Professor: Dr. E. F. Esguerra
Course description: Consumer and producer theories, price determination under different market structures, economic efficiency and welfare, market failure
Course objectives: The objective of this course is to provide students with a basic understanding of microeconomic concepts and their applications. At the end of this course, students are expected to have gained some knowledge in the use of economic principles to analyze a broad range of social phenomena.
Basic reference
Varian, H. R. (2014). Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus. New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company (Previous editions back to 2010 will do; take note though that chapter assignments indicated here follow the numbering of the 2014 edition.) [Print only]
Recommended supplementary readings (Chapters can be read in any particular order that suits you.)
Harford, T. (2008). The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World. New York: Random House. [Print only]
Levitt, S. and S. Dubner. (2005). Freakonomics. New York: Harper-Collins. [Print only]
Oyer, P. (2014). Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating. Boston: Harvard Business Review Press. [Not available]
Topics
Introduction
(On the uses of microeconomic analysis; the scope and method of economics)
Varian, Ch. 1
Becker, G. 1993. “Nobel Lecture: The Economic Way of Looking at Behavior”. Journal of Political Economy 101(3): 385-409. link [Open Access] link [Accessible via UPSE network only]
Choice and demand
(Preferences and utility, utility maximization and consumer choice, income and substitution effects, labor supply, intertemporal choice, uncertainty, market demand)
Varian, 2-10, 12, 14-15
Production and supply
(Production functions, costs, profit maximization and firm supply)
Varian, Chs. 19-24
Perfect competition and welfare
(Perfect competition, efficiency, welfare)
Varian, Chs. 16, 32-34
Imperfect competition and strategic interaction
(Monopoly, imperfect competition, game theory)
Varian, Chs. 25-30
Market failure and asymmetric information
(Externalities, public goods, network effects, quality choice, screening, signaling)
Varian, Ch. 35-38
Stiglitz, J. 1987. “The Causes and Consequences of the Dependence of Quality on Price”. Journal of Economic Literature. March: 1-48. link [Accessible via UPSE network]
Stiglitz, J. 1985. “Information and Economic Analysis: A Perspective.” Economic Journal. Supplement to Volume 95: 21-41. link [Open access] link [Accessible via UPSE network]
Additional topics (as time allows)
(Behavioral economics)
Varian, Ch. 30