Economics 301, Section 1: Microeconomic Analysis

Professor Christiaan Hogendorn
Fall 2007
Prof. Hogendorn's Homepage Course Policies

Syllabus

V = Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics, 7th edition.
V6 = 6th edition, noted when different.
V5 = 5th edition, noted when different.

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I. Individual Choice
Sept. 5 W 1. Indifference Curves
V, Chapter 3,4. Review: V, Chapter 3: 7-11, 4: 1-7.
Sept. 10 M 2. Budget Constraint and Tangency Condition
V, Chapter 2, 5 (except appendix).
 Problem Set 1 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 2: 1-7, 5: 1-5.
Sept. 12 W 3. Using the Lagrangian to Find the Demand Curve
V, Chapter 5 appendix, Chapter 6.
 Review: V, Chapter 6: 1-6.
Sept. 17 M No Class
Problem Set 2 due. Answers.
Sept. 19 W 4. The Lump Sum Principle
V, Chapter 5, Section 5.6
V, Chapter 7, Sections 7.1, 7.8, 7.9 		Review: V, Chapter 5: 6, Chapter 7: 4.
Sept. 24 M 5. The Slutsky Equation
V, Chapter 8 (Skip "voluntary real-time prcing" in 6th ed.). Problem Set 3 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 8: 1-5.
Sept. 26 W 6. The Labor Market
V, Chapter 9. Review: V, Chapter 9: 1-4.
Oct. 1 M 7. The Capital Market
V, Chapter 10, 11. Problem Set 4 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 10: 1-5, Chapter 11: 1, 2, 4.

II. The Market: Supply and Demand
Oct. 3 W 8. A Pure Exchange Economy
V, Chapter 31
(V6, Chapter 30; V5, Chapter 29).
 Review: V, Chapter 31: 1-5
(V6, Chapter 30: 1-5)
(V5, Chapter 29: 1-5).
Oct. 8 M FIRST MIDTERM
Covers classes 1-6 Exam   Answers
Oct. 10 W 9. Consumer Surplus, Market Demand, and Elasticity
V, Chapter 14, 15 (except appendix) Review: V, Chapter 14: 2-4 (V5 1-3), Chapter 15: 1-2.
OCTOBER BREAK
Oct. 17 W 10. Market Equilibrium and Taxes
V, Chapter 16 Review: V, Chapter 16: 1-5.
Oct. 22 M 11. Externalities and Network Effects
V, Chapter 34
(V6, Chapter 33; V5, Chapter 32)
V, Chapter 35
(V6/V5, Chapter 34) 		Problem Set 5 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 34: 1-4.
Oct. 24 W 12. Public Goods
V, Chapter 36
(V6/V5, Chapter 35) 		Review: V, Chapter 35: 3.
Oct. 29 M 13. Reading
Dupor, Bill, and Wen-Fang Liu, "Jealousy and Equilibrium Overconsumption," American Economic Review, March 2003: 423-428. (Read carefully until 2nd to last paragraph beginning on pg. 427, then skim.)
Problem Set 6 due. Answers.

III. Production
Oct. 31 W 14. Production and Costs: The Short Run
Walter Nicholson, "Production Functions," Chapter 11 in Microeconomic Theory. reserve
Review V, Chapter 18 		Review: V, Chapter 18: 1-6.
Nov. 5 M 15. Production and Costs: The Long Run
V, Chapter 20, 21 Review Problem Set 7.
Review: V, Chapter 20: 1-4, Chapter 21: 1-3.
Nov. 7 W 16. Firm Supply and Factor Demand
V, Chapter 22
 Review: V, Chapter 22: 1-11.
Nov. 12 M 17. Long Run Perfect Competition
V, Chapter 23. Problem Set 8 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 23: 1-5,7.

IV. Strategic Behavior
Nov. 14 W 18. Monopoly
V, Chapter 24. Review: V, Chapter 24: 1-9.
Nov. 19 M SECOND MIDTERM
Classes 6-16 Exam   Answers
THANKSGIVING
Nov. 26 M 19. Monopoly Behavior
V, Chapter 25.
V, Chapter 26.3. 		Review: V, Chapter 25: 1-4.
Nov. 28 W 20. Monopoly Wages and Monopsony
V, Chapter 26. Review: V, Chapter 25: 1-4.
Dec. 3 M 21. Oligopoly
V, Chapter 27. Problem Set 9 due. Answers.
Review: V, Chapter 27: 1-6.
Dec. 5 W 22. Game Theory
V, Chapter 28. Review: V, Chapter 28: 1-6.
Dec 10 M 23. Asymmetric Information
V, Chapter 37
(V6, V5, Chapter 36) 		Problem Set 10 due. Answers
24. Reading
Michael Spence, "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87(3) 1973: 355-374.

Dec. 11 and 13 Review Sessions
1:10-2:30 Topics: (1) Factor demand functions, (2) Lerner Index

Dec. 18 FINAL EXAM
9:00 am - 12:00 noon, PAC 004