30325 - INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS (MODULE I - MICROECONOMICS)
Department of Economics
Course taught in English
Go to class group/s: 23
Course Director:
SALVATORE NUNNARI
SALVATORE NUNNARI
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
This course introduces the main issues of individual economic behavior with a reference to consumers and firms, and the analysis of competitive and non-competitive markets. Presenting and discussing the different topics, through exercises and classes and through the discussion of actual cases, the student is able to understand many problems of the functioning of the markets. Students also receive an introduction to game theory, with an emphasis on applications in political science. Finally, this course provides also the background to understand the aggregate models of the whole economy.
CONTENT SUMMARY
- Consumption Decisions.
- Production Decisions.
- Competitive Equilibrium.
- Market Intervention.
- Monopoly.
- Game Theory.
- Oligopoly.
- Externalities and Public Goods.
- Choice under Uncertainty.
- Asymmetric Information.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Understand the consumption decisions by individuals.
- Identify different market structures.
- Understand the production decisions by firms in markets with different degrees of competitiveness.
- Distinguish different sources of economic inefficiency.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Evaluate the effect of public policies on consumers' and firms' incentives.
- Apply game theory to the analysis of firms' market strategies.
- Design regulatory interventions to achieve desirable market outcomes.
Teaching methods
- Face-to-face lectures
- Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
- Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)
DETAILS
The learning experience of this course includes, in addition to face-to-face lectures, the solution in class of Problem Sets assigned to students throughout the course. Those exercises allow students to apply the analytical tools illustrated during the course. Moreover, this course uses interactive game and experiment-based learning: students experience first-hand the economic principles, the decision-making environments and the markets we discuss in class. In order to do so, we use an innovative online platform called MobLab.
Assessment methods
| Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
x | x |
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
The exam is exclusively written. Course performance could be evaluated in two different ways:
- A partial exam covering the first part of the course, followed by a final exam covering the second part of the course. Each exam lasts 1 hour and consists of multiple choice and open ended questions. The grade in each exam is between 0 and 30. The course is passed if the grade in both exams is at least 18. In this case, the final grade is the mean of the two, rounded upwards. Students who fail the exam can retake it, in the general exam format.
- A general exam which lasts 2 hours, covers the whole course and consists of multiple choice and open ended questions. The grade in the general exam is between 0 and 30. The course is passed if the grade in the general exam is at least 18. Students who fail the exam can retake it, in the general exam format.
Teaching materials
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Teaching materials are announced before the start of the course and indicated on the Bboard platform.
Last change 03/06/2018 14:03