ECON 2201 Intermediate Microeconomics

ECON 2201

Intermediate Microeconomics

Section W24

Syllabus – Winter 2024

Excluding materials for purchase, syllabus information may be subject to change. The most up-to-date syllabus is located within the course in HuskyCT.

Course and Instructor Information

Course Title: Intermediate Microeconomics

Credits: 3

Prerequisites: ECON 1200 or 1201; and one of the following: Math 1071Q, 1110Q, 1125Q, 1131Q, 1151Q, or 2141Q .

Course Materials

Required course materials should be obtained before the first day of class.

Required Materials:

Students are required to subscribe to Mindtap, an online resource and homework system. This online system includes an e-text version of Intermediate Microeconomics and Its Application by Walter Nicholson and Christopher Synder, Cengage Learning, 13th Edition, 2022 (ISBN  978-0357133149).

The materials for this class —and any other classes using Cengage products —are included in a single Cengage Unlimited subscription, which costs $124.99 per semester.  This subscription gives you access to all your Cengage eTextbooks and online homework in one place.  Four free hardcopy textbook rentals are also available for select titles for $9.99 shipping and handling each.  Your course enrollment includes a free trial period of up to two weeks.

Additional course readings and media are available within HuskyCT, through either an Internet link or Library Resources

Course Description

This course studies the basic analytical tools of microeconomics, building on the concepts you have learned in microeconomic principles, but relying more on algebraic problem solving.  Topics include consumer choice and utility maximization, and firm production and cost minimization. Firm decision making will be explored under different market structures, including perfect competition, monopoly, and imperfect competition. We’ll also    cover a variety of other topics including welfare economics, externalities, and public goods.

Course Objectives

By the end of the semester, students should be able to:

• Explain how the supply and demand model summarizes the behavior of sellers and buyers, determines equilibrium price and quantity, and can be used to evaluate the welfare consequences of government policies.

• Explain how a consumer’s chosen market basket of goods reflects both the consumer’s preferences and the constraints imposed by income and prices.

• Differentiate between the income and substitution effects of a price change on the consumption of a particular good.

• Analyze the effect of policy proposals by examining how they affect the consumer’s budget constraint.

• Define total, average and marginal product, and explain the law of diminishing marginal returns in the short run when at least some inputs are fixed.

• Show how a producer’s choice of inputs in the long run depends on the relative costs of production and the extent to which the firm can substitute among inputs in its production process.

• Explain a competitive firm’s optimal output choice in the short run and how its supply curve may be derived through this output selection.

• Explain why in long-run equilibrium in a competitive industry, price is equal to long-run cost, short-run cost and average cost with the result that firms earn only normal profits.

• Explain why marginal revenue is less than price for a monopolist, why a monopolist might price discriminate, and why equilibrium in a monopoly market fails to satisfy the conditions for economic efficiency.

• Compare and contrast market outcomes under perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, and oligopoly and show how game theory can be used to analyze the strategic behavior of rival firms.

• Distinguish the conditions under which private markets may or may not resolve externality problems.  Explain why private markets fail to provide public goods and discuss the consequences of making public choices using majority-rule voting.

Brief Course Outline

Date	Chapter Readings	Topics
December 26	10 (part) Recommended: 1, 2	Using Supply and Demand Analysis Economic Models, Mathematics Used in Microeconomics
December 27	3	Utility and Choice
December 28	4	Demand Curves
December 29	7	Production
December 30		Saturday | No New Material
December 31		Sunday | No New Material
January 1		Observed Holiday | No New Material
January 2		Exam 1
January 3	8	Costs
January 4	9 (except 9-3), 10	Supply Curves
January 5	9-3, 12	Monopoly
January 6		Saturday | No New Material
January 7		Sunday | No New Material
January 8	13 (part) and 6 (part)	Imperfect Competition and Game Theory
January 9		Exam 2
January 10	17	Externalities and Public Goods
January 11		Reading Day | Review | Catch Up | No New Material
January 12		Final Exam

Course Requirements and Grading

Consider the following a checklist for each unit of activity:

1. Read the assigned material in the text.

2. Watch the unit videos.

3. Try some or all of the practice homework questions in Aplia.

4. Complete the graded homework assignment in Aplia.

5. Complete the online quiz on HuskyCT using Respondus Lockdown Browser.

Due Dates and Late Policy

All course due dates are identified above and on HuskyCT and Aplia. Deadlines are based on Eastern Standard Time; if you are in a different time zone, please adjust your submittal times accordingly. The instructor reserves the right to change dates accordingly as the semester progresses.  All changes will be communicated in an appropriate manner.

Since each assessment is available in a window of several days with clearly stated due dates, there will be no

make-ups of missed assessments except under very unusual circumstances. Being away and having no Internet access is not a valid reason.

Feedback and Grades

The instructor will make every effort to provide feedback and grades in a timely manner. Expect a response to emailed questions within 24 hours. If you do not receive a response within that time, ask again. Graded   materials will be returned within 48 hours after due dates, unless otherwise noted. To keep track of your performance in the course, refer to My Grades in HuskyCT and Grades in Aplia.

Email

I will communicate with you via your UConn email address (usually[email protected]).  It is your  responsibility to check this email account for messages.  If you have a personal email address that you prefer to use, forward your UConn email to that address.

Using Lockdown Browser for Quizzes in HuskyCT

This course requires the use of the Respondus LockDown Browser for quizzes in HuskyCT. You will need to install the LockDown Browser software on the computer that you will be using to take the quizzes.

Please read the following carefully.

1. Go to the “Student Help” tab in HuskyCT to

a. watch a video about using LockDown Browser

b. access the PDF help file that is available

c. download the software you need to install.

2. To take a quiz that requires LockDown Browser, start LockDown Browser on your computer, log into HuskyCT,  and navigate to the quiz. The quiz title will indicate whether it requires LockDown Browser. Please note: any quiz requiring LockDown Browser cannot betaken using a regular browser. You will be directed to close your current  browser and open LockDown Browser.

3. When taking an online exam, follow these guidelines:

.    Turn off all mobile devices, phones, etc.

.    Clear your desk of all external materials — books, papers, other computers, or devices

.     Remain at your desk or workstation for the duration of the quiz