Economics 301, Section 2: Microeconomic Analysis

Professor Christiaan Hogendorn
Spring 2004
Prof. Hogendorn's Homepage Course Policies

Syllabus

V = Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics, 6th edition.
V5 = 5th edition, noted when different.

I. Consumer Preferences and Demand
Jan. 21 W 1. Indifference Curves
V, Chapter 3,4. Review: V, Chapter 3: 7-11, 4: 1-7.
Jan. 26 M 2. Budget Constraint and Tangency Condition
V, Chapter 2, 5 (except appendix).
 Review: V, Chapter 2: 1-7, 5: 1-5.
Jan. 28 W 3. Using the Lagrangian to Find the Demand Curve
V, Chapter 5 appendix, Chapter 6.
 Review: V, Chapter 6: 1-6.
Feb. 2 M 4. More on Lagrangians and Engle Curves
Problem Set 1 due. Answers.
Feb. 4 W 5. A Pure Exchange Economy
V, Chapter 30 (V5, Chapter 29).
 Review: V, Chapter 30: 1-5
(V5, Chapter 29: 1-5).

II. The Goods Market
Feb. 9 M 6. Consumer Surplus, Market Demand, and Elasticity
V, Chapter 14, 15 Problem Set 2 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 14: 2-4 (V5 1-3), Chapter 15: 1-2.
Feb. 11 W FIRST MIDTERM
Classes 1-5 Exam   Answers
Feb. 16 M 7. Market Equilibrium and Taxes
V, Chapter 16 Review: V, Chapter 16: 1-5.
Feb. 18 W 8. Externalities and Public Goods
Skim V, Chapter 33 (V5, Chapter 32)
Read V, Chapter 35 		Review: V, Chapter 35: 3.
Feb. 23 M 9. The Lump Sum Principle
V, Chapter 5, Section 5.6
V, Chapter 7, Sections 7.1, 7.8, 7.9 		Problem Set 3 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 5: 6, Chapter 7: 4.
Feb. 25 W 10. Reading
Dupor, Bill, and Wen-Fang Liu, "Jealousy and Equilibrium Overconsumption," American Economic Review, March 2003, pp. 423-428. (Read carefully until 2nd to last paragraph beginning on pg. 427, then skim.)
web link

III. Production
Mar. 1 M 11. Production and Costs: The Short Run
Walter Nicholson, "Production Functions," Chapter 11 in Microeconomic Theory. reserve
Review V, Chapter 18 		Problem Set 4 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 18: 1-6.
Mar. 3 W 12. Production and Costs: The Long Run
V, Chapter 20,21 Review: V, Chapter 20: 1-4, Chapter 21: 1-3.
Spring Break  
Mar. 22 M 13. Firm Supply and Factor Demand
V, Chapter 22
 Review: V, Chapter 22: #1-11.
Mar. 24 W 14. Reading

IV. Factor Markets and General Equilibrium
Mar. 29 M 15. The Slutsky Equation
V, Chapter 8 (Skip "voluntary real-time prcing" in 6th ed.). Problem Set 5 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 8: 1-5.
Mar. 31 W 16. The Labor Market
V, Chapter 9. Review: V, Chapter 9: 1-4.
Apr. 5 M 17. The Capital Market
V, Chapter 10, 11. Problem Set 6 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 10: 1-5, Chapter 11: 1, 2, 4.
Apr. 7 W 18. Robinson Crusoe
V, Chapter 30. Review: V, Chapter 30: all.
Apr. 12 M 19. Reading
Stigler, George, "The Division of Labor is Limited by the Extent of the Market," Journal of Political Economy, 1951. JSTOR Link

V. Models of Firm Behavior
Apr. 14 W 20. Monopoly and Efficiency
V, Chapter 24, 25. Problem Set 7 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 24: 1-9, 25: 1-4.
Apr. 19 M 21. Game Theory
V, Chapter 28. Review: V, Chapter 28: 1-6.
Apr. 21 W SECOND MIDTERM
Classes 6-16 Exam   Answers
Apr. 26 M 22. Cournot and Perfect Competition
V, Chapter 27. Review: V, Chapter 27: 1-6.
Apr. 28 W 23. Long Run Perfect Competition
V, Chapter 23. Review: V, Chapter 23: 1-5,7.
May 3 M 24. Reading
Problem Set 8 due. Answers

May ? Review Session

May 14 FINAL EXAM
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.