences 5.1.2 Indifference curves 5.1.3 Cardinal utility versus ordinal utility 5.2 Budget constraint 5.3 The consumer´s optimal choice 5.4 Generalization to several consumer goods 5.5 Applications Chapter 6. Individual demand and market demand 6.1 Changes in Income 6.2. Changes in prices 6.3 Deriving the demand curve 6.3 Income and substitution effects 6.5 Applications

Mandatory literature

N. Gregory Mankiw e Mark P. Taylor; Microeconomics, 2ª edição, Cengage, 2011
N. Gregory Mankiw and Mark P. Taylor; Microeconomics, Cengage, 2011

Complementary Bibliography

Frank, Robert e Bern Bernanke; Princípios de Economia, McGraw-Hill, 2003
David Besanko and Ronald Braeutigam; Microeconomics, 4ª edição, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011
Robert Frank and Bern Bernanke; Princípios de Economia, McGraw-Hill, 2003
David Besanko and Ronald Braeutigam; Microeconomics, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2011

Teaching methods and learning activities

Theoretical and applied lectures. In general, concepts and economic principles are presented and discussed in each lecture, followed by examples and applications. At the end of every chapter, students are required to do two economic problems.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Teste	100,00
Total:	100,00

Calculation formula of final grade

Students can choose to do either a final exam or two tests. In the latter case, the first test has a weight of 30% and the second test has a 70% weight. The first test covers chapters 1 and 2; the second test covers the remaining chapters.