MICROECONOMICS

SECS-P/01 - 9 CFU - 2° Semester

Teaching Staff

ROBERTO CELLINI


Learning Objectives

  1. Knowledge and understanding: The course aims at presenting the basic economic models about consumer and producer choices, under different market structures. The consistency of demand and supply choices are analyses as well.

  2. Applying knowledge and understanding: The student has to be able to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired to analyse specific case studies, and simple numerical exercises. The case studies and the numerical exercises are provided by the text book, the videotapes which will be made available, and during the lectures.

  3. Making judgements: The student will be able to understand which theoretical model is the most appropriate to describe and analyse real situation. He/she will be also able to understand pros and cons of different models, along with their weakness and strength points.

  4. Communication skills: During the course the student has to improve and develop the knowledge of a technical and economic language to use in an appropriate way as an useful instrument of communication, even with the aim of introducing herself /himself in the job market.

  5. Learning skills: The student will be able to understand which theoretical concept is appropriate to deal with specific case(s); he/she will be able to solve simple numerical analysis exercises.


Course Structure

Lectures (80%); Guided exercises (15%); Discussion on case studeis (5%).



Detailed Course Content

(1) Introduction to Economics (goals and methods), (2) Market demand and supply functions, (3) Consumer rational choices and individual demand, (4) Applications: inter-temporal choices; labour supply, (5) Uncertainty, (6) production theory, (7) Cost functions, (8) The firm under perfect competition conditions, (9) Analysis of competitive markets; (10) General economic equilibrium under perfect competition, (11) Monopoly model; monopolistically competitive marklets; (12) Oligopoly models, (13) Game theory (introduction), (14) Market inefficiency, market failure and public intervention: Preliminary introduction to externalities and public goods.



Textbook Information

The reference textbook is: PINDYCK R. S. - RUBINFELD D. L., Microeconomics, Pearson Education, 2013 or subsequent edition (please, contact the instructor for details about Sections to skip, namely Chs14, 17 and 19) [in English]. - A "custom" (reduced and in black&white) edition is available in Italian.

 

As an alternative: M. KATZ, H. ROSEN, W. MORGAN,Microeconomics, McGrawHill international, 2011 or subsequent; (without Ch. 16 or 17, according to different editions: please contact the istructor for details) [in English or in Italian] or FRANK R., Microeconomics, McGraw Hill international (Chs. 7, 8 and part of 14 can be omitted; Plese contact the instructor for details) [in English or in Italian] or B. D. BERNHEIM - L. D. WHINSTON, Microeconomics, last edition McGraw Hill international (please, contact the instructor for details about Sections to skip) [in English or in Italian].




Open in PDF format Versione in italiano