COURSE SYLLABUS© We believe in respect for the individual, in personal integrity and in education as a means of improving the human condition. LAST PREPARED/UPDATED ON: Enter date INSTRUCTOR DETAILS INSTRUCTOR: e-mail: phone: office room: Enter first and last name Enter your …@webster.edu e-mail address Optional Enter if available COURSE DETAILS TERM: COURSE TITLE: PREREQUISITES: CLASS LIMIT: LAB FEE: TEXTBOOK / REQUIRED READING MATERIALS: Enter term your course is offered in ECON 3020/ add section Intermediate Microeconomics (Semester) ECON 2020, ECON 2030, MATH 1470, BUSN 2750 25 None Enter the textbook(s) and other required or supplemental course materials. List particularly every title requiring a bookstore order. For help choosing a textbook, including receiving gratis academic inspection copies, contact the librarian Benjamin Fasching-Gray at benjamin.fasching-gray@webster.ac.at . If there is a standard textbook for your course (info in your contract), please enter that title. If you would like to change this textbook, you must get the approval from your department head. COURSE DESCRIPTION This course covers advanced theory and applications in microeconomics. Topics include utility theory, consumer and firm choice, optimization, goods and services markets, resource markets, strategic behavior, and market equilibrium. COURSE OBJECTIVES / LEARNING OUTCOMES Outcome Students learn about introductory economics terms and concepts. Students will learn more advanced topics that relate to supply and demand. Expectation Students will learn about such things as scarcity, marginal analysis, opportunity cost, the difference between macroeconomics and microeconomics, and the ceteris paribus assumption. Aside from reviewing the basics of supply and demand, students will be introduced to more advanced topics that pertain to supply and demand. Palais Wenkheim, Praterstrasse 23, 1020 Vienna, Austria - www.webster.ac.at -1- Students learn the basics of consumer choice theory. Students will learn more advanced topics that relate to production and cost theory. Students learn how to solve optimization problems under different economic scenarios. Students will learn how the concept of elasticity can impact a firm’s profit maximizing decision-making with respect to pricing. Students will learn how to use regression analysis to conduct simple demand estimation models, which will allow for the calculation of various demand elasticities. Students will also learn how to apply their knowledge of supply and demand of products to the supply and demand for labor. Students will learn how to use indifference curve and budget constraint analysis to determine the consumer’s optimal consumption bundle. Students will also learn how to apply the basic tenets of consumer choice theory to various real-world situations. Students will learn about more advanced production and cost theories such as Cobb Douglass functions, isoquant-isocost analysis, and expansion paths. Students will also learn how to apply the basic tenets of these more advanced theories to various real-world situations. Students will learn how to calculate equilibrium price and output under each of the 4 major market structures: perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly. Students will learn how pricing, production levels, and profits differ across these various economic environments. Students will also learn how the concept of elasticity can impact a firm’s profit maximizing decision-making with respect to pricing. Students will also learn how the use of game theory can help determine strategic decisions made by firms in a world of uncertainty. Palais Wenkheim, Praterstrasse 23, 1020 Vienna, Austria - www.webster.ac.at -2- GRADE BREAKDOWN (Note: instructors can determine the components of evaluations, below is just an example). GRADING SCALE: MIDTERM EXAM: FINAL EXAM: QUIZZES/ASSIGNMENTS: CLASS PROJECT: PARTCIPATION: A: 93-100, A-: 90-92, B+: 87-89, B: 83-86, B-: 80-82, C+: 77-79, C: 73-76, C-: 70-72, D+: 67-69, D: 63-66, F: <63 Enter percentage of grade Enter percentage of grade Enter percentage of grade Enter percentage of grade Enter percentage of grade COURSE POLICIES / ADDITIONAL INFORMATION List policies that are specific to your course, such as your policy on acceptance of and/or penalties for late work, an explanation of how you enforce the attendance policy (for example, whether lateness counts as a partial absence, or points taken off for each absence or partial absence, etc.), elucidation of what constitutes cheating, etc. or, use this section for any additional information that pertains to your course. WEEKLY SCHEDULE Week 1 (enter date/s) Week 2 (enter date/s) Week 3 (enter date/s) Week 4 (enter date/s) Week 5 (enter date/s) Week 6 (enter date/s) Week 7 (enter date/s) Week 8 (enter date/s) Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments For semester courses only: Week 0 (break week) Week 9 (enter date/s) Week 10 (enter date/s) Week 11 (enter date/s) Week 12 (enter date/s) Week 13 (enter date/s) Week 14 (enter date/s) Week 15 (enter date/s) No classes are held during this week Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Enter weekly topic and assignments Palais Wenkheim, Praterstrasse 23, 1020 Vienna, Austria - www.webster.ac.at -3- UNIVERSITY POLICIES Students are required to inform themselves of WUV academic policies. A full list of these policies is available on the WUV website: http://webster.ac.at/academic-policies Academic Honesty & Cheating: The University is committed to high standards of academic honesty. Students will be held responsible for violations of these standards. A special Honor Code that the Vienna Student Council has developed applies to students and faculty. Any student found cheating on any part of the course work (homework assignment, term paper, quiz, exam, etc.) will automatically be given an “F” for the course. Any student found to be helping another student to cheat will likewise be given an “F” for the course. In each case, the student will also be put on disciplinary probation for the remainder of her or his stay at Webster. If the student is found to have engaged in cheating a second time, s/he will be automatically expelled from the University. Faculty members are held responsible for upholding and enforcing the Honor Code. Academic Work: Students are required to save digital or hard-copy files of any and all materials they use for any assignment in any WUV course. Upon the instructor's request they have to provide complete text documentation for any sources they have used. In every case, should the assignment or project be shared outside the academic department, the student's name and all identifying information about that student will be redacted from the assignment or project. Contact Hours: Graduate courses are only offered in an 8- week term format and meet 1-time per week for 4 hours. Graduate Mid-term and final exams sessions are scheduled in 2-hour block sessions in addition to weekly class meeting times (36 total contact hours). Please see the Graduate Course Schedule/Timetable on the website for specific exam dates/times: http://webster.ac.at/graduate-courseofferings-and-schedules Undergraduate courses are offered either in term format, which meets for two 2-hour sessions per week for 8 consecutive weeks (32 contact hours), or a 15-week semester format, which meets for two 1.5 – hour sessions for 8 consecutive weeks followed by a break week (no classes are held) and then for another 7 consecutive weeks. The total number of contact hours for undergraduate semester courses is thus 45. Attendance: Students are expected to attend all class sessions of this course. In the case of unavoidable absence, the student must contact the instructor and provide written documentation. The student is subject to appropriate academic penalty for incomplete or unacceptable makeup work, or for excessive or unexcused absences. Excused absences—based on submitted documentation—must not exceed: Four class sessions when the course meets twice a week; Two class sessions when the course meets only once a week. Should the number of excused absences be higher, it is the student's responsibility to withdraw from the course. In the case of unexcused absences, amounting to: Four class sessions when the course meets twice a week; Two class sessions when the course meets only once a week; the instructor must lower the student's grade by one letter grade and inform the student of the action. Should the number of unexcused absences be higher, the instructor must assign the grade of F and inform the student of the action. Note: In the case of a mixture of excused and unexcused absences, the instructor’s response must be based on the dominant category. Student Conduct: Since every student is entitled to full participation in class or exams without interruption, disruption of class by inconsiderate behavior is not acceptable. Students are expected to treat the instructor and other students with dignity and respect, especially in cases where a diversity of opinion arises. Students who engage in disruptive behavior are subject to disciplinary action, including removal from the course. All and any use of a cell phone is strictly prohibited during class. Students using a cell phone may be sent out of the classroom, which may result in an unexcused absence. If a calculator is needed in any class, the student must bring a calculator—and not a cell phone. It is up to the individual instructor to rule on the use of laptops or I-pads. Instructors have the right to prohibit students’ use of such electronic devices. Palais Wenkheim, Praterstrasse 23, 1020 Vienna, Austria - www.webster.ac.at -4-