Microeconomics

• Enseignant(s): B.Klaus
• Titre en français: Microéconomie
• Cours donné en: anglais
• Crédits ECTS: 6 crédits
• Horaire: Semestre d'automne 2011-2012, 4.0h. de cours (moyenne hebdomadaire)
•  séances
•  site web du cours
• Formations concernées:
  Maîtrise universitaire ès Sciences en économie politique
  Maîtrise universitaire en Droit et économie, mention droit, économie et régulation

Objectifs

This class is an introduction to the concepts and tools of Microeconomic analysis. We will cover the classic topics of consumer choice, production theory, market equilibrium, and social choice and welfare. We will essentially cover Chapters 1 - 6 of Jehle and Reny's advanced microeconomic theory book (Advanced Microeconomic Theory, 3rd Edition, Addison Wesley, London, 2011).

Contenus

1. Consumer choice:

• Preferences and utility functions
• Utility maximization and properties of consumer demand.
• Choice under uncertainty

[Chapters 1 - 2 in Jehle-Reny, Chapters 2 - 3, 6 in Mas-Colell et. al., and
Chapters 7 - 11 in Varian]

2. Production theory:

• Profit maximization and cost minimization.
• Monopoly

[Chapter 3 in Jehle-Reny, Chapters 5, 12 in Mas-Colell et. al., and
Chapters 1 – 5, 14 in Varian]

3. Market equilibrium:

• Competitive markets
• General equilibrium

[Chapters 4 - 5 in Jehle-Reny, Chapters 15-17, 19 in Mas-Colell et. al., and Chapters 13, 17-18 in Varian]

4. Social Choice and Welfare:

• Arrow's Theorem
• Welfare Economics

[Chapter 6 in Jehle-Reny, Chapter 22 in Mas-Colell et. al., and Chapter 22 in Varian]

Références

We will mainly use Jehle and Reny's advanced microeconomic theory book (Advanced Microeconomic Theory, 3rd Edition, Addison Wesley, London, 2011). Students should have access to a copy of this book during the course.

Two other standard references for graduate microeconomics are Microeconomic Theory by Andreu Mas-Colell, Michael D. Whinston and Jerry R. Green (Oxford University Press) and Microeconomic Analysis by Hal R. Varian (third edition; New York: W.W. Norton).

Pré-requis

Students who do not feel comfortable with calculus and standard mathematical tools for economists are strongly advised to consult and work with Martin Osborne's tutorial site http://www.economics.utoronto.ca/osborne/MathTutorial/index (the strong point of this tutorial is that it provides exercises with solutions and thus students can practice on their own).

For this course Chapter 3 on Concavity and Convexity and Chapter 6 on Optimization: Equality Constraints will be particularly relevant.

Evaluation

1ère tentative

Examen:

Ecrit 3h00 heures

Documentation:

Non autorisée

Calculatrice:

Autorisée avec restrictions

Evaluation:

Normal : écrit, 3heures, closed-book, max{(25% homework grade + 75% final exam grade), final exam grade}, calculatrice 4 opérations M-Budget ou Fiamo HD8S (coop)

Rattrapage

Examen:

Ecrit 3h00 heures

Documentation:

Non autorisée

Calculatrice:

Autorisée avec restrictions

Evaluation:

Rattrapage : écrit, 3heures, closed-book (100%), calculatrice 4 opérations M-Budget ou Fiamo HD8S (coop)