UNIVERSITY OF MACAU

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ECONOMICS

1st Semester 2022/23

BECO1000 Principles of Microeconomics

Section : 005 (Mon/Thu 11:30 – 12:45 E22 – 1002)
006 (Mon/Thu 14:30 – 15:45 E22 – 4010)
007 (Tue/Fri 13:00 – 14:15 E22 – 4011)
008 (Tue/Fri 14:30 – 15:45 E22 – 4011)

Instructor: Vanessa Si-tou Office: E22-4075

E-mail: vsitou@um.edu.mo
Course Webpage: http://UMMoodle.umac.mo Tel. : 88224711
Office Hours: Tuesday 16:00 – 18:00 or by appointment Credits: 3 credits

Course Goals:
1. To introduce to students the basic theories on microeconomic side.
2. To deliver to students the economic concepts such as scarcity and choice, demand and
supply, consumer behaviour and optimization, production and costs, market structures and
market strategies.
3. To allow students to understand how the economy operates.
4. To provide a framework for analyzing how consumers and producers interact to determine
price and trading quantities.
5. To introduce to students the concerns and rules in making output decision.
6. To develop a framework for analyzing how price level is determined in different market
structure and how consumers and producers behave under various market structures.
7. To introduce to students the interdependent business strategies made by firms under different
market situation.

Course Learning Outcomes

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 1. LO-1 Students will be able to understand how the economy operates and major issues on the
macro side.
2. LO-2 Students will be able to describe the behavior of consumers and how they maximize
their utilities.
3. LO-3 Students will be able to understand the linkages between price, demand, supply and
output in the economy.
4. LO-4 Students will be able to make critical business decisions on price and output choices.
5. LO-5 Students will be able to apply basic economic theories to conduct simple business
analyses.

AACSB Learning Goals:

As a compulsory course in the BBA program, this course is included in the assessment of AACSB
Accreditation for the FBA. Apart from the above mentioned learning goals and expected outcomes,
students are going to receive training throughout the course by means of in-class and off-class
discussion and learning activities, online exercises, written assignments and final examination to
achieve the following Learning Goals:
1. The ability to communicate in oral and written media
2. Critical and analytical thinking
3. Concern for business ethical issues
4. Global awareness
5. Creative ability
6. Ability to work in a team
7. Knowledge of core business area, in particular economic knowledge

Course Description:
This course is divided into 3 parts. Students will firstly be introduced to the demand and supply
concepts, demand and supply elasticity, and the applications of demand and supply. The second part
will examine consumer behavior and producer supply decisions. The final part will discuss
producers’ decision under four different kinds of market structure.

Textbook:
Michael Parkin, Microeconomics, 14th ed, Global edition, Pearson, 2023

References:
1. Case, K E and R C Fair, Principles of Economics, Prentice Hall.
2. Samuelson, P. A. and William D. N., Economics, McGraw-Hill
3. Miller, R.L., Economics Today, Addison Wesley
4. Stiglitz, Joseph E. and Walsh, Carl E., Principles of Microconomics, W.W. Norton & Company,

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 Inc..

COURSE EXPECTATIONS
Students are expected to read the PPT and textbook before coming to the class. Besides, they are also
suggested to read more financial news to have a good idea on the outlook of the global economic
environment. They can raise their questions in the class and are encouraged to answer the in-class
questions given by the instructor. They should also do the online and chapter-end exercises after
class to deepen their understanding on the materials. If there is any questions, please do not hesitate
to send an email or go to the instructor’s office to ask.

Evaluation:
Attendance and Participation 5%
Online exercises 15%
Written assignments 20%
Midterm Exam 25%
Final Exam 35%

Assignment:
Assignments should be submitted on time. No late submission will be accepted for any reason. Our
past experience has indicated that copying assignments among students is extremely severe. Students
are encouraged to discuss their assignments in groups, but the assignment itself must be done by the
student himself or herself. The copying of assignments will not be tolerated anymore and will lead to
the student obtaining “0” mark for the assignment. Assignments must be submitted in the form of
hand-writing, no any computer printout will be accepted.

Online exercises:
Each student is supposed to buy his/her own ebook package (or textbook which includes a unique
code) for him/her to register into the system of this course and complete the required exercises which
are posted online.
If a student does not buy the ebook package, s/he will not be able to access and complete the online
exercises, and hence losing ALL the 15 marks in this course.
An online exercise must be completed before the day and time as required. Completion of an
exercise after the deadline as specified will receive zero mark.

Ways to purchase ebook package:

(1) Purchase from Cultural Plaza; or
(2) Approach Mr. Owen via email (icupcm@gmail.com) or phone call (Tel. +853
28305613/28338561)

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** In order to ensure students can get the correct access code, you are suggested to show the front
page of course outline. **

Important points for online account registration:

(1) Official email address (provided by our university);
(2) Official name (printed on your student ID card);
(3) Access code (purchased from Cultural Plaza);
(4) Course ID (Provided by instructor: umac26213)

Examinations:
There will be 1 midterm exam and 1 final exam. All the exams are closed book written exams. A
student who is absent from the exam due to ill health must submit an effective medical proof issued
by government hospital or Keng Wu hospital, otherwise he/she will receive a grade of F in that
exam/tests.
There will be no supplementary exam for anyone who misses the midterm exam as scheduled.
Instead, the marks obtained from the final exam will be applied as the missing result to count for the
course grade.
The students should be well informed that during the exam, no dictionary (electronic or paper) is
allowed in the venue. If the student has any queries concerning the exam questions, the instructor is
available for consultation. As to calculators, only non-programmable calculators are allowed.

Academic Integrity (A Simple Reminder)

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated.
Definitions of academic dishonesty follow:
CHEATING: intentionally using or attempting to use unauthorized materials, information or
study aids in any academic exercise.
1. Use of notes on paper.
2. Use of notes in dictionaries. Please ensure your dictionary does not have written notes. We will
check all dictionaries for notes. If you are unsure if there are notes in your dictionary, do not use the
dictionary!
3. Accessing notes or information on smart phones. All smartphones should be placed under the
table.
4. Accessing notes or information in toilets. Students who need to go to the toilet will need
permission and will be monitored.
FABRICATION: intentional and unauthorized falsification or invention of any information or
citation in an academic exercise
FACILITATION: intentionally or knowingly helping or attempting to help another to violate

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any provision of the Code of Academic Integrity.
PLAGIARISM: intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's
own in any academic exercise. (All information used MUST be corrected cited in ALL
assignments).
The academic integrity code applies to ALL class work.
If you are found to have committed any act of academic dishonesty, your grade will be severely
affected. Other possible consequences include academic probation, a notation of cheating on your
university transcript, or dismissal from the university.
You can refer the university policy regarding student dishonesty
(http://www.umac.mo/reg/UMCalendar/%286%29GR-RHSAD.pdf).

Attendance
It is important for you to attend all classes and arrive on time. Please note that Item I 2c of the
general regulations governing bachelor’s degree programs (revised and approved by Senate on May
18, 2005) states the following:
“A student who is absent without applying for leave of absence from a course for more than 20% of
its scheduled teaching periods in the aggregate will not be allowed to take the final examination and
will receive a failing grade for that course. If the course in question is a compulsory course, a student
must retake it.”

Student Disabilities Support Service

The University of Macau is committed to providing an equal opportunity in education to persons
with disabilities. If you are a student with a physical, visual, hearing, speech, learning or
psychological impairment(s) which substantially limit your learning and/or activities of daily living,
you are encouraged to communicate with your instructors about your impairment(s) and the
accommodations you need in your studies. You are also encouraged to contact the Student Disability
Support Service of the Student Counselling and Development Section (SCD), which provides
appropriate resources and accommodations to allow each student with a disability to have an equal
opportunity in education, university life activities and services at the University of Macau. To learn
more about the service, please contact SCD at scd.disability@umac.mo, or visit the following
website: http://www.umac.mo/sao/scd/sds/aboutus/en/scd_mission.php

Course Syllabus:
Topics Readings
INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS
Introduction
Thinking Like An Economist 1,2

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Demand, Supply and Market Equilibrium 3
Elasticity of Demand and Supply 4-6
BASIC CONCEPTS OF MICROECONOMICS
Consumer Choice 8, 9
Production Process: Behavior of Firms 10, 11
Costs in Short-run and Long Run 11
MARKET STRUCTURE
Perfect Competition 12
Monopoly 13
Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly 14,15