Economics 8001/4161
Fall Semester 2015, Session I
Jan Werner
September 2–October 20
T.Th. 2:30 - 3:45 PM
BlegH 110
Microeconomic Analysis
Economics 8001/4161 is the first term of the sequence in microeconomic analysis which is
primarily designed to serve first-year Ph.D. students in Carlson School of Management, School
of Public Health, Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and College of Science and Engineering.
Prerequisites for the course include intermediate microeconomics and mathematics at the level
of multivariate calculus and linear algebra. The purpose of this course is to acquaint students
with three building blocks of advanced microeconomic analysis: producer theory, consumer
theory, and the theory of choice under uncertainty, in particular, portfolio choice. The course
emphasizes the use of mathematical methods of optimization in microeconomic analysis.
Recommended texts are Microeconomic Analysis, 3rd Edition by Hal R. Varian, and Microeconomic Theory by A. MasColell, N. Whinston, and J. Green. The latter is more advanced
than the former.
The following topics will be covered:
1. Producer Theory: Profit Maximization and Cost Minimization.
2. Methods of Constrained Optimization.
3. Consumer Theory.
4. Differentiable and Algebraic Methods of Comparative Statics.
5. Choice under Uncertainty: Expected Utility and Risk Aversion.
6. Portfolio Choice Theory.
Office Hours, Course Website, Recitation, and T.A.
Professor’s office hours:
Mondays, 1:00-2:30 p.m.
4-139 Hanson Hall, ph 625-0708,
Email: jwerner@umn.edu
Course Website:
www.econ.umn.edu/˜jwerner/teaching.htm
Teaching Assistant:
Vladimir Smirnyagin
Email: smirn016@umn.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Recitation place and time: Tuesday, 4 - 5:15 pm, BelgH 145
Exams and Grades
There will be an optional midterm and a required final exam. Weekly homework will be given.
Homework must be handed in on time.
Grades will be determined on students’ performance on:
Homework - 20%
Midterm - 30%
Final - 50%
or
Homework - 20%
Final - 80%,
whichever is better.
Incomplete Grades, Make-up Exams, and Scholastic Dishonesty:
See Department of Economics Procedures and Policies 2015–2016.
Supplementary Course Material:
Takayama, A.,Mathematical Economics, Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Sundaram, R. K., A First Course in Optimization Theory, Cambridge U. Press, 1996.
Silberberg, E., The Structure of Economics: A Mathematical Analysis, McGraw-Hill, 1978.
Takayama, A., Analytical Methods in Economics, University of Michigan Press, 1993.
Jehle, D.A. and Ph. J. Reny Advanced Microeconomic Theory, Addison Wesley, 2000.