Course Details

Course Information Package

Course Unit TitleINTRODUCTION TO MICROECONOMICS
Course Unit CodeABSE101
Course Unit Details
Number of ECTS credits allocated5
Learning Outcomes of the course unitBy the end of the course, the students should be able to:
  1. Identify economic problems and economic decision makers.
  2. Apply graphical analysis to problem solving
  3. Examine the role of the market in the solution of the three economic problems
  4. Define and analyze market equilibrium and it dynamics.
  5. Quantify market responses of buyers and sellers.
  6. Identify and describe the applications of supply and demand
  7. Analyze consumer decision making and assess the importance of consumer surplus
Mode of DeliveryFace-to-face
PrerequisitesNONECo-requisitesNONE
Recommended optional program componentsNONE
Course Contents

Introduction to Economics

Economic agents and economic problems. Inputs and outputs. The production possibility frontier.

The law of increasing marginal opportunity cost.

Economic Systems

The role of the market in the solution of the three economic problems. Resource allocation and the rational for government intervention. Market Outcomes and Market Failures vs. Government Failures

Market Fundamentals

The demand for goods. The demand schedule and the demand curve. Factors, determining demand. Shifts in demand.

The supply of goods. The supply schedule and the supply curve. Factors, determining supply. Shifts in supply.

The market equilibrium. Effects of a shift in supply or demand.

Quantifying Market Responses: Elasticity.

Price elasticity of demand. Elasticity and revenue.  Income elasticity of demand. Cross-price elasticity of demand. Price elasticity of supply.

Applications of Supply and Demand and Price Elasticity

The economics of agriculture. The impact of a tax on price and quantity. Price controls. Price floors and price ceilings.

Demand and Consumer Behaviour

Choice and utility. Consumer equilibrium. The dynamics of consumer equilibrium: income effect and substitution effect. Deriving   the demand curve. Consumer surplus.

Recommended and/or required reading:
Textbooks
  • Violaris Ioannis, Economics a bilingual approach, Epiphaniou editions, 2008
References
  • Samuelson & Nordhaus, Economics, McGraw Hill, 19th edition, 2008, or more recent one
Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Ex cathedra lectures and discussions in class, by means of traditional tools or using computer demonstrations. Some of the key issues are revealed on the basis of simulation games.

Auditory exercises, where examples regarding matter represented at the lectures, are solved and further, questions related to particular open-ended topic issues are compiled by the students and answered, during the lecture or assigned as homework.

Topic notes are compiled by students, during the lecture which serve to cover the main issues under consideration and can also be downloaded from the lecturer’s webpage. Tutorial problems are also submitted as homework and these are solved during lectures or privately during lecturer’s office hours. Further literature search is encouraged by assigning students to identify a specific problem related to some issue, gather relevant scientific information about how others have addressed the problem and report this information in written or orally.

Assessment methods and criteria
Final Exam60%
2 Quizzes16%
Mid-term14%
Homework assignments and participat10%
Language of instructionEnglish
Work placement(s)NO

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