MICROECONOMICS

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

MICR12

Academic Year of enrolment:

2020

Year of supply:

2020/2021

Type of Course:

Basic

Degree:

Course of 1st Cycle Degree in MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS

Disciplinary Sector:

Political Economy

Location:

PESCARA

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

EBOLI MARIO

Cycle:

Second semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

153

Prerequisites:

Although no prerequisites are imposed, the course requires knowledge of mathematical analysis and linear algebra. It is advisable to take the Mathematics exam in the first semester, before the Microeconomics course.

Objectives

The aim of the course is to provide students with a set of concepts concerning the functioning of markets, competitive and not, and the rational behavior of consumers and businesses. This objective is coherent with the context of the degree course aimed at training business managers with the necessary knowledge to operate in a free market environment.

EXPECTED RESULTS OF THE TEACHING
At the end of the course the student must possess knowledge and skills related to the functioning of the free market economy, competitive and non-competitive markets, the behavior of consumers and workers.
The objective is to contribute to the formation of a professional figure (envisaged in the Security Council) assigned to the administrative-financial management of private companies, both as an internal profile and as a consultant. To this end the course proposes to transmit the following skills and knowledge:
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING ABILITY
- makes the first steps in assessing the logic of economic models
- distinguishes the different nature, object and functioning of the economically relevant actions of the various economic agents
AUTONOMY OF JUDGMENT:
- translates the logic of economic models into management and administrative choices
- interprets the facts of the management of companies operating in different sectors (industry and services) through the logic of competitive, oligopolistic and monopolistic markets.

Contents

The course provides an introduction to the analysis of the functioning of the markets and the optimal and strategic behavior of companies and consumers.
The lessons focus on the following topics: Fundamental principles of Economics. Effects of
International exchanges. Market demand and supply and their elasticity. Taxation and its effects. International trade and its benefits. Preferences and consumer choice. The costs of production of companies. The market of perfect competition and the competitive behavior of companies. The monopoly. Monopolistic competition and product differentiation. Positive and negative externalities. Public goods and common resources. The social welfare. Factor markets and income distribution. Uncertainty, risk and information.

Extended Syllabus

1. Basic principles of economics. Exchange and markets.
2. Effects of international trade. The Frontier of Production Possibilities and the benefits of the exchange.
3. Demand and supply curves in a competitive market. The market equilibrium and the forces that push the market towards it.
4. The elasticity of supply and demand curves. The sensitivity with which consumers and businesses react to price changes.
5. Taxation and its effects. Deadweight loss and income redistribution.
6. International trade and its benefits. The effects of openness to international exchanges on social welfare.
7. Preferences and consumer choice. Utility functions and the optimizing behaviour of the 'Homo Oeconomicus''.
8.The production costs of companies. Production technology represented by cost curves.
9. The market of perfect competition and the competitive behavior of companies.
10. The effects of market power: the monopoly, its causes and its regulation.
11. Monopolistic competition and product differentiation.
12. The positive and negative externalities. The benefits and costs of pollution. Pigouvian taxes.
13. Public goods: rival goods and exclusive goods. The market failure in the production of non-exclusive and non-rival goods.
14. Common resources and the problem of their excessive exploitation.
13. The reasons for the existence of the welfare state, its nature in Europe and in the United States.
14. The markets of the factors of production and the distribution of income. The determination of wages as a labor market equilibrium price.
15. Uncertainty, risk and information. The 'risk-averse' behavior and the insurance market.

Recommended Bibliography

"Microeconomia", Paul Krugman e Robin Wells, Zanichelli 2013, chapters 1-20.

Methods of Provision

Conventional

Teaching Methods

The course consists of seventy two hours of frontal teaching, divided into two hours lessons each. The frontal teaching is divided into lessons, for two thirds, and exercises, for the remaining third. The lessons focus on the contents of the textbook, to which they are the accompaniment. The exercises include examples, numeric and not, of the topics covered in class.
Attendance is optional, although recommended, and the final exam will obviously be the same for attending and non-attending students.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

The assessment of learning takes place through a written exam, consisting of seven multiple choice questions and two or three 'open' questions. There is no oral exam. The exam lasts two hours.
The examination procedures are the same for attending and non-attending students.

Contacts/More Information

All course information, teaching material and communications will take place over the e-learning platform.

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Aree

MICROECONOMICS

Course year: 1

Course year: 2

Course year: 3

Search form

Aree

MICROECONOMICS