Intermediate microeconomics (BØK365)

The first part of the course focuses on market power and imperfect competition. The main questions that students will learn to address in the first part of the semester include: How do firms optimize under imperfectly competitive market structures? How can one characterize the strategic elements of firm behavior? Which price equilibria emerge under various market configurations? What are the implications for consumer welfare? What is the outcome in terms of overall economic efficiency?

The second part of the course focuses on market failures, in particular those pertaining to externalities and informational asymmetries. Key questions addressed in the second part of the semester include: What is the fundamental source of the market failure? What is the consequences for consumers, producers, and economic efficiency? To what extent does the market failure require government intervention? How can one correct the market failure?

The course will start with brief reviews of the perfect competition and the pure monopoly market structures, followed by presentations of a series of classical duopoly and oligopoly models, and then various market failure models. As the semester progresses, students will be introduced to concepts from game theory and behavioral economics, the frontiers of modern microeconomics, as needed. Finally, although the course is conceptual in its core nature, empirical elements (statistical analysis, numeric simulations, and similar) will be integrated as deemed appropriate.

Important Note: The specific sub-topics and presentation sequence may vary from semester to semester, while the core themes discussed above are maintained. For further details, students should consult the official course syllabus posted on Canvas two weeks prior to the start of the semester .  

Knowledge

Upon completion of the course, students will have:

• gained an understanding of central microeconomic concepts, theories and models, which form the basis of the course and the science of economics
• attained the ability to appreciate the complexity and scope of the determinants of microeconomic behaviour and equilibria outcomes in society
• advanced their formal and intuitive knowledge regarding the construction and application of economic models to analyze decision-making processes and microeconomic outcomes

Skills

Upon completion of the course, students will:

• have the ability to use different theories and models to analyze what drives economic actors in different situations
• know how to read and comprehend a wide range of microeconomic texts
• be capable of pursuing microeconomic analysis as part of a bachelor thesis
• be able to apply microeconomic tools as a basis for evaluating and developing economic decision-making strategies in the private and public sectors

General competence

Upon completion of the course, students will:

• be able to identify the resource constraints, opportunity costs and cost-benefit trade-offs that are either explicitly or implicitly associated with any microeconomic decision-making context.
• be able to critically evaluate and reflect upon key assumptions of individual microeconomic theories and models, and the science of economics in general.

Fagperson(er)

Study Program Director:

There will be about 4 hours of lectures per week, mostly using a blackboard presentation format. Lectures are given in English. Lecture notes will NOT be provided beforehand. While not mandatory, it is highly recommended that students attend all lectures and create their own complete sets of lecture notes. To help students learn the course material and prepare for the exam, about 3-5 extensive practice problem sets will be provided during the semester. Separate weekly meeting times (extra hours) will be dedicated to the discussion of these problem sets.

Workload

Estimated hours of effort for the course:

- Lecture attendance: 46 hours

- Individual study of course material: 80 hours

- Practice problem sets: 70 hours

- Discussion sessions and office hours: 20 hours

- Miscellaneous (supplementary material/problems, etc.): 50 hours

- Examination: 4 hours

Total: 270 hours