Syllabus

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 2 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session

Lectures: 1 session / week, 1 hour / session

 

"Where I am not understood, it shall be concluded that something very useful and profound is couched underneath." J. Swift.

Prerequisites

  • 14.01 Principles of Microeconomics
  • 18.02 Multivariable Calculus

Textbook

Varian, Hal R. Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach. 7th ed. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2005. ISBN: 9780393927023. The 6th edition may also be used.

Grading and Requirements

The final grade in the course will be based on the following weights:

ACTIVITIES WEIGHTS
Midterm Exam 1/3
Final Exam 1/2
Homeworks 1/6
Project w/k

 

Homeworks

Homeworks are due two days after the second lecture session, to be collected at recitations. Alternatively, you may put them (before the recitation) in the TA's mail folder. Joint work is not permitted. You may discuss ideas, help each other with material in general, but, ultimately, your homework has to be a unique written (or typed) piece. Late homework gets no credit.

All issues with rescheduling exams have to be resolved beforehand.

Calendar

SES # TOPICS
1 Introduction and Preview
Consumer Theory
2 Choice, Preferences, Utility
3 Demand, Revealed Preferences, Comparative Statics
4 Consumer Surplus, Aggregation
5 Variations to the Basic Choice Model (Time, Uncertainty)
Producer Theory
6 Technology, Profit Maximization, Cost Minimization
7 Supply, Aggregation
Markets
8 Monopoly
9 Oligopoly and Game Theory
10 Walrasian Equilibrium
Market Failures
11 Externalities
12 Public Goods
13 Small Number of Agents, Nash Bargaining
Asymmetric Information
14 Adverse Selection, Moral Hazard, Principal-Agent Model
15 Auction Design
16 Voting and Other Applications