Principles of Microeconomics
Economics 2103
Spring 2012
Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
E-Mail:
Office Hours:
Dr. Jeremy Oller
Thatcher 217
974-5347
joller3@uco.edu
T: 11-2
R: 11-2
Or by appointment
Website: www.busn.uco.edu/joller
Please keep up with the website regularly. It will often contain notes, assignments, and
important dates.
Required Text: James D. Miller, Principles of Microeconomics, McGraw-Hill Irwin
Catalog Description: This course examines economic principles with major emphasis on
the efficient allocation of resources and microeconomic theory.
Course Objective: The University and the College of Business are committed to
providing students transformative learning experiences in six core areas: discipline
knowledge; leadership; research, creative and scholarly activities; service learning
and civic engagement; global and cultural competencies; and health and
wellness. This class supports these goals by providing significant opportunities for the
acquisition of discipline knowledge, requiring you to engage in creative and scholarly
activities, and allowing you the opportunity to exhibit leadership in the classroom.
Specifically, you will gain an understanding of basic microeconomic concepts. Upon
completion of this course, you should understand how consumers, firms, and government
interact in a marketplace and dictate market outcomes. We will examine how these
players interact in the marketplace through the use of reading assignments, lectures, and
discussions. In addition, students will participate in creative assignments and take
leadership roles in groups to further your understanding of these fundamental economic
concepts.
This will be a course that requires your diligence in staying current with the material, as
many concepts build on previous ones. Economics is a subject that should expand your
analytical horizons. If you try and memorize material prior to exams you are going to find
economics to be a very treacherous experience. If you challenge yourself and attempt to
understand the material, it will be a rewarding experience.
I am here for you, but I am not a mind reader. If you have any questions about the course
material, I implore to ask questions during class, consult with me after class, come to
office hours, and/or asking your fellow classmates for help. Group dynamics are an
essential part of success in today’s job market. To enhance this skill, you will have
several group based activities, which will be a significant part of your final grade.
Additionally, I encourage you to work with other students on assignments and in
preparing for exams (group efforts are highly condemned during the exams.)
Grading: I will assign students grades based on examinations, participation, and group
activities.
Assessment Mechanism
Exams
Class Participation
Group Games
Preliminary Report 1
Preliminary Report 2
Final Report
Report Presentation
Weight (%)
30
10
10
10
10
20
10
Total
100
Grade Distribution:
Points Earned
90% or Greater
80-Less than 90%
70-Less than 80%
60-Less than 70%
Below 60%
Letter Grade
A
B
C
D
F
Exams:
The exams in this course will be graded differently than most courses that students take
in their academic career. Mastery of the introductory concepts in this course is a necessity
to fully comprehending later concepts. Therefore, exams in this course will be based on a
pass/fail criterion. Your exam grade will not be based on the percentage you get on a
particular exam, but on the percentage of exams you pass. This will require you to master
concepts before you pass a particular exam.
This class will have more frequent testing with less information on each exam. Each
exam will be relatively short and more like a long quiz and there will be a total of nine
exams. This score will account for 30% of your grade in the class.
For example, if you completed 7 out of 9 exams, your exam grade will be computed as
follows:
Exam grade = 7/9 or 78%
Every Thursday, excluding the first week of class, I will set aside 30 minutes for taking
exams. The exams are not intended to be extremely long, but are intended to insure you
fully comprehend the subject matter. If you show up late for class on any given exam
day, the time will not be extended.
You may take as many exams as you can complete in the allotted time on an exam day.
Exams will be available for three consecutive weeks and you can take the exam each of
those weeks if you did not pass the prior week. If you fail to pass the exam by the third
week, you will earn a “no pass” for that specific exam.
Passing Criteria:
Each exam will have 10-20 multiple choice questions and one problem. To successfully
complete an exam, you must score 80% on the multiple choice questions and the problem
must be performed correctly. If you miss more than 80% or perform the problem
incorrectly, the exam will not be counted as a pass.
Exam Content:
Exam 1- Demand and Supply
Exam 2- Equilibrium Concepts
Exam 3- Elasticity
Exam 4- Government Intervention & Surplus
Exam 5- Economic Costs
Exam 6- Perfect Competition
Exam 7- Monopoly
Exam 8- Oligopoly & Monopolistic Competition
Exam 9- Public Goods and Externalities
Exams will cover material consistent with the topics covered in lectures and the chapters
listed above. I will post an exam review sheet on my personal web page prior to exams,
which fully depicts the information I expect students to be familiar with upon taking the
exam. The web page can be found at www.busn.uco.edu/joller. Exams will be multiple
choice and short answer.
Some material may be omitted from each textbook chapter; you will be notified of the
omissions before we cover the chapter. Additionally, I may lecture or provide
supplements in addition to the text. You will be responsible for any information that is
presented in class regardless of whether it is in the text or not. Additionally, I do reserve
the right to change or omit any part of the course topics as necessary.
Pricing Game: You will be paired up with 3-4 other students to compete in games that
will be assigned throughout the semester. You will be given different games with
differing objectives and you will compete against other students (groups) in the course.
The games are intended to address different pricing/market concepts. You will find that
there will be times the game calls for aggressive competition and other times where
cooperation yields the optimal result. Your score for this game will be the percentage of
the highest cumulative score in the course. The pricing game will be worth 10 percent of
the course weight.
Class Participation: The class will be broken up into eight groups. Each class period, a
different group will be responsible for answering questions over the relevant material.
While all students should be prepared for class discussions, the selected group will need
to prepare to the extent that they are experts on the material. They will be required to
field questions on the material and the group’s grade will be based on the quality of its
responses and discussion. If a group member is absent on the day the group is responsible
for class discussion then that member will not receive participation points unless it is a
university excused absence.
Report: Each group will prepare an economic report that will be due on April 19th. The
report will be an analysis of any company you choose. You will be examining both
industry characteristics and economic issues facing the firm. The expected content and
grading criteria will be attached as Appendix A to this syllabus. Additionally, you will
turn in two preliminary reports during the semester. The first preliminary report will
examine demand and supply issues regarding the company’s product(s) or service(s) and
the second preliminary report will examine more specific industry and firm issues. These
preliminary reports will be graded and my intent is for you to correct and enhance these
reports for the final iteration. By the end of this project you should be have an
outstanding working knowledge of your chosen company and its market.
Presentation: The week before finals we will have class presentations over the reports.
Each presentation will last 15 minutes and each member of the group is expected to
discuss an aspect of the report. In addition, my presentations vary in that I will ask
questions during the presentation, and part of your presentation grade will be based on
your ability to respond to questions. The specific presentation criteria are attached to this
syllabus as Appendix B. The presentation will be worth 10 percent of your final grade.
Group Leaders:
Every group will designate leaders for each aspect of course assessment. There will need
to be a leader for exams, discussions, games, and the report. These leaders will be
responsible for their group’s performance on these various activities. If a group excels in
that specific area, the group leader for that area will be given extra points based on the
value of the activity. Therefore, serving as the leader for higher valued activities yields a
greater potential for extra points. If the group feels it is not succeeding, it group may vote
to change the leader (which will be effective upon notifying me). It is perfectly
acceptable to have an individual student serve as a leader for more than one activity.
Exam Leader: Responsible for making sure each student in the group passes the exams.
The leader will receive a 10% grade boost to the exam portion of the grade for every
exam in which all members pass.
Discussion Leader: This leader is responsible for making sure that the group is fully
prepared for class discussions. The leader will receive a 10% addition to the group’s
participation grade. If a member of your group is caught using a cell phone during
class, you will be docked points.
Game Leader: This leader will be assessed on how the team performs on the game. They
are essentially responsible for the team’s final decisions. They are also responsible for
submitting all game decisions to me. The leader will receive a 10% bonus for the team’s
performance. If a leader fails to submit a game decision on time, all bonus points will
be voided.
Report Leader: This is the greatest responsibility in the class and is worth the most
points. Specifically, it is worth 10% of the group’s grade on the reports and presentation.
If a report is submitted late or falls significantly short of expectations, all points will
be voided.
Policies and Recommendations:
1. Cell Phone Policy- Cell Phones are not permitted during class periods. This includes
text messaging and internet access. Yes, I can tell when you are using the phone during
class as individuals are not prone to stare into their lap for excessive periods of time
under normal circumstances. If you are using the phone during class or it rings during
class time, you will be asked to leave the room and you will receive an absence for that
period. The importance of the call or text is irrelevant.
2. Attend all classes and take full lecture notes.
3. Given the nature of the exams in this class, there are no make-up exams. You will
simply lose an attempt to pass the exam.
4. Grades will not be raised by doing extra work and all class activities will be counted
toward the final grade.
5. Assignments will not be accepted late.
6. You are encouraged to come to my office hours to discuss any class related issues and
discuss course material.
7. You are also encouraged to work with other students in preparing for assignments (this
does not mean let one person do the work and copy it, as this will only serve to your
detriment at exam time)
Appendix A
Group Reports
Objective:
The purpose of the group report is to connect the economic theory we cover in class with
real world applications. This project should enhance your ability to apply economic
concepts. You should also learn how to identify problems firms face and how to make
effective decisions. Hopefully you will also significantly enhance your written
communication skills in the process.
Final Report:
The final report is due on April 19th and should address microeconomic factors that affect
both the firm and the industry. You should be familiar with the theory discussed in class,
investigate outside articles, and examine company data. Your final report should contain
the following:
1. A background of the company and recent performance.
2. A detailed economic examination of the firm’s products.
3. A detailed economic examination of the firm’s industry.
4. A recommendation for the company.
5. You should have data to support your analysis.
The report should be submitted in Times Roman 12 pt. font with 1.5 line spacing. There
is no page requirement for the report, but I think anything under ten pages would
probably be missing substantial content. You should write this report as though it were to
company officials or investors, not an academic. The report should be free of
grammatical errors.
Preliminary Reports:
You will turn in two preliminary reports. The first report will be due February 23rd and
the second will be due April 5th. The purpose of the preliminary reports is to research
information as though it were a final report. In this manner, I will be able to make
suggestions for your final report. I want you to be proud of your final report.
Content:
You will be examining a firm of your choice. In conducting this report you should
examine the firm’s annual reports, financial papers (e.g. WSJ), company reports (e.g.
Hoovers or S&P), and relevant literature.
The weights for grading the report will be on the following standards:
Analysis (70%)
A. Examination of relevant facts (10%)
B. Ability to properly state relevant economic principles (15%)
C. Ability to apply the economic principles to the company (15%)
D. Creativity (10%)
E. Proper use of graphical/statistical data (10%)
F. Recommendations and support for the course of action (10%)
Communication (30%)
A. Effective Organization (10%)
B. Clarity (10%)
C. Attention to typing and grammar (10%)
The relevant questions you will be addressing in the report can really be broken down
into two major areas which are firm specific issues and industry specific issues.
Questions you should address for Preliminary Report 1:
1. What are the most important factors influencing demand for your firm’s product?
2. How would you describe the relevant elasticities facing the firm? (price, cross-price,
income, advertising, etc.?)
3. How would you describe supply in the industry?
4. Are there any relevant governmental restrictions that affect the firm? How?
In this report, you should probably begin with a formal discussion of the firm’s
background, its key statistics, current situation.
Questions you should address for Preliminary Report 2:
1. What is the market structure facing your firm? Is it perfectly consistent with the
theoretical models?
2. Who are the firm’s competitors and what are the approximate market shares?
3. Does the firm possess market power? Why or why not?
4. How is the firm competing to attempt to gain market power?
5. How would you describe the cost structure of the firm relative to the industry?
6. How should the firm respond to these issues? E.g. pricing, advertising, new
products or new markets?
Appendix B
Presentations
Objective:
The purpose to the presentation is to orally present your findings and recommendations in
a clear and interesting manner.
Procedures:
Your group will present the report the week before finals. The presentations will last 15
minutes and every member in the group must have some role in the presentation. The
distinction between this presentation and others you may have done previously will be
that I will be asking questions during your presentation. Please do not let this intimidate
you. It is intended to promote thinking spontaneously, but it should also allow you to
shine if you are familiar with the information. You are encouraged to use slides, but do
not over-rely on them. Basically, I do not want you reading a slide show to the class. The
slides should emphasize major points and data, not serve as a script for the presentation.
Grading:
I will assess the presentation on the following components:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Clearly stated the objectives of the presentation. (10%)
Clarity in presenting the information. (20%)
Knowledge of the relevant material. (20%)
Eye contact. (15%)
Ability to respond to questions. (15%)
Visuals were relevant and clear. (10%)
Recommendations were clearly defined and rational. (10%)