BAEcon Economics and Data Analytics

Year of entry: 2024

Course unit details:
Microeconomics 4

Course unit fact file
Unit code ECON20022
Credit rating 10
Unit level Level 2
Teaching period(s) Semester 2
Available as a free choice unit? Yes

Overview

The unit aims to provide students with a rigorous treatment of fundamental microeconomic concepts exposing the class to key economic ideas and theories motivated and explained with the regular use of real world examples.

Students will acquire a deeper and more rigorous understanding of the concepts encountered in Microeconomics 1 and Microeconomics 2. Specifically, students will be taught: (i) Market Exchange, General Equilibrium and Welfare Economics; (ii) Decision making under Uncertainty; (iii) Role of Information in Economics; (iv) Market Failures, particular focus on externality, public goods, and coordination failure and institutional responses; and (v) a brief introduction to Behavioural and Experimental Economics.

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title Unit code Requirement type Description
Advanced Mathematics ECON10071A Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Microeconomics 3 ECON20021 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Advanced Mathematics ECON20071 Pre-Requisite Compulsory
Advanced Mathematics ECON10071B Pre-Requisite Compulsory
ECON20021 and (ECON10071A OR ECON10071B OR ECON20071)

ECON20021 Micro 3 and (ECON10071 Adv Maths or ECON20071 Adv Maths)

 

Aims

The unit aims to provide students with a rigorous treatment of fundamental microeconomic concepts exposing the class to key economic ideas and theories motivated and explained with the regular use of real world examples.

Learning outcomes

Students will acquire a deeper and more rigorous understanding of the concepts encountered in Microeconomics 1 and Microeconomics 2. Specifically, students will be taught: (i) General Equilibrium Theory; (ii) Decision making under Uncertainty; (iii) Role of Information in Economics; (iv) Market Failures, particular focus on externality, public goods, and coordination failure and institutional responses; and (v) a brief introduction to Behavioural Economics.

Syllabus

Brief overview of the syllabus/topics.

  1. Market Exchange, General Equilibrium and Welfare Economics
    1. General Equilibrium: feedback between competitive markets
    2. Endowment and mutually beneficial trades
    3. Competitive Exchange and comparative advantage
    4. Welfare Economics; Efficiency and Equity
  2. Uncertainty
    1. Decision Making under Uncertainty: Expected Utility Theory
    2. Risk preferences
    3. Investing under Uncertainty: Insurance
  3. Information
    1. Asymmetric Information and Adverse Selection
    2. Moral Hazards
    3. Contracts
  4. Market Failure
    1. Coordination Failure and Institutional Responses
    2. Externality
    3. Public Good
  5. Behavioural and Experimental Economics
    1. Social Preferences; public good experiments, director game and auction experiments

Teaching and learning methods

Synchronous activities (such as Lectures or Review and Q&A sessions, and tutorials), and guided self-study

Knowledge and understanding

  • Microeconomic theory accompanied by real world applications

Intellectual skills

  • independent study;
  • critical thinking;
  • group work;
  • problem solving

Practical skills

  • mathematical skills,
  • writing on technical economic concepts,
  • presenting economics concepts and their applications in real world,
  • use of word processing software

Transferable skills and personal qualities

  • problem solving;
  • analysis and synthesis;
  • students will develop presentation and interpersonal skills through participation in tutorial sessions and presenting a given topic related to microeconomics in the form of oral/poster presentation;
  • learn to conduct independent research work with a team to help build some useful skills like co-ordination and co-operation.

Assessment methods

Coursework (group work, written blog post) (40%)

Final Exam (60%)

Feedback methods

  • Online quizzes released on Blackboard and tutorials
  • Feedback: during tutorial classes,  on the Discussion Board, and during office hour

Recommended reading

Varian, “Intermediate Microeconomics: a modern approach”, 9th Edition, 2014, Norton.

Teaching staff

Staff member Role
Sofia Izquierdo Sanchez Unit coordinator

Additional notes

For every 10 course unit credits we expect students to work for around 100 hours. This time generally includes any contact times (online or face to face, recorded and live), but also independent study, work for coursework, and group work. This amount is only a guidance and individual study time will vary

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