Course Number and Title: Econ 102, Microeconomics

HORIZONTAL SYLLABUS
Course Learning Outcomes:
After completing this course, you should be able to …
1. Demonstrate an understanding of how markets work and the role of government in economic activity.
2. Analyze consumer demand.
3. Evaluate how market and government decisions affect welfare.
4. Examine the behavior of producers and how producers and consumers interact in markets.
5. Illustrate how income is distributed among factor owners.
6. Explain why competitive markets are efficient and why sometimes markets may be inefficient.

Week Topics Target Learning Outcomes Learning Resource/s Learning Activity/ies

(specify sub-topics)
1 Review of Core Principles and Market Equilibrium After studying this topic, you should be able to: Parkin, Chap 1 (pp. 1-10) Readings
• Scarcity, opportunity costs, incentives, and • Explain some core economic principles and their Chap.2 (pp. 29-44) PPT and video presentations (A)
marginal analysis applications. Chap. 3 (pp. 55-78) Discussion (S) and (A)
• Competitive market and the price system • Discuss equilibrium determination in a competitive PPT slides and video presentations
• Efficiency and equity market and use demand-supply framework in Economic news Assignment #1
• Production possibility frontier predicting changes in equilibrium price and
• Demand and supply analysis output.
• Market equilibrium and disequilibrium • Explain the role of markets and prices in
allocating resources.

2 Elasticity
• Price elasticity of demand
• Cross price elasticity of demand
• Income elasticity of demand
• Elasticity of supply
• Total revenue and expenditures
After studying this topic, you should be able to: Parkin, Chap. 4 (pp. 83-100) Readings
• Define the different types of elasticity and explain PPT slides and video presentations PPT and video presentations (A)
the factors that influence them. Economic news Discussion (S) and (A)
• Explain the importance of elasticity in economic
analysis Assignment #2
• Illustrate the application of the different types of
elasticity
 • Solve problems relating to elasticity

3 Market efficiency and equity After studying this topic, you should be able to: Parkin, Chap. 5 (pp. 105-119) Readings
• Consumer surplus, producer surplus, and • Describe the alternative methods of allocating PPT slides and video presentations PPT and video presentations (A)
total surplus scarce resources. Economic news Discussion (S) and (A)
• Willingness to pay • Understand consumer surplus, producer surplus,
• Efficiency and inefficiency and total surplus and how these concepts are Assignment #3
• Equity related to efficiency.
• Role of government • Discuss why competitive markets are efficient and
identify the sources of market inefficiency.
• Distinguish between efficiency and equity and
examine the possible conflict between them.
• Outline the role of government in a market
economy.

4 Effects of Government Policies After studying this topic, you should be able to: Parkin, Chap. 6 (pp. 127-144) Readings
• Price ceiling • Analyze the effects of price ceilings and price PPT slides and video presentations PPT and video presentations (A)
• Price floor floors on market efficiency. Economic news Discussion (S) and (A)
• Tax incidence • Evaluate the effects of a sales tax or an
• Production quotas excise tax on market outcomes. Assignment #4
• Subsidies • Explain how the tax burden is distributed
between buyers and sellers.
• Assess the effects of a production quota and
a subsidy on market price and quantity
produced.

HOLY WEEK BREAK

(March 29 – April 4, 2021)

Consumer Demand
• Budget line and indifference curves
• Consumer optimization
• Income effect and substitution effect
5 • Application to labor and capital market
After studying this topic, you should be able Mankiw, Chap. 21 (pp.425-446) Readings
to: PPT slides and video presentations PPT and video presentations (A)
• Discuss how consumers make consumption Economic news Discussion (S) and (A)
decisions.
• Predict the effect of changes in income and Assignment #5
price on consumption choices.
• Explain how the consumer demand curve is
derived.
• Use the theory of consumer choice to explain
how a consumer determines how much labor
to supply and how much income to save.
6 1ST EXAM (topics covered in weeks 1 to 5)
7 Production Costs and Firm Output
• Economic profit and accounting profit
• Production function
• Measures of firm costs
• Short run and long run costs
• Economies and diseconomies of scale
• Returns to scale
8 Perfect Competition
• Profit maximization in the short run and long run
• Shut down condition
• Firm and market demand
• Firm and market supply curves in the short run
and long run
• Firm and market equilibrium in the short run and
long run
9 READING WEEK
(April 29 – May 5, 2021)
Monopoly
• Monopoly and natural monopoly
• Monopolist demand, marginal revenue and profit
• Output and pricing decisions
• Deadweight loss and welfare effects
• Price discrimination
After studying this topic, you should be able Parkin, Chap 10 (pp. 227-232) and Chap. Readings
to: 11 (pp. 251-267) PPT and video presentations (A)
• Explain what a firm is and the economic PPT slides and video presentations Discussion (S) and (A)
problems facing a firm. Economic news
• Explain the production function and its Assignment #6
relationship with diminishing marginal
product of labor.
• Discuss the relationship between the firm’s
output and costs in the short run and the
long run.
After studying this topic, you should be able to … Parkin Chap. 12 (pp. 273-293) Readings
• Discuss why a competitive firm may shut down PPT slides and video presentations PPT and video presentations (A)
temporarily in the short run and exit the market in Economic news Discussion (S) and (A)
the long run.
• Explain how a perfectly competitive firm Assignment #7
determines output, price and profit in the short
run.
• Explain how profit, price and output are
determined in the long run.
• Differentiate the equilibrium of the firm and
of the market in the short run and long run
• Analyze how a change in demand or a
technological advance may affect the firm
and market in the short run and long run.
• Explain why perfect competition is efficient.
After studying this topic, you should be able to … Parkin, Chap.13 (pp. 299-318) Readings
• Explain why a monopoly arises. Mankiw, Chap. 15 (pp.289-311) PPT and video presentations (A)
• Describe how a monopolist determines its output PPT slides and video presentations
and price. Economic news Assignment #8
• Analyze the welfare effects of a monopoly.
• Explain why a monopolist may price discriminate No synchronous session during this
 • Differentiate between a monopoly and perfect week.
competition.
• Outline how public policies can respond to the Synchronous discussion on Monopoly
problem of monopoly. will be held on Week 10 before the
discussion on Monopolistic Competition

Week Topics Target Learning Outcomes Learning Resource/s Learning Activity/ies

(specify sub-topics)
10 Monopolistic Competition Readings
• Output and pricing decisions After studying this topic, you should be able to … PPT and video presentations (A)
• Welfare effects • Identify and describe the characteristics of Mankiw, Chap. 16 (pp. 319-332) Discussion (S) and (A)
• Comparison with monopoly and perfect monopolistic competition. PPT slides and video presentations
competition • Explain how a firm in monopolistic competition Economic news Assignment #9
• Advertising determines output and price in the short run and
long run.
• Analyze the welfare effects of monopolistic
competition.
• Explain the role of advertising in this type of
market structure.

11 2nd EXAM (topics covered in weeks 7 to 10)

12 Oligopoly After studying this topic, you should be able to … Mankiw, Chap. 17 (pp. 339-354) Readings
• Duopoly and monopoly • Identify and explain the characteristics of an PPT slides and video presentations PPT and video presentations (A)
• Output and pricing decisions oligopoly. Economic news Discussion (S) and (A)
• Welfare effects • Explain how price and quantity are determined in
• Game theory an oligopoly. Assignment #10
• Use game theory to analyze how oligopolistic
firms make strategic decisions.

Market for the Factors of Production

13 • Demand for labor and the value of marginal
product of labor
• Supply of labor
• Equilibrium determination in the labor market
• Equilibrium determination in the market for
After studying this topic, you should be able to …
• Understand how the value of marginal product Mankiw, Chap. 18 (pp. 361-377) Readings
determines the demand for a factor of production. PPT slides and video presentations PPT and video presentations (A)
• Discuss how the price of a factor input is Economic news Discussion (S) and (A)
determined.
 capital • Explain how wage rates and employment are Assignment #11
determined.
• Explain how capital and land rental rates are
determined.

14 General Equilibrium, Market Efficiency, and Market After studying this topic, you should be able to … Pindyck and Rubenfeld, Chap.16 (pp. Readings
Failures • Explain general equilibrium analysis and its 609-632) PPT and video presentations (A)
• General equilibrium analysis importance. Mankiw, Chap. 10 (pp.190-205} Discussion (S) and (A)
• Efficiency in exchange • Evaluate the efficiency of competitive markets and and Chap. 11 (pp. 212-223)
• Efficiency in production why markets may fail to be efficient. PPT slides and video presentations Assignment #12
• Market failures • Explain the characteristics of a public good and Economic news
• Public goods distinguish it from a private good, a natural
• Common resources monopoly, and a common resource.
• Free rider problem • Describe the free rider problem and how public
• Coase theorem provision may help provide a more efficient
• Externalities quantity of public goods.
• Private solutions • Illustrate the tragedy of the commons and identify
• Public solutions and the role of government possible solutions.
• Differentiate between a negative and a positive
externality and explain why these may lead to
market inefficiency.
• Compare and contrast the efficiency of private
and public solutions to the problem of
externalities.

Final Exam 3RD EXAM (for topics covered in weeks12 to 14)

Week

Recommended Resources:

Textbooks:

Parkin, Michael (2012), Microeconomics (10th ed), Pearson Education Ltd.

Mankiw, N.G (2018), Principles of Microeconomics (8th ed), Cengage Learning.

Other References:

Krugman, P. and R. Wells (2015), Microeconomics (4th ed.), Worth Publishers.

Pindyck, R. and D. Rubinfeld (2018), Microeconomics (9th ed.), Pearson Education Ltd.

Frank, R., Bernanke B., Antonovics, K., and O. Heffetz (2018), Principles of Microeconomics (7th ed.), McGraw-Hill Education.

Colander. David (2020), Microeconomics (11th ed.), McGraw Hill Education.