- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
Introduction to Microeconomics: an Internet course 2400-INTER-MIK1-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.
Intruducing microeconomics: subject, basic concepts and definitions. The problem of choice and alternative cost. Production possibility frontier. Specialization - absolute and comparative advantage. Economic system, open and closed economy.
Week 2.
Demand, supply and equilibrium price. Consumer and producer surplus. Determinants of supply and demand. Elasticity of demand and supply. The effects of market regulation.
Week 3.
Consumer choice theory. Budget constraint. Consumer preferences and the concept of utility. The principle of diminishing marginal utility. Indifference curves and their properties. Consumer choice and equilibrium.
Week 4
Comparative statics: effects of changes of prices and income. Substitution and income effect. The analysis of consumer choice with respect to the labour supply and intertemporal consumption.
Week 5.
Production function and its properties. The principle of diminishing marginal product. Increasing and decreasing returns to scale. Costs in the short and long run. Cost curves. The target of the firm and optimal production. Profitability and its determinants.
Week 6.
Market structures: perfect competition and monopoly: optimal production, prices and profits. Price discrimination, natural monopoly, antitrust legislation, welfare effects of monopoly.
Week 7.
The economic system. Demand for factors of production: labour and capital. The role of technology. Consumers decisions: labour supply and savings. General equilibrium of consumers and producers.
Type of course
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Term 2024Z: | Term 2023Z: |
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 understand how consuments choose their consumption bundles;
- 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 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:
- Inter-faculty Studies in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Computer Science
- Bachelor's degree, first cycle programme, Mathematics
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Computer Science
- Master's degree, second cycle programme, Mathematics
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: