School of Economics
Academic Year 2014-15
Term 2
ECON101 INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS
Instructor Name
Email
Tel
Office
Office hours
: Hyojung Lee
: hyojunglee@smu.edu.sg
: 6808 7942
: 5073
: Monday 11:00 – 12:30 & Tuesday 11:00 – 12:30
TA
: TBA
Location
& Time
G3: Monday 19:00 – 22:15
G4: Tuesday 15:30 – 18:45
G5: Wednesday 8:15 – 11:30
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Intermediate microeconomics aims at providing the basic analytic tools that are required in upper level economics
classes at SMU, as well as showing how to use economic principles to explain details of everyday life. Throughout
the semester, you will be facing a variety of examples that help developing economic intuition and demonstrating
the relevance of economics. You will see how basic microeconomic principles can help answer such questions as:
Why has the demand for luxury grills grown so rapidly in recent years?
Why do doctors and lawyers often offer discounts to people with low incomes? Why do lawyers in small towns
buy cheaper suits than their counterparts in big cities? Why are you bidding too much to enroll to some classes at
SMU? Why do some students work less than others in the group project?
You will also learn a set of analytical tools (Yes, we are going to use mathematics!) that are very helpful in
showing how those economic principles can be generalized to a variety of situations and topics. The main
difference between B and A sessions is that the former emphasizes more on using mathematics.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of this term you will be able to fully appreciate the relevance of economic thinking, and start applying it
to any situation you may experience in your daily life. Moreover, by being exposed to a variety of topics (such as
consumer theory, theory of the firm, government intervention, labor markets, strategic behavior and decision under
risk) you will be able to make a more informed choice among the upper level economics classes that you need to
take for your curriculum. Last but not least, you will be equipped with analytical tools that help you in taking those
classes.
ASSESSMENT METHODS
Class Participation
Mid-term Test
Final Examination
Total
: 10%
: 40%
: 50%
: 100%
Midterm is 1 hour long, and Final is 2 hour long and cumulative. The type of questions in midterm and final
examinations will be similar to Homework problems.
Participation:
1. Homework [2%]: Homework will be due right before the class starts. There will be 6 homework
assignments, with each student’s best 5 added to obtain the student’s total homework score. Thus one
missed assignment due to illness, job interviews, etc, will not affect a student’s grade. I encourage you
to form a group of 3 – 4 students and discuss about the problem sets. However, you should write the
1
2.
3.
4.
solution by yourself. Copied solutions will get no points. Please write the names of the students in
your study group on your homework to prevent the grader from incorrectly suspecting that your
answers were copied from another student. Each homework’s total score is 2 points. You get full
score if you do homework reasonably well and if you have made an “honest effort” to complete the
problems correctly. However, you get only 1 point if you don’t sufficiently show how you solved the
problems. Homework with only simple answers [without any explanations] will get 0.
Quiz [4%]: There will be 10-20 minute quizzes starting the second week. Total number of quiz is 10,
but only best 8 scores will be used for the student’s total quiz score.
Attendance [2%]: One point for coming to class on time and behave; 0 points otherwise.
Online forum [2%]: Involvement in the on-line forum. You are required to write one question and / or
one answer per week. Anything more than that will add zero towards your grade.
Note that there will be no make-up exams and quizzes, and no acceptance of late assignments.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
All acts of academic dishonesty (including, but not limited to, plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, facilitation of
acts of academic dishonesty by others, unauthorized possession of exam questions, or tampering with the
academic work of other students) are serious offences.
All work (whether oral or written) submitted for purposes of assessment must be the student’s own work.
Penalties for violation of the policy range from zero marks for the component assessment to expulsion,
depending on the nature of the offense.
When in doubt, students should consult the instructors of the course. Details on the SMU Code of Academic
Integrity may be accessed at http://www.smuscd.org/resources.html.
CLASS SESSIONS AND EXPECTATIONS
Class sessions are of 3-hour duration per week. Each session involves a lecture, active group discussion of
relevant issues, quantitative problem-solving, a short quiz, and review of homework assignments. Do not expect
me to spoon-feeding you the existing knowledge. In the spirit of the SMU approach, I will rather assist you in
exploring ‘new’ findings. So I will ask many questions in the class and you are expected to think seriously about
the answers.
Because the text is very readable, little class time will be used to address the material presented there directly.
Instead, a substantial part of class time will be spent using the concepts presented in the text to work through
examples and applications. That makes it especially important for students to keep up with the assigned reading.
I will rely on students having read and worked through the material before it is discussed in class. Students
should bring up any questions they have during class discussion of the topic, and reread and again work through
the material after it is discussed in class. When students read the material, they should try to think through each
model or problem for understanding, not memorization.
To do well in the course, students must understand the material. The only way to learn and understand the
material is to think about and work through it. The homework problems will contain many examples of the type
and level that will be useful in preparation for course exams. When you read through a sample problem, you
should attempt to solve it yourself before reading the solution. If you are having trouble solving a problem, you
should read only enough of the solution to help you get started on the problem point. Then return to your
attempt to solve the problem.
You are expected to look at the lecture notes before coming to class and to print them if you need a reference.
The use of the laptop is generally not allowed
RECOMMENDED TEXT AND READINGS
Besanko and Braeutigam (2014) Microeconomics 5th ed. Wiley
2
WEEKLY LESSON PLAN
Week
Topic
Readings
Introduction, Demand and Supply
Chapters 1, 2
2
Consumer Preferences
(HW1 due)
Chapter 3
3
Consumer Choice
Chapter 4
4
The Theory of Demand
(HW2 due)
Chapter 5
5
Inputs and Cost Minimization
Chapters 6, 7
1
6
7
5 Jan 15, Mon
Cost Curves
(HW3 due)
Perfect Competition
(Midterm Exam)
Chapter 8
Chapter 9, 10
8
Recess Week
9
Monopoly and Price discrimination
(HW4 due)
Chapters 11, 12
10
Game Theory
Chapter 14
11
Duopoly, Oligopoly
(HW5 due)
Chapter 13
12
General Equilibrium
Chapter 16
13
Market Failures
(HW6 due)
Chapter 17
14
Revision Week
15
Final Examination
3