Syllabus of “Intermediate Economics”
(中级经济学)
Lecturer
林立国
Office Room (经济学院楼)Economics Buildings 516Room
Telephone 6590 2959
linliguo@gmail.com
Assistant
余泉生
Office Room (经济学院楼)Economics Buildings204Room
Office hour: Thur. 15:00-17:00
Fisher_2006@163.com
Course Description:
This course is an introduction to the basic tools of intermediate economics. The
objective of this course and the expected effect is that through the study of this course,
the students can acquire and master the basic economic theories and methodologies and
apply the knowledge to observe, to think and to analyze the practical problems.
Microeconomics will start with consumer theory, followed by production theory.
Having gained an understanding of both the demand side and the supply side of
economies, we proceed to study how the demand and supply come together and lead to
equilibrium in a market. We will learn the interactions of individual economic agent in
different types of markets, in some cases incurring inefficient allocation of goods and
services.
Macroeconomics studies the economy as a whole. We will develop methods that help
us understand how the economy works, the sources of economic growth over time, and
the determinants of unemployment and inflation. We will consider the effects of
government spending and taxation, stabilization policies, budget deficits and national
debt. The last part of the course surveys theories on consumption and investment
behavior; economic fluctuations and growth; money demand and money supply.
Textbook and List of Readings
1) N.Gregory Mankiw, Principles of Economics.(第三版)，中国工业出版社。
2)《西方经济学》（第三版），高鸿业主编
中国人民大学出版社
3) Hal R. Varian, Intermediate Microeconomics – A Modern Approach,
W.W. Norton & Company, 2003, 6th Ed. (费方域 译, 微观经济学：现代观点, 上
海三联书店/上海人民出版社, 2006年)(Text Book).
4) Macroeconomics, N. Gregory Mankiw, World Publisher.
《宏观经济学》 (第 4 版) 格利高利.曼昆， 人民大学出版社， 2000 年
The book has a website accompanying it at http://www.worthpublishers.com/mankiw6 which has
lots of interesting stuff including a free software called Macro Models.
Grading
There will have one midterm exam, one final exam and a number of homework
assignments. Grades will be determined as follows:
Homework
Midterm Exam
Final Exam
20%
30%
50%
Content of Intermediate Economics (subject to change)
Mircoeconomics:
Chapter 1 The Market/市场
The optimization principle; The equilibrium principle; The demand curve; The
reservation price; The supply curve; The Comparative static; The Pareto efficiency,
目前基本完成第一章市场
Chapter 2 Budget Constraint /预算约束
The Budget Constraint Equation; The Budget Line and the Budget Set Numeraire; The
Budget Constraint/Line/Set responding to Income, Price and Taxes, Subsidies and
Rationing
Chapter 3 Preferences /偏好
Assumptions about Preferences; The indifference sets, the indifference curves
Chapter 4 Utility/效用
Choice Behavior of Customer; Ordinal Utility, Cardinal Utility Examples of utility
functions; perfect substitutes, perfect complements, Quasi- linear preferences,
Cobb-Douglas preference Marginal utility & Marginal Rate of Substitution (MRS)
Chapter 5 Choice /选择
The Indifference Curve and the Budget line and; Optimal choice The demand function;
Examples of perfect substitutes, perfect complements, goods, bads and neutrals, convex
and; concave preferences, Codd-Douglas demand functions Estimating Utility Function
and MRS; Choosing Taxes
Chapter 6 Demand/需求
Demand Function (prices, quantity demanded); Inferior and ultra-superior goods (by
income); Luxury and necessary goods (by income); Normal and Giffen goods (by price);
Substitutes and Complements and Codd-Douglas preferences Quasilinear preferences
Chapter 7 Slutsky Equation/斯勒茨基方程
How the optimum moves when the price of a good changes? Slutsky Decomposition : the
total effect = the substitution effect + the income effect
Chapter 8 Buying and Selling/购买和消费
Net and Gross Demand, The Budget Constraint Offer Curves and Demand Curves
Chapter 9 Consumer’s Surplus/消费者剩余
Estimate preferences or utility from observed demand behavior. Demand for a Discrete
Good; Constructing Utility from Demand
Chapter 10 Market Demand/市场需求
Add up all individual choices to get total market demand and then drive the market
demand curve and the relationship between demand and revenue; From individual to
market demand; The Inverse Demand Function Elasticity; Demand and Revenue;
Marginal analysis
Chapter 11 Equilibrium/均衡
To use market demand curves to determine the equilibrium market price. Equilibrium
Analysis – how the prices adjust so as to make the demand and supply decisions of
economic agents compatible. Two Special Cases; Inverse Demand and Supply Curves;
Equilibrium and Pareto Efficiency
Chapter 12 Technology/技术
Firm behavior and its constraints (esp. technology choice); Production Theory; Properties
and Technical Rate of Substitution; Long-run and short-run technological change
Chapter 13 Profit Maximization/利润最大化
Firm in Competitive Market and its Profit Maximization in Input-Output; The
Organization of Firms; Profits and Stock Market Value; Fixed and Variable Factors;
Profit Maximization in Short-Run and Long-Run; Inverse Factor Demand Curves; Weak
Axion of Profit Maximization(WAPM)
Chapter 14 Cost Minimization/成本最小化
Describe the cost- minimizing behavior of a firm; Minimizing the Costs of Producing a
given Level of Output Cost function; Isocost lines (cost, production); Revealed Cost
Minimization; Returns to Scale and the Cost function; Cost type (long-run, short-run,
fixed, variable and sunk)
Chapter 15 Cost Curves/成本曲线
Detailed graphical Feature of Cost Function of a Firm; Average Costs; Marginal Costs;
Variable Costs; Long-run Costs and Marginal Costs;
Chapter 16 Firm Supply/厂商供给
Drive the supply Curve of a Competitive Firm from its Cost Function using the model of
profit-maximization; Pure Competition; The Supply Decision of a Competitive Firm
(Profit maximization); The Inverse Supply Function; Profits and Producer’s Surplus; The
Long-run Supply Curve of a Firm
Chapter 17 Industry Supply/行业供给
Sum of the Supplies of all the individual Firms in a Competitive Market; Industry Supply
and Equilibrium in the Short-run and the Long-run; The Meaning of Zero Profits; Fixed
Factors and Economic Rent; Rental Rates and Prices (Liquor Licenses) The Politics of
Rent (Farming the Government); Energy Policy.
Chapter 18 Monopoly/垄断
One Firm dominates the price or quality in Markets; Choosing the price and Letting the
consumers choose how much they wish to buy at that price or as Choosing the quality
and Letting the consumers decide what the price they will pay for that quality;
Maximizing Profits; Linear Demand Curve and Monopoly; Markup Pricing; Inefficiency
of Monopoly; Deadweight Loss of Monopoly; Natural Monopoly; What Causes
Monopoly
Chapter 19 Monopoly Behavior/垄断行为
First/Second/Third-Degree Price Discrimination; Bundling; Two-Part Tariffs;
Monopolistic Competition; A Location Model of Product Differentiation; More Vendors;
Chapter 20 Oligopoly/寡头垄断
There exist a number of Competitors in the market but not so many as to regard each of
them as having a negligible effect on price; Choosing a Strategy; Quantity/ Price
Leadership; Simultaneous Quantity Setting; Cournot Equilibrium; Collusion; Punishment
Strategies
Chapter 21 Game Theory/博弈论
The Payoff matrix of a Game; Nash Equilibrium; Mixed Strategies; The Prisoner’s
Dilemma; Repeated Games; Enforcing a Cartel; Sequential Games; A Game of Entry of
Deterrence;
Chapter 22 Game Applications/博弈论的应用
Best Response Curves; Mixed Strategies; Games of Coordination; Game of Competition;
Games of Coexistence; Game of Commitment; Bargaining
Macroeconomics
Introduction介绍
Chapter 1: The Science of Macroeconomics
Chapter 2: The Data of Macroeconomics
The Classical Theory: The Economy in the Long-run经典理论
Chapter 3: National Income: Where It Comes From and Where It Goes
Chapter 4: Money and Inflation
Chapter 5: The Open Economy
Chapter 6: Unemployment
Growth Theory: The Economy in the very long run.增长理论
Chapter 7: Economic Growth I: Capital Accumulation and Population Growth
Chapter 8: Economic Growth II: Technology, Empirics, and Policy
Business Cycle Theory: The Economy in the Short run经济周期
Chapter 9: Introduction to Economic Fluctuations
Chapter 10: Aggregate Demand I: Building the IS-LM Model
Chapter 11: Aggregate Demand II: Applying the IS-LM Model
Chapter 12: The Open Economy Revisited: The Mundell-Fleming Model and the
Exchange-Rate Regime.
Macroeconomic Policy Debates宏观经济政策的讨论
Chapter 13: Stabilization Policy
Chapter 14: Government Debt