INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS 3332
Class meets: TTh 8.30-10.00 am, 118M
Instructor: Valery Lazarev
E-mail:
vlazarev@mail.uh.edu
Web-site: www.uh.edu/~vlazarev/3332
Phone:
(713) 743-3800, ext. 33821
Office:
234M
Office hours: MW 12.00 noon - 1.00 pm or by appointment.
Required text: Pindyck and Rubinfeld, Microeconomics,
5th edition.
This course is a systematic introduction into economic theory.
The main themes of the course are individual decision-making by consumers
and producers and the operation of markets in various settings (perfect
competition, monopoly, oligopoly). It will help you if you have taken a
Principles of economics course, Econ 2304 or 2305, although neither of
these is a formal prerequisite. The only prerequisite is "quantitative
literacy," which means that you must have a good command of basic algebra
and understand graphs.
In this course, you are expected to demonstrate analytical thinking
and clear and concise writing. Course requirements include midterm exam
(25% of total grade), final exam (50%), and homeworks (25%). The main genre
in all of these is a problem that calls for a logical analysis,
some calculations, and brief discussion of the results.
Course outline:
1. Introductory overview: Supply and demand. Chs. 1-2.
2. Utility and consumer behavior. Chs. 3-4.
3. Behavior of firms in competitive markets, costs of production. Chs.
6-9, 14.
4. Monopoly. Chs. 10-11, 14.
5. Games and strategic behavior. Oligopoly. Ch. 12-13.
6. Choice under uncertainty. Ch. 5.
7. Intertemporal choice. Capital markets. Ch. 15.
8. Market imperfections (asymmetric information, externalities). Chs.
17-18.
9. General equilibrium. Ch. 16.
FINAL EXAM: Thursday, December 12, 8.30-11.00 am
Click here for detailed lecture outlines.
Visit this page regularly to see recent updates.
Room: as usual
Date and time: Th, December 12, 8.30 am - 10.50 am
The exam is of close-everything type, comprehensive with the emphasis
on the post-midterm material.
Sections of the textbook NOT covered in the exam:
1) All sections marked with asterisks in the table of contents
with the exception of 5.4.
2) Chapters 11, 16, 18.
3) Sections 7.5, 12.6, 13.5, 13.6, 13.8, 17.1-17.4.
The questions will be related to:
- supply and demand, effects of taxation and price controls;
- consumer preferences, budget constraint, consumer choice problem,
effects of changes in prices and income, product demand, Engel curve;
- prodcution and cost functions, a competitive firm's optimal output
decisions in the short run, an individual firm's supply and industry supply;
- production with two inputs, optimal combinations of labor and capital,
short-run and long-run expansion paths;
- monopoly: optimal output decisions, costs for the society;
- two-player games in matrix form, Nash equilibrium;
- duopoly, reaction curves;
- monopolistic competition;
- labor market, demand and supply of labor;
- choice under uncertainty, demand for risky assets;
- investment decisions; future discounting; net present value.
- etc.
Notes:
1) The last 4 digits of your SSN is your id in the table below. Please
let me know if you prefer any other method of identification or if you
don't want to see your grades online at all.
2) The grades for the first homework reflect primarily your effort,
not the correctness of your answers. Marginal toughness of grading policy
is going to increase slightly over time, in line with your increasing efficiency
in microeconomic problem-solving.
3) Max normal grade for the midterm is 25. I gave 5-point bonuses for
exceptionally good work (these points will be added to your total semester
grades).
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