RUTGERS UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS
Course Number: 01:220:102, sections 55 and 56
INTRO TO MICROECONOMICS (3 CREDITS)
FALL 2002 (SATURDAY 1:00-3:55PM, Murray 301, College Ave Campus)
BASANTA K. CHAUDHURI, Ph.D.
OFFICE: New Jersey Hall 425
(732) 932-8061
E-mail: chaudhur@econ.rutgers.edu
OFFICE HOURS: Mon and Wed 6:00-7:00pm; Sat 12:00-12:45 & 4:00-5:00pm
The Department of Economics maintains a comprehensive web site at
http://www.economics.rutgers.edu. This is very informative, a very useful first stop for
all your economics inquiries.
My personal web site is www.econweb.rutgers.edu/chaudhuri.
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The objective of this course is to provide students with a general understanding of the
basic microeconomic problems emphasizing behavior of individual consumer and firm in
a market economy and their interactions including specific microeconomic issues and
policy alternatives. The course consists of organization and operation of the American
economy for the production and distribution of goods and services, consumer behavior,
pricing of products and factors of production under different market conditions (from
competition to monopoly), efficient resource allocation, price determination and behavior
of the firm in determining optimal quantity of output and the hiring of factors of
production. We will also focus on the role of government, regulation and cases of market
failure (missing markets) in the presence of externalities and public goods.
REQUIRED TEXTBOOK:
Gregory MANKIW PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS, 2nd Edition, Harcourt
College Publishers, 2001
STUDY GUIDE to the TEXTBOOK is optional but you are strongly encouraged to
consult it and solve practice problems.
Handouts and reading materials will be made available from time to time.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS, ATTENDANCE, EXAMINATIONS AND FINAL
COURSE GRADE:
There will be three examinations and three quizzes. The final course grade is a weighted
average: Quizzes (20%), Mid-Term I (25%), Mid-Term II (25%), Final (30%).
Materials covered in each exam (including the final) are not cumulative. You are
responsible for what is covered in lectures and for all required readings in the text.
Examination will consist of multiple choice questions and/or short answers and quizzes
will be based on multiple choice and/or short answers.
“Improvement” in scores will be taken into consideration case by case. There will be no
“special case” term papers/book reports/case studies available to any student. Periodical
assignments are optional but you will find them very useful.
Academic honesty: Any form of cheating (if suspected and proved) during examinations
will be dealt with appropriately (i.e., you may end up getting a zero score on that
exam/test with no opportunity to make-up the examination).
It is your responsibility to be prepared for the examinations on announced dates.
WITHOUT EXCEPTION, the third (FINAL) examination will be administered during
the final exam week as specified in the Fall 2002 Schedule. Normally, there will be no
make-up quizzes/examinations, except in dire and documented emergencies. Any makeup quiz/examination which is allowed (for valid documented reasons) will be
administered during the Final Examination Week. There will be no exceptions. However,
the make-up quizzes/examination may consist of multiple choice questions and/or essay
questions. Missed examinations which are not allowed to be made-up, or are not madeup, will be averaged into your final grade as a zero (i.e., if you miss an examination you
will not receive automatically an incomplete course grade).
ATTENDANCE and CLASS PARTICIPATION:
Students are encouraged to attend lectures on a regular basis and are expected to come,
prepared, to every class. Your behavior in the classroom is expected to be courteous,
respectful and professional. I strongly encourage your class participation at every
available opportunity. Attendance will be checked. Your prompt arrival to class and not
disturbing the class during its duration are highly appreciated. Please turn off your cell
phones, beepers and other electronic devices.
CONTENT AND SCOPE OF THE COURSE:
INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS/MICROECONOMICS
Chap 1 Ten (Fundamental) Principles of Economics
Chap 2 Thinking Like an Economist
Chap 3 Interdependence and Gains from Trade
Quiz 1
SUPPLY AND DEMAND I: HOW MARKETS WORK
Chap 4 The Market Forces of Demand and Supply
Chap 5 Elasticity and Its Application
REVIEW/MID-TERM EXAM I (Sat, October 5th)
Chap 6 Supply, Demand and Government Policies
SUPPLY AND DEMAND II: MARKETS AND WELFARE: EFFICIENCY OF
MARKETS AND MARKET FAILURE
Chap 7 Consumers, Producers, and the Efficiency of Markets
Quiz 2
Chap 10 Externalities
Chap 11 Public Goods
FIRM BEHAVIOR AND THE ORGANIZATION OF INDUSTRY (COST OF
PRODUCTION AND PRODUCT MARKETS)
Chap 13 The Cost of Production
REVIEW/MID-TERM EXAM II (Saturday, November 9th)
MARKETS FOR PRODUCTS (output, price and profit/loss under different markets)
Chap 14 Firms in Competitive Markets
Chap 15 Monopoly
Quiz 3
Chap 16 Oligopoly
Chap 17 Monopolistic Competition
MICROECONOMICS OF LABOR MARKETS (LABOR AS A FACTOR OF
PRODUCTION)
Chap 18 The Markets for the Factors of Production (Example of Labor Market)
REVIEW
FINAL EXAMINATION (Saturday, December 21st, 1:00-4:00PM)