Introduction to Microeconomics: an Internet course 2400-INTER-MIK2-OG

The course is run on the internet educational platform COME: http://www.kampus.uw.edu.pl. After registering for the course at USOS, it is required to register at COME and log in into the course before the classes start.

Weekly schedule:

Week 1.
Imperfect competition: oligopoly and monopolistic competition. Prices and output in imperfectly competitive markets. Basics of game theory.

Week 2.
Labour market. Labour supply (individual and household). Labour demand in perfect competition. Labour market equilibrium and unemployment. Reasons for labour market imperfections, wage rigidity and labour supply heterogeneity. Mismatch.

Week 3.
Capital market. Supply of savings (intertemporal perspective). Demand for capital goods services and capital goods. Investment and the role of interest rates. Nominal and real interest rates, nett present value, internal rate of return.

Week 4.
The economics of risk. The problem of risk aversion and insurance market. Moral hazard, imperfect information and adverse selection.

Week 5.
Market failures: external effects and public goods. Means of countering market inefficiency. Taxes and the economic activity.

Week 6.
The theory of trade: comparative advantage. Gains from trade. Resources and trade patterns. New trade theory and gains from intra-industry trade.

Week 7.
General equilibrium. Links between goods and products market in a closed economy.

Type of course

general courses

Prerequisites (description)

Introduction to microeconomics, part 1 or equivalent.

Course coordinators

Term 2023L:

Gabriela Grotkowska
Urszula Sztandar-Sztanderska
Leszek Wincenciak

Term 2024L:

Gabriela Grotkowska
Leszek Wincenciak

Learning outcomes

Students after completion of this course:
- will master basic economic categories, namely microeconomic;
- will understand the costs and benefits of economic activity and be able to assess the profitability;
- will understand how firms set their prices and output in response to market demand, market structure, nature of the product and competition;
- will have solid basis for further studying of macroeconomics, finance, international trade and microeconomics at intermediate and higher levels;
- will be able to analyse economic events with a microeconomic tools;
- will understand how allocation of scarse resources works and be able to assess the optimality of allocation;
- will understand the problem of a market failure and be able to formulate policy tools to improve economic efficiency;
- will understand the role of risk and insurance, and the problems of imperfect information, moral hazard and adverse selection;
-will understand links between markets in a general equilibrium context;
- will learn to assess current events in economic perspective and take part in open discussions using solid theoretical background.

Furthermore the course will give the student opportunity to practice own scheduled work in a systematic setting, to be fair and punctual, which is forced by the nature of the e-learning type of the course.

Assessment criteria

In each topic unit student can collect up to 20 points for homework. Homework assingments consist of quiz tasks and open questions which illustrate and summarize the contents of underluying topic. Additionally students are invited to take part in open forum discussions on selected subject, mostly referring to current economic events in the world and Polish economy. Each homework assignment must be sent back to instructor via e-learning platform within 14 days without the possibility of sending all assignment on the last day of the course. Gathering at least 60% homework points is a prerequisite for open-book exam, which will verify each students semester work. The exam is a multiple choice questions test and is the open-book exam. Final grade will be based both on homework points and exam score with equal weights.

Bibliography

Obowiązkowa:
Begg, D., Fischer, S. i Dornbusch, R., Ekonomia, tom I: Mikroekonomia, PWE Warszawa 1999 (lub późniejsze).
Uzupełniająca:
Bednarski M., Wilkin, J. (red.), Ekonomia dla prawników i nie tylko, Wydawnictwo Prawnicze Lexis-Nexis, Warszawa 2003, rozdz. 1-8
Sloman J., Podstawy ekonomii, PWE, Warszawa 2001, rozdz. 1-6
Samuelson, P.A. i Nordhaus, W.D., Ekonomia, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2004. t. 1, rozdz. 1-4, 18-24 i t. 2, rozdz. 25-35
Smith, P. i Begg, D., Ekonomia, tom III: Zbiór zadań. PWE Warszawa 1999 (lub późniejsze).

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 2400-INTER-MIK2-OG in USOSweb